Family time

Hello fellow humans, 

This past month I have spent many hours with my dear family. I got to spend 3 weeks in the Carolinas with my parents and little brother. I didn't realize how much I missed them until I got there. Mom and Austin came back to Louisiana with me for almost 2 weeks and it was extremely hard saying goodbye to Austin. 

He starts school in a few days after being out of public school for a majority of his life and I so wish I could be there to help him get his school supplies, see him off that first day, and be there to hear about his first day in person. I really hate the distance. But that is part of life and growing up... you sadly miss out on stuff. 

Sometimes I wish we were closer in age, but then I don't think I'd appreciate him as much or want to look out for him like I do with our age difference. I'm just grateful that we are close and hope that he knows I am always there for him regardless of how many miles are between us. 

I better stop talking on that subject or else I may tear up ! 

I also got to spend a week with my partner in July. We had a lovely time together, but as always it flew by too quickly. He flew into New Orleans so we enjoyed the city a couple of days, then visited some of his family near Houston, came to my home and enjoyed the lake, stayed with my aunt in a different part of the state, then our time was over. I haven't seen him in 2 1/2 months and hope that we do not have to go that long with a visit again. If you have a long distance relationship you understand how difficult it is to say "see you later" after a visit, and if you have never had to be long distance with your partner then count your blessings. It seems easy, until you do it. It is definitely harder than I expected, but doable. You just have to make an extra effort which helps you realize how much you really care about the person. :) 

Now I am back to work for Pa, starting back on some of my projects, and doing a little babysitting. I got to babysit the worlds cutest baby today. He is the easiest baby I have ever been around. Just happy all the time. It was a lovely day hanging out with his sweet little self. Humans are incredible... Especially when you get to see them grow. 

I am really looking forward to just being home and working. Vacationing was rewarding and fun, but it is always good to return to productivity. I am ready to get back on track and make some progress on my projects. Plus, I have to start seriously soul searching what type of job I want after this and start looking into it. Eeeeee. I think I have an idea, but we will seeeeeee.... my mind changes pretty frequently. 

Well, I have wrote a lot tonight. I missed writing and am glad to catch up. I hope you are doing wonderfully, enjoying life, are happy and healthy! 

See you on the next page, 

Alyssa

Reunited with the immediate family

Hello, hello, hello!

I am visiting my parents and little bro in the Carolina's. It has been a lot of fun the past 2 weeks. I will be heading back to Louisiana next week.

I didn't realize how much I missed it here until I got here. It will be kind of hard to leave, but then again I am ready to get back to work! I like to be productive and enjoy the work I do, so its a good feeling to want to go to work.

Everyday I am more thankful that my grandpa and Laurie have given me this opportunity. It has really helped me think strategically about my future and is giving me different areas of work to look into. Plus, I have the ability to develop new business ideas and work on my novel.

I just need to work on time management a bit more so that I can maximize my time.

But, we have lots going on here so I am going to get back with the family. Just wanted to drop a line and say hello to everyone!

Always pursuit something that makes you feel fulfilled and that you enjoy. Also, enjoy time with those you love! Sometimes its easier said than done, but you can find time to do something you love.

Much love,
Alyssa

Alyssa the Cleaning Lady

This week I have taken on the task of cleaning my grandma's home. I have put in 13 hours and still feel like I am not even 50% of the way finished.

When I walked in I felt like I was in the exotic city of Pompeii for about 5 seconds. The dust covered counters and items reminded me of the ash covered city. Instead of Mt. Vesuvius erupting it was just decades of neglect leaving the stain of time. 

At first I was kind of frustrated and kicking myself for even offering to do it. But then I thought about my poor grandma hobbling around on her bum ankle and the home that I have so many memories in deteriorating and was happy that I have taken on this second job. 

Now I am just ready to be done and see the fruits of my labor. I am already satisfied with my progress and will be happy to see the entire place complete. I am not just cleaning the surfaces but I am getting inside every nook and cranny, cabinet and drawer, to purge the junk and organize the treasures. 

