Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end

I haven't decided what day actually marks the ending of my summer. I mean, I packed my bags and moved back to Charleston on August 7th.  Residents move in to College Lodge August 21st. Classes start August 24th. What marks the end of summer? Well, I guess since I am posting this blog the night before classes start, then the end of summer is now. A little sad, but not. My summer was EXTREMELY busy. And while I will be busy back at school, I am on a schedule. Love schedules!

I had some great times this summer. I kept a list of everything. Mostly everything. I might have missed a few things. The list is kind of in order. Some of it might not make any sense but for the most part it does. So here it is, the list:

Cookout. Catch Phrase. Letters to Juliet. Apples to Apples. The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus.  Twilight Series. This Lullaby. Working at Victoria's Secret. Speed Street. Babysitting. Sewing. Baking. Biology 101. Astronomy 101. ShoesDay! Cousins' Graduation. Exercising. Wicked. Family Portraits. Quiet Times.
Teaching the Middle School Sunday School Class. Putt-Putting. CSI. Shopping. Writting letters. Glee. Study Groups. Don Pedros. Red Bowl. Face Masks. My Life in Ruins. Carowinds. Red Robin. Pool. Graduation Party. Friday Phone Conversations. Erica coming back from Field Training. The Civil Wars - "Poison and Wine". Apple Crisp. Vacation Bible School. Amber and Will's Wedding. Double Surprise Birthday Party.
Shag and Swing Dancing. Water balloons. Wendy's Frosty's. Painting Mike's car. Cake decorating. Late night exercising. Lake Party. Star Gazing. 0 to 60 mph in 8.2 seconds (Don't ask). Travis West coming to visit. Failed movie attempts with Austin. Apple Crostata. Toy Story 3.
Trip to Charleston. Kickin' Chicken. Beach. Boat Trip to Morris Island. Trip to Statesboro, GA. Free Chick-fi-la sandwich. Cow Shirts. True Blood. Car Washing. Second Chance. Traveling Light by Max Lucado. Step Brothers. Big View Diner.
Study Group. Dog Walks. Book of Eli. Year One. Pet Sitting. Swimming. Tanning. JetSki. Tubing. Cooking dinner with Friends. Packing and shopping for College. RA Training. SIM Hall. Winning Learning Outcomes. Going to the beach. Zaxby's. Jogs around the Battery. Playing in the rain. Move-in Day.

It has been one great summer. Now it is time to close this chapter. Tomorrow marks the first day of my Junior Year of College. Let's get this started!

Have a great Tuesday everyone! Much love <3

ShoesDay #11

So, it has been over three weeks since I have last written a ShoeBlog post. Why has it taken me this long to write this post? Deep down, I think I was avoiding it. Knowing it would be the last ShoeBlog post. However, I really don't have another pair of shoes to talk about. I mean, sure I have plenty more shoes in my closet, but no more that really stand out to me. Each of these shoes have plenty of special stories to reveal.

For instance, yesterday (Monday), I wore a pair of black and white polka dotted wedges for the Learning Outcomes Presentation for Residence Life and Housing. Basically, if we did really really really well, we would receive more funding to College Lodge, which would allow us to provide more events and programs for the residents. Guess what?!?! We got first place!!! While I might not remember the exact shoes I was wearing, I will at least remember the feeling I got when the residence hall's name was announced for first place.

So basically, each day, something new and exciting seems to be happening. Opportunities occur, which challenge me and make me love life, people, and God so so much more. So while this might be my last ShoeBlog for awhile (never coming to a close...always shoes to talk about ;)  ), I will continue to love every minute of life and remember the memories created in my shoes. 

A quote to end:

It doesn't matter the number of shoes you have, but the steps you take in them.

***I am in the process of figure out new ideas for a weekly blog similar to the ShoeBlog. Suggestions would be greatly appreciated!!! :)

Much love to all <3

ShoesDay #10

Ten more days until I go back to school. WHAT!?! Where is has the time gone? Do I feel prepared and ready to go back? Not even close. I would love to have more of a break between summer school and school, but its not going to happen. I plan to work some more hours, pack (and pack some more), hang out with friends and family, and finish some sewing projects I started these next few days.

