pictures from the weekend

Blue Monkey for Birthday Drinks.

Jenna and Allie for breakfast coffee.

The Sunset on the Mississippi River from BBQ Fest.

Railroad tracks in Memphis.

great sense of direction?

I recently have travelled to a couple of places (New Orleans; Pinnacle Mount, AR) with two friends who've claimed to have incredible senses of direction.  They managed to maneuver us around in circles in New Orleans for a few hours--at least it felt like that.

I also have a mom who is directionally challenged. She claims it to be a disability.  (I don't know if the ADA covers that.)  I think she only says that because she wants some understanding when she turns left after I tell her to turn right.

My father is a forester and land surveyor, and made his living by navigating the moss on the trees to find his way.  For as much as I feel that I've inherited my father's gift, I choose to not declare that I have a great sense of direction.  Because that means tomorrow I'll get lost when I walk to work or something crazy like that.

some pictures from in and around memphis

quick update

The past month went a little like this:

Went to St. Louis for some work-related stuff and got to tour the Budweiser Brewery (w/ free samples) and go to the top of the Arch.  The Arch was a little scary.  It's really tall and you have to sit in this little Jetson's-like contraption to get to the top.

I got back from St. Louis and got sick. Really, really sore throat.   I voluntarily went to the doctor, which is not normal.  They said that I wasn't sick.  I begged to differ.  Regardless, the next two weeks were painful, but extremely busy at work.

In the midst of that, I went skiing in North Carolina.  I wasn't too sick to go skiing.

My mom and Aunt Liz came to visit me the next weekend.  We went down to Tunica, Mississippi and played the penny slots.  High rollers!

I had a weekend off and played in a whiffle ball tournament.  It was around that time that I found out that my scheduled trip to Reynosa, Mexico with some students at Rhodes had been cancelled due to some recent violence on the Mexican border.  So, it was during the first half of the Duke/Carolina game (last one of the regular season) that I decided to go with some other students to New Orleans to help with rebuilding.

And, now, I just got back from that adventure.  I'll be posting stories about New Orleans on the Rhodes College blog.  If you're interested, you can read those here: Rhodes College Blog.

snowy morning in memphis

All of these pictures were taken on the campus of Rhodes College in Memphis, TN.

The mighty Charles Diehl statue stands tall against the backdrop of Burrow.

The snowy landscape from the courtyard of Stewart.

A wall.

A bench in gray.

The fence, outside of Bellingrath Hall.

licking, missouri

So, I went on a road trip this past weekend.  I detailed it (sort of) on my blog for work.  Check it out if you want: road trip blog

Here are a couple of pictures from the trip...

Old trucks somewhere in Iowa

Sunset somewhere in Arkansas

Mistiming our self-timed jumps.

the biltmore

On my recent drive to NC, I made a slight detour to view the Biltmore House.  My parents say they took my brother and I there when we were younger, but neither of us remembers it.  So, I turned my 11 hour drive into a 13 hour trip.  And, I had some good conversations with people and got some decent pictures. (Each of these was taken separately.)

oh, funny stuff

Great video if you haven't seen it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OI_FO4QaIR4&feature=related

back to back

I have a bad habit of overbooking myself.  And, I like to deceive myself into believing that I manage my time well.  But, I can take yesterday as a fine example of how I can exhaust myself because I can't say no.

Work was pretty busy, as we are preparing to close down our part of the College for the Christmas season.  I left work to go to dinner with some friends.  It was interesting...my first trip to the local Indian restaurant.  I left dinner, running late, to head with some other friends to the University of Memphis basketball game.  That game left me a little queasy.  I still can't figure out if that's because of the Indian food or the fact that Memphis held on to a win a game when they should have stomped on their opponent like an 18 wheeler would roll over a Prius.  So, I got back to the apartment around 10...the time that I like to wind down and relax.  But, no, instead I agree to go on a ghost hunt around campus.  The ghosts were sleeping or not in a mood to play.  I got home late and woke up early to get some things done this morning.  And, now, I'm going to rely on some strong coffee to help me make it through the day.

shoes

I've recently fallen into the trap of deciding shoes based on whether I want my feet to be comfortable or whether I want my feet to look nice.

Too bad that many of my shoes (at least for work) are not both fashionable and comfortable at the same time!

humility

Earlier today, I was studying some GRE vocabulary words.  Here's one I need to remember more: Humility.  Let's use it in a sentence...George thought vary highly of himself, but was considered by others to lack humility.

Dictionary.com's definition strikes me..."modest opinion or estimate about one's own importance, rank, etc."  

Oh, I love how lacking humility, at least in my case, often ends up with me getting slapped in face with some moment of reality when I learn how I'm no better than the next person.  That happened today.  I sent an email and used some wrong terminology.  And, in turn, I received a well-intentioned, but painful, email that put me back in my place.  The specifics are not important.  It's the lesson that matters.

Too often, I overestimate my importance, and, many times, at the cost of another.  To make myself more important, I demean someone around me.  Sometimes I use humor to make it seem okay, but it's not.  And, eventually, I end up with that knot in my stomach that reminds me that, not only do I now want to vomit, but we're on the same field.  Oh, this sucks.

Yes, we're all bowl eligible...

