The Royal Wedding

I admit that while I thought the hype around the event in America was a little overdone I was very excited about two things: Kate’s Dress and the Wedding Hats.  Very few people have multi-million dollar weddings so it definitely piqued my interest to see what an event would look like when money was no object.  I cannot imagine being under that much pressure and scrutiny.  So I thought I would walk you guys through some of the pros and cons of having a royal wedding.

Cons:

·         Absolutely everything was scrutinized

·         Sharing your special day with millions of viewers at home

·         A laundry list of traditions that must be strictly upheld

·         You would be unable to lose your composure even for a second

·         Your wedding and reception venue would be pre-selected

·         Everything would have to be traditional and sophisticated, no cupid shuffle for William and Kate

Pros:

·         Diamond Crusted Cartier Tiara on loan from the Queen

·         The overwhelming love and support of an entire country on your big day

·         The top of the line for everything – fashion, food, flowers, photos, etc

·         Becoming royalty – this could also fit in the cons section

·         Having the most amazing hat fashion in attendance at your wedding

Hip-Hopgraphy

A friend of mine from college teaches a hip hop class at Gotta Dance Atlanta.  I usually stick to jazz, contemporary, or lyrical classes but I decided to spend my Tuesday night doing hip hop instead.  Monte is an amazing dancer.  He started dancing in college and was a natural at it.  He has managed to become an up and coming Atlanta choreographer and a fantastic teacher.  In his class there are students as well as professional hip hop dancers so I just aim to have fun, avoid embarrassing myself too badly, and to broaden my horizons.  I also love watching the other dancers in his class because some of them are absolutely amazing at what they do.

Last night we learned Part 1 and Part 2 of Nikki Minaj’s “Itty Bitty Piggy.”  My friend Joanna and I would have been much better off just learning Part 1 but we both did our best and made it through the class.  I have decided that while it is fun to listen to Nikki rap quickly in my car it is must harder when trying to keep up with that speed in hip hop choreography.  I had a good time though and got a great workout.  I couldn’t handle going to that class every week but every now and again it is a fun way to mix things up and remind myself why I normally stick to jazz, lyrical, and contemporary. 

Guilty Pleasures

The theme on Dancing with the Stars last night was Guilty Pleasures and it got me thinking about some of my favorite guilty pleasures.  So here are a few of my guilty pleasures:

·         The Snooze Button on my Phone Alarm

·         The 80’s & 90’s stations on XM Radio

·         The movie Flashdance

·         The band ABBA

·         Drinking from the Milk Carton

·         The Twilight Books

·         Looking at peoples pictures on Facebook

·         Picking everything I would buy at modcloth.com if money weren’t an issue

·         Rhinestones

·         Shoe Shopping

·         Looking at Home Décor and Fashion Magazines

Pride

We are currently in a series on pride with our high school students.  I think it is a particularly relevant topic in our society because we are always in a constant state or too much or not enough pride.  There is a big difference between good and bad pride and I think that is where we miss the mark.  It is perfectly acceptable to have pride in good acts or have pride in your friends and family.  It is the bad pride that gets people of all ages.  The issue is when it crosses the line from pride in yourself or the people around you to judgment.  The second we take our pride and use it as a way to judge others then we have crossed into the danger zone.

One of the lessons during the series was about being a better listener.  Think about what a different and better world it would be if we were all better listeners.  It would almost eliminate gossip and prejudice.  What if we all put more effort into giving people the benefit of the doubt and talking to one other to uncover truth instead of projecting judgment on others?  I would love to live in that world! 

In thinking through all this I thought about all the static and barriers just within my own mind.  It is easy to see how pride has gotten so out of control in our society and our individual lives.  I do not expect to be able to end my struggle with pride or lack of pride in some situations but I do plan to spend more time on becoming a better listener.  I think it is a huge step in the right direction.   

