100 things about me

cause my gal Sarah challenged us

I have to say I kinda like these blog challenges and topics. It is fun. So, Sarah's challenge to her bloggers was to come up with a list of 100 things that, maybe, no one knows about you. It sounds like a long task, but I am gonna give it a whirl since everyone else is.

1. I was only 5 lbs when I was born
2. I was born with a severe case of strabismus (crossed eyes)
3. My mom was worried that I was blind
4. My Paw paw thought I looked Chinese :)
5. I had surgery on my eyes when I was one and went through vision therapy in high school
6. But I will always have problems with my eyes
7. And when people say something or tease me about my eyes it really hurts my feelings
8. I moved from Oklahoma to Kansas when I was 9
9. My first boyfriend was Nick Engels (he was also my first kiss)
10. I was engaged right out of high school
11. But didn't marry him and I am glad I didn't
12. I have a big mouth
13. And many times it has gotten me into trouble. But I am working on it, as always
14. I cry very easily
15. I often cry when I watch Extreme Makeover Home Edition
16. I love Mexican food
17. My mother has leukemia
18. and I worry about her all the time
19. I worry about my dad traveling all the time
20. I hurt my sister very badly
21. and I am not sure if we will ever be the same
22. I cannot stands friends of "convenience"
23. I am almost always on time
24. I hate waiting on people
25. I still miss my golden retriever Rosie
26. I felt responsible for her dying because she got sick when I moved away to college
27. I often talk to my friends and family that have passed when I drive long distances in my car
28. I wish I would have been closer to my PePaw before he died
29. I wish I was closer to all my relatives
30. I tried to play tennis in middle school
31. I completely failed at it
32. I tried to play volleyball in middle school
33. I was ok... best server on the C Team :)
34. I love to sing
35. I was in showchoir in high school
36. I participated in musicals through middle school and high school
37. I had my wisdom teeth out in high school
38. I was the Editor-in-Chief of the Butler County Community College Newspaper, The Lantern
39. I miss Kansas
40. I miss my parents
41. I light up when I get home and my little kitty Jada is waiting for me
42. I crave salt more than sugar
43. I suck at eating healthy
44. But I am trying with the help of Weight Watchers
45. I bought my first house at 24
46. My first real job was a sacker at Dillons in El Dorado
47. I am a planner
48. My husband is not a planner
49. However, my husband is better with money than I am
50. Jared and I have been through many difficult times
51. But we made it through and I think it makes us stronger
52. He has been there for me when others haven't
53. I want kids so bad that my heart aches whenever I see a precious baby
54. But I am scared to death to be a parent
55. I love pickled okra
56. I am proud to say I was born in Oklahoma
57. I love summer and hot weather
58. but I hate humidity
59. and I refuse to drive on ice
60. I miss my job in Kansas
61. I wake up every morning with a back ache and neck pains
62. My chiropractor told me a year ago that I was the most messed up, out of wack 26 year old she has ever seen
63. I love Rx medications
64. But not in a drug addict kinda way
65. I work in drug and alcohol prevention
66. I am so proud of my husband for turning his life around
67. I am kind of a home body, even though I don't like to admit it
68. I have severe allergy and sinus issues
69. My dream is to someday live on the water, somewhere
70. I have a potty mouth that I have been trying to improve on
71. I collect shot glasses
72. and, sadly, I used to collect Beanie Baby bears
73. I dislike people who think they are better than everyone else
74. I drink a glass of milk in the morning and one before bed
75. I am very much loving the blogging scene
76. I am an emotional eater... every time I have any kind of emotion, I think I need to eat
77. I love all kinds of music
78. My first concert was New Kids on the Block in 1990 (and I am going to see them again this fall)
79. I wish I was athletic and competitive
80. The only thing I am competitive at is karaoke contests
81. I won 2nd place my first karaoke contest at the Prairie Port Festival in El Dorado in 2001.
82. I won first place at a karaoke contest in Pittsburg in 2003. The prize was $400
83. and I beat a guy that already had some lame recording deal, haha. He thought he was real cool. NOT!
84. My first car was a 1986 Honda Accord
85. I loved that car
86. When I look into Jared's eyes I feel safe
87. I am nervous when I make new friends
88. I have a hard time relaxing, which would explain the chiropractor one earlier in the list.
89. I am so proud of my dad for everything he has accomplished and provided for our family.
90. I am sooooo grateful I had a normal childhood with loving parents
91. I think about my sister every day
92. I worry about the future, alot
93. I worry about everything actually
94. I like to say I am laid back, but I am far from it
95. I have a hard time REALLY listening to people. I have been working on it for a while now. It is like a continuous training I have to give myself
96. I miss all my old friends from college and high school
97. I am SEVERLY jealous of people, another thing I have gotten better at over the years but it still bugs me
98. I learned more about politics and government from working at a newspaper than I did in high school and college
99. I am addicted to reality tv and social networking sites
100. I am OCD about clutter around the house in the open, but still wish I was more organized in the hidden places (closets, drawers, etc.)


