My chains are gone. I've been set free.

Last Monday, my Grandma signed papers to allow hospice come in and take care of my Grandaddy as he nears the final stages of his battle with Alzheimers where he finally gets to go home.

When we first realized something was wrong with him was when I was high school--when he started forgetting things. He would misplace things. He would repeat stories. He would forget directions to places he had been going his entire life. As it progressed he his memories were vague, sporadic, if they were even there at all.

He always wanted to ride. He'd ride anywhere. He'd ride until you wouldn't want to drive him anymore and we'd have to switch drivers. If you were to ask him where he wanted to go, he'd answer "home" Even in his own driveway, that's where he wanted to go.
We would drive him to the place he lived right after marrying my grandma, their first home together. He would say that wasn't home.
We would drive him to the place where his childhood home once stood. He would say that wasn't home.
We would drive him to other places like his Aunt's house and other places that may have meant something to him. Those places weren't home.

I think I got my love of the mountains from him

Wednesday night, my mom called and told me that the nurse said that we should prepare to say our goodbyes. I rushed home as fast as my poor car would allow me and ran into that front door of my sweet grandparent's house faster than I ever had in my entire life. There, sitting in the living room of the house he built with his own hands was one of the strongest men I had ever known taking his last breaths. My grandmother, easily one of the most amazing woman to ever walk this earth, practically a saint, sat next to him holding on to his callused hands that she had loved for 60 years..

We waited, we prayed for peace for his soul and for him to no longer be in pain. The nurse encouraged us to talk to him, to talk to each other, because she said he knew we were there. We laughed. We cried. We loved on him and each other. As the morning came, we decided to go our separate ways so that my grandma could rest. My uncle was the first to begin the exodus. He kissed him on the forehead, told him he loved him, thanked him for being such a great man, and told him it was okay to go now. The rest of us followed.

The second my mom and I got back home the phone rang with news that he snuck out. After everyone had left, all had grown quite, and those who were staying the night weren't looking, he just snuck out.. which is so characteristic of him.

The rest of the weekend was spent with my family saying goodbye, seeing faces I haven't seen in years, mending our broken hearts, and comforting the rock that now holds us together, my Grandmother, who had just lost her best friend that she had been married to for just a few months shy of 60 years. They are a true example of the kind of Marriage I strive to have. The kind of love I hope to one day experience.

After my grandparents had been dating for a few months, my granddaddy told my grandma that God told him she was the one that he was supposed to marry. My grandma told him that God didn't have to tell her, she already knew. 

Even though it was a weekend of goodbyes, it was also filled with most laughter than that house has seen in many years. I suddenly feel so much close to my family after spending these past days with them in all the different circumstances that arose.

After the burial we all returned to my Grandma's house where we continued to stay by her side. We began watching the slideshow video the Funeral Home had created  using our family photos. All those that were present piled on their living room floor of the house that built me as best we could to see the TV. In that moment, I realized how lucky and blessed I am.

Blessed to have known a man so strong as my Granddaddy.

Blessed to have been raised by saint of Grandma.

Blessed to be a part of such a wonderful legacy that he left behind.

Blessed to have two people of such powerful faith set an example for me to live up to.

Blessed beyond belief and proud to have such a wonderful family to love and by loved by.

Blessed to have found peace and closeness in a time that many could be find to be so lonely. 

Happy new year everyone, I am finally back. After spending about a week and a half at the cabin for Christmas (or vacation, as I much rather call it) I am back in the swing of things at work and home. Don't expect to many exciting posts from me anytime soon, because these crazy cold temps aren't exactly encouraging me to do anything work documenting besides flying through all 5 seasons of Friday Night Lights.

Here is a quick photo recap of my Christmas end of the year vacation..

I helped Billy and his baseball team with their annual Christmas tree fundraiser. It is always great getting to meet the players, parents, and people in the community that stop by to help support the team.

We kicked off Christmas vacation with the Christmas sermon at our church, North Point

We spent Christmas Adam (Adam comes before eve.. yes I'm proud of that pun) with my parents, and Christmas Eve at my grandparents with all of my extended family. My parents got me a new TV for my bedroom, which I am oh so thrilled about, because now I can actually read what channel I am on. Yes, my old one was THAT small.

Late Christmas Eve, we left and headed North for the rest of the year. Every year on the trip up, Billy and I stop at the same spot and take a picture together with the self timer... unfortunately it was dark and our picture looks like crap, so i doubt we'll be be framing it anytime soon.

