It’s Been A While

I haven’t shared a life update with pictures in ages, it seems, so here we go!

I turned 38 back in August. I was spoiled by my BFF and her husband that weekend. They took me to dinner, then I crashed at their place and did nothing but eat junk, watch movies, and swim. (Oh, and indulge in her fantastic cooking!) It was a much needed break from reality and did wonders for my depression. When we went out, I got dolled up and, honestly, I looked cute as hell. So cute, in fact, that we were barely inside the restaurant before a waitress ran over to tell me how cute I was. Lol.

My two work besties showed up, as well, which completed the perfection that weekend was. I spent Sunday with my parents, who bought me a red velvet cake. Then, on Tuesday, one of my older coworkers left a homemade lemon cake for me. I felt very loved.

In early September, I attended the Carbonstone show in Birmingham. They opened for Julien-K, Spineshank, and The Union Underground. Hanging out with Corey and Chrystal again was a balm to my soul. I also got to meet Ryan Shuck and Amir Derakh from Julien-K. I almost chickened out, but Chrystal made me say hi to Ryan when he walked past their merch table, then Ryan was like “Come over here” and led me to their merch table. I bought a vinyl of my favorite album, Death to Analog, and we took a couple of selfies. It was an extremely good night, capped by my college football team winning their game.

And now, it’s October. My favorite time of year – spooky season – is here. Which means, of course, that I’ve been living on fall drinks from Starbucks and Dunkin, and my mom and I have been exploring local cemeteries. Our most recent day out was spent at Athens City Cemetery. We actually have family buried there, but we kept our ventures to the older graves.

October, November, and December are my favorite three months of the year, even if Christmas doesn’t excite me the way it did as a child. This year, though, my brother and his wife are back in Alabama, so maybe Christmas will regain some of its magic!

Hope all of you are doing well ❤️

Goodbye 2024, Hello 2025

It’s day one of a new year, and while I am not known for preaching positivity, I will say that we all have a chance to make 2025 great.

I don’t know how y’all fared in 2024, but it wasn’t such a terrible year for me. I got to see and meet Danny Worsnop (Asking Alexandria/We Are Harlot) with my mom, and she amused him so much that he told a story about her on Facebook. My dad took me to the Marilyn Manson/Five Finger Death Punch tour for my birthday. I have been a fan of Manson for almost 25 years, and it was my first time seeing him. As an added bonus, The Funeral Portrait opened the night (and they were phenomenal). And while we’re on the subject of concerts, I finally made it to the promised land: one of my best friends took me to see Creed for Christmas! I missed them during their heyday – I was, like, 10 – and that always depressed me. I was so excited about their reunion, and they were worth waiting for. Mammoth WVH and 3 Doors Down were the openers, and both bands kicked ass!

On a personal note, my best friend moved back to Alabama! I had missed her and her family terribly. I gained self-confidence this year. My friends and coworkers helped immensely with that challenge. I like myself better at 37 than I did at 17.

The negatives for 2024 were huge, I will admit. We lost my paternal grandmother in October. She was my last grandparent, the one I spent the most time with and knew the best, so when I say that it’s been a struggle… More than my own grief, I’ve been very concerned about my dad. It’s only been two years since his youngest brother passed. Now it’s just him and my uncle Chris. If you could spare a thought for them, that would be lovely.

I’m also stuck in a job that doesn’t make me happy, but I plan on changing that as soon as possible. I guess that’s a minor complaint overall, though it does impact me almost daily. Still, I’m thinking positive! I will find something better in 2025!

Happy New Year to all my readers/followers! I hope this January 1st finds you well. Drop me a comment and tell me a good thing about your 2024, or tell me what you’re looking forward to in 2025.

Here are a few pictures from the past 12 months.

Danny Worsnop
Jericho Rose
Me and Dad at the Marilyn Manson show
Birthday!
Halloween with the bestest and her family 🎃
With Jesse at the Creed show 🤘🏻
Creed at State Farm Arena 🔥
Christmas 🎅🏻

Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope all of you are enjoying your day, whatever it is you have chosen to do to celebrate. I myself am having lunch at my grandmother’s. I’m pretty sure we’re having barbecue instead of turkey or ham, but that’s okay: I got my fill of turkey and ham at work last week.

I guess I should do a things-I’m-thankful-for list, right? Hmm…

I’m thankful for family, both blood and otherwise, and my wonderful friends. I’m thankful for my amazing coworkers (even if I sometimes hate the job itself). I’m thankful that my brother and his wife are going to be able to visit in February; it’s been really hard since they moved to Colorado. I’m thankful for music and concerts and the fact that I get to see my favorites – Alter Bridge – for the ninth time in January.

I’m sure I could go on, but those are the things that top my list. If you’re reading this, tell me something you’re thankful for!!!!

It’s Been A While

Hello!

I fell off the face of the earth during Covid, but as some of you have surely noticed, I’m back! There has been so much to share – from new music to tour dates – that I am just now getting the chance to post a little personal blog and tell y’all what’s up with me.

Well, I honestly haven’t been doing much besides working. My best friend and her family moved to Kentucky last year, so I’ve driven up there twice to visit them. I had never been to Kentucky before, and they took me to the Indiana state line so now I can say I’ve been there as well. Ha!

I also flew out to Colorado in February 2021 to see my brother and his wife. They have lived there since 2017 and that was my first time going to them, and my first time flying. (They have flown home three times, once for a memorable weekend in Dauphin Island.) Colorado was beautiful! We knocked out a couple of other firsts: me gambling and both of them getting tattooed. It was so much fun, but a very short trip. No worries, though. Mom and I are heading out there next week!