Shoes #11

Now, before I begin, I will admit that I LOVE LOVE LOVE these shoes. Not necessarily for the shoes themselves, but for all the memories created while wearing them. I have worn them for at least seven different formal occasions. There are some semi-formal occasion I have worn them to like birthdays, parties, etc. I purchased these shoes a few days before a pageant freshman year of high school. I desperately needed a pair of heels to go with my red dress. I didn't want to be completely matchy-matchy with red heels, since red is such a hard color to match. Silver was the next best thing. However, such a pain to find a pair of cute, silver heels in January. I finally found these at the Nine West store at SouthPark with my dad. Little did I know I would be using for so many different occasions. When I shop for any occasion that I need to wear fancy shoes, I always ask myself if the dress will match my silver shoes, because the shoes are the necessity.  Below are some of the formal occasions I have worn my heels:

Pageant 2005 - I was in the Miss Fort Mill High Pageant Freshman, Sophomore, and Senior year. This is my freshman year. The theme was Dancing in the Street. It was pretty special because I got escorted on stage during formal wear by my brother. Loved the dress. Hated my makeup. It was wayy to thick. I didn't pick any close up pictures for this one just for that reason. :)

Pageant 2006 - This was sophomore year pageant. The theme was "Diamonds are a Girl's Best Friend". Dance song was from Moulin Rouge (aka one of my favorite movies). This dress color was so pretty and I love the frills on the bottom of the dress.

Prom 2007 - Junior Prom. I always had a great group of people to go to prom with. We always have a great time. We took pictures at

 McDowell Park, ate at SouthPark, danced the night away, and hung out at Johnna's house afterwards. My date was such a sweetheart and would dance with all the single girls. I had to pull him away a few times because he was my date and I didn't want to share too much ;) (By the way, I used the same dress from pageant 2005. I hated spending so much for a dress and only wearing it one time so I reused dresses. I did the same thing for senior year)

Pageant 2008 - This was my senior pageant. The theme was "Uptown Girls". I especially loved this dress. It was very form-fitting in the bust and the color was a lovely emerald-green. I never actually placed in any of the pageants, but I had so much fun getting all dressed up, it didn't bother me.

Prom 2008 - By far the best prom I went to. I had a blast from beginning to end. I love my hair. The lady did an amazing job. The whole day went so smoothly. I think it tried to rain on us, but it held out until later (thank goodness)! I do remember living in between houses so I had my shoes at the new house so I had to make a stop over there before I went to take pictures. We ate dinner at Magnolias in Ballantyne (closed now), and then went to prom. I was Prom Queen and my King was Keon. Such a great time! We ended the night by hanging out at my house.

Prom 2009 - I went to prom for the third time with Ben Tyler. I really enjoy this going back for a third time. It was a lot of fun, just like all the proms I went to. I decided to go with a short dress and turned out to be much more comfortable and cooler.

I love these shoes. I wear them whenever I get the chance or have a formal occasion to go to. They aren't the most comfortable and end up coming off within a few hours, but they fit the needs I have for most of my outfits. So many great memories in these shoes!!!

I hope you all have a fantastic Tuesday. Much love <3

ShoesDay #9

Hello everyone! I hope you are having a fabulous week so far. Sorry for the slackness last week. I keep waiting until the last minute to post my ShoesDay blog and it ended up not getting completed last week. Booo!!!

Summer school is almost over. Two more weeks! I couldn't be anymore excited for Biology to be over. However, when summer school is over, that means my summer in Fort Mill will be over too :( Sad. Sad. I head back to Charleston August 6th. Soo soon! I have trying to enjoy it the best I can while still working and studying for schoool.

The previous week I went to Charleston, SC and Statesboro, GA. I had a LOVELY time in both places. Being in Charleston made me miss it even more and I am very excited to get back down there. I loved hanging out with Candace. We had some great time (Free chicken sandwich, watching TrueBlood, relaxing).

Before I left on my trip, I had finally finished my shirt I had started a few weeks before. It is a one-shoulder, jersey knit shirt. I didn't have a pattern so it was a PAIN trying to figure out my sizing it. Needless to say, I still have a few minor adjustments to make, but the shirt is pretty much complete and ready for wear! :) I am thinking a new cute shirt calls for a date night!!! (Hint hint to the fellows out there. Just kidding. But seriously ;)  )

Shoes #10

Well, hello there bedroom slippers! Don't you all look incredible comfortable. :)

At home, I have two bedroom slippers I use (white and pink ones in picture). Especially during the winter time because I stay so cold. Slippers are so convinent because I can wear them around the house and not worry about my feet being freezing cold! However I have to be careful. Unfortunately bedroom slippers are not the best shoe option to have when (a) you have hardwood floors and (b) you are being chased by your little brother because you are fighting about something. There are no slip-grips on the bottom of them so I slide all the time. In this particular instance, my head meet the ground faster than I knew I had slipped. Lesson learned: when fighting with siblings, take the bedroom slippers off.

