Ooooooh...pretty!

Let's see, we've taken care of my birthday, I stayed in my pj's and makeup-less all through Thanksgiving (girls only weekend, remember? so there's no way you're getting pictures of that) so that must mean....

It's time for a Christmas giveaway!

When Jason and I moved to Abilene, TX, I started going to a women's Bible study hosted by First Baptist Church. It was my first experience with a Beth Moore study (more about that here) and it was such a helpful place to meet some other women and make new friends. One evening we randomly exchanged prayer cards with someone in the group and my person was Abby. Out of that random card swap, I found a kindred spirit out in Texas and my friendship with her has been a HUGE blessing ever since. We've seen each other through the newlywed season, family drama, pop culture events, What I Wore Wednesdays (she's the one who got me started on that) and so much more.

(Abby and I at her wedding in 2008)

Abby is all sorts of creative, crafty and talented. She's done multiple blog designs for me, including my current one. It has been so much fun to watch her take her talent and creative gifts and make them available to the folks in Abilene and beyond. She's recently opened up an etsy shop and is offering a variety of prints, of which I want them all! I bugged and nagged politely asked if she would design a print around Jeremiah 29:11 and girlfriend did not disappoint. 

What I love about Abby's designs are how bright, crisp and colorful they are. Having these powerful words in front of me as I work in my little crafting spot is a joy and sweet reminder of the One who knows and loves me best.

This week, YOU have the chance to win the 5x7 print of your choice from Abby's shop.

All you have to do is head over to her shop and take a look at all the gorgeous and fun prints she has listed. 'Cause you're going to find beauties like this...

...and this...

...and this (which I'm pretty sure I need at my house, pronto).

Come back over here, leave me a comment letting me know which print you just have to have and you're entered to win! Want more than one entry? You can do any of the following to get extra entries, just make sure you leave me a separate comment each time you complete one of them:

- Become a follower of my blog (or let me know that you already follow SDQ)
- Post about and include a link to this giveaway in Facebook
- Tweet about and include a link to this giveaway on Twitter

Can't wait to see which prints you love! I'll keep comments open until Sunday, December 11th at midnight (EST) and I'll announce the winner on Monday, December 12th. Good luck!

Some good reads out there in bloggy land...

While I'm working on some posts of my own, here's some other good stuff to read. Go take a looky loo!

"Christians are weird about counseling." It's true. We are. And sometimes that makes me really sad.

"Unbound" I've been reading Angie's story and writing for years now, and I always walk away with a good strong word. This time was no different.

Mocha Momma is a new blog find for me and I am really appreciating the fresh perspective she's bringing to a host of thoughts rattling around in my head. I'm kind of jealous of her "Drag Queen Tupperware Parties" experience and "On Writing" is the kick in the rear I've been needing when it comes to putting my thoughts to paper (or blog.)

"I Was Previously Unaware That Such A Bridge Even Existed" You know what's a really great last line when it comes to parenting or, as I discovered in 2001, teaching? "This is not up for debate." Thanks, Mom.

If you're not reading Abby's blog, you really should be. I'm just sad we didn't discover WIWW before I left Texas, because I could've really used her spiritual gift of fashion live and in person.

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                                                                                Source: google.com via Leslie on Pinterest

It's true. And you never know what that battle may be. In my own life and in some new friendships, I've been grateful for the kindness and mercy of folks who understand the battle of depression and anxiety. Heather Armstrong, aka Dooce, has been a loud and persistent voice in that discussion. And for that, I am very, very, very grateful. 

Do me a favor? 

Click over and read "Autumnal Equinox". 

Then, be kind...

Carolina Girl (and then some...)

I'm a college girl through and through.

Allow me to explain.

I was born in Greensboro, North Carolina and spent the first six months of my life living in a Guilford Residence Hall apartment on UNC-Greensboro's campus where my dad was Dorm Director. I had a sweet little nursery that my mom created (as in, she made pretty much everything in it from scratch), and she says that I was doted on by all the college students who lived in Guilford.

(I can't begin to tell you how much I would love to have the vintage fabric in those curtains now.)