Christmas Day was spent with Billy's family--is mom, brother, aunt, uncle, their two kids, and his grandpa. I was finally able to give him the boots he has been gawking over since I've known him--a pair of black caiman belly boots. Unfortunately, I didn't take pictures of them. He got me a couple of little things like a leather jacket, new makeup brushes, the new peach state pride shirt, and these gorgeous leopard print Nikes! He says I have one more present coming that's back ordered, so the anticipation continues.

For Billy's family's Christmas present from me, I hired a photographer to come and take family portraits of all of them. I really don't think they have had any made since the boys were squirts, at least not any they would use any more. It was also an easy way to knock out the whole family's Christmas in one swift hour. I let the surprise out early.. around thanksgiving. So on Black Friday, instead of hitting up all the sales, our photographer, Spring, came to the cabin and took these on the property. I am so excited how they turned out, and so is his family. Go me! These are some of the pictures Billiam and I took together.

Check out that puppy smile! What a ham.

The rest of the end of the year vacation was very low key. We rarely left the house, except for groceries. Billy was engulfed his the college bowl games. I was just too cold to move. One afternoon, while walking our dogs, someone stopped and asked us if we knew of anyone missing a dog and told us about a puppy that was abandoned near a walking trail and waterfall not far from the house. Of course, being the suckers that we are, we went and rescued the little guy thinking he wandered off a hunt, we could check his chip, and take him back to his owners.. We were stuck with this gorgeous German Shorthair Pointer pup for a few days and finally found a new owner for him as he didn't exactly get along with the other pups (not to mention there were more dog legs than people legs in the cabin at one time).

We did venture out on New Years Eve day. Billy's mom and aunt had a "surprise adventure" planned for us. They only told us to wear warm clothes that we could easily move in and nothing more. ooooooookay. So we all crawled into the expedition and headed for the undisclosed location. Just prior to our arrival, they told us what we would be doing--snow tubing. okay, cool!

We get to the place, but there is absolutely NO snow. Zilch. Zero. Nada!

uhhh?

The "snow" was actually white AstroTurf which covered this 200 ft ramp down a hill. They would wet the "snow" with sprinklers and then you could actually just "tube" down. It was actually a lot more fun than we expected, even though it looked like some ridiculous redneck engineering.

I don't do Christmas

Call me a Grinch, Scrooge, or a bah-hum-bug, but I will never ever ever change my feelings on Christmas.

I don't like Christmas. Quite frankly, I hate Christmas. 

Never have I ever liked Christmas, even as a child. Actually, I know my distaste from Christmas came from how much Christmases sucked when I was little, and the tradition continues.

I know the that Christmas isn't about all of the things I hate it for--the stupid family gatherings, being rushed and guilted to see everyone, buying gifts, never getting the gifts I actually asked for or even wanted, the ugly Christmas lights, tacky Christmas decore, cramming in things we should be doing all year into 1 or 2 weeks time. It's all a load of crock, and I hate every single thing about Christmas. I would just assume go to church on Christmas Eve, celebrate the meaning and purpose of Christmas, and be done with the whole event all together.

I just don't get why people love this time of the year so much. I get angry thinking of all the fake smiles I have to put on, all the disapointed Christmas mornings I had (my parents did the best they could, but that doesn't make it suck any less), all the people expecting me to be here and be there when I don't want to be anywhere but my bed..

I don't decorate my apartment. I don't even own a single decoration. I turn the radio when Christmas music turns on. I am usually able to hide the fact and forget that it's "that time of year" until the weekend before, and I was able to do that again this year. Today, it hit me like a ton of bricks. I was filled with rage and sadness all at the same time. It's unbelievable that I can feel this way about a single day of the year, especially one that's supposed to be so joyous.

I apologize that these past two posts have been negative rants, I promise next year, after all this garbage is over that I will turn over a new, more positive leaf.

Let's talk about driving in Atlanta

If you have ever had to come anywhere near Atlanta or the suburban area during a weekday and especially 5:00, you know that we boarder the gates of hell. Driving in this city can be a absolute nightmare at times. So I've decided to talk about the rules of the road that you should have learned in Driver's Ed and let you know what the person behind you is yelling when he, she, or myself are giving you the middle finger salute.

