#s 43 and 44 It's so hard to believe...

Its really hard to believe that its been nearly 5 years since I graduated law school. Its really hard to believe!

For reasons that will be more clear at a later date, I've been quite sentimental today and the last few days. I've just spent about an hour on facebook looking at all my old pictures-- pictures I'd forgotten about. Its also hard to believe that I've been on facebook for more than 5 years! Longer than anyone I know very well, except my friend Penny. She got me on facebook simply to look at a picture of a guy I knew to see if his profile picture was actually him or a joke.

It was fun to relive some of those memories on FB, and I've pulled off some of them and saved them to my computer so that now you can enjoy as well! Some of these are (obviously) older than others, but they are all good, wonderful memories. I've been blessed to have some fantastic friends and family and some fantastic memories with those friends. I'm looking forward to lots of new memories. Perhaps another day, I will get on my old computer and move all those pictures to this computer so I can show you those as well.

As a sidenote, I was highly impressed with how quickly Blogger uploaded these pictures. It usually takes FOREVER which is why I sometimes don't put as many pictures as I'd like to. My internet at home is down and I am so dedicated to my blog that I am actually sitting in my vehicle, in front of my cousin Em's house, stealing her internet. Are you readers happy? You've pressured me into becoming a thief.

In random order, some of my favorite pictures from FB and my thoughts behind them.

Shannon, Shanica and myself, circa 2005-- this picture is one of my favorites, yet its also really tough to see. This was supposed to be our Christmas card that year and we had this picture on our fridge for a long time, but it wasn't long after this picture was taken that poor Shanica passed away. Actually, I'm not really sure when the original Shanica actually died, but presumably, it wasn't long after this picture. In fact, the fish in this bowl might not even be Shanica. The actual details of Shanica's last few days are still a mystery, and perhaps, will be the subject of another blog someday when the wounds aren't so fresh. Suffice it to say that I wouldn't let Shannon's mom take care of my children, if I were you.

This was me, Nick and Betsy, circa 2007. Doesn't seem that long ago, but its true! We were sitting outside at my Aunt Ju's house and we had a great time, playing with the fire, roasting marshmallows and being stupid. My cousin Em and Brandon were there as well. Some of my favorite memories at my Aunt's house are roasting marshmallows and hot dogs, although we've now relocated to the side yard from the back patio. She likes to shake things up sometimes.

Sonji, Becky and I at Sonji's house, not sure when this was taken, but I'm thinking it was at Gatlin's birthday party, so it was sometime in August and Becky was pregnant, so I'm guessing 2009.

Katherine, Shannon and I at the Spread Eagle in Cambridge, England-- summer of 2004 (how long ago!)-- best summer ever. This was a pub right across the street from where we were living that summer and we spent lots of time there. We had a blast!

The entire Ole Miss group at the Spread Eagle-- Summer, 2004. This was the last night in England and we had a big dinner for all professors and students so we were all dressed up. I'm pretty sure this was one of the few times I actually dried and brushed my hair and put makeup on that summer!

Karen and I at BSU-- sometime before 2001-- we were doing the infamous arm robot. She loves it when I do that!!

Katherine and I at my house in law school-- Miss America party-- 2005-- I love wearing lots of makeup and doing my hair all up and wearing fake eyelashes and stuff for parties like this-- in the moment, I think I look fabulous. However, the pictures usually make me look like a drag queen!

Emilee, Courtney and I at Murffs in Oxford after a football game. I believe this was the Ole Miss-Arkansas game in 2007-- there was a big group of us there, and we are attempting to show our "model" poses. It was after this picture was taken that Courtney took control of the camera and tried to take pictures of me being "serious" and she was fussing at me because I kept laughing. Everyone knows how easily I get tickled and she kept fussing at me, which made me laugh even harder.

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Betsy and I at my surprise birthday party in law school-- this was at Tara Thompson (now Gaddy's) house-- it was a great surprise! I was disappointed we weren't going to get to go to Clarksdale to Madidi's (Morgan Freeman's restaurant) for my birthday because it was closed, so we decided to go to Yocona instead. However, my fantastic friends decided to have a surprise party so it was even better!

Brandi, Rebekah, Karen and I at a BSU End of the Year Picnic at Sardis-- freshman year! I love this picture. We look so young, so fresh, so happy. And we were. College was a great time, and I miss it incredibly. There was a professional photographer taking pictures and somewhere there is this picture taken by that professional with the date and all on it. I love these girls-- they were my family during college.

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Taken my sophomore year at an Ole Miss football game-- Me, Karen, Rebekah and Jeannie-- according to Jeannie's FB (who posted this), this is a "recreation" of another picture from a football game our freshman year. She's right. I have that picture in a frame in my office. Well, it was in my office. Now, its in my backseat. I'll put it up somewhere another time. Also, note Karen's scarf-- I loved wearing scarfs like that. I hate it went out of style! I used to have a really pretty redish one I got from the Gap and I felt so cool everytime I wore it.

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This was me, Karen, Jeannie, Rebekah and Amanda at their house-- Karen, Jeannie and Amanda were roomates and had a really cute little house. We had lots of fun times hanging out there!

Emilee, Betsy and I in Eureka Springs when we'd come to visit Emilee. This was a fun weekend and Eureka Springs is a cute little town. I remember wearing my hair down and worrying how it looked. I routinely wear my hair down now, but that is a recent development-- for many, many years, I NEVER wore my hair down, under any circumstances. I thought it looked bad. Perhaps it does, but I no longer care.