When someone lives in a place for 50 years it is easy to accumulate a ton of crap. It is inevitable that one day someone will have to go through it. My wonderful, thoughtful mom will probably be the person who ends up taking care of the house when my grandma decides to move permanently out of town or when she's ready to let the house go. So, I just think about her when I'm cleaning and all she's done for me. If this small thing is something I can give to her then I am glad to give my time. 

It is kind of refreshing to clean. It's a bit of exercise that I need, and I have come across some old stuff. It sort of makes me feel powerful which is always fun. Like, "Hello Tupperware! You don't have a lid. Now you will meet the landfill." It just feels like a necessary part of life. We must clean out and refresh every part of our lives sometimes. 

I am learning some valuable lessons which is always important. While there are many other things I'd rather be doing--like writing on one of my books, visiting with people, reading, catching up on my TV shows, etc.--I know that I am growing and overcoming a challenge which are important things for me to do in every aspect of my life. 

I hope that you can find something that is a challenge to you and overcome it next week. I also hope you are not like me and never regret giving something as simple as your time to help another person... or if you are like me and did that initially I hope that you found the beauty in what you gave. 

Much love,

Alyssa

Returning to work

I have spent the last 3 weeks out and about then returned to work yesterday. I was scared that it would take me a bit to get back into the routine after being out of it for so long. Luckily it was just the opposite! I was so excited to be back to work, making the most of each hour, that I was really productive and have gotten a lot accomplished in the past two days. In fact even though my grandma took me on a long lunch today I have gotten all of my tasks done.

This is what I love about being 'self' employed. I can go and do, with my boss knowing that I will complete my projects. I think there needs to be more autonomy over your work and more flexibility with your hours. I am so much happier, efficient, and eager to work knowing that my work is meaningful  and that my boss respects me. I realize I have a special circumstance since I am working for family, but it still can be played out in every workplace. Some places need structure and can't be as flexible, but there are still better ways than the traditional 9 - 5 approach.

Things are just really great for me right now. I am so glad that I took the steps I did that got me here today. I know this will be one of the highlights of my life when I look back and tell the story of my post graduation experience. While many people may not see moving around and changing jobs an accomplishment, I certainly think this year has not only taught me a lot, but that I have accomplished a lot. I have seen that I can work in a variety of areas, and that I can also resign if they do not fit my values and goals. I am grateful of all of the opportunities I have had and am excited to continue this chapter of my life.

The beginning of May I got to go to the ole Alma Mater to see my dear friends graduate, visit with my partner's family and see his little sister graduate high school, then take a road trip back here and show my best friend where I grew up. It was a rich month full of love, laughs, adventure, and fun. I spent memorial day with my aunt hanging out binge watching American Horror Story, swimming, and surviving a storm. I did do a little work over the weekend and photographed a 25th anniversary wedding reception.

I have the best job ever and it is definitely going to be hard to leave and move on to something else when the time comes. The area isn't exactly where I would want to live permanently, but after being away for six years, it is so nice to come back home and get reacquainted.

If anyone has any ideas on how I can repay my grandpa and his beautiful wife for the amazing gift he has given me please leave them in the comments! I hope that everyone can find satisfaction in their job because you spend more time with your career than in your own home (unless you work from home... but you know what I mean!). Happiness, friendship, and the bare necessities are all anyone needs to live a successful life.

This weekend we are adventuring to a big Trade Days festival in Texas, then in the end of June we are headed up to see my family. I am so excited for that trip! I miss my little brother, mom, and dad very much and will be glad to see them in person. Skype just isn't cutting it.

I hope everyone has a lovely week, and enjoys the summer weather!

Until next time,
Alyssa

I have the best job in the world

Today I organized documents, pictures, stories, etc. into folders for each year of my grandpa's life. I love looking through and learning of his many endeavors and accomplishments. I learned today that  my grandpa spent 30 years as a weather adviser for our area. I think that is a neat accomplishment and I may have never known it had I not been assisting in filing this documentation!

One of the other beautiful things about this "job" is that I have the opportunity to get to know relatives that I do not know very well and learn about those who have passed. I have especially enjoyed getting to know my great grandpa, E.E. Gentry. He was an astounding man and seemed to be so much fun! Since he is the patriarch of my maternal side of the family I enjoy knowing that I can thank him for many of the lessons and values that I have learned over the years.

Now it'll be interesting to see how this intertwines with the bigger picture of my life.

I enjoyed the weekend staying with my aunt and enjoying her pool. I got quite sunburned again sadly, so I am going to have to get better about my sunscreen application. It's hard when you have to apply sunscreen every 30 minutes though! But we had a lovely weekend with delicious food.

I am thankful for the security and peace in my life and send positive energy to those who are enduring horrible tragedy in Baltimore, Maryland and Nepal. I hope that they find peace and are able to remain positive in the midst of all the terror that surrounds them. I wish I could fly out and help the grieving families in Nepal. That would be the ideal way I could spend my time if I was able.

Well I just wanted to post a little update. Take care and enjoy your week.

Love,
Alyssa

Week road tripping in Texas

My grandpa and Laurie Lou took my 9 year old cousin and I on a trip throughout Texas last week mainly to see the beautiful wild flowers but also adventure)!

Our first stop after leaving the house was Brenham, Texas, home of Bluebell Ice Cream! It was such a cool experience to see a factory--I had never visited one. The process of making the ice cream is really complex and neat, especially considering Bluebell originated as a butter creamery then started making 2 gallons of ice cream a day for the locals in 1911. Now they make thousands of gallons a day, and the gallons/cones/pints/etc. leave the factory within 6 hours of being packaged.  Super fresh! While in Brenham we also ate a delicious seafood joint called Sealand. I had a delicious grilled salmon and raw oysters. On our drive there we stopped at Washington on the Brazos where Texans signed their independence from Mexico. 

Beautiful Bluebonnets and Indian Paintbrushes

     

Next we traveled to the town with German roots called Fredericksburg where we ate some pretty good German food, and where I met Robert J. Waller. Mr. Waller is a good friend of my grandpa and world known author. His most famous book is The Bridges of Madison County. He was incredibly intelligent! I enjoyed listening to him talk. He shared a song with us and the lyrics were beautiful, I hope it gets recorded by a well known, respectable artist. I loved his wife Linda. She was very free spirited, artistic, and lovely! On our way there we stopped at Camp Verde, which is the site of the U.S. Department of War's camel experiment during the 1800's! You can read more about it Here. We also visited Luchenbach which has a population of 3 and is a town known for country music. It was a very interesting place to visit. The hill country of Texas is beautiful! I love it and highly recommend visiting this area. 

From there we traveled to San Antonio. I had never been to San Antonio so I had a lovely time seeing this city. My Great Great Uncle ran a fish market there back in the 1940s/50s so it was cool to see the street and area where he would have been. It was also nice to see the Alamo, and learn of Texas Independence. Cool fact: The Alamo started as a Catholic mission back in the 1700's.  We were very lucky that there weren't many tourists so that I could get this lovely shot. 

We ate at this amazing Mexican restaurant called Mi Tierra which is located at the Marketplace. Oh myyy goodness! Those were the best enchiladas pollo verde. Then the next morning for breakfast we got some fresh pastries and cookies. They were all tasty! But I particularly loved the pina empanada. From our tasty breakfast we went to the San Antonio Zoo for a few hours and that was a treat! There were some amazing animals there that I had never seen or heard of. Like this amazing Okapi! It is it's own breed of animal, but has the head and similar body as a giraffe and coloring/legs of a zebra!                                                               

From San Antonio we went to Indianola which was once a major port back in its day. From 1846-1847 they had over 5,000  German immigrants come settle in the area. Two major hurricanes came through within a decade of each other and completely wiped out the town. There isn't much there to see or do, but I thoroughly enjoyed imagining the history and seeing the little bit of ruins they do have. Hope to go back in January with my favorite travel partners, Pa and Laurie! We went to an awesome county museum in Port Lavaca that had some great artifacts of the history of the area and a model of what Indianola looked like in it's prime. We stayed at a bay front property that was adorable! Perfect little 2-bedroom. While it was a rental there was a for sale sign. Since we like the area so much we looked into to see how much it cost... and you wouldn't believe it but it cost a wopping $292,000! There is literally nothing there...I can't imagine paying that much for a little 900 square foot home even if it is close to a "beach" and has a water view. The coastline has receded about 2 blocks since the mid to late 1800's so I hope there is still an Indianola in a few decades. 

Statue of LaSalle, French explorer of America who reinvigorated the area in the 1600s. Learn about here Here

Now we are on to our last stop, Galveston. We took the scenic route to Galveston and saw some cool things like Shanghai Pierce's grave and a historic old hotel. Once inn Galveston we ate some delicious shrimp at 'Shrimp and Stuff' then went and rode a few rides at Pleasure Pier. My little cousin rode his first rollercoaster! It was so fun to be on there with him and encourage him to ride! He is around the same age I was when I rode my first coaster. Such a great memory to make! The picture is hilarious of us coming down from the drop. I will have to add it to this once I make a digital copy of it. This was my first time seeing Galveston since the destruction of Hurricane Ike. It has really recovered since then! Looks even better than I remember it from my last visit about 8 years ago.

Pleasure Pier! 

The next day I took the cousin to the beach, then we walked along Seawall Boulevard. We went to the edge of the island and saw the ships moving stuff along. It was quite windy out and the sky was very ominous. We missed the rain luckily, but it sure looked gloomy. We ate at Rainforest Cafe for the boy, took the ferry across and headed home. 

This was a perfect trip because we saw many different places, experienced nature, learned new things, ate good food, and had great conversations. I am so blessed that I was able to go. I hope that I can treat Pa and Laurie to a vacation that is just as sweet. 

Words cannot express how fortunate I am to have this opportunity... I get to connect with my family on a deeper and get to do work I truly enjoy while having a flexible schedule! And my boss takes me away on awesome vacations! I am so glad this is where life has lead me. 

My work is coming along! I think we have at least 2 years of sorting, organizing, and compiling to do though! But that's a-okay by me! I love learning about my ancestors because I know I am still learning from them today since they shape my grandpa and mother into who they are today. I hope to start typing a little something that I have learned about my relatives *everyday. Not only for you to get a better sense of who they were, but for me to look back on remember this amazing time in my life. 

I will write soon! Hope you enjoyed hearing of my adventures and that you see the beauty that is the hill country of Texas one day if you haven't already, and that you can reminisce fondly of these areas if you have had the pleasure of seeing them.

Love, 

Alyssa

P.S. Please excuse typos and missing words... it's been a long day and I don't feel like editing just yet. :p  

Have a lovely rest of your week!

Family Fun Weekend

I had a lovely weekend with my aunt and cousins! We had nonstop dance parties, swam, ate tasty food, and had some adventures. The weekend just flew by.

In fact, this entire week has flown by! I definitely made the right decision coming here. My grandpa showed me how much he has already done for his story and it was really exciting to see!

We have a banquet Tuesday, seeing out of town family Wednesday, then this weekend we will have some fun Easter festivities! Then next week we are going on a little vacation to South Texas for one of my cousins spring breaks. But, I am getting up nice and early tomorrow so that I can go for a walk and get a lot of work done!

Just wanted to put an update on here. :)

Hope everyone has an amazing week! Follow your heart and do what you love.

Much love,
Alyssa