Yesterday, I make the long (2 hour) trip up to Raleigh to watch the NC State Wolfpack defeat the Miami Hurricanes.  My cousin, Samuel, works as a manager for the football team.  So, some of our family goes up to the games to support Samuel and enjoy the game and tailgating.  With the Wolfpack and the Clemson Tigers winning yesterday, that makes 10 of the 12 teams in the ACC eligible for bowl games.  And, they said we were a weak conference.

Here are a few of the photos from the game...

To be thankful for...

So, on this Thanksgiving Day, I thought I'd post a few of the things that I'm thankful for...

funny faces...

beautiful babies...

and priceless memories with family!

pictures from my vacation...thus far

Sunset from the back porch.

Zac Brown, my cousin, leading his team back into the game.

Aidan Brown, not paying attention to Zac playing

Maddie and her friend

Hunter...so cute

Hunter, again, posing for me

Winston, in a rare, calm moment

starting to give thanks

I arrived to NC yesterday, to spend Thanksgiving with my family.  Apparently, we like to draw out the celebration to about a week's worth of events.  It begins with Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow with the Simmons side of the family.  That being said, I scanned a lot of old pictures of the Simmons family today.  Below are some of my favorites:

   My mom and Dad getting ready to move to SC (1975-ish)

Dad and Uncle Sandy (1970-ish)

Pa, carrying my dad, with Aunt Paulky and Uncle Sandy (1951)

My dad, Aunt Paulky and Uncle Sandy (1956)

Aunt Susan, my Dad, Uncle Sandy and  Aunt Paulky (1956)

recovering

On Monday night, I made the decision to go to a basketball game between the University of Memphis and the University of Massachusetts.  This is normally not a big deal, but the game started at 11 pm.  It was all part of ESPN's 24 hours of basketball...though I think they took a break between 6-10 am.  Regardless, the game was good.

I did take, what I like to call, a "Khorey Baker 3rd Quarter" nap.  I dozed off for a few minutes in the second half.  But, all in all, the game was entertaining, even though it ended at 1:30 am...on a school night.

Yesterday morning, I woke with a sore throat and the achy feelings of getting a little sick.  I'm still battling that right now. I've got some Cold-Eeze, Afrin and Tylenol Cold and Flu.  

I leave tomorrow to head to NC for about ten days.  I've found out that my family likes to extend Thanksgiving, so some festivities will begin this weekend.  Good thing I booked that ticket for when I did.

Yes, I'm Decorating...and I know it's early

I've decided that I'm decorating my apartment for Christmas this weekend.  So, I love Christmas. The trees.  The lights.  All of the sights, sounds.  I love the smell of Christmas.  (By the way, to me, Christmas smells like apple cinnamon.)

My snowman was ready to come out of storage, so I had to comply.  Plus, the Santa Claus in the background sings while he rocks in the rocking chair.  I mean, you can't keep that hidden.  

So, my decorating traditions include watching Love Actually while decorating.  Once the movie is done, I'll probably put on a listen Christmas music.  And, I don't want to hear any chastising because it's still the middle of November.  I'm leaving next week for ten days.  Then, I'll be back here for only a few weeks before heading home for the holidays.  This way, I get to enjoy it all!

James Bond

Before last night, I had seen one James Bond movie in my lifetime.  For me, that was enough.  But, I gave into peer pressure and went to the midnight showing of Quantum Solace.  Now, I can say that I've seen 1.5 James Bond movies.  Well, that might be generous, because I think I feel asleep about 40 minutes into the movie.  And, I'm okay with that.

a new update

Well, the number one story on the news in Memphis tonight was about how a mom got on a bus with a gun.  Maybe I should have watched more, but I quickly changed the channel to some sporting event...football, I think.  

So, I wanted to post some pictures from my recent events.  First, I travelled on a whirlwind trip through the Carolinas not long ago.  I flew into Charlotte, drove to Buies Creek for Campbell Homecoming, drove to Hilton Head for a conference, and then back to Charlotte to fly out.

While in Hilton Head, I did some alligator hunting.  Here are a couple of pictures of my successful trip...

That's the alligator in the background.

This is my dad searching for some colorful leaves for me to photograph.  And, some of the leaves are below.

In my week back in Memphis, I've managed little beyond lying on my couch recovering from an illness that overtook me.  I did, however, make it to a recent service project for Mortar Board, an Honor Society that I advise here.  The characters in those pictures were played by some of our outstanding seniors!

Biscuit the Dog and Pig are "making out"--oh, the things we do when we get bored.

right vs. right

I think I worry too much about saying things in the right way rather than saying the right thing. Maybe I'm overthinking this, but....

I think that we live in a culture that tries to see too much behind what a person is saying. Perhaps, that's because too few people make themselves transparent and even fewer actually say what they truly mean to say. I'm guilty. I distinctly remember a time in my life when I played these mind games where I would say something (that I didn't really mean) in order to evoke a reaction or a primed response.

I think I'm even guilty of believing that this a new concept to my generation. In fact, it's probably been around for centuries. Maybe that's why Jesus spoke in parables. Because the disciples were looking for something deeper than His words provided.

Whether I'm naive or just not that deep, I'm ready for a shift to the organic. Real and true cultivated relationships, where you don't wonder what the other person meant when they asked if you wanted a regular coffee or a latte.