Now the black flip-flops are my FAVORITE ones out of the bunch. I got them for college to wear around my residence hall because let's be honest, those floors aren't that clean and walking around barefooted is just asking for trouble. But of course, since they look like flip-flops I had a tendency to walk outside with them on quite often. I would make it all the way to the dining hall and realize I had them on. O well! At least my feet were comfortable :)

Now when I think of slippers, I associate it with a bedroom (hence bedroom slippers) and then I associate it with sleeping. I. Love. Sleeping!!!! I really like getting at least 8 1/2 hours a sleep each night, but my schedule hardly ever allows that. So, I squeeze in a few naps here and there. Love naps! Especially friday afternoon ones right after classes are over. I love curling up under my million blankets and snoozing off for a few hours. Also, It is a necessity to have the fan on. More for noise purposes because I hate when it's complete silent. I also have this red blanket that I always use to sleep with. Its not like a baby/childhood blanket that I have had forever or anything like that. I think I like it because its so light weight, which I can use in the summer.

So, do you have anything that you must have in order to sleep (blanket, fan on, etc.)?? Well, if you are tired today, take one for the team and take a nap!!! :) Have a lovely day everyone. Love you all!!!

ShoesDay #8

I am just LOVING these summer days! I love being able to lay by the pool whenever and enjoy the sun's rays. Summer nights are just as great. It's not too cold outside, which makes it more comfortable to enjoy the night's sky. Just the other day I was able to see four shooting stars in just a thirty minute timeframe. 

School just has a few more weeks to go with moving back to Charleston just a few days to follow afterwards. This past week, I worked and studied alot. Threw a surprise birthday for two of my closest friends. Went to the pool. Finished reading New Moon (finally!). And hung out with family and one of my cousins. It was a busy, but great week.  This coming week I am looking for a much needed vacation. I am going to Charleston then spending a few days in Statesboro to visit Candace and Miah. Can't wait!!!

Shoes #9

Well, speaking of Candace, my ShoesDay will be about a pair of shoes that I wore on her special day. This pair was purchased to match the brown bridesmaid dress I wore in her and Jeremiah's wedding back in December of 2006. It is hard to believe that the wedding occurred over three years ago.

I was so excited when I found out the previous Christmas(2005) that she was engaged and EVEN MORE excited when she asked me to be her Maid of Honor.  2006 zoomed by and before I knew it, the week before the wedding had arrived. My family and I headed to Savannah, GA to participate in the wedding festivities.  There was the Bridal Luncheon followed by the Rehearsal dinner the night before. 

The wedding day had finally arrived, but not much sleep was acquired the night before so the girls used our chilled spoons to lessen the unwanted bags under our eyes. Yes I do realize we look slightly goofy, but the spoons do help out quite a lot.

We headed over to the hair salon to get pretty-fied. It took us a little longer to get everyone's hair done, because the guy kept stopping for a smoke break and to talk on his phone. Quite annoying, but he did a great job on my hair so we were even. When we were all finished, we headed over to the church to finish getting ready and to take pictures. We ended up having a lot of extra time on our hands so we just hung around...

The Bride even caught up on a little reading....Look how calm she was!!!!

When everyone was seated, the ceremony started. Thankfully I did not trip over my feet or walk too fast. I held on to the groom's wedding band until the pastor asked for the wedding rings. I pulled the ring out of its safe hiding spot...my bra. I wasn't about to lose that ring and that was the safest place for it. The wedding ceremony ended with a kiss to seal the deal!

More pictures followed the ceremony, but not too many because we didn't want to miss the party at the reception.

The food was delicious. The music was just right. The cake was beautiful. The decorations were perfect. During the reception, I gave the bride and groom my toast and wishes. If you all know me, then you know how I LOVE writing people poems. This event was no different. Below is the poem I wrote for them:

Here’s to Candace our bride and Jeremiah her groom,

Who together this evening light up the room.

I hope your years are long and plentiful,

And every event is important and meaningful.

The connection between you two sets you apart,

You both have a kind and loving heart.

Today is the beginning of a lifetime of happy memories that will never fade,

And I know that your future holds many more waiting to be made.

May you learn to appreciate your differences is not so odd,

And that you trust each other as much as God.

May love always surround you and wrap you in each other's arms forever,

And your marriage last forever and ever.

As of today, you are Mrs. Strickland and leave behind Ms. West
I wish you and Jeremiah a happy marriage and all the best!
We finished off the night with a little more dancing and sending the newlyweds off with sparklers.

My shoes in action!!

This event is one that I will always keep close to my heart. I felt honored to be part of Candace and Miah's special day. And I had a blast with everything that went along with the wedding. There is ALWAYS something that goes on between the West and Griffin clan. We just know how to have a good time and create some great memories. So whenever I wear these shoes, I don't think about the blister that will mostly likely form, but instead, I think about the memories that were created while wearing them.

ShoesDay #7

Hello friends!! Hope everyone is well. Guess what!?! It's June 29th. Let's do some countdowns:

1. One day until Adam and Johnna's birthday.
2. Nine days until a vacation
3. Thirty days until I move back to school.
4. Forty-seven days until school starts.

Crazy! I think now that I am soo busy, the summer is zooming on by. I don't mind how fast everyday is going because I really haven't had time to think about it. However, I finally have gotten adjusted to being home and then I will have to turn right back around and go to school. It's just too much of a rollercoaster of emotions for me!

I feel like I begin every post now by saying how super busy I am, but I really have. This was the first weekday morning in a few weeks that I didn't wake up to an alarm because I had nothing going on this morning. It nice to sleep in some.

Shoes #8
Everyone, I would like to introduce you to my Easy Spirit tennis shoes!!

You probably are thinking I get all the boys when I wear them. FALSE. I don't. I am not particularly crazy about these shoes because of how "chunky" they are, but they are supposed to be good for my feet (read ShoesDay #5).

The only time I really wear them is when I exercise. This past year I began to visit the gym more than every couple of weeks. Why? I think I began to feel the positive effects of exercising and was enjoying them. Mind you, I don't go to the gym every day because of my scheduling not allowing it. I am sure I could work it into my schedule more than I do, but sometimes I would rather lay around the house than work out. I also work out more when I am stressed. I have learned how to letting go of my stress when I work out. Putting in my head phones and running around Charleston always makes a difference, when I get done. Exercising is just a way for me to breathe and to get refocused.

I do have work out buddies sometimes. At school I have gone with a couple of friends to the gym, Zumba classes or just worked out in the dorm room. My friend at home goes with me to the 24 hour gym at night. He protects me. I protect him. ;)

Things I have learned from exercising:

1. 
   
   It is EXTREMELY challenging to get up and work out in the early morning.
2. 
   
   I like to JOG and WALK. Running is not programmed in my system.
3. 
   
   I like taking dancing classes. Only taken Zumba, but would love to take Salsa, Swing, etc. (Any takers?!?! ;)  )
4. 
   
   I am intimidated to use the weights when there are guys around.
5. 
   
   It's really hard to look cute working out. Who honestly can make sweating profusely look good?
6. 
   
   When I make the time for exercising, it's worth it.

Well, thanks for keeping up with my ShoesDay. There is still a few more weeks to come of stories about my shoes. Have a great week. Love you guys!!

ShoesDay #6

Hello June 15th! I am writing this post at 2:25 this morning. Why you might ask? Well, I just got off work. I had to help make Victoria's Secret look all pretty for the big sale that starts today. I am quite tired, but I am past the point of noticing it and I quite hyper. Listening to a some Usher (You Got It Bad). Random, I know.

Unfortunately, this is going to have to be a short post because I have so much to do. I say that now and will probably end up writing just as much as I normally do. When I am not babysitting, I am working at VS. When I am not babysitting or working at VS, I am studying for Biology or Astronomy. So that is pretty much what this week will look like for me. So pray that do not lose my head this week and will be able to make it through and still get somewhat of a decent amount of sleep.

Shoes #7

These are my black and brown close-toed shoes with a slight heel. I call them my "teacher" shoes. I mean, they look a little teacher-ish. Especially the brown ones. I wear them in the winter time with my nice pair of knee-high pantyhose. Yep. I admit it: I wear pantyhose. No one seems to wear them anymore but they keep my feet warm (slightly). I would get made fun of in high school about it. Didn't bother me because I really didn't care. Anyways, going on from that sidenote. While I only consider these two pairs to be my "teacher" shoes, I am sure I will be accumulating more over the years.

To most it is quite well-known that I want to pursue a career in teaching. Always have since I was a little girl. How could I be interested in working with kids when I was a kid myself? I really don't know the answer to when I first wanted to become a teacher, but God planted that seed in my life and I am choosing to follow it. 

In these shoes, I have worked with Special Needs, kindergarten, first grade, second grade, third grade, fifth grade, and seventh grade. I have traveled the hallways of many schools; all which have the essence of knowledge being explored by the youth. It is crazy to think that I could be teaching two years from now when I graduate. It seems so close. So real. I really hope to make a difference. I know that is so typical for future and present teachers to say, but it is true. What can I, as a teacher, pass on to my students that will have a lasting and positive impact? What can I teach them that will be useful after the school year is over?

We are all called to be teachers in some way or another. In ANYTHING we do, we are showing others how to do something or maybe just being an example to others. God teaches us every day about Himself or teaches us about ourselves. Revealing to us how we so desperately need Him in our lives. He teaches us through our heartaches and failures how to let go and let Him do the work.

So what are you teaching others? What has God been recently teaching you? I would love to hear your responses, so please share!

Have a great week. Love you all!