11 days later :Nights out, Wisdom teeth, Surprise Flowers and Graduate school

Who will tell whether one happy moment of love or the joy of breathing or walking on a bright morning and smelling the fresh air, is not worth all the suffering and effort which life implies. 

 ~Erich Fromm

I wanted to start my post off with a good and uplifting quote. I believe in this quote 100%. Yes, we all go through our daily struggles whether it be emotional, physical, financial, etc etc but at the end of the day who is to say whether all if it is worth it? I believe wholeheartedly that it is worth it. You just have to stick it out and trust that you're on the right and golden path and that God will fulfill your rightful blessings as he sees fit. 

I can't believe it's been 11 whole days since my last post, but as you can probably notice in the title...I've had alot going on. Let's begin with 

:Nights Out:

My last post I talked about myself and my ladies getting all dolled up and hitting the socialite scene. Well here we are looking quite dazzling I must say. I had an amazing time. I did meet a guy as I was walking back to my car. He was sweet, but a tad too short for me. He has text me a few times (Key word: text) I say if you're genuinely interested in someone, you pick up the phone and call them, but HEY. Maybe that's just me? Needless to say...I've stopped responding to his text after I got a "Hey Sexxy" one the other day. The most annoying there ever. Maybe a little respect? And last time I checked my name was Courtney, not "Sexxy" Thanks.

Stunning huh? We'll be just as beautiful on the streets of NYC for NYE 2011!

:Wisdom Teeth:

Yes, at 25 I'm still having my wisdom teeth taken out. My appointment was last Thursday (August 25th) I had my top and bottom right side teeth taken out. This local practice did not put me to sleep so I was awake for the ride :/ They did a local anesthesia instead.   My bottom gave the dentist the most trouble. When he pulled it out he said to his assistant, "Oh wow, I've never seen a three root molar before!..Oh wait, the root just broke off!" So they literally went digging for gold for the tip of the root. After holding my mouth open for what seemed like 78 minutes, they finally got the little critter out. WAIT I almost forgot. When I first arrived to the office this is what I was greeted with:

Birds chirping. Literally.

Yes! The damn receptionist having a full blown kissy session with her bird!

Only me! How's crazy is this? And is this even healthy? Come to find out the dental assistant and his wife (bird kisser) had just recently moved into a new home and the birds weren't allowed. So okay cool, let's just bring them on into the office! Weird. 

Anywho, I'm healing pretty good. The meds I'm prescribed are officially my bestfriend.

 NOTE TO SELF: Do not take drowsiness causing pain meds even if you are 5 minutes from home and even if you do need to drop of our redbox and the post office and then eventually  get greeted by a church man giving out free milkshakes then proceed into the pharmacy/post office and catch yourself falling asleep waiting for a mint chocolate chip milkshake.  

I actually took a picture of my teeth but figured I'd save you all from seeing them up close and personal. I'm glad that's over with. I now have ONE wisdom tooth left and as far as I'm concerned...it can stay there. I'm done with dentist for a while.

:Surprise Flowers:

Now remember how such a hopeless romantic I am from  My first post? Well I got a little taste of it yesterday. So let me back up and give a little story on how these flowers came about. Well the lady I work with has a daughter about my age. She had wanted her mom to show me a picture of him..la la la..you get the picture. So he eventually sends me a friend request on facebook and since his profile was open I fully stalked him before I accepted his friend request. haha :) (Precautionary methods) We'll we exchange numbers and text a little over the weekend. He sends me a sweet little text before my surgery and we had our first conversation Sunday night. So I'm at work helping a professor when I see a random lady walk into our building. Immediately my ears perk up (Eeeerrrrrrrrrrr ) <--That's for you Nia ;) So I ask, "Can I help you?" She proceeds to say she is looking for Courtney! I say, "That's me!" So here they are....