Let's start with turn signals or blinkers. Blinkers are the most underrated things on cars today besides Bluetooth. I just don't understand why people have such a hard time user time using them. You can take selfies and instagram them while driving, but you can't so much as just give that little turn signal knob a slippy-slappy and let everyone know you're coming in. That being said, if you fail to use your turn signal, the person next to you that used their's has dibs over that break in traffic NOT YOU! If you do proceed into that spot your car is probably too big to fit into anyway, do not, I repeat, DO NOT slam on breaks because you are a sorry, impatient piece of crap and can't wait for a hole big enough for your over-sized SUV to fit into. I'm looking at you mothers of an only child driving a suburbans! 
For those of you gracious enough to use a turn signal, please turn them off once you have gotten to your desired place on the road. There is nothing more frustrating than when I back off to give the car in the next lane over room to move over only to find out it's some grandma to stupid or on her phone to turn the thing off.

If for some reason you are flying into the Atlanta area and you are not renting a car, I pray for you daily. There are no worse drivers on these roads than Taxis and Towncars. If there is any law or unspoken rule about driving, taxi drivers break them daily. I am surprised they are not in more accidents than they are as many times as I've seen them cut across 5 lanes of traffic downtown just to turn around and go back right back to the lane they came from because they didn't realize they needed to be on 75 and not 85. How hard is it guys? You drive this city for a living, you are expected to know where the heck you are, and where you are going. Not to mention they are the worst at my biggest pet peeve of all..

Driving slow in the left lane is an act that should be punished with no less than a near death beating. As I said, Taxi's and towncars are the worst, the third worst offenders are Asians. I just seriously do not understand why people feel the need to drive in the left lane if they cannot even keep up with the flow of traffic. I believe that 40% of our traffic congestion is because of people to oblivious or prideful to move the heck over.

Now my next traffic rant, isn't as relevant anymore, but it still burns me up thinking about it. The number of people who approached the GA 400 Toll Plaza and acted like the beast just snuck up on them is appalling. When you got on the highway, there was a huge sign that said toll. 1 mile before you approached the toll, there was a huge sign that said toll. There was another sign that stated that all peach pass customers keep left, so if you don't have a peach pass.. get over. Just because the peach pass lane was still moving doesn't mean you should stay in it. I can't count the number of times I had to slam on breaks because some Buckhead Betty or Taxi driver was too good to wait their turn in line and would try to go as far as they could in the peach pass lane and cut over in to the tolls. I am surprised my horn will still honk it's been used so many times for that.

However, there is no obstacle more confusing for Atlantan drivers than little drops of precipitation. Even the threat of rain sends this town into complete and utter chaos. True, rain isn't the safest of driving conditions, but slamming on your breaks before you can even distinguish if it is actually rain or the person in front of you cleaning their windshield is completely unnecessary. Am I right, or am I right?! Every single one of you that has driven through Atlanta in the rain knows how "dead stop traffic" is no exaggeration on days like that.

..I could right a post every day on the people that I yell at in my 10 mile commute, I really could. However, I am going to stop with this. Stay tuned for another thrilling edition of "Megan takes on traffic" "Drive or die"

An explination of my Hiatus

I've been missing for a while around here. It's not you, it's me. I've just had a hard time getting into the swing of blogging lately..

Initially, it was because I had nothing of any value to write about--Nothing worth sharing, nothing I should share. Then I realized, I could post some ridiculous day of the week themed post or a "10 reasons..", but that takes half the point out of my blog. I want to blog about my life experiences and changes, not just fill pages with meaningless babble. I want good, relative content that I can use as a yearbook of my world. Quality of Quantity if you will..

Another reason of my hiatus was because I have found a lot of pressure to "keep up with the jones'" when I have to make my own content.

I need a good post? I guess I have to go out this weekend.

I need a good instagram picture! I guess I'll have to go get starbucks. Wait, I don't even like coffee!

I like that blogging encourages me to get out of my lair, but sometimes it's just not in the cards.

Some of you can relate, I'm sure. I know no one directly says "You gotta look/be your best," but let's face it, you feel like you do. The same goes for blogging. When I read through my news or instagram feeds, I see all these fun nights out, fab outfits, great dinners, ect ect... homegirl can't always do that!
My boyfirend lives almost an hour way and works afternoons/nights at the baseball field in a town even further away. We see each other 2 or 3 times a week MAX! We aren't engaged (much to my displeasure) So there are no wedding plans to recap or divulge. We are well out of that honeymoon stage, so dates consist of boring things like Five Guys.
I have an obscene amount of student loans from putting myself through college. After those are paid, I have very little play money every paycheck to do much with. I like to dress cute. I like to do fun things, but it gets hard on a budget and by yourself to do fun things besides bonding with netflix.

So sometimes, I find it's just better for me to just be silent in the blog world. Hopefully as the holidays start getting into full-force, I'll have better things to share, but for now I just wanted to say I missed you all and I'm sorry I'm a boring person.

