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Girl U So Abrupt Pt. I: DMV via OKC (Pic Heavy)

February 2, 2012 By ARMOURELLE

Welcome to a recap of one of the dumbest (and by far, one of the greatest) things I’ve ever done: Driving from Oklahoma City to Washington D.C. in two days. Alone. In an effort to be present and conscious, I took pictures along the way instead of choosing to chug along and not enjoy the road trip. I’m glad I did.

There are lots of pics here, and you’ll have to click on ’em to see the full-sized versions. Oh, and keep in mind that lots of these are dashboard pics with me going 80mph. Okay, the technical stuff’s out of the way.

I’ll remember this road trip forever. Here’s my story:

I can’t believe I’m doing this.

It’s crazy! I should turn around. Really, I should turn around because doing this doesn’t make sense. Well I’ve already hugged my mama and told her goodbye, so I can’t turn around. Not now. I have to do this. “Remember, you need to have Oklahoma in your rear view mirror,” I tell myself.

Hitting the road at 5:15 a.m.

I’d been driving for an hour or two before the sun came up. I hit the road at 5:15 a.m.

 

Crossing through Arkansas.

I’m cool! Gotta grab a postcard for my mom. Too bad the Arkansas welcome center lobby isn’t open yet. I’m making good time, so I don’t mind waiting. I’m excited; I can do this! Looking forward to Memphis.

Arkansas welcome center

Arkansas welcome center. Sounds odd to say, but they had a really clean bathroom. Of course, I arrived about 10 minutes before it opened.

Downtown North Little Rock

Downtown North Little Rock

Downtown North Little Rock

More of Little Rock. Looking for the Post Office. I was determined to send my mom postcards from every state since she couldn’t ride along with me like she’d wanted.

Arkansas off I-40E

The Arkansas farmland off I-40E.

Arkansas farmland off the high way

More farmland off the highway.

 

Loving Memphis.

Downtown smells like chilli though. Wow, the Mississippi river! Cool! And the riverboat gives the scenery a nice touch. The architecture is pretty and kinda reminds me of New Orleans. After walking around, I notice downtown smells like a mix of chilli and sewage. Yuck!

Welcome to Tennessee

Welcome to Tennessee. It looks small, but it’s up there!

Downtown Memphis from the Highway

View of downtown Memphis from the highway. (Plus, a bit of the Mississippi River.)

 

I like the statues of B.B. King and The King.

There at the entrance of the Memphis welcome center. It’s nice that the center is in downtown Memphis. I’m taking this as my long driving break and decide to walk around downtown. I ask the white-haired lady at the front desk for postcards, but they had none. (At this point, I’m on a mission to send my mom a postcard from every state I pass through, with a postmark from each state, so I’ve got to find postcards and Post Offices.) I don’t have the heart to tell the lady at the welcome center “No” when she suggests something, so I end up with three Tennessee travel and coupon magazines. On top of that, she has me walking through downtown to a Walgreen’s to buy postcards. Gotta get a postcard, though, so I do it. And, walk a few more blocks to a Post Office drop.

Memphis Egg

Tiled “egg” outside of the Tennessee welcome center in downtown Memphis.

B.B. King bronze statue in Memphis.

B.B. King bronze statue in the Tennessee welcome center in downtown Memphis.

Elvis bronze statue in Memphis

Elvis bronze statue inside the Memphis welcome center.

The magazines I got from the Lady at the Welcome Center

The magazines the Lady at the Memphis welcome center gave me. I couldn’t say no! (And, yes, that’s a real road map in the corner.)

 

I spend about an hour walking around and taking pictures. I almost get hit by a trolley/lite rail car. The conductor honks at me to get out of the way. To do that, I jog out into the street. Then, I almost get hit by a regular car!

Overall, I like it here in Memphis, and decide I should come back for a proper (and ratchet!) visit.

Trolley in downtown Memphis

The trolley in downtown Memphis. (Excuse my finger in the corner, LOL.)

Front St. in Memphis

Memphis is my kind of town. Looking out from the law school steps, what do I see? FRONT STREET!

Downtown Memphis

Buildings in downtown Memphis. I thought their buildings were pretty unique.

