Adios 2009. Adios Chicks Shirt.

I love pink. I love t-shirts. So needless to say, I love my hot pink Chicks shirt.



It was my sister's flag football shirt at UT Martin in 1996. Somehow I stole it and began wearing it around 2000. Almost a decade of memories. The threads are wearing thin, I have holes forming in the arm pits. The jersey numbers have been long gone for a year or so.




It's time to retire the Chicks shirt.



I am wearing it this New Year's Eve one last time. I feel sad inside.
But I know it's time to let go.
It's been my comfort blanket, my go-to wardrobe choice,
my inner confidence manifested.


I wore it when I slept.


I wore it for my first trip to Texas with Jules.


I wore it when I woke Bridget up from her 9 p.m. bedtime to hang out.



I wore it for shopping trips.



I wore it to J. Fred's bachelorette party the night before she got married.


I wore it when the Yellow team won Spring Retreat Olympics.



I wore it when I cried from heartbreak.



I wore it when I went to Chattanooga.


I wore it when I canoed with J-Phil.


I've worn it in 10 states.



I wore it when I hiked in flipflops.


I wore it when I played tennis with Ames.


I wore it when I loved on Baby Landon and Baby Payton.


I wore it when I lounged.



I wore it when I drove (very slowly) with 22 people
piled on, and in, my Nissan Altima.



I wore it til the numbers fell off.

I wore it for late night adventures around Memphis with Mattie Poo.


I wore it on road trips.

I wore it to devotionals and Bible studies.





I wore it at the beach.

I wore it when I got a speeding ticket.


I wore it at Shakespeare Park in Montgomery, Alabama
when I would picnic with Cortez and Amelia.



I wore it when I moved into my new apartment.



I wore it when I made new friends in Knoxville.


I wore it when I made homemade videos.



I wore it when I had fun at the McAlister's house.



I wore it when I babysat.


I wore it when I couldn't breathe at
Fall Creek Falls with Blair and Bridget.


I wore it when I worked my charm on Ryan and Caleb.




I wore it when I laughed with old friends.

I wore it when I went to Panama.


I wore it at University of Memphis,
Southwest Tennessee Community College,
and the University of Tennessee.


I wore it when I rode the subway in Atlanta for the first time.



And now I'm wearing it for the last time to close out 2009.


I'll miss my favorite shirt.
kinda :(
kinda :)

Maybe you don't know...

• I listen to NPR sometimes...when I'm driving, relaxing, taking a bath, thinking. I started listening to it a long time ago to make myself "cultured." Now I find the British newscaster's voice soothing and I secretly love classical music. It's often my choice of driving music at night.

• I report litterbugs. I even have the 800 number stored in my cell phone under "Litterbugs." I don't care if it's a cigarette butt or your Sonic cup, if you throw it out while driving anywhere near my vicinity, you're going to get reported. It helps that I have eyes like a Hawk!

• I have an acoustic guitar, however I never learned to play the guitar. I am going to change that in 2010.

• Wearing flipflops constantly for 5 years has made my feet flat. They used to be so pretty and delicate, and now they're flat and ugly. Sometimes, when taking a bath, I push them out flat against the end of the tub and stare at them in self-pity. Heed my warning children: Wear arch support!

• I make a mean mix cd.

• I always wanted to write a novel. I started one when I was a senior. It was terribly cheesy and childish. I haven't given up my dream. I get my best ideas for writing when I'm driving. I even make the perfect sentences and character names in my head. However, by the time I get to my computer, my mind goes blank and my infamous memory fails me.

• I once declared that I was going to solely save the Post Office from its impending demise due to the Internet. That was in 2001, and somehow I haven't been able to keep postage prices down. I'm trying folks.

• I love playing tennis. Jules and I were talking about this yesterday, and somehow it came up and she couldn't believe I liked tennis. Just like I couldn't believe she played tennis in college for FHU. We both couldn't believe this had never come out during our 2 years of friendship. So I'm just putting it out there.

• I once tried out for "Who Wants to be a Millionaire?" I didn't pass the written test.

• If I don't like saying your name or don't know your name, I refer to you as 'homeboy' or 'homegirl,' and if you're really lucky I'll call you 'homeslice.' I never realized how much I said it until the other day I asked Cousin Hannah to guess who called me...and she replied "Homeboy?"