Just before I turned a year old, we moved to Blacksburg, Virginia where my dad would work in Student Affairs at Virginia Tech. While we were there, my favorite spots were the duck pond and a local sheep farm. Mom and Dad also drove a pretty sweet VW van. I would go on to wreck that van when I was three and a half. True story.

(Killer sunglasses, Mom. And yes, that's a bonnet. If I have a daughter, she'll wear one too.)

 (Yup, that's me rockin' the belly shirt.)

When I was three and a half, and just before my sister was born, we moved to La Plume, Pennsylvania where my dad would be Director of Residence Life at Keystone Jr. College. We lived in a large apartment in Sickler Hall, a gorgeous Victorian building. It now houses several administrative offices for the college.

 (This is the home where I would become a big sister and wreck the VW van. It was a big year for me.)

(Aunt Joann and cousin Caroline come to visit! My mom smocked that dress for me and I want to squeeze my three year old self, I'm just so dang cute.)

When Allie was about a year old, we moved back down to North Carolina, to my mom's hometown of Durham. Durham is home to The College That Shall Not Be Named (ahem), where we spent every major holiday at Grandmother and Grandaddy's house with mom's sisters and their families, and where I would end up living and teaching after college.

About a year or so after we moved to Durham, we moved to Winston-Salem. Wake Forest University gave me an incredible library for high school research papers, amazing college students who volunteered as my (oh so patient) youth group leaders and Young Life leaders.

As you may have heard, I chose the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill for my college years. I was a Resident Assistant for my last two years there and that is still one of the best jobs I have ever had. Chapel Hill is one of the top college towns in the nation and one of my most favorite places in the whole wide world. I love that we got married in Chapel Hill and spent our wedding night at The Carolina Inn. Hark the sound of Tarheel voices....

(My very first day at UNC, setting up my freshman dorm room in Hinton James.)

Even when I got married and moved off to Texas, I ended up in a college town. In Ailene there are three universities- Abilene Christian University, Hardin-Simmons University (my best friend Abby works there) and McMurry University (my mother-in-law is their head volleyball coach and my sister-in-law is the coolest sophomore on campus).

So it seems only fitting in a kind of full circle way that I am now working at a college. New students moved into the dorms at Covenant on Friday and started their orientation which will go through Wednesday. I got to work beside an amazing group of returning students (who serve on the Orientation Team) as they helped unload cars and moved the new students' belongings into their dorm rooms. They were loud and joyous and oh so welcoming to these hesitant hopeful freshmen. I had the best time hanging out with them and I even learned how to do the Dougie. Bonus.

(Keeping a close eye out for new students)

The buildings and grounds aren't just brick and grass after yesterday. It feels like a college now that the students are finally here. And I know that sounds obvious, but when you've worked in quiet buildings for over a month, to see them loud and bustling is an incredible thing.

Here's the thing, I've loved all the college towns I've lived in and I absolutely adored my own college years. But being on this side of a college is something I didn't even know to want. I am ridiculously grateful that I'm getting to experience it this way and at this point in my life. 

And it's kind of nice that Covenant's signature blue is much closer to my beloved Carolina blue than that other kind of blue. 

Let the 2011-2012 school year begin!

Wide Open Spaces

 We went out to Texas at the end of the summer right after Allie graduated from Officer Training School. It was the first time I had been back since our move to Chattanooga almost two years ago. I was anxious to see in-laws, nieces and nephews, dear friends in Abilene {Tiff, I'm still mourning the fact you aren't there} and to have some fun downtime. What I didn't anticipate was how I would instantly fall back in love with the Texas landscape.

It's not until you're west of Fort Worth that the land truly begins to spread out. By the time we hit that point it was past twilight and impossible to see anything but an infinite navy sky. Even so, Jason and I both found ourselves breathing deeply as if our bodies instinctively knew that there was more room to move. But the next morning...

There it was in all its glory. I've never been happier to climb in a pickup truck and watch a Texas sunrise. It's hard to find a decent spot to watch the sunrise in the valley that is Chattanooga, but here it was spread before me. A gold, pink and cerulean gift.

By the time I was another mile down the road, the sky was the most breathtaking blue I had ever seen. I told Jason later that day, "I had forgotten how absolutely gorgeous Texas skies can be!" If you've never been to West Texas, just look...