More buildings of downtown Memphis

More downtown Memphis architecture. Some of the buildings gave me that NOLA vibe.

The Mississippi River

The Mississippi River. Beautiful! It didn’t look small or insignificant at all! Seeing something that I’d only read about in elementary school, and that I didn’t fully absorb/appreciate while in NOLA, was awesome. I talked my mom’s ear off about the Mississippi River.

 

I’m ready for Nashville!

I want to see Dollywood!* 2Chainz’ song “Spend It” has me going! Ratchet music keeps me company, courtesy of Shade45. Of course, it’s a must that I record myself singing, “I’m righ’roun’ and I’m gettin’ it. I’m righ’roun’ and I’m gettin’ it. It’s mine, I spennit. It’s mine, I spennit!…SIMILAAAAC!” and send it to some of my friends.
  

Onward to Nashville!

Leaving Memphis on the way to Nashville.

Tennessee trees and highway

Tennessee trees and highway. On the way to Nashville. Tennessee is looooong.

 

ZOMG! This drive from Memphis to Nashville is taking forever.

I’d thought it would be two and a half hours, but it was four and  half! Bad surprise there. But, listening to Kelis’ Wanderland CD has me live. The song “Young, Fresh and New” describes my situation perfectly. In it, she sings “run away from home.” That’s how I feel now, like I’m running away from home. My hype is waning. I hadn’t expected it to take four and a half hours to get to Nashville.

I’m tired. And still thinking, “Krishia, what in the world are you doing?! This is crazy.” I remind myself this is THE roadtrip I’ve wanted to take for the last couple of years. And, also, that this is a leap of faith. A giant one. One that rivals the step of any decorated long jumper. I keep quoting Shira** in my mind. In one of her YouTube video series, she says, “You’re not meant to create the miracles. That’s not up to you to create the miracles; it’s just up to you to believe in the miracles and do enough work towards the miracles [so] that they do come true for you.”

That works for me.

Traveling I-40E in Tennessee.

Trying to get a picture of the sediment style of the rocks in Tennessee. Unsuccessful at 80mph.

I-40E in Tennessee

Traveling I-40E in Tennessee.

 

In Nashville.

Over it. No pictures. It’s dark. I’m ready to be in Knoxville. Just getting gas on what is probably the wrong side of town. Oh well. All I know is that they had better give me correct change. All money is green; now give me gas. And stop watching me through the windows.

Finally, I’m on the way to Knoxville. I’ve sat behind my steering wheel for about 12 hours so far. I call my sister. Talking to her about nothing instantly perks me up. I’m driving through winding roads, with lots of semis and other cars. It’s kind of in the mountain-like area with unstable rocks jutting out, and fences to keep them in. There’s even a warning sign to look out for falling rocks! Gah-lee! There are several accidents on this stretch between Nashville and Knoxville, and I understand why. I’m glad I’m driving in the dark, because seeing mountains looking down on me would make me nervous and imagine stray boulders.

Leaving out of Nashville.

Leaving out of Nashville, I saw an ambulance. It was the first time I’d seen one with a person inside. She was back there on a stretcher fixing her hair and straightening her clothes, LOL! They didn’t have their sirens on, either. Hey, I had to stay entertained.

My eyelids feel like sandpaper.

Made it into Knoxville, and I’ve had three peanut butter and honey sandwiches today, one at each stop. I said I wasn’t spending extra money, but I’m getting real food when I stop.

I made it all this way without GPS, yet this is where I get lost. I take the wrong exit to the hospital, the one where my sister’s friend works, I ran an obvious red light, and left turned out in front of a car that had the right of way. I have got to get off the road. Now. Kanye’s College Dropout CD helps me through my directional blunders. Made it! Plus, I eat real food for free! Yay!

Uh oh, my sister’s BFF tells me about signs of flurries in the DC area. I find this info out on the way to my host’s house (to which she graciously hands me her keys and says, “make yourself at home.” Gotta love that). Precipitation means I’ll take the alternate route I decided on in case of questionable weather, and not drive through the Appalachian mountains on I-81 as planned.

Since I’m losing focus, I accidentally cut a car off on the highway while taking a super sharp right turn for an exit just before making it to my host’s apartment. Thank you Jesus that I didn’t flip my car, Stella. And, I’ve really gotta get off the road and into a bed.