Other than that, I’ve been to a few concerts. I saw A Killer’s Confession (and met Waylon Reavis and Church, both formerly of Mushroomhead). I went to a John 5 show and met him, which made my life as I’ve been a fan since I was 12. Small Town Titans came to town, as did Smith & Myers, Tommy Vext, South of Eden, and Blacktop Mojo. And I hung out a lot with Alabama’s very own Throne of Eden.

Now, I’m really just crossing my fingers that the Rammstein tour happens this year. I guess I would be satisfied with an Alter Bridge run in the fall/winter instead; they keep hinting that they’ve begun writing for a new album.

I hope this blog finds all of you well, and that your 2022 is going much better than the last two years! I’m gonna wrap this up with a few pictures. Until next time! 🙂

Small Town Titans
Colorado
My and my brother’s tattoos
My Rammstein tattoo
Blacktop Mojo
Mom with “Catt” (Blacktop Mojo)
John 5
Waylon Reavis
Church
With the besties at the haunted woods for Halloween
Cave Hill Cemetery in Louisville
My newest tattoo

Halloween 2019 [Photos]

I just wanted to share some pictures from our Halloween get-together ❤

I was Harley Quinn. Overdone, I know, but I already had the costume and I was lazy this year. Ha! My best friend did my makeup.

The bestie and her son/my nephew, Alex. He was Sub-Zero.

Tiff’s husband, aka my “husband-in-law”

Tiff’s daughter/my niece, Ivy. She was a dead kitty.

Recent Photos

My best friend is a hair and makeup wizard, in my opinion, so I keep asking her to doll me up and take pictures. Lol. Since it is October, our most recent “shoot” was done in Papa Emeritus (Ghost) face paint.

 

 

 

 

Birthday Blog: Dirty Thirty

Okay, so my birthday was over two weeks ago. I debated whether or not to even post a blog, since I didn’t have a big extravagant celebration with a band. But then I thought to myself: “This year was better — in a way.”

On my actual birthday, I went to my best friends’ house. Tiffany, who is like a sister to me, fixed me breakfast for dinner. (She makes the best pancakes in the world.) She and her husband, Jerimy, gave me a Ghost tee-shirt, which I quickly changed into before settling back to watch that night’s episode of “Big Brother.”

The next day, I had the joy of seeing my Jesse. She lives in Georgia, and she left work that afternoon and drove straight to my house. My mom fed us tacos, then we watched movies until we fell asleep (The Houses October Built and Anna, for anyone wondering).

Jesse and I had adventures in Huntsville on Saturday, followed by Chinese food and ending our night at Tiffany and Jerimy’s. I was super stoked that three of my best friends were finally meeting, and they got along quite well. We sat outside, talking and catching sight of the occasional meteor from the shower taking place.

Sunday, Jesse and I literally did nothing except indulge in more movies and have a long conversation with my mom.

It may sound like a boring weekend, but for me, it was the perfect way to ring in my 30th year in this world. I missed my brother, and Heather and Chanin…and yes, it was weird not seeing Almost Kings. However, I had music, movies, three of my favorite people, my parents, and delicious food. What else does a girl really need?

Check out my fabulous gifts! The Marilyn Manson sweater was from my parents, the MM necklace was a present to myself, the Ghost shirt was from Tiff and Jerimy, and the other three items were from Jesse ❤

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Halloween 2015

I had the most wonderful weekend, guys! Friday night I went to see Lynam (and got my copy of the new EP; keep an eye out for that review). They put on an amazing show, as always, and I shared this moment with David…

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He cracks me up. 🙂

Saturday night, I crashed at my best friend’s house. We took her daughter trick-or-treating, then Ivy went to stay with her grandparents and we returned to the house to watch movies, eat junk food, and drink a little. I tried an old fashioned for the first time. It was quite delightful.

Also, I managed to sort out a situation that has been driving me crazy. I’ve reclaimed my happiness. All in all, I’d call this a successful weekend. And now for the pictures.

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April and me at the Lynam show

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Harley Quinn!

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Baby bat

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Relaxing on Sunday

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Another personal blog…

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She disapproved of me staying out so late…

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But she forgave me 🙂

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My Jack Skellington dress ❤

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The bestie

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Pine Torch Cemetery

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Pine Torch Church

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Brushy Lake

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Sharing a mirror while getting ready for a day out

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So as you can tell, I’ve been spending time with my BFF (as always) and relaxing with my cat. The bestie, her husband, and I went out exploring on my last off day; that’s where the pictures from Brushy Lake and Pine Torch Church came from.

Other than that I’ve just been working and waiting on a friend to get back from his exile to another state. He moved for a job. Insert sad face here…

Oh! And of course I’m counting the days to new music from Almost Kings and Lynam. 🙂

Lynam, Labor Day, and the Tiny Human

I saw Lynam this past Friday and I couldn’t have been happier. It had been about six months since my last show. They were awesome, as always, and after the show David let me listen to three songs–the final mixes–from the upcoming album, Bombshell. I am now even more excited for October than I already was.

David

Jacob

Lynam

Some things never change…

Moving on…

My Labor Day was great, to be honest. I got to spend it with almost all of my favorite people: my brother Rick, my BFF Tiffany, her husband Jerimy, and my adorable niece Ivy. We had a cookout and Rick made grilled chicken that had been marinated in 151, lime, and sriracha sauce, as well as hamburgers, macaroni and cheese, potato salad, etc. The best part of the night had to be dancing around the living room with the tiny human…or watching her amusement when all of the adults started playing on an exercise ball. Lol.

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Ivy gave us those ducks so that we could dance with them ❤

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Hope everyone else had a great holiday weekend!