True Love is knowing my favorite type of cereal bowl

Kyle has this absolutely adorable tradition of making my birthday a 7 day celebration.  For the 7 days leading up to my birthday he will give me little presents or writes me sweet little notes.  It is just his sweet way of making me feel special.  This morning before he left for work he woke me up to remind me that it is only 5 days until my birthday and then he gave me my present for the day.  This morning was 2 new cereal bowls.  This was amazing because I absolutely love cereal and also because my favorite bowls are from college and are slowly cracking and disintegrating.  They are exactly the same size as shape as the old ones but are more durable so they will last a whole lot longer.  I know it sounds silly to say that this is one of the ways that I know how true his love is for me but it absolutely is.  It was such a wonderful reminder that he notices all the little details and goes out of his way to remember them!  I hope every girl is as lucky as I am!

Claustrophobia

I have thought about posting on this topic before but held off because a lot of people don’t understand what it is like to have a phobia so the content here may make me sound crazy to those folks.  I have decided to disregard that concern and share my recent experience. 

Claustrophobia (from Latin claustrum "a shut in place" and Greek φόβος, phóbos, "fear") is the fear of having no escape and being closed in (opposite: claustrophilia). It is typically classified as an anxiety disorder and often results in panic attack, and can be the result of many situations or stimuli, including elevators crowded to capacity, windowless rooms, and even tight-necked clothing ^[1]. The onset of claustrophobia has been attributed to many factors, including a reduction in the size of the amygdala, classical conditioning, or a genetic predisposition to fear small spaces. One study indicates that anywhere from 5–7% of the world population is affected by severe claustrophobia.

Basic symptoms of claustrophobiaClaustrophobia is typically thought to have two key symptoms: fear of restriction and fear of suffocation. A typical claustrophobic will fear restriction in at least one, if not several, of the following areas: small rooms, locked rooms, cars, tunnels, cellars, elevators, subway trains, caves, airplanes and crowded areas. Additionally, the fear of restriction can cause some claustrophobics to fear trivial matters such as sitting in a barber’s chair or waiting in line at a grocery store simply out of a fear of confinement to a single space.

However, claustrophobics are not necessarily afraid of these areas themselves, but, rather, they fear what could happen to them should they become confined to an area. Often, when confined to an area, claustrophobics begin to fear suffocation, believing that there may be a lack of air in the area to which they are confined.  Many claustrophobics remove clothing during attacks, believing it will relieve the symptoms. Any combination of the above symptoms can lead to severe panic attacks. However, most claustrophobics do everything in their power to avoid these situations.^[2]

Those of you who read my blog saw my posts about our trip to Cedar Key and how lovely it was.  It really was a relaxing and fun vacation.  The only real negative of the trip was my claustrophobic episode at Universal Studios Islands of Adventure.  I would first like to note that I am incredibly rationally minded person.  One of the only exceptions to this is my claustrophobia.  We were having a fantastic day at the park and we decided to end the day by riding Hulk.  I have gone on this ride before and love it!  I have a difficult time with the harnesses on a lot of roller coasters but since I love them I do my best to power through my uneasiness.  One of my biggest fears is getting stuck in the harness after the ride ends; I have always been able to calm down my thoughts on this since it had never happened to me before.  I can no longer say that.  We had a blast on the ride and as we pulled into the waiting area to get off the ride my breath started getting uneven like usual and my heart started racing but I kept reassuring myself that I was only a few seconds from freedom.  We pull up to the exit point and all the harnesses lift except our row and I start having a panic attack. 