I’m here. In my host’s apartment complex. Okay, why can’t I find this effing apt building?! The numbers on each of the buildings are tiny, its dark, and it’s raining a bit. It takes 20 minutes of my sleep time to find the correct apartment building.

Finally inside! Shower, then bed.

Day Two tomorrow.

*Cheers!

*I now know Dollywood is near Knoxville. I thought it was in Nashville during my trip.
**I talk about Shira a lot; I’ve watched her YouTube videos for years now. She’s totally my homegirl in my head. 

Filed Under: Girl U So..., I Am, Life

Girl U So Law of Attraction-Getting!

January 5, 2012 By ARMOURELLE

My 2012 Vision Board

My 2012 vision board: Say bye-bye to boring!

Vision is Speaking and You’d Better Listen. Need to get stuff done? Be a better person? Not a problem. If there are a few things you didn’t accomplish last year, or some new things you want to make habits for 2012, you can make it happen. Take just a few steps and as much (or as little) time as you want to make a stellar vision board that helps attract the things you need and want!

Step 1

Page through a few magazines or online. It’s easiest to do this manually unless you’ve got some major Photoshop skills. As you’re going through your magazines, cut out any and everything that you like, that jumps out at you, or that ‘speaks’ to something in you. Don’t worry about choosing the “right” images and words. To stay organized, keep your cutouts in an envelope or shoebox.

Step 2

When you feel you’re finished, go through all of your cut-outs, sorting them into themes. As you can see from my vision board, my themes are (clockwise): Living a happy life, money smarts, travel, friendship, success at work, productivity, killer shoes (because who doesn’t want that, right?), and polishing my appearance. Some of those things felt silly putting on my board. And, you might feel like some of your goals are frivolous, but push that aside and make a place for it anyway, because though it might seem non-important, those goals will help you be a better you.

Step 3

Now that you’ve got your pieces separated into themes, you’re ready to cement them on your board. Oh, and as a side note, if there was something that you couldn’t find, write it on your vision board in marker so it stands out among the magazine cut-outs.

To create your vision board, you’ll need:
A background. Foam core board, poster board, or a canvas are good choices.
Cheap acrylic paint to paint the background of your board (optional).
Glue or tape
Scissors
Marker

Time to have fun. Get creative and let your inner kid out to play! If you’re not creative, don’t worry. You don’t have to make some MOMA-worthy vision board. This is just for you and no one else.

Step 4

Once you’ve created your vision board, keep it in a place where you’ll see it often. You don’t have to actively read it everyday, but seeing those images, themes and phrases repetitively will keep them in your subconscious, causing you put your energy toward accomplishing your goals and receiving your blessings. Before you know it—or even realize it—you’ll have added most of what you need, want and desire into your daily life!

*Cheers!

(For more on this, check out the book Write It Down, Make It Happen: Knowing What You Want And Getting It by Henriette Klauser. I was introduced to this book by my homegirl in my head, Shira of SugarFreeTv. Very powerful book.)


Filed Under: Girl U So..., I Am Tagged With: I'm So Sincere, In All Seriousness

Feeling Blessed? Haves vs. Have Nots

June 29, 2011 By ARMOURELLE

You know, ppl say they’re blessed based on how they measure up to others. Why can’t you just FEEL or BELIEVE you’re blessed w/out validation

Why is it, “I’m so blessed for this job bc there are so many unemployed ppl.” Why do you need to think of the unemployed to feel blessed?

Or, any other situation. I caught myself thinking that one day about something. And I said to myself, “Why would you think that!?” Why +

Would I think someone WASN’T blessed or was “less fortunate” bc they don’t have a car, job, whatever. And why would I be so snobbish to +

Feel that I was blessed based in what I PERCEIVED that someone didn’t have.

I think we have to know that we do (or, maybe don’t!) deserve the good things that happen to us. Good energy will come back to you.

I have been doing this lately. A lot. Don’t know why bc you guys know I don’t talk religion, spirituality or metaphysics. At. All.

Originally Tweeted June 23.

Filed Under: I Am Tagged With: I'm So Sincere, In All Seriousness

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