My beautiful flowers

Super sweet card

He sent me FLOWERS!! Ahhhhhhhh! So of course I send a mass text to all my friends and call my mom immediately. I mean seriously, how thoughtful he is? Oh I forgot to mention that he asked me to lunch on Wednesday so I'm looking forward to that for sure. Now this is the stuff I love! Just genuine guys doing what they can to put a smile on a girls face. Well it surely worked. Since I prefer to keep names secret, I'm going to  refer to him as Mr. Future President. (long story behind it, but trust me..it's worthy.) Will for sure keep you posted on how lunch goes :)

:Graduate School:

Today was my first day of Graduate School. Talk about eye opening. I'm so thankful that I've come this far and I know that with the support and love from my family, friends and an amazing God that my opportunities are nothing but endless. Here I am on my first day of school :)

Purple is my favorite color :)

My bf "T" starts Graduate School today too! Talk about being able to walk through something with your bestfriend by your side! I'm thankful for sure. 

I now want to end my post with a small Thank you for anybody who actually reads my blog. I only have 2 followers so shout out to yall! I haven't advertised my blog but to two people and that's about it. So any love I get, it's greatly appreciated. 

I'd love to hear from you. Email me anytime. court.lanae@gmail.com.

I want to leave you with this quote that I have pictured on my screen monitor at work As a constant reminder to hang in there. It'll all be worth it in the end.

Stay True. Be True.

xoxo

Fabolous Friday!

I am officially counting down the minutes until I get off work (Yes I blog during work hours because I have absolutely nothing else to do!) Anywho, so I just wanted to share a few things in the remaining 13 minutes. 


My bff "T" just sends me a text with this picture!

I called her immediately and we both say, "Oh my God!" at the same time! Now remember I'm a hopeless romantic so stuff like this just gets the chill bumps working up my arm! Her childhood friend whom she just reconnected with sent them to her. How precious? 


We went out last night to listen to a friend of ours band. During the performance I glance over at her to see a huge smile on her face while she is reading a text message. It's so obvious this guy is such a joy and blessing in her life. Who knows what the future holds between then since he does live in NC, but I'm a true and strong believer that everything happens for a reason. She deserves a good one..shoot we all do! I wish them nothing but the best as they continue on as friends with endless possibilities to what could and may come next. :) Love you "T"


It's Friday and tonight will most definitely be F-A-B-O-L-O-U-S! My girls and I are going to get all glammed up and hit the streets of downtown Nashville! We went shopping on Tuesday and found some super cute outfits. So you just better know that we will be showstoppers! Pictures will be most definitely be posted Monday! 


Is it bad that I'm secretly hoping I met a super charming guy tonight? Nah! Surely not! hehe. *Fingers crossed* Maybe I'll get lucky and he'll send me roses. Wishing thinking, but I'd rather have hope than be bitter. :)

I'll take him, the horse and the flowers :)

P.S My ex is officially a weirdo. He text me earlier this week asking to hang out. I told him I had plans on Friday. He responds, "Got you a date, eh?" I respond, "Well I surely don't want to be single forever!" 

Funny, his cat looks like this! 

Now if you notice, I didn't answer his question directly. So over this week I have been getting all these random messages from him. Its seems like he is trying to proclaim is love and reason with me on why he left. It just seems funny that all this is happening since he is now under the impression that I'm moving on (Going on a "date") . He sends me a text message super early this morning saying

"Hope everything goes well tonight. Have a great day!"


...birds chirrping...

Slight moment of confusion....

WTF? Are you serious? Who does that??!??!?! .........HIM! 
Poor fella. Well no, I'm not going on a date, but I am going to be smoking hott with my lovely ladies and we're bound to catch somebody's eye! ;) Wish me luck!

Hope everyone has a great weekend. Be safe and as always. Stay True, Be True.

Thinking Back Thursday

Today I'm thinking back to when I first met "J" which was when he was 2 years old and how today he started Pre-K!  I got this picture of him this morning from his mom.