Meet Miss Adeline Shea

Friday I woke up to one of the sweetest text messages ever:

"7lbs 17 oz 20 inches long healthy baby girl ... born at 10:53pm on 11/7/2013 .. everyone is doing great"

 Addie, as she will be known, is the newborn daughter of two of mine and Billy's best friends. Ironically, their names are Meghan and Billy too. You can't make this stuff up. Billy and Billy, or K as he's known around here, coach and work together at the same school. We have been anxiously awaiting her arrival for many, many months now, and we are so glad she finally decided to get here! Billy and I went straight to the hospital Friday after school and work to meet her. We were greeted with I'm an Aunt/Uncle pins which we have been proudly boasting since!

 


Now, for those of you that know me in real life know that I'm not exactly the biggest fan of babies or children. This little girl is going to have me totally wrapped around her finger. I can't wait to spoil her and watch her grow. I already foresee her being a softball player when she gets old enough, as she's going to be raised on baseball and Jesus.

Create Your On Adventure Linkup #2

<a href="http://www.sororitylifearmywife.blogspot.com"><img src="http://i1289.photobucket.com/albums/b512/sororitylifetoarmywife/linkup_zps183db055.jpg" border="0" alt="Choose Your Own Adventure"/></a>

The Rules: 

1. Follow your co-hosts.

Lisa @ Sorority Life to Army Wife

Miranda @ Hurry Up and Wait

Megan @ Barefoot Bluejean Princess

2. Create a date with our theme and budget in mind.
3. Post your date write-up.
4. Grab a button and link up during the last week of each month!

November theme: Groupon/Living Social Deals

This month, you are encouraged to scout out deals on daily-deal sites like Groupon, Living Social, Halff Off Depot, Deal Chicken, ScoutMob (If they have one in your city). Grab a coupon for a nice dinner, a class, an adventure of your chosing!

Budget: $20

I can't wait to see what fun deals you guy and all of your good lookin' dates! ;)

Another perfect Fall weekend

This was the first weekend Billy has had free in months--literally MONTHS!! I have had this weekend marked on my calendar for ages. We were finally able to sleep in, to get things done, and to just be a normal couple for once. Can I get an amen!? Of course, with any weekend we get off with nothing scheduled in Atlanta, we head to the mountains to spend the entire weekend at the cabin! No negotiation was needed, we both have our navigational beacons pointed north and we couldn't wait to get there!! Saturday we caught up on some much needed maintenance like gardening, leaf blowing, cleaning, and of course football watching. Like any other morning, we started the day off with a quick hike to get the dogs out and walked. We decided to hike up the trail behidn the cabin. The leaves were perfect up there. When the wind would blow, you could see them just bounce and float down the mountain, it was one of the most peaceful sights I've seen in a while.
After we got back, Billy's mom and I ran into town to get the basics for a good Saturday of football watching--wings, bbq, apples, and cupcakes. Yep, we have the 4 basic food groups covered. :) This is the view on our way, check out all of those orange and yellow leaves, you couldn't color it better if you tried!!
Billy and I got a lot of our projects we'd be wanting to tackle done. I got that blasted butterfly bush trimmed down (not as far down as I want, but it was a start). Billy fixed the leaning mailbox, got some weedeating done. Whew! There's still a lot on our to-do list, but it feels good to knock some off! Sunday, we had plans to hike to the top of blood mountain. PopPop, Billy's grandfather, was wanting to join on an adventure that day. With is recent double knee replacement, we don't like to push him too far, and we thought that blood mountain might not be a safe option for him. Instead, we opted for a quick trip to Amicalola falls. It's maybe 45 mins to an hour from the cabin, which wasn't bad. We also got brave and took the dogs, which was only a half good idea considering we lost Casey's choker on the last cabin trip. We were able to hike to the base of the falls with the rest of the million and a half tourists that that it would be a great idea to visit the falls that day. Casey was not a fan of having to be leashed.. We were also smarter than your average tourist, and instead of hiking up the 500+ stairs, we just drove to the top ;) The view from the peak of the waterfall is quite spectacular.

On our way out of the Valley. This is the lower end of the road that the cabin is on. Can you believe these colors?!

These mountains are like medicine to my soul. My heart is so happy here. Fall just brings out an extra dose of the beauty, it's almost overwhelming at times. I just stop and stare and take it all in with the wonder of a child. We are hoping to take a trip back up this coming weekend and throw in a corn maze before they're all closed for the year. I already can't wait!