It's like Christmas twice in one month!!

As you all know, Beerfest is an important time of year for myself and my closest friends. This year, we all waited with our fingers poised above the buttons on our mice, waiting for 12 noon to strike on Wednesday, March 26. My posse managed to get their tickets to the Raleigh Beerfest on April 26. And thank goodness for that. By the end of the afternoon, tickets were already sold out. We have been holding this day on our calendars since the date was released to the public last year!

Now, to my wondrous surprise, Mike mentioned to me that a big group of his buddies from Davidson are planning a get together in mid April - April 12 to be exact. Did I want to go? Sure - I haven't met a lot of the Davidson friends he talks so highly about, and this seemed like a great opportunity. Wait - but what will we be doing? Going to another beer festival?? HICKORY HOPS? YES! Count me in!!!


Yes, folks - that is two Beerfests in one month. I am beyond excited. On April 12, I will be meeting many of Mike's dear Davidson friends and trying many beers at the same time. Then, exactly two weeks later we will partake in Raleigh Beerfest. It truly is a great time of the year.

April is for celebrating - Lauren has a new life ahead of her and the impending excitement of finding a new love, Meredith is embarking on a new path to personal fulfillment and social change, and I will be done with school and ready to go full on into wedding planning! April is truly a month to celebrate.

WELCOME, SPRING!

Daily Affirmation

As so many people close to me are going through tough times right now, I post the following. Often misattributed to Nelson Mandela, the quote below actually comes from a writer by the name of Maryanne Williamson. I have this quote on a plaque and have read it every day of my life for the past three years. It currently hangs above my computer at work.
May it give you some strength today, too.

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.
It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us.
We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and fabulous?
Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God.
Your playing small doesn't serve the world.
There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do.
We are born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us.
It's not just in some of us, it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.
As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.

Support local music

Where will I be Wednesday night? The Cradle, that's where.

In honor of Mike's Alma Mater

CONGRATULATIONS,

BEAT WISCONSIN!

I know, I know....

...this post will again be subpar. I've got too much going on and too little time to discuss it all. But here's a quick rundown:

1) The visit with Mom was fantastic. I got a beautiful wedding dress this weekend - yay! And unfortunately, I will not be posting photos as a) my future husband sometimes reads the blog and b) I need to work on my upper body a bit before I am happy with plastering the web with dress photos. So, there. But let's just say that my bridesmaids all adore the dress and my Mom cried when she saw me in the thing. We're golden. Beyond the dress, Mom enjoyed seeing all the venues, meeting Ms. Meredith (who she had not met before), and spending quality time with the Bradys. A great trip - productive and fun.

2) Bridesmaid dresses are a different beast altogether - we are still figuring that one out.

3) I just found out today that my project adviser is happy enough with the project at this stage to allow me to continue working on it for a completion this semester. So, looks like I will be graduating this May! SWEET. I won't count ALL my chickens before the eggs hatch, as things *could* change, but right now it looks pretty good...

4) St. Paddy's Day + the James Joyce = awesome.

5) Beerfest tickets are $40 this year. FORTY DOLLARS. I'll pay it, but damn, I am NOT happy about it. Tickets go on sale next week.

6) Jimmy Buffet is playing in Raleigh this summer. FANTASTIC! WOO! I have been waiting for this for a while.

7) We get to go to New Orleans for a wedding this May. Also very awesome - two very cool friends getting hitched AND it's in an awesome city.

8) Cookie has my old job - and she leaves for South Africa next week. I am SO very excited for her!

That's it for now folks - I have to run!

Yet another quick and fleeting update...

Hi, everyone - again, my apologies. Life has been a bit hectic (in good ways), so I haven't found much time to post here. My Mom is en route to Durham as we speak (she should be somewhere over the Smokey Mountains right now), and I will pick her up shortly before lunch time. This weekend is WEDDING DRESS SHOPPING!!! Woo hoo!!! This weekend, my Mom and all my bridesmaids will be subjecting ourselves to a certain "bridal mart" experience in the hopes of finding an appropriate dress. We are all really looking forward to the trip.

After Mom's departure on Sunday, I will be bunkering down in the library to complete the second round edits to my Masters project. I have a deadline of Sunday night to turn in the next draft. Here's to hoping that my adviser will like the edits and agree I can move forward with a May graduation. If she gives the thumbs down, a summer grad I will be!!!

Will be in touch soon, loyal readers...

Needville Arson Case - The Conclusion

The young man who set fire to my old high school was tried as a juvenile this week and was sentenced to 10 years of probation. While I think he probably should have had to serve a bit of time, I am glad that the court system did not try him as an adult. If you want more information, here's the story from The Fort Bend Herald:
http://www.herald-coaster.com/articles/2008/03/06/news/top_story/topstory.txt

Help Break the Chains

You have all heard me mention the Coalition to Unchain Dogs before. They had a benefit concert last year that was awesome, and on March 29, representatives from the group will be participating in the Great Human Race in Durham, NC. If you would like to contribute, just click HERE to access Meredith's donation page. She works really hard for this group - every weekend, let me tell ya. She would love your support, and this group is doing amazing work. If you want to see what they do, watch the video below. It's just fantastic! (and you can see Meredith building fences in her blue hat and Coalition shirt!!!)

First Draft Turned In

I am happy to report that on Sunday, March 2 at about 12:40pm, I e-mailed the first full draft of my Masters project off to my adviser. Although I was elated at the time, I am now full of dread on receiving my edits back. It could either be" great first start - let's make these changes" or "what on earth were you thinking? this will take a full year to fix." While I am guessing it will not be as extreme as the second option, I know the edits will be extensive. I just want some assurance that YES I will be able to finish this up and graduate in May. I am SO ready to be done with this. I want to concentrate on wedding planning and read fun books and watch movies and cook great dinners in the evening. I don't want to spend any more evenings in the library! I am SO done with school!!!!!

Anyway, I will keep you posted. And keep your fingers crossed for me!