I will have to admit that I got a little bit choked up because time has surely flown by. I first met him almost 3 years ago. He was just 2 years old. My brother and and his girlfriend have been together for some time now. So when she came into our lives...so did her precious little boy. He is by far the sweetest and smartest kid I have ever met. He will surely be a grand Pre-K student. 

I will never forget the first time he told me I was beautiful. Bless kids and how genuine their actions and words can be. :)

Here are some pictures of us over the past couple of years:

                

Family Pictures October 2010

This summer at my parents

4th of July 2009

At my graduation party. 2009

                        

With his first puppy "King"

Atlanta 2011

I'm so happy for him! I know he is going to be a great student!

Stay True. Be True.

Weekend with the fam!

It's Tuesday and I want to reflect on something I heard at a funeral this weekend. The pastor said that God made this world for us. We can't live our lives by exploring just the 50 mile radius around our hometowns. He put it here for us to explore and discover. I agree with this 100% and I'm now inspired to get out there..try new things..discover new things and appreciate new things.

Go. Be. Discover. :)

So I had a pretty good weekend. I drove home to my parents on Friday night, dropped my car off at the shop, and spent Saturday & Sunday with my family. My car has been acting pretty funny and since I know ZERO/ZIP/NOTHING about cars I figured it'd be best to have my dad's friend who is a mechanic work on it. $384 later..it's showing some improvement, but not enough for my liking. baby steps. My car MUST get me through graduate school. 

 I'm going to let the following pictures depict my weekend. 

My drove home on Friday after work:
When you have road rage like I do...this is not how you want to start your weekend off. 

My parents house is settled at the base of these mountains. The view from this highway shows how beautiful TN truly is. 

I can eat my weight in fried okra. My boss gave me some from his garden.
First thing I asked my mom to do was fry it :)

My 2 year old niece is just a delight to have in my life. I loved spending time with her over the weekend :)

She loooves my heels!

Too presh!

My nephew showed up shortly after and showed some love to my sweet Pecca.

My lovely parents at church on Sunday.

That's it for now...

Stay True. Be True

Saying Goodbye to an old friend...

"Perhabs they are not stars, but rather openings in heaven where the love of our lost ones pours through and shines down upon us to let us know they are happy."

 -Eskimo Proverb Quotes 

It's hard to fanthom losing my life at such a young age, but for my friend Brittany Reynolds this became a reality and she was taken away from this world too soon at the age of 25. On Tuesday I was sitting at Subway when I got an email from my bestfriend asking about Brittany. She had seen on facebook where mutual friends had posted, "RIP Brittany" on their status. So heart pounding I logged onto her page to be flooded by tons of goodbye messages. My heart sank. I sat in the booth at Subway with tears streaming down my cheeks. Granted it's been some time since Brittany and I spoke or seen each other, but as that saying goes, "People will never forget the way you made them feel." 

Brittany and I go way back to Middle School. I first met her in the 7th grade. She had this crazy sense of humor, a glorious smile and a laugh that was contagious. We remained friends up until our Freshman year of high school then she moved to another city. Not too long ago we reconnected on Facebook and it was a relief to know she was still doing great.

With the occasional "like" or "comment" we stayed in touch through facebook. My heart aches for her family and the untimely death of their precious loved on. As soon as I got home I digged through all my old pictures to find ones of her. I found a few and posted them to my facebook. On the back of the 8th grade picture she wrote to me,

 "Skyz da limit. Keep yo head up and remember I'm your friend!" 

May your precious soul rest in peace Brittany.

I will be paying my respects to Brittany by attending her home going celebration tomorrow. I pray for her family, friends and those who knew her best for God to comfort them during this time of sorrow. I also pray that I can hold it together and remain thankful for my life because our days are most definitely numbered. 

Brittany aka" Queen Smoove" as she liked to call herself, I will never forget you my dear friend. May you rest in peace. Tell my Grandmother hello and make her laugh with one of your silly jokes. Be blessed.