One hundred and eighty degrees of sheer gorgeousness. The kind of sky that makes you want to stop, wander into the middle of a field and spin around a la Julie Andrews. It's the kind of sky that requires you to roll down the windows, turn up the volume and sing at the top of your lungs. This kind of sky spreads a grin across your face before you even know it's happened.

Or maybe that's just what happens when you haven't been back to Texas in a couple of years. Either way, I'll take it.

We all need a little help from our friends.

And that is why I went to them when I was trying to come up with a name for my classroom blog. Behold, the suggestions…

{The views and opinions expressed in these suggestions are strictly those of the suggestors and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of the Southern Drama Queen. She does, however, still find them humorous enough to share here.}

• The Bored of Education
• Mrs. Petree’s Got Brains
• O Captain, My Captain
• Get Me Learned
• Mrs. Petree Knows More Than You
• {Inspired by Steel Magnolias} This Is It. I Have Found It. I’m In Hell.
• Mrs. Petree’s Propaganda
• Corporal Punishment: It Works!
• I’m Not In It For the Kids…I’m In It For The Money
• Learn or Burn

Clearly, I will not be using any of these as I actually like the fact that I have a teaching job as of this moment. Still, the brainstorming assistance has actually helped me come up with a blog name which will be revealed once the blog is up and running in a few weeks. Stay tuned!

Is “blogiversary” a word?

On July 3, 2005, I started this blog with this post…

Lessons from Oz

"Yes, Dorothy, what have you learned?"

"Well, I guess I've learned that if I ever go looking for my heart's desire again, I shouldn't go looking any further than my own backyard. Because if it's not there, I never really lost it to begin with...there's no place like home!"

Vacation is snuggling on a couch in Kiawah Island, South Carolina with my 4 and 7 year old cousins to watch "The Wizard of Oz." There is nothing else to do, no other pressing agenda than to settle in with these sweet girls (after they have fought over who sits where, of course) and watch our "most fav-oh-wit movie evah."

It really is my most favorite movie, has been ever since I was captured by the color, spectacle and wonder of Oz. I wanted to be Dorothy on a grand journey with faithful friends and a cute dog. Well, maybe I just wanted that fabulous dress and ruby slippers. My mom made that possible on Halloween when I was 8 years old. The dress was perfect, just like Judy Garland's, with a white blouse and the trademark blue gingham pinafore. And thanks to two bottles of Wet and Wild nailpolish, I had my ruby slippers.

Now it is my turn to watch it through a child's eyes. The girls narrate the entire viewing and punctuate it with question after question. Madison and I discuss the witch and the flying monkeys and agree that it is violently unfair when they take Toto away. After I explain (again) why the Winkie soldiers are chasing Dorothy, Abby nestles into the crook of my arm and murmurs, "I love my Leslie." Does it get better than that?

I realize that my 8 year old wish has come true. I am in the middle of a grand journey. Many faithful friends accompany me. I don't have the cute dog yet, but as the Wicked Witch says, "All in good time, my pretty, all in good time!"

Four years. I don’t remember how I found out what a blog was or even how I knew to set one up on blogspot. But one summer evening, while on The Cruise Family Beach Trip, I did. And honestly? I don’t think I’ve ever been the same.

I’ve always loved writing. The fifteen journals spanning from age ten to the present testify to that. A small box of my elementary and middle school writing projects give voice to my love of words. The fact that I would rather bury my nose in a well written novel than anything else {have I mentioned that you have to read Love Walked In?} is a testament to what the written word does for me. Written words are an outlet, a catharsis, page upon page of my imagination, emotions and musings. Once they are on a page they are mine but even better, I can share them if I want.

I love this blog. As in I’m getting teary-eyed even as I type thinking about how this, my little piece of the internet, has been such an encouragement and accountability for me over the last four years. It’s taught me to choose my words carefully. I’ve learned how to use my words to recreate the image or experience I want to keep forever. Best of all for this social southern drama queen, it has connected me to you.

From North Carolina to Texas and then back again to Tennessee. And allllllll the places in-between where I have discovered new friends who have graciously shared their words with me as well. From a single woman without a cute dog to a married woman with a freckle-faced monster. Thanks for listening to the ramblings of this southern drama queen…

Happy Blogiversary, dear diary!