:)

Nothing too exciting

just felt like I needed to post something

We had a pretty laid back, but fun weekend. We had free tickets (the secretary at Jared's work got them for us. Thanks Paula) to the Shinedown concert at Club Fever. I wasn't real familiar with all the bands (Theory of a Deadman and Black Stone Cherry was there too), but I had heard a few of their songs on the radio. Kind of a mix between Nickelback, Daughtry and Hinder. At least, I thought that was what they all sounded like! :) It was a pretty good time and then we met Julie out at The Landing with her friend Adam. We danced the night away to a live band. Good times.

This week has been pretty laid back so far. I am feeling the sinus pressure coming on (imagine that, I am the queen of sinus infections). In fact, I didn't go into work Monday cause I woke up feeling like a bus had hit me. No fun.

This weekend is a fundraiser/beach party for the Center for the Homeless. On the River 2008, is organized by the Young Professionals Against Poverty and it held right across the street from my office building right on the river. There will be live bands, food, ice cold beer :) and other beverages, and they are bringing in 1,500 tons to sand to make it look like a real beach! It is only for adults 21 and over and it sounds really cool. Plus, all the advertising, planning and marketing for it is very professionally done. So, I think we will probably go check it out for a while, I mean after all, it's for a good cause :).

In fact, I might get some more information on this group and join them. I am already a part of the Young Professionals Network through the Chamber of Commerce, so this group might be a nice networking and volunteering opportunity as well. And, the Center for the Homeless here is really cool (if there is such a thing as cool homeless centers). Not sure what other homeless centers in other cities look like, but this one is amazing (thanks to Notre Dame's backing). We have meetings in their briefing center for the Young Professionals Network and it is amazing the services and resources they are able to offer people to help them find homes and get back on their feet. I imagine in this downward economy and the closing of several RV plants, and cuts at the Hummer Plant, in the area that they are seeing more and more people in need of services. :( It is sad and I sure hope something changes soon and helps those thousands of people who have lost their jobs.

Vacation

GBE topic #46

This week's topic for the Group Blogging Experience is Vacation and I gladly jumped on this one.

The first thought that popped into my head when I heard vacation was the trip my family took to San Antonio when I was a child (well, and all the childhood trips we took).

Growing up, my parents made a point to take us to as many places as their finances would allow. While, we never really made it out of the midwest, our trips were full of fun and adventure.

We took our trip to San Antonio when I was 10 years old and we had only lived in Kansas a short time. Our friends Rick and Lori from Moore, OK invited us to come along with them as their daughter Brandee danced in a competition there. Brandee and I were best friends growing in Moore before we moved to Kansas, so it was so great for me to spend time with her again.

We traveled from Wichita to Moore and then down to Dallas. In Dallas we visited Six Flags. This was my first time to visit a large theme park (Silver Dollar City doesn't count) so we had a grand time riding rides until we were sick and eating lots of greasy, sweet foods.

After that we drove to San Antonio where the real vacation began. As I look back on this trip I realize that we did a heck of a lot of stuff in a short time. We visited the Alamo, the river walk, Sea World and traveled to Padre Island for one day to see the ocean (which was the first time Alicia and I had ever seen it). Padre was an adventure in itself. It was sunny when we get there, but in a short amount of time, storm clouds rolled in and we found ourselves fighting the wind, which was blowing sand at us from every direction. Nothing hurts worse than sand hitting you at 50 mph. But, we did manage to gather up a ton of seashells which we loaded in the van to take home, not even thinking that they would begin to smell like dead fish in a few days. That was a lesson learned, yuck.

