I’m A Keeper « Pretty Little Tangents

Sweet and funny Rachel over at Rachel, Rachel I’ve Been Thinking awarded me with the Keepsake Blog Award

It came with a few simple rules:

1. Post a funny or sweet keepsake that tells something about you.

2. Pass the award on to 10 other bloggers that you think are keepers!

Easy enough, no?

The keepsake I chose was given to me about 12 years ago by my sister. I was a freshman at Tech and was having bit of a tough time. It was my first time away from my over-protective parents and it might be said that I was spending more time at a little establishment called The Emerald Isle where I could use a Puerto Rican man’s driver’s license and get in than I was spending studying in my dorm. At the end of my first quarter I had acquired a GPA of a 2.18! I had always been a 4.0 student! I got my grades when I was home for Christmas. I came clean to my parents about my grades. My dad threatened that if I lost HOPE (education scholarship funding in the state of Georgia through the lottery in case you aren’t familiar), then I’d have to come home and commute to the college the next city over.

So my second quarter at school I busted it on the studying. Because my grades were so bad I didn’t get initiated with the rest of my pledge class and was on social probation. Both my roommate and I were in this predicament. We studied hard. Every night. We only went out on Friday and Saturday nights (a far cry from our Wed – Sun schedule the previous quarter). Even though I was making better grades, it was still hard because I was putting so much pressure on myself – I could NOT go back to living with my parents in that small town. My sister is only a year younger than I am – we were very close in high school and this *transition* year was hard on both of us. I would talk to her about how tough it was and how I was miserable a lot of the time. She came for a visit that quarter and being the great little artist that she is, she gave me this:

Since that time, it has always been up at my desk – first in college, and then the various cubes I’ve inhabited since. It serves as a reminder that 1. I can do anything – I just need to chill the eff out first and 2. that she’s always got my back/is on my side. I love this little piece of artwork and I love her for being such a sweetheart.

Oh, and my grades? My first quarter was the only time I didn’t make Dean’s list – take that!

And now I pass the torch to the following bloggers (in no particular order):

I love all your blogs, ladies and I thank you for making my boring days in Corporate America a little more bearable by sharing your stories, your fashion, and your insights. And thanks again to Rachel for showing me some love – I heart you, too!

Have a safe and happy 4th of July!!!