Stay True. Be True

Come on now, Steel Reserve?

Weekend Recap!

Well I hope everyone had a grand weekend. I'm still recovering from my serving shifts. I worked a double on Saturday and then Sunday night and with it being tax free weekend, it was busy as ever. I had to close Saturday night and I did nearly $1,009 in sales that night. The highest server sales but Boy let me tell you..my body feels that $1,009 right now too. Granted tips were the BOMB and I made tons of money, but physically and mentally...I'm drained. 

I didn't get home til late that night and since a good friend of mine was in town we decided to hang out. I made it home from work around 3:30am (I'm a server and the restaurant I work at closes at 2am..so please don't make assumptions lol) He came by shortly after that....upon arrival I noticed that he was quite ummm tipsy. I knew he had been out that night, so I figured he had his share but get this...in his hand is a Steel Reserve beer can and he says, "I brought you this!"

Okay! 

1. It's 3:30am and the last thing I'm thinking about is getting wasted with you, besides...I'm going to church in 5 hours.

2. How disrespectful is it to show up at my place druunnnkkk off your butt, attempt to have a decent conversation (FAIL) and the nerve to bring a beer for me?????

3. I HAD alot of respect for this individual until he pulled this little stunt, so there goes that down the drain.

Well after about 30 minutes of listening to him slur his words, say incomplete sentences, repeat himself over and over again, and get on my dogs nerves..I decided I had ENOUGH. So I politely make the "I'm tired" excuse aka "GET THE HELL OUT OF MY HOUSE!!" After he left my apartment reeked of beer and sweat. geez

                            plus      

EQUALS....

The next day he sends a text saying:

him- "Thanks for letting me come see your place lastnight!"

me- "Yeah no problem..lol...you were pretty drunk lastnight. You know that right?"

him- "lol, yea...sorry about that" 3:47pm

.....no response from me...

him-"It sort of crept up on me..." 4:10

Ya think??? Omg. What's wrong with this guy to think it's completely appropriate to show up blitzed and even bring party favors???!?! Sorry, but no thanks.

I never responded to any of his text, so I'm sure he got a clue. We had planned on hanging out this afternoon before he heads back out of state...I'll take a rain check. Might seem a little bitchy on my end to make such rash decisions, but if I'm to find Mr. Right, I have to block all Mr. Steel Reserves. 

On a lighter note: 

I'm feeling pretty good vibes about Mr. Right. I have a feeling he is right around the corner. So I'm buckling down, keeping my fingers crossed and praying I'm right about this feeling. 

Thinking Back Thursday

I want to try something new so here goes:

[Thinking Back Thursday will be a weekly post on Thursdays about an event, person, picture, or memory from my past that I wish to reflect on]

My trip to New York for Neutrogena:

Since I'm still suffering from NEW YORK FEVER after booking my flight for a New Years Eve Extravaganza 2012, I'd like to reflect on my last visit to New York City. During my Junior year of college I was down in Panama City Beach for Spring Break 2007 and auditioned for Neutrogena's One Less Stress online reality series webisode. It was the most random audition ever. I remember walking into the Neutrogena Tent on the beach and showing interest. The producer guy told me I had to explain what stresses me out and what distresses me. I had a table full of props to use. So using my imagination and charm I did the best I could. I talked about how I felt I didn't have enough time in one day to accomplish all I needed as an upcoming college senior. Apparently I did a grand enough job because 3 weeks later I got a call back. I was sitting in Trigonometry when the call came in. Of course I stepped out to take it. Once they told me I had been chose 1 of 24 out of thousands who auditioned across the nation to be flown on an all inclusive trip to New York.....I almost fainted. Months later I was in NYC with 2 wonderful ladies experiencing a "lifetime" experience. Now for that, I'm forever thankful for that blessing. It was my moment of fame :)

My webisode from One Less Stress: No Time to Stress

from YouTube

Here are few pictures from my experience:

Completely amazed by the BIG city

The other two contestants I competed with.
This picture made the front page of my hometown
Newspaper. So I was a little celebrity for a while.