Even with all the places I have been able to visit throughout my life, this Texas trip will always be one of my favorites. I am surprised how much I actually remember from it and how much I learned. I hope to take my kids there someday and share with them the great memories and experiences that I had.

Take me out to the ballgame...

take me out to the crowd

Anyone who knows me well, knows that I am not the worlds biggest sports fan, especially when it comes to baseball (I love me some football though!). I can't STAND to watch baseball on tv. However, I love watching it live and we are lucky in South Bend to have our own Class A Affiliate team, The South Bend Silverhawks, part of the Arizona Diamonbacks league.

Well, we decided to check it out for ourselves last night at a home game at Coveleski Stadium (which the commonly refer to as The Cove) in downtown South Bend. IT WAS SOOOO MUCH FUN!!! The stadium was really nice and clean and, surprisingly, there were a lot of people there! Our tickets were in the front row right on the first base line (can't get any better than that) and the weather was a perfect 83 degrees and no humidity.

To top it all off, it was a close game. It was tied 3-3 with the Beloit Snappers in the 10th inning. With the bases loaded, Silverhawks hit a homerun for the win. WOO HOO! And, there was even a Kansas boy on their team. Eli Rumler from Little River, Kansas. We rooted him on pretty good... gotta support our Kansas folk.

We plan on attending many more of these games in the future. Gotta love cheap, fun and local entertainment!

Anyhow, here are a few photos from the game.

Just a few pics

from last weekend

Here's a few pics from last weekend when me, Jared, Hicks and Kaci went to Rum Runners (the piano bar) in downtown South Bend.

Whoever thought up diagonal roads anyway?

they are the root of all evil. Ok, maybe not all evil, but they are really bad

I am getting pretty decent at getting myself around South Bend and Mishawaka but all the road construction and diagonal roads have me wishing I had a teleporter to transport me home after work.

My first week on the job in June I took the long way to work, mostly cause it was the only way I knew. Then, someone informed me of an easier route. So the next day I tried that. DETOUR. Road construction had, apparently, just began on one of the roads I needed to take. I laughed to myself cause only these kinds of things happen to me. "Can't they wait until I know my way around before they post detours and do road construction". But, I did find a way to get around it and I continue to "get around it" everyday when I come to work.

Well, now I have began attending numerous meetings around the community, mostly in the downtown area. Usually I can get there, but getting home or getting back to the office is always an adventure because of the one-way streets, streets that just end all-of-a-sudden and streets that change names.

Yesterday me and the SR-23 went round and round. The State Road 23, also called South Bend Ave (every road here has like 5 names and I am not kidding. Mostly it happens when they switch from S.B. to Mishawaka, but sometimes it seems like it is for no apparent reason but to confuse new people from Kansas). Anyway, the SR-23 is a diagonal road that stretches from downtown S.B. clear to north Mishawaka. This road is tricky with several 5 point intersections and weird turn lanes and I ALWAYS seem to end up on it after a meeting as I try to get home. Many times I have missed turns and end up taking it all the way to the north end of Mishawaka and then have to backtrack to our apartment. FRUSTRATING. Well, I told myself I wasn't going to let it get the best of me again :)

Yesterday, I took the correct turn off of SR-23 to take me to Edison Road, which comes out right by our apartment. Just when I am thinking to myself "Yes, I outsmarted you SR-23!!!! HAHAHA", I see orange and black signs "Road Closed - Detour". Guess where the detour takes me folks? BACK TO SR-23, where I ended up at the north end of Mishawaka and had to backtrack back to my apartment.

I guess sometimes it's just easier to take the longer route :)

No rollercoasters for us

:(

So, our weekend wasn't quite as exciting as I had hoped, but it was still fun.

Saturday it rained most the day, so our beach plans in Michigan City were ruined. But we still had a great dinner and hung out at the piano bar downtown.

Sunday, we had planned on going to Cedar Point to ride rollercoasters but Kaci ended up really sick Saturday night and was taken to the ER. :( She had felt like she was getting ill when she left Kansas on Thursday, but tried to suck it up. Well, she didn't get better and all the running around didn't help her either. Hicks and her were in the ER most of the night. So, needless to say, we all slept in and took it pretty easy on Sunday. We've still got our tickets though :), so we hope to go later on this summer before Labor Day.

I have some pics from the piano bar that I will try to post later. Hope you all had a great weekend as well!

