Marshall.... FOREVER a Maverick.

Okay.. So I know I said that I would be posting part 3 of my katrina story today.. But things changed, and I feel like I need to just talk today.. Im going through alot right now, so id rather talk about the present.. after all, isnt the present all that matters... living in the moment? no? oh well.. get over it. i left my life back in marshall with goodbyes.. with tears... with sadness... leaving the place that gave me happiness when there was nothing else.. I may not be in marshall physically anymore, but i am still a mav.. no matter what i always will be.. (yall better kick some lobo butt friday) and i miss you guys.. i hate being gone... you know that.. if you dont know that, then you dont pay any attention.. get your eyes checked too while youre at it.. this is stupid, me not being there. not being there for my freshman year, not being there for my best friend.. not being there to talk to the people i love... and miss... it brings me to tears to think of what im missing... i love you guys.. remember that.


I love you best friend...


Lovelovelove,
-t-

5 Years Have Come And Gone... MY Katrina story. Part 2

On September 12th, I started school at Davy Crockett Elementary School in Marshall, TX.. Meeting my best friend, the person who knows the most about me. The person who knows more about me than I do. Te person who's family came to be my second family. Holly Anne. She told me that God is there no matter what, and that he was watching over me, that that was why my family was safe. That sticks to my memory like nothing else in the world. Its funny how we started out thinking, "Hm.. She seems really nice, I bet she'll never be my friend." Haha.. How wrong we would both turn out to be. We were inseparable past that point. She showed me around. She knew the school like her house. Her dad was the principal of our school. My class was amazing, and Im still really close to most of them to this day.. Mrs. Bates was such an amazing teacher, that she made the class feel like a family. 3 or 4 weeks after the storm my mom and dad went back to our house in New Orleans, to see what was left, and see if they could find our cat.. We werent able to evacuate with him because he got out of the house the day we left.. No such luck.. They were able to get a few of our things, my first guitar, my Angel doll, and a few other special items.. We lost most of our pictures.. We have almost NO baby pictures of me left, if any... One picture of my Grandma left, who died in 2001.. And its not even a good picture, she just happened to be in the frame when it was taken.. Prince, our cat, was no where to be found.. We like to believe that after the storm he was one of the thousands of animals the search and rescue crews saved, or that someone who went through the neighborhoods after saved him and found him a good home.. My life was changed.. All I had left were my family, some of which I didnt know where they were or how they were, a few material possessions, but I wasn't HOME anymore.. I was lost.. I pushed away from everyone except my horses and dogs.. I found a few friends.. One whose grandparents lived down the street from mine, Asia, her grandparents were in town when we went too see my Pawpaw's house. Asia was living in Vegas last I heard. At school, Asia and I were best friends with a girl named Amanda.. To this day, I have no idea what happened to Amanda.. Asia never heard from her.. We dont know if she left before the storm, or didnt get out in time... And most of me WANTS to believe she got out and is living somewhere else happy, but deep down.. Im not so sure.. Her parents didn't want to leave the city.. They had been there for generations, and weren't the kind to evacuate..

Theres part 2... I cant post more than that at once.. It's too overwhelming to remember it all... Especially this close to the anniversary.. More tomorrow.


Lovelovelove,
-T-

5 Years Have Come And Gone... MY Katrina story.

5 years ago.. On this very date.. I had NO idea that in t-minus 7 days my life would be turned upside down, and I would be thrown into a rip-tide of emotions, friendship, being scared. I didn't know that some of the best people I have EVER met.. And that I ever WILL meet were going to be in my life coming in the next few weeks.. On August 26th, 2005 New Orleans mayor, Ray Nagin, was on the news frantic..saying the city had to be evacuated immediately... My Mom, Dad, Uncle, Pawpaw, Mawmaw and I all evacuated to Jackson, MI with our friend Debbie and her horse, with our 2 horses and 2 dogs on August 27th.. On August 29, 2005 Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast.. My world was turned upside down. We watched CNN 24/7 keeping updated on everything.. 3 days after the storm, we left Jackson due to complications with the friend we were staying with, driving 14 hours to Marshall, TX.. Little did I know that I would come to know and love this tiny town more than I had ever loved anything in my life. We stayed at the Josey Ranch, because we knew they would take us and our animals in.. Mr. and Mrs. Josey treated us like family. They became family.. We stayed at the ranch for a few months, and took up residency in Marshall. Two weeks after the storm, September 12th, I started school at Davy Crockett. I met my best friend that day. Holly Anne Vickers. I love you girl.



Every day this week I will add more to my story.. It will be final on the 5 year anniversary of the storm. August 29th, 2005.

That is the beginning of MY Katrina story..

Lovelovelove,
-T-

"All wrapped up inside her mind.."

lately things have changed.. A LOT. i miss marshall.. i miss my friends. but most of all i miss not having all this junk wrapped up in my mind. i cant just look to my side and say something to my best friend anymore. i feel like im just storing all this junk up in my mind.. i feel like im running away. i have so much to say, so im just storing it up in my mind.. im losing my mind. i imagine what the conversations would be like. what i would say and how holly would reply. i hardly get to talk to her anymore.. my shadows are changing, because my heart is changing. i dont like it.. i want to change it.. im going to church tomorrow morning. i know it wont be the same at going to Hillcrest, but I know God will lead me to what he wants.. i just hope i get over this. i want my shadows to stay the same.

God has a reason for everything.

Recently I've come across a singer/songwriter that i really like. Johnny Strat. His songs are really inspirational to me. One, Lose to Win, has really been on my mind lately, especially with the move. In the song, one line says, "This is not the end, cause now I know, Sometimes you have to lose.. to win." and I've been thinking about that a lot.. Ive been so angry about leaving Marshall, that I havn't been keeping myself open to new opportunities. Sometimes you DO have to lose to win, and it doesn't always seem like it is going to turn out right, but it does. God knows what is going to happen. He never gives you more than you can handle. I know sometimes it may seem like it is to much to handle, but in reality, you WILL pull through it. You have to be open to new things, even if they are hard. I've had friends tell me that following their dream is to hard, so they guess its not worth it. God never said that things would be east. The things that are worth it, are the ones that ARE gonna be hard to achieve. If it's easy to get, then anyone can do it.

Don't let anything pass you by.

Two weeks ago I moved. Back to my hometown, New Orleans. I've realized in these past two weeks that I regret letting so many wonderful opportunities pass me by, no matter what they may have been. I've learned to live in the moment. Don't let anything that you want pass you by, you'll most likely end up regretting letting it pass. It hurts knowing I waited for a perfect moment. The perfect moment came, and I didn't take it when I had the amazing chance. So don't do anything you'll regret. And don't not do something because you are scared, because you WILL regret not doing it. Then you will live life wondering what could have and would have been, and not being able to do anything about it. Think about this. If it doesn't make sense to you now, it will later on. I promise. =)