Full & Happy, Great Life & Travel Adventures!!!

First off, Happy Birthday to Keith Urban, the hot n' sexy cutie pie country singer/songwriter is 38 today!

Secondly, I got to thinking last night, you know, I've really lived a full life!

Sure, I've had some serious crap to contend with, and been dealt my share of challenges-and some days, I do feel like God is just up there laughin' it up TRYING to test me, push me, and see how much I can take, but when I really stop and think about it....

I've had an AMAZING life! Totally awesome, actually!

For every bad thing, hard time, challenge, health problem, emotional upheaval and other crappy thing I've had to endure-I've had a wonderful, fun, loving, amazing moment to go right along with it!

Looking back on it, some of the hardest times of my life were the best!

My mom, my grandma Elizabeth and grandma Joni, my sisters, Hugh, friends, falling in love, kisses, hugs, sweet embraces, incredible support.....prayers, back up....I hope my family and friends know how much they mean to me, b/c they mean the WORLD to me. I really wouldn't be anywhere or anything without them. Sure, I've had two faced liar "friends," and fair weather "friends," but man, I've had some AWESOME friends too! And an incredible family that's stood by me from very sickly day one!!!

Not just family and friends have added to my amazing life, but things like meeting Wynonna, Deana Carter, Naomi Judd (thanks to Hugh-he notified me of that one), and especially meeting Billy Dean (twice) and him SINGING to ME! Hello! That is so freaking AWESOME! Seriously, how many people get to say that their all time favorite singer/crush sang to them? Not many, not many!

Times with my family, holidays, Christmases, birthdays, Mother's Days, Halloween's, road trips, plane rides, concerts, shows, singing, music, seeing, hearing, listening.....wow- it's all been a blast, SO much fun!

There's still SOOOOOOOO many things I want to do and see and experience, but still.....thank you God, Praise the Lord because really....

I am one lucky, loved and blessed young woman, and for just under 22 years, I've packed a heck a lot a livin' in!!!

Looking back on it, some of the hardest times of my life were the best!

Even my times with Hugh, I mean, very difficult a lot of the time-no doubt. We fought and fought and fought, and fought some more! But, we stuck it out and tried, tried, tried again. We really did have some incredibly FUN times! In fact, Hugh taught me how to have REAL FUN, without worrying about being mature, responsible or adult about it. He taught me that sometimes it's okay to let your gaurd down and just be silly! That man has seen me sillier and goofier than anyone else on this earth-not even my mother has seen me as goofy as Hugh has. LOL! We loved and laughed and smiled and cried! We held and hugged and kissed and, yeah, a lot of other things too. My first real relationship-on every level-and I learned SOOOOOOOOO much from it-about him, about life, about relationships, but mostly, I learned about myself. Hugh got me to see things and admit things that NOONE else ever could-like how selfish I could be, or how UN-selfish and plain GIVING I could be. How affectionate I was, and yet how bossy. How I really didn't accept people and that sometimes. that's why nobody accepted me. Actually, that was probably the biggest lesson Hugh taught me-acceptance. It's so important. But, the thing about Hugh is, and hopefully I taught him this, acceptance and love of YOURSELF! Because that's so important also. Oct. 24th would've been two years for us, well, actually, it was, because we still talk occasionally. We're still great friends-and to be honest, he's the ONLY friend I have down here besides my mother and aside from mom, he IS the BEST and most loyal friend I've ever had! But, really, we've had so much fun and laughed so hard! What a great, tough and amazing learning experience it has been! So cool!

Okay, yes, we had really shitty times too-times where we pretty much banged our heads on the wall and went over and over and over and over and over again....that got real old, real fast. Times that I have never been more pissed off at a single person in my life-ever before or ever since! Times that we wanted to slap the crap out of eachother and knock one another on our butts....but, still, for the most part, good times!

In fact, most of the seeminly "worst times," of my life, were also some of the BEST!

Like, when I was 11 and 12, and my mom and I lived in a mobile home after she divorced Daddy Jim. I HATED that mobile home, and I was so incredibly mad and angry at mom, dad, the world and everything in it-but now that I think about it-what a wonderful time it was! I had a HUGE home, spent everyday after school learning about myself through doing my own homework, experimenting with cooking (that's when and where I really learned in the kitchen), and making my own creative use of my time. It was just me and my mom-us against the world-as it usually is. She'd come home from working 8 hours and spend every hour until bedtime with me. I was alone ALOT back then, and on weekends, up to ten hours a day-but I learned so much and did so much and I think had I not had that experience, I wouldn't be who I am today. That experience taught me to make good use of my time, learn about myself, and also deal with my emotions. I remember I wrote alot during that time too, poetry, songs, that's where I taught myself to sign "The Dance," and also learned about other things too! It was great! Just me and mom, I miss that innocense I had back then!

Being in the hospital, yeah, not always fun, but some of it was! It was ALL about me (yes, I'm selfish), and we had some fun times there; mom and I would walk up and down the halls with my IV poles, when I was really little, I'd ride the dang IV poles! THAT was loads of fun! LOL! Mom would sneak in "street food," (as in not the gross hospital crap they feed you in there), and we'd sit and talk or read together. I'd listen to my CD's, or tapes in the old days, and watch really cool local PBS channels. San Francisco has the KQED station, that's there PBS, and it's the best PBS I've seen to date! SO much interesting stuff on that station-very cool...

before my hospital stays, mom and I would always make a trip out of it-we'd head down to San Francisco a few days earlier than my scheulded surgery and stay in a hotel, or with a friend. A lot of times we stayed with a former nurse of mine, Dee, she had a condo right on the ocean front-oh, a crackling fire in the fire place, raspberry tiramisu and the ocean waves crashing against the sand-yeah, HEAVEN! Mom and I would tour the city, go to Peir 39, Fisherman's Warf, go the hospital early just to visit the staff I was so familiar with. We'd go to the zoo or China Town, or the mall-I LOVE the 7 story mall in downtown SF on Market and Powell Street-so cool! Sometimes, we'd stay at the SF Hilton and get room service-that was so much fun and so indulgent-SO many people can't say they've experienced that-I mean, seriously, I've stayed at the San Francisco Hilton AND had room service ordered IN-how freaking cool is that! Actually SFH is where I had my very first Paninni, with portabello mushrooms, spinach, asiago cheese and roasted red peppers-oh so incredibly YUMMY!!! Mmm, delicious! Sometimes, mom and I would just take a walk along the beach, run away from the waves of the ocean and just talk. Some of the best times of my life were the ones leading up to my hardest times-surgeries. Heck, even going into surgery and coming out was fun sometimes-SOMETIMES-not always, and always scary, but hey, I had to be there, and it was for a good cause-so I might as well make the best of it-which I always did. In fact, had I NOT been so sick all of my life, I don't think I'd have that "make the best of it, stay positive," attitude that I do. I think that's one of my best qualities, I so wish many more poeple REALLY truly enjoyed life like I do-then AND now! Life is hard, it IS tough, and it gets tougher everyday. It's a constant struggle now to stay on your feet, financially and otherwise-the worlds' really going to you know where, but life is STILL beautiful and STILL such an incredible gift!

Aside from San Francisco, I've seen New Orleans, southern Plantations like Nottaway and Oak Alley-THAT was an incredible trip-that was the trip of a lifetime man! April 1994, me and my mom and my grama just took off for New Orleans (grama lived in Lake Charles, LA at the time) and spent 72 hours crusing the roads of Louisanna! We saw New Orleans, old plantation homes, the French Quater-man, we PAINTED that town! It was truly amazing and wonderful! We spent what we wanted, ate where we wanted and did whatever we wanted. I miss THAT kind of freedom!

Let's see, what else.....

I've seen the Grand Canyon, one of the 7 Wonders of the world, that was when I was 9, April of 1993. That was absoultely awe inspiring and incredible, I really should go see it again, I live so dang close to it, it's only like six hours from Vegas I think! Anyhow...

I've seen like ALL of Northern California and some of Southern-like Hemet, Palm Springs, Orange County and been to Disneyland a few times too! I wanna go there again too!

I've been to Nashville, July of 2002, that was a LIFELONG dream of mine that was so wonderful to have come true. In 5 short days, I did everything I could for being only 18. Me and a friend took off on a plane and painted that town too. I saw all the clubs and bars and historical sites, the Ryman, Grand Ole Opry, Earnest Tubb Record Shop, Toostie's Orchid Lounge, Jack's BBQ, Belmont University (that's where I stayed), and oh, SO MUCH! I took a tour of the country stars' homes, went to the Country Music Hall of Fame (could've given the tour on my own though I know so much about CM). That was so great! Awesome!

I've seen western Colorado and the Rocky Mountains and most of Nevada, and Oregon. I've been all up and down the West Coast, minus Washington state which I DO hope to see someday. I've been on planes that have landed in Dallas, Houston, New Olreans, and Nashville. I even landed in LA once at L.A.X, and you know what, that was really all of Los Angeles that I care to see-I'm only five hours from L.A., but no thanks! That's okay!

I've seen ALL of Vegas, LIVED in Vegas, seen Reno, grew up in Reno! I've seen Lake Tahoe and the beautiful Mt. Charleston-right outside of Las Vegas, which, IMHO, is JUST as breathtakingly beautiful and awe inspiring as the Grand Canyon itself, just on a smaller scale! Even thoug I don't really like Vegas to LIVE here, I've seen it all here-the casinos, the shops, the daily life, the culture (VERY ODD one lemme tell ya), and restraunts. I haven't really seen the nightlife here or the clubs or shows, but that's okay, they're way too expensive.

Anyway, the point is, I've lived a very full life! And even though my life today isn't exactly where I'd like it to be, or where I'd planned it to be, I've pretty happy with it. I'd LOVE to travel ALL over the world and especially to Italy, Paris, Australia and ALL OVER my home country, the UNITED STATES. I have a HUGE desire to see more of the south, like especially the Carolinas and Georgia-I'd love to see New England and the East Coast-oh that'd be somethin'! I'd love to go to NY one day and maybe even on up into Canada and B.C.

I want to TRAVEL, see things, do things, experience things-I never want to get to a point where I don't want to see or do or be. Every single experience we encounter in life adds to the fullness of our lives and adds to our character. I've got LOTS of character that's for dang sure.....LOL!

I REALLY miss San Francisco, I'm devastated that New Orleans is virtually destroyed, I'd LOVE to see those Lousianna Plantations again-and who knows what else,

but you know, I've lived a full and exciting life! I've had poetry of mine published and had lots of great friends and family, and been loved beyond belief. I'm so happy with my life and the way it's panned out, but now....

now it's time for a change, now it's time for something NEW, something exciting and refreshing. I want to go on another road trip and just hang out. I wouldn't mind driving to Oregon and back again, that was one of THE best, most character/confidence building experiences of my life and something that I think about everday of my life! Just incredible. I saw all of Nevada, Northern California and Southern Oregon, my beloved family and friends and even stayed in the country with my grama and her husband. It was FABULOUS! I'd do that again in a HEARTBEAT! No doubt about it!

But, now, it's time to start anew-get a job, save some money and plan my next travel adventure-b/c truly, even without travel, EVERYDAY can be a joyous, wonderful, amazing, loving, blessed adventure if we allow it to! Learn something new, try a new food, see something, go somewhere, read, be, do...just INDULGE LIFE! It's for the LIVING!!!

I need to go eat, I'm hungry, time for my daily oatmeal-YUM!

Many Blessings,
-SL

P.S. Mom and I went and saw North Country, the movie, last night. It was EXCELLENT! As a former victim (well, no, I hate that word), hum, experiencer of sexual harrassment (6th grade-ALL year long) what an amazing movie. Charlize Theron kicked butt and stood up for herself and her dignity-very cool movie-hard, but great! I'd highly reccomend it. We also saw Elizbaethtown too, not so great, although that Orlando Bloom IS quite the cutie!!!! :)