To those of you who have never experienced this I will do my best to explain it though I’m sure it won’t do it justice.  I felt the blood drain out of my head and my heart started racing and beating unevenly as I struggled to take deep breaths.  It felt like needles were piercing my skin as the panic fully set in.  My mind started racing and I became fearful for my safety and my freedom.  I felt the harness closing further in on me as every single second passed which caused me to tense almost all my muscles.  My stress level was so high that I was on the verge of passing out, which honestly would have been helpful because then by the time I woke up it would have been over.  The people attending the ride looked at me like I was insane and kept trying to say nice things and talk to me which was no help at all.  They couldn’t get the harness open with their tool so they had to call a technician and I thought I surely would never be free again which sounds insane I know.  After probably only a few minutes but what felt like a century they got us out and I almost collapsed to the ground once I stood up.  Once I was free I was able to calm myself down but I felt sick to my stomach for the rest of the day from the stress of it all. 

I am now worried that I won’t be able to ride roller coasters with shoulder harnesses again or at least for a while.  It has also caused my claustrophobic episodes to be triggered more easily since we got back which is really starting to upset me.  I am trying to work on self soothing myself in those situations but it is really embarrassing when it happens.  I hope none of you have phobias but if you do I hope this was something you can relate to.  I do not have many friends who have experienced anything like this so it is hard to not feel like a crazy person when it happens.  I can only hope that I continue to improve my ability to control my thoughts when I feel an episode coming. 

Thank Goodness for Friends

I am approaching another birthday as a twenty something and it’s interesting to think that I am still the same person as the girl who turned 20 and 21.  I would say that almost everything has changed but there have been a few constants in my life.  The first of which is my husband who has been loving me and often times putting up with me since high school.  Our relationship has only gotten better with time and I am thankful for him every day.  The next is my family who has finally transitioned from my gate keepers into close friends and throughout the process they have probably always my biggest fans.  Their love and support is unending and they helped me become the person I am.  The other is my friends.  I cannot say enough about the important of having close friends.  They make good situations better and bad situations seem bearable.

My family and friends have seen me triumphant, discouraged, joyous, overwhelmed, motivated, complacent, and everything in between.  I think I’m a good person but I honestly can’t imagine what I must have done to deserve to be surrounded by such loving and supportive people.  Most importantly they have inspired me to be a better daughter, wife, friend, Christian, neighbor, employee, and person.  Here’s to friends and family like you!

Sunset on the Gulf Coast

It has been a delightful week in Cedar Key, I’m sad to say it is our last day here but it has been extremely relaxing and I feel recharged enough to head back into the hustle and bustle of our lives in Atlanta.  Some of my favorite highlights from the trip are:

·         Sun bathing on the dock by our house

·         Reading 4 and 1/2 books – Waking up in Dixie, Safe Haven, The Adoration of Jenna Fox, rereading Water for Elephants, and starting Eat, Pray, Love (finally)

·         Sunsets on the pier

·         Riding Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey in Hogwarts at Universal in Orlando

·          NOT getting sunburned, it’s a miracle

·         Spending time with our adorable nephew Holden

·         Bird watching from our window

·         Not incessantly checking my blackberry

Cedar Key Arts Festival - Spring Break Day 1

I am happy to be posting from the sunny and beautiful Florida.  We arrived today and got checked in and settled at the house.  After we unloaded the car we headed to town square area for their famous annual arts festival.  It was so much fun walking around and looking at all the beautiful and quirky handcrafted items.  I fell in love with a lot of the acrylic painting and photography but unfortunately our budget didn’t agree.  We had a blast though and we sampled some award winning clam chowder from Tony’s seafood restaurant.  It was a wonderful first day!  I can’t wait to relax and enjoy the rest of the week, the town has a very slow paced feel and that will be a wonderful contrast to my everyday life in Atlanta.  I will try and post a few more times during the week with pictures and stories.  I have a book and a glass of Merlot in hand and I am a very happy woman.

Premier Jewelry

I had a few friends and family over for a jewelry party this past Sunday.  It was fun to drink mimosas, eat mini cupcakes and look at beautiful costume jewelry.  My order came in the mail yesterday and here are a couple of the gorgeous pieces I got.  I am thinking about getting started with them in the fall as something fun to do on the side, I’ll keep everyone posted.  For now here is my photo shoot with my favorite new pieces.