17 Rollercoasters!

i couldn't believe it either, but it's true

Our friend Kaci is coming up from Pitt this weekend and boy do we have a fun weekend planned. Friday, Hicks and Kaci are visiting friends in Chicago and Jared and I will hang out at home, but on Saturday we are all hanging out at the beach in Michigan City. And Sunday we are heading to Sandusky, OH (Tommy just sold half a million brakepads) to Cedar Point Amusement Park. It's about 3 1/2 hours away and it rest right on Lake Erie. In fact, many of the pictures on their website show the rides with a gorgeous view of the lake in the background. I can't wait!!!!!!! I love theme parks.

Shopping Adventure

solve this puzzle for me...

Stacy lives in the Eastern time zone wants to go shopping at the Lighthouse Premium Outlets in Michigan City, an hour away, on Saturday. Michigan City is in the Central time zone and Stacy wants to be there by the time they open at 9 a.m. She has to be back for a hair appointment at 3 p.m. What time does Stacy need to leave to arrive there by 9 and what time does she need to leave to make it back for her hair appointment?

Ok, so it isn't THAT difficult of a puzzle, but I had to give it some serious thought before Julie and I trekked over there for our shopping extravaganza. Of course, Julie has had many years of experience in calculating time differences, so she laughed at me a lot, haha.

We had a brilliant day. I had some birthday money Jared gave me so I decided to treat myself to a little shopping. These outlets in Michigan City are the best! There are sooooo many stores all in this outdoor area and most of the stores are designer, including Coach, Burberry, Nine West, Ann Taylor and Zales, plus places like Bath and Body Works, Nike, Adidas, Old Navy, Maurices, Banana Republic, J. Crew and the Gap. There are so many that this list doesn't even do it justice.

The first place we headed was the Coach outlet because I was determined to buy a new Coach purse and I was successful in that venture. I found a really cute one that was 50% of the already marked down price, which put it under $100 which is a steal for anything Coach. I was super happy!!!! :)

Next we went to Nine West for some hard core shoe shopping. I have never been a girl that has mastered walking in heels. I always see pairs that are cute, but I never buy them because I know I will fall flat on my face in front of a bunch of people and humiliate myself. I tried on a pink pair of strappy heels and I loved them. Heck, I even walked around a little bit and did well until I got an attitude and then lost my footing, haha. The pink pair was a little too big though and they didn't have the pink pair in a smaller size, so I settled on the silver pair. I adore them!

These were 2 of many purchases that day, but they were my favorites.

After grabbing some Subway we headed back to The Bend and I went for the FIRST time to get my hair dyed and cut without my fabulous hairdresser in Pittsburg :(. I was sad and nervous and felt kinda like I was cheating on her, haha. But, Tanita (who I also work with at the Drug Free Community Council) did a pretty good job on my hair, especially since she is fresh outta cosmetology school.

After "getting my hair did" I freshened up a bit and Julie and I went over to her friend Sharon's apartment in downtown and we had a few cocktails and then walked to Corby's (an Irish pub just down the street from my office AND the same bar that they filmed a scene in the movie Rudy. Bet you didn't know that, did you?)

We had a great time and I met a few more of Julie's friends (my circle is getting bigger everyday, haha). Actually, her friend Amber's family originated in Harper, Kansas and she goes back there every 4 years for a huge reunion. She is also related to the former Miss. Kansas. Weird huh? Jared and Hicks went to a Cubs game that day (they got free tickets from one of their customers) and Jared met a guy that was from El Dorado, Kansas. What are the odds, really? I wish he would have got his name, it would have been interesting to see who it was.

It was a grand weekend! :)

Steak Dinner and Nintendo!

it couldn't have been any better of a day

I had a fabulous day yesterday folks! At 7, we headed to Ruth's Chris for our real fancy dinner. It was GREAT! I had petite filet with shrimp and I even got a chocolate mouse cheesecake for my birthday, YUM. The boys both had pretty good food too (we all had to try a little bit of everyone's haha).

Then we headed to the used media store to see if our Nintendo was (FINALLY) ready. AND IT WAS! Happy Birthday to me, haha.

So, the rest of the evening was spent re-learning all the games we loved as kids. Jared pretty much remembered everything, however I needed some practice. It didn't help either that we got stuck with a controller that the B button didn't work on and the other one was a different one we weren't used to using. But, we will get that exchanged later. :)

Either way, I am pretty sure we were the coolest people in Indiana last night with our old school Nintendo! Cheap entertainment for old people like us that are living in the past :)

Here's some photos from our dinner and our Nintendo extravaganza!!! Jared was dominating at Super Mario Bros. 2, I was doing great on Super Mario Bros. 3 and Hicks was dominating on Mike Tyson's Punch Out. :)

First Birthday as a Hoosier

my friends and family are the best

Coming home from working with Jared today I noticed a package on our door step. It didn't surprise me too much because today is my birthday, but I figured it was from my mom (since sometimes she likes to surprise me with something) or either Jared's mom (she's been known to send packages as well, haha).

I opened it up and, to my surprise, it was 6 gourmet chocolate covered strawberries with sprinkles and icing from my friend Shawna! I would have never guessed!

(I ate the one of the bottom left just after I took this photo, haha)

Well, the first thing I said to myself was "shit, I'm gonna go over my weight watchers points today" haha! Then I called Shawna to thank her and said "don't you know I am on a diet" and she said "well, half of it is healthy". That's my girl Shawna... always thinking about the positive things in life, haha. I'm sure I will have a few, but I will have to share as well so I can stick to my plan to be a skinny-minny! :)

I also received a card and gift certificate from good ole' Marla and Jeremy (aka Fred and Val), a real nice card from my friend Emily, and a card from my parents (with the added bonus of a car pmt.) YIIPPPEEE!!! And, let's not forget, all my tech-savy friends who have wished me a fabulous b-day on MySpace, Facebook and through text messaging, :)

Needless to say, today is turning into one heck of a birthday, besides the fact that I am getting OLD!!! The best part will be this evening when Me, Jared and Hicks have dinner at Ruth's Chris (a real fancy schmancy steak restaurant). Jared even has to wear slacks, hahahaha!!!!!! Anything I can do to get the boy to dress up and I game for!

Not sure what our plans are after dinner. We talked about going bowling or maybe heading to the piano bar. I guess we will see where the night will take us!!!

Thanks for all the b-day wishes everyone! It sure makes my first birthday away from Kansas a great one!!!!

Chunky girl, NO MORE

that's it... i'm back on weight watchers

Let me preface this blog by saying that I am the world's worst dieter. I wouldn't even call it yo-yo dieting, cause I don't really try out the new and trendy diets. I have tried few diets with some success, but it never sticks for long. It is just that I like to eat and I wanna eat what I want, when I want it. Is that too much to ask, really? :)

But, my poor body has suffered over the years because of my "I eat what I wanna eat" attitude. I was elated last year when I managed to lose about 15 lbs. before my wedding. But that was in part to my good friend Dr. Murphy and a Phentermine Rx.

Besides the use of prescription drugs, the other diet I've had success with is the Weight Watchers plan (or as they say it is not a diet, it is a way of life). I have several friends who have been successful on this diet and it is easy to follow - here's how many points you get, don't go over it!

I used Weight Watchers online several years ago and did fairly well. It helps when I have to constantly keep track of what I eat and plan accordingly. The best part? I can STILL eat all the yummy things I like, I just have to work on my portion control, which is my biggest issue!

The two mistakes I made last time were: 1. I didn't exercise and 2. I didn't use the recipes on the Weight Watchers website. I kept eating the same things, mostly because they were easy. I ate sandwiches, soup, and Smart Ones meals, mostly. I got really sick of it. So, I slowly eased into my "I eat what I wanna eat" mentality and before you knew it I had gained back every pound I had lost.

Well, this time (I HOPE) will be different. I have been on the website looking for recipes and I have been exercising. I am looking for a Zumba or Spinning class I can join, but all the ones I have found are REALLY EXPENSIVE. Don't they know poor people need to lose weight too? :)

Hicks and Jared are also looking to lose a few pounds, so I hope they will be supportive and will maybe even enjoy the meals I make from the Weight Watches recipes!

Wish me good luck everyone, I KNOW I will need it!

Exhausted from a long weekend

whew, i need a nap already

Hope everyone had a grand holiday weekend. I know we did.

After our karaoke extravaganza on Thursday, the boys went into work on Friday to make sure all the customers were set for the Fourth. I, however, headed to the apