I'M IN LOVE! I'M IN LOVE! AND I DON'T CARE WHO KNOWS IT!!

               So, this title may be slightly deceiving. This is not a lie, but I doubt this blog will be what you all expect. I have come to a realization. Life sucks. Life will NEVER be perfect. We cannot wait for the world to get its ducks in a row for us to be happy.  "It"(whatever it may be) is not about that; "it" is about finding happiness through the crap,and boy, is there loads of that.  This, my friends, is true joy.  The relationships that grow from struggle, the friends that become family when everyone else turns their backs, when doors one would swear were the "thing" are slammed in our faces, when we find happiness in these is when we find the best moments of our lives. I am in love with life, not because I have the perfect lover, best hair ever, or dream job opportunities popping up, for I am single, my hair has a mind of it's own, a ginger curly mess, and I work at Chick- Fil- A while trying to get through this maze we call high-school.  I am in love with life because I finally realized it a choice neutral to situations.  I am happy because if I do not decide to be happy, there is, and will always be, far too much to keep me unhappy, depressed, even. I am going to love myself.  Note the "-ing" ending because I realize this will be a draining process. But I cannot love anything without loving myself. I deserve to feel beautiful, not because of pride, but because I realized it is ok, healthy, actually, to walk by a mirror and smile genuinely at what I see.  I decide to be happy because for too long I have allowed others and their opinions to define me.  Here I am. I am happy. I am in love.  This is a beginning, not an end.

THE SOUTH.

            Disney World is spectacular, but it is neither the happiest nor greatest place on earth.  However it is located in this area. This area I would be referring to is...wait for it....drumroll please.... the South.  Now, I may be slightly biased considering I am a born and raised Georgia peach, but my devotion is deeper than words on a birth certificate.  I could go into the differences between "Redneck", "Country", "Blue-Grass", and "Southern", and believe me there is a difference(some of you Yankees may be taken aback by this, no offense), but I would like to put more effort into emphasizing the fact that just as not every single human living on the Northeast shore is a "Jersey Shore" character, we are not all as ridiculous as "reality" t.v. shows make us out to me. We have class. We have dignity. We have hygiene. Not to mention one of our specialties, hospitality. I never meet a stranger, thanks to the example of Momma.  And if you have been to the house or church or any kind of special event, practically, you are family.  And we treat family right, even when they are knuckleheads. Oh, they are gonna learn their lesson, be sure, but we are going to take of them.  We do not miss church unless we are out of town or in the hospital, and if the latter, after service the congregation'll be cramped in that little room or bringing some homemade goodies to the family.  And although some church is though of as more of a chore or "have-to" rather than "want-to", this does hold us accountable, and sometimes we get the most out of those services that we momentarily thought about sleeping in.  We do not know much about personal space nor personal business. We always mean well.  We are innovative.  Sometimes our hearts and brains disagree, and when this happens, it is a tricky thing to master which to follow.  Right or wrong, we typically go with the heart. Football is more than a sport. It is a characteristic.  It is a party.  It is a binging factor.  Unsweet tea is simply incomplete sweet tea.  I do not consider myself to be an extremist. I am decently cultured.  I appreciate many arts and places and ways of life.  I am independent.  But, there is something about a boy in a flannel driving a truck, particularly an older one, with a power G tag on front, the cherry on top.  This makes me almost as happy as the sound of a banjo, fiddle, mandolin, and/or multiple part harmonies. Family harmonies, those are the best.  Not to the mention the South's beauty! Rolling hills, valleys, beaches, lakes, mountains, flowers, greens upon pinks upon blues upon purples during spring and summer! An array of warm hues during fall, mixed with festivals, all things pumpkin.  Christmas time! Lights, lights, lights! Prayers for snow!  Forever is not enough time to describe this Southern Belle's home, so how's about comin' for a visit and seein' for yaself:)