Central Park

The production team placed us in this super cool apartment.

  

 On my last day I visited ground zero. It was very eye opening experience

I'm most definitely looking forward to my next trip to the BIG city :) So this is what I'm Thinking Back to on this lovely Thursday.

                     Stay True. Be  True.

                                                                                                                                   

7 day update: WILW & Tampa Vacation

Well It's Wednesday already and I can't believe it's been 7 whole days since my last post. I guess that goes to show between my office job, weekend serving job, sleep and Gossip Girl on Netflix...my blog is taken a direct hit. I'm hoping that once I get Internet at my apartment I will be able to blog more because I'm almost positive the coming months will be quite entertaining.

Since it's Wednesday I'm linking up with Jaime over at What I'm Loving Wednesday to share what I'm loving on this glorious 96 degrees Tennessee day.      

1. I'm ABSOLUTELY loving that I booked my flight to New York for New Years Eve last night. It's always been a huge dream of mine to be among the craziness when the famous ball drops! You could say it's a bucket list item...so let's scratch that off. 

The most exciting part about it all is that I'm able to share this trip with 3 of my good friends "T", "H" & "J" plus a new friend.  It's going to be absolutely amazing and I can't wait. The countdown has officially began!

                     

So if any of you have ever been to this glorious event and would like to share any tips on my visit, plllleeassseee contact me @ court.lanae@gmail.com. I'd love to hear from you. I've heard a few horror stories as well as good things. I just want to make the best of it and be prepared for the unthinkable. 

               

                                      

Empire State of Mind-Jay Z feat Alicia Keys

[Let's hear it from Neewwww Yooorrrkkk]

2. I'm also loving this book I'm currently reading. I've heard many great reviews and I can't wait to finish it.                                                                           

            

3. I'm loving that 27 days from now I will officially be a GRADUATE STUDENT!!! Yes, some may think that I'm crazy for being excited about papers, sitting in class on Saturdays, 7:20 am classes, research and all the realm of things that go along with grad school. Not only am I excited about being back in school, it's the opportunities that will follow. I count my blessing daily because fortunately enough since I already work at the university...my schooling is paid for. And with us being a private university..let's just say I'm going to pay back MY SHARE from Undergrad. I will begin this journey in the Fall, continue on all next year and graduate in May 2013. Four years of undergrad went by suuppper fast so I can only imagine how this will be. Let's get it!

Undergrad Graduate May 2, 2009

4. And as Always I'm loving my life as Single, Independent, Educated, Classy, Grad School bound 25 year old. 

[7] day RECAP!

Since last Wednesday things have been pretty smooth.well except for the fact that my sweet Pecca the Pug tried to attempt suicide last Saturday. I was driving down the road going about 50mph when in one motion, she jumped from the passenger seat, to my lap and to the window seal. I literally had to take both hands off the wheel, catch her and pull her back in. My heart dropped. Lesson Learned: Air Condition on during the hot summer days or your dog is basically  a goner. end.of.story.

Last Thursday I found out that one of my secret crushes has a girlfriend :( Boo. I'm a "Get straight to the point, if I wanna know something I will ask" kinda girl. I can tell by his reaction that he had NO clue I was going to ask him. He started talking about taking summer trips and so I figured this would be the best opportunity to ask about a significant other. So I casually ask, "So are you the type to go on these trips alone, with friends, with a girlfriend?"  He stuttered a little which makes me feel a little uneasy because I can tell he didn't want to admit to it. (bad sign) Anywho, we'll end up being classmates so I'm excited about getting to know him as a friend. [B-O-R-I-N-G] This is where my inner voice is saying, "Be good Courtney, be good!"

Life as part time server has it's perks: $$$$$$$ and not so perks: HORRIBLE GUEST that you want to drop kick in the throat. This is how I felt Friday night. But I kept my cool :)