Belated NEW YEAR to you & yours!!
It’s been a while since I checked in with everyone and so I picked one of the best days ever (24th of course) to write my first post of the year!
For starters, I’d like to send a huge THANK YOU to the Obamas for being “Our American family” for the past 8 years. I literally cried watching his last speech, but I’m so thankful that I’ve had the opportunity to visit with him & Michelle during visits to the White House.
I was incredibly honored to be invited to his final going away party a few weeks ago. It was my husband’s first visit to to the White House so it made the party that much more special. It was the party of all parties! Guests weren’t allowed to bring cellphones to the party & the guest list was jaw dropping!
Everywhere I looked, I was excited to see someone that I knew, watched on TV and/or just simply wanted to say hi to! President and First Lady Obama were in there just walking around and hanging out too. It’s funny because I don’t get star struck, and I wasn’t in there either, but it’s almost like I came alive. Joe Biden, Queen Latifah, Common, Chance the Rapper, Bill Murray, Robert De Niro, Hill Harper, Chrisette Michele, J Cole, Wendell Pierce, politicians, and of course the NBA was represented too with my fave Alonzo & Tracy Mourning, Ray and Shannon Allen , Magic & Cookie Johnson, Charles Barkley, Grant & Tamia Hill, Jordin Sparks, Dave Chappelle. Maya (Moore) and her mom were there so the 4 of us got to hang for a bit too! Talk about a fun night! The music was awesome, the people were awesome, and it was definitely bittersweet knowing what the night represented. I was just thankful to be able to share it with my hubby and the Obama’s : )
This year I wanted to start something a little different than I’ve done before to keep all of you engaged and to get everyone anxious and motivated to make this year one unlike the others. I started #24Forever Wednesday Challenge as a way to encourage everyone to commit to different activities each week. So, every Wednesday I’ll post a different challenge for everyone to engage in. While there will be a new one each week, if you choose to keep doing something on your own, there’s no stopping you!!
For the next few months you’ll see me on the sidelines commentating for ESPN & the SEC Network. Honestly, I don’t know how that came about, but now that I’m three games out (I did TX A&M @KY, GA @ KY & LSU @ TX A&M) I am enjoying it. I never saw myself doing commentating because I just didn’t think I’d be good at it, and I put myself inside a box stating that 2 professions I wouldn’t get into would be COACHING & COMMENTATING. Well… I’ve gone against my word in one, and now instead of saying that I won’t coach I say “I’m just not ready for it : )” I know people will keep asking, and with all of the cool stuff I have going on right now, I don’t know if I’m up for the full time coaching job.
We have some exciting things coming up this year with my Catch the Stars Foundation. Last year we opened up our 2nd Active Reading Corner at Riley’s Children’s Hospital (Currently at Christel House Academy, Brookside location closed). One thing we vowed to do as a foundation is find a way to stay engaged and be active within the Corner. So, this year we are committing to hosting monthly events with our Riley patients and families. I’m so excited about “preping our youth to catch their dreams one star at a time.”
Our 16th Annual Holiday Camp was a huge success! Crazy how we spend 365 days preparing for a 3-day camp and it comes and goes so fast. Then we start the process all over again… But, I LOVE IT!!! Plans are already underway for this year’s Holiday Camp that will be December 27th -29th. The early bird special of $50 is thru the end of February. Make sure that all youth between the ages of 9-15 GET SIGNED UP!!