• I decided this past spring that I was going to grow my hair out. It hasn't been this long in over 3 years, and it hasn't been past my shoulders in about 10 years. I figured if I don't do it now, I'll never do it.

• I hate sour cream. HATE IT. I'm not a picky eater...well, that's open for interpretation.

• My biggest pet peeve about drivers is the lack of a turn signal and no lights in the rain. I don't know why I get so worked up about these things but I do. It often results in me calling them 'homeslice.'

• I love Matisyahu, the Hasidic Reggae Jewish rapper. He's my fave...and now for a throwback off my parents' computer. I made this for Mattie Poo (when he was in China)while I was driving on the exit ramp of 385 and Forest Hill on my way to work at church. Enjoy.

Christmas!

I love the Garmin Christmas commercials...



I love the guy with no teeth...am I weird?

Will Stephanie die before she's 26?

The ever infamous 8 ball.

When I was 25, I had the 8-ball application on my facebook account. I randomly asked it one day if I would die before I was 26...and it said yes. Friends would also ask the 8-ball if I was going to die before I was 26, and the 8-ball would always say yes. They had an 8-ball on the counter at High Point coffee and J-Phil and I would ask it the same question, and get the same response.

Soon it became the big joke that the 8-ball had it out for me.

My friend Matt Jones even bought me a real 8-ball...and it provided the same fate.

I don't believe the 8-ball is a fortune teller, it's just for fun. However, when you always get the same answer to the same question, you start to freak yourself out a little.

I asked Cortez if he would do my funeral if I did die.

And I made it clear that I wanted to be buried in my 'Chicks' shirt.

I remember visiting my friend Jeremy on 4th of July at his job in Parkway Village. We were standing outside and could hear gunshots around us. It was only 10 p.m. but I was 14 days away from turning 26 and I really got scared that I was going to get hit by a falling bullet and die because the 8-ball had predicted my demise. I was living on borrowed time!

I officially turned 26 at 12:05 a.m. on July 18th, 2008.
I stayed up to make sure it happened.
Lyle Summitt texted me to see if I was still alive.

The 8-ball's prediction had been proved wrong.

That night a group of us went to Olive Garden
and everyone celebrated my beinggranted another day to live!
After a singing of "Happy Birthday"
a lady behind us asked whose birthday it was.
My friends Matt and Jeremy turned around, told her it was mine,
and that I wasn't even supposed to live this long.
I thought 'Great, she probably thinks I have AIDS."
The whole evening proved to be an exciting experience.

I really relished the fact that I had made it.

And for a brief period, I was reminded of how fragile life is and that we aren't guaranteed another tomorrow, with or without the 8-ball's predictions.

I still have my 8-ball and it is quite the popular conversation starter
when people stop by for a visit.

Well, all of that to say, the other afternoon when I was babysitting Drew, we had a few minutes to spare before our Little Gym date, so we stopped in Hallmark.
(side note: I absolutely love Hallmark.)

We wandered around the store, he was doing a fabulous job of not touching anything, and we were headed out when the big 75% sign caught my eye. There were old Hallmark Keepsake Ornaments and as I rifled through the boxes, one caught my eye.

It was the 8-ball, in ornament fashion.
It even had the die floating inside with microscopic predictions.
And it was 75% off.
Plus, it was the only one they had.

The 8-ball had sought me out, and I took the bait.
I carried it to the register and bought it right away.
I was excited to come home and add it to my Christmas tree.

So my 8-ball obsession lives on...and I can even celebrate it at Christmastime.

Thanks Hallmark.

Quick Bites

My internet has not been working this past week. I am borrowing a friend's for the moment. And by friend, I mean someone who has unsecured internet access.

Finals are this week...done with school on Wednesday. This semester has been tough, and I'm looking forward to the end of it.

I'm staying in Knox for at least a week after school for my nanny job. I'm excited to travel home to see all my family and what friends are left in Memphis. However, I'm going to miss Knox and all the excitement it contains lately.

Side Note: If you haven't had a Chick-Fil-A Peppermint Milkshake I highly suggest you try one. My friend Mary Beth and I had them before Thanksgiving, but after that first sip I hastily exclaimed..."THIS TASTES LIKE CHRISTMAS!" And it really did. Try it!

I'm listening to the Comcast 'Sounds of the Season' music channel and they are playing
Alvin and the Chipmunks "The Chipmunk Song (Christmas don't be late)."