Livin' and Lovin' in A-town

My Great Return

I've received several emails from friends wondering if I'm still alive. The answer is yes...I'm still alive, barely, but I'm still here. I've been out of the blogging world for over a month now, which means I haven't updated mine and I really haven't checked anyone elses. If something major has happened to you in the last month, I probably don't know about it unless you have called or emailed me directly.

Below is a small update on my life. For those of you who don't want to read the entire entry, it won't bother me at all. This just saves me a lot of time when it comes to updating my friends. And, for those of you who have asked about my dating life, if you really want to know, you'll have to call or email me. I'm not posting that on my blog.

Ok...I'll start on a low note, but I promise it will pick-up.
On Thursday, March 30th, Dr. Stephen Carter was brought to campus as one of our Centennial Speakers. Interesting man...a little high maintenance, but he spoke well and brought a nice size crowd to campus. I was with Dr. Carter from 7:30am until 2:30pm that day, but my thoughts were at home...my home in Van.

On March 30, 2006 I lost one of the most important men in my life. My grandfather, the only grandfather I had left, passed away early that Thursday morning. For those of you who were GATA officers with me, we went to his house on Lake Conroe for our officer retreats.

It was and has been one of the most difficult things I've experienced in my life. I say one of the most difficult because six years ago I lost my other grandfather. It was heartbreaking and my family still hurts. Death is never easy, and as much comfort as you get in knowing that they are in a better place, it's still difficult. It's funny how people handle things like death...people handle trama in so many different ways. I haven't quite grasped the fact that he's gone. I haven't dealt with his death and I dread the day that it all crashes down on me. He was a rock and the patriarch of our family. He loved life, his family, singing, sports and God. What a giant man.

I went home for the funeral and stayed all weekend, only to return on April 3rd with a very full week in front of me. One of my favorite events up to this point took place on Saturday, April 8th. Robin Roberts from Good Morning America came to campus as one of our Centennial Speakers. AMAZING! Hands-down one of the best speakers I've ever heard. She's dynamic, energetic, hilarious, smart and down-to-earth all rolled up in one neat person. The event went extremely well...a little over 800 people were in attendance, which makes it one of the largest events I've planned during the Centennial so far. Robin was spectacular and spending the day with her was fabulous! After the event Saturday night, I mentioned to Robin that I was going to be in New York that week and was hoping to stop by GMA. Sunday morning when I picked her up from her hotel, she handed me a piece of paper with her assistants name and number on it and told me to call her and she'd get me into Good Morning America...which leads me to my next paragraph!

I spent March 12-15 in New York City. My mom, grandmother, sister and I went for Jessi's senior trip. Too fun! We did all of the tourist stuff, i.e., Empire State Building, Time Square, China Town, etc. However, the three highlights of my trip were the two Broadway shows we saw and being on Good Morning America!

We went to see Phantom of the Opera...FABULOUS...and Mama Mia...EXCELLENT! Both shows were sold out, so the theatres were packed. They were spectacular shows! Friday morning we headed to Time Square at 6:30. We arrived outside of the ABC studios around 6:40am and were immediately taken inside to the main studio. We spent the next two hours watching the news cast from "behind the scenes" following around the reporters, watching the monitors and even sitting on the GMA benches where their celebrity guests sit! Robin came over to find us, gave me a hug, talked to my family, introduced us to Diane Sawyer, Bill and Mike and then her assistant took us over to be in two seperate tv shots. Friday morning we were on the front row during the weather and front row behind their guest singers! It was too fun! We had an amazing time...completely exhausted when we got back, but it was well worth it.

This week I'm playing catch-up and getting ready for my seven days of hell. Thursday I have a Centennial Speaker on campus all day, Saturday we have a Philharmonic event for over 2,000 people and next Tuesday we have John Maxwell, the author and leadership expert, coming to campus as our last Centennial speaker. When is summer going to get here?!

So, that's a brief...well, not so brief...run-down on my life over the last month. It's been insane but awesome at the same time. May 13th marks the end of the school year and it can't get here fast enough! I hope you are all doing well, and know that I miss you and promise to catch up when things slow down. All my love...