Torn.

OooWee! It’s been quite a while. Pardon me while I get back into blogging mode.

My Heart So, I am sitting in my parents house on my mom’s computer. I am home, in the county, for the first time since June of this year. While I am in Charlotte I miss this place everday; while I am here I miss Charlotte everyday. My heart is torn between the two. Everything that I know, love and grew up with is here, in the county. Everything new, exciting, inspiring and different is in Charlotte. The one advantage that Pamlico will always have is Love. My parents, my brother and the few friends that I have are here. There is also all the memories. The bittersweet memories. I think that I will always be torn between the two places with those added pangs to go to NH and urges to bask in the Mexico Sun.

Today, I woke up with a slight hangover from a night of partying with my favorite twins! Richard and I went and got Biscuits an Gravy and a big cold glass of sweet Tea from the Mickey D’s! I had the best lunch with my PCHS girls, Richard, my sister, The best mom ever and my little punkin Alexander and his mama Mimi! Then lot’s of shopping and little buying followed with a stop at Subway and homeee sweet home. Katie, myself and pop went deer spotlightin. 35 deer and 2 opposum. Goood times.
What a lovely day back home.

Dude, the most important thing that i have learned in the year and a half that I have lived in Charlotte is that no matter what you always need to stay true to you. Stop trying to be who you are not and instead just be the best you that you can be. If you are a county girl that is what you will always be! Embrace that shit and learn how to be amazing at being you. Stop changing just because you moved or got new clothes. True story, no one give a shit. People care that you are the person that they remembered and the person that they liked. Just because I moved to the big city does not stop me from shopping at the goodwill. Now I just shop at 10 different goodwills. My girls that I know will never change no matter what are Ann and Brandy. <3 Love ya’ll! Ashley, you changed but only to better yourself and take care of my precious godson and I love you for that. You are still my Mimi and my Hoora and you always will be.

I am going to end with my favorite quote:

Going to church doesn’t make you a Christian any more than going to the garage makes you a car.
— Laurence J. Peter

Just sayin’

Love and Books

I have been reading basically non-stop for the past week. I have read 5 books in the past week. I have always enjoyed reading immensely; I get so lost in the characters dynamic worlds. I have taken so many lessons from books and learned so much. I attribute my joy of reading to my mom. Every since I was a baby she read to me every single night until I could read on my own. She made sure that I always had books. From day one, reading was important. I remember every summer she enrolled me in a summer reading program at the local library; the goal was to read the most books. I loved it! If a book came out that I had to have she always made time to drive me to the bookstore. I never realized until this moment how much she did to make sure that I loved reading and that I got the best education possible. Sometimes its the little things that you forget about that are the ones that shaped the person that you are today. Thanks mom.

Anyways, while reading “The Secret Life of Bee’s” I realized that I wanted to make a list of all the things that I love. All the things that make me happy. All the things that make me…me.

1. My family
2. My Richard
3. The colors turquoise & pink
4. My mini doxie “Banana Moon Pie”
5. Everything about restaurants! Eating at them, cooking, waiting, opening, managing, EVERYTHING!
6. Eminem. <–I can not help but love him music and his message
7. Car rides alone. The ones before and after work/school where you just relax with your thoughts, the monotony of the same route that you take every day and the music that you love.
8. Making a dinner that everyone loves
9. French Toast and Scrambled Cheese Eggs
10. Grilled cheese dipped in grape jelly <—Thanks Ma!
11. Sporadic long talks on the phone with my sister Lisa
12. Johnson and Wales
13. Learning new, exciting things and being so eager to share that information with whoever will listen
14. having that eagerness inside me to learn as much as I can about something
15. That feeling I get when I work at a restaurant that screams “You were made for this, one day you will have your own”!
16. Plane rides
17. Goodwill. There is nothing like finding a pair of designer jeans that fit you perfectly for 5 dollars
18. Making my parents/family proud.
19. Knowing all the words to my favorite songs
20. Lists
21. Always having a pen and paper near by so I can write
22. reading my meditation book late at night and writing down all the parts that really speak to me and who I am
23. taking pictures
24. those days where I just feel more gorgeous than anyone I have ever seen
25. crying

I imagine if I really thought about I could think of millions of other things but thats not my point. My point is that the things you love and the things that make you the person you are really do matter. No matter what weird shit you love, be happy that you are who you are. I wouldn’t want to be anyone but me.

The life of a Waitress

I want to write a new post so bad but every time that I try, I get writers block and everything sounds too entirely stupid. I am over thinking it instead of acting on impulse so my brain is in freeze mode. Thanks brain. I guess I will take this time to give a little life update instead of attempting writing something witty, clever and oh so hilarious.

My job is horrible. Point blank the place is dead all the time and I am not making any money. The owners (more so the wife) are insane. I attribute their insanity to them being Jewish and old. The wife is a character and by character I mean she is a psycho.

• She never changes her clothes
• She sleeps in the booths at the restaurants while customers are eating
• Her hair looks so greasy
• She is grossly overweight and drags her leg when she walks
• Yesterday she lost her front tooth
• She eats more than anyone I have ever seen in my life. <– That is saying a lot
• Within 3.5 hours she ate the following

1. About a half a loaf of rye bread
2. A bowl of matzo ball soup
3. A bowl of noodles and ketchup
4. A bowl of mandarin oranges
5. 2 stuffed cabbages
6. Mashed potatoes
7. A huge piece of cheesecake
8. I am probably forgetting something

• Today she was screaming across the restaurant while we had customers
• She told the cooks we had 5 more orders when the place was empty
• She is pissed off at the world and takes it out on EVERYONE.
• She sits in a different booth ever hour and expects the waitresses and cooks to wait on her hand and foot and clean up her shit.

Crazy woman. She has seriously lost it.

Other than my Job I really have no news at all. My dog keeps whining for some unknown reason and she kinda worries me. Richard has been being such a doll. He made me a cake while I was at work yesterday and made dinner tonight. He has also done the dishes two nights in a row. He wants something.

Best news all week: I have a job interview tomorrow.

Appetizers

Danielle Ruby Slade.

A name that I am more proud of than almost anything. Danielle — A name that my parents chose for me above all other names, a name inspired by my pop “Danny”.  Ruby — My grandmothers name.  Grandma Ruby, the one that I never met but I love her so much just from all the wonderful stories. My birthstone just happens to be ruby as well!  Slade — A last name should be strong and empowering. Whenever I begin to doubt myself I always remember that I am a Slade and all is well again.

I am a  woman. I can do anything. I can be whatever I set out to be. Some people have it in them and some don’t. I have it in me to succeed. I have it in me to be successful in whatever I choose. I am Slade.

Life is a series of obstacles, roadblocks and most importantly: random ice cream rainfalls.  My life as it is now started when I moved out of my parents house to go to college 300 miles away. Richard and I left exactly one month after my 18th birthday. I was so ready to move and so ready to start my life.  Looking back,  I was young and dumb as hell. Now listen and listen good; this shit is important:

• Money does not grow on trees. I had to learn this the hard way.
• Trust no one.  Not your neighbor, not your landlord, not even your best friend.
• If you think for one minute that eating out every night or those ramen noodles will ever even begin to compare to your mama’s cooking, you are sadly mistaken.
• If you think that you do not have to wash clothes at least once a week to have clean underwear, you are sadly mistaken.
• If you think that just because you have a dishwasher you do not have to do anything, you are sadly mistaken.
• Bills do not pay themselves.
• When you live 300 miles from home in a big ass city it is much harder to get a job. No one knows your mama or your daddy or your great uncle Fred and they could care less about where you come from.

Basically what I am saying is respect your parents and all that they do. You will miss it and them more then you ever thought possible.

Parents. If there is one thing that I could scream at the top of my lungs for the whole world to hear it would be “I love my parents!” Of course we have had fights and all that family drama but I can honestly say that they understand me more than anyone else.  My Ma and pop are my best friends. They are both so different and I love them for that. No matter what the question is one of them will know the answer.  They always give the best advice and tell you exactly what they think no matter if you want to hear it or not. My sister Lisa and Brother Elvis are also very special to me. They are the best, they are always there for me and I can count on them 100% no matter what. Family is whats important. As long as you are straight up, family will always have your back. Blood is thicker than water. Don’t forget it.

Love. The real stuff. My honey, Richard Troy Midyette.  He is the one that can make me smile on my worst day. He is that happiness inside me that no one else can even compare to. Richard moved with me to Charlotte, he too moved 300 miles from his only family. He would give me the world if he could. He hasn’t let me down yet in the 2 years that we have been together and I am certain that he never will. Engaged.

–Thanks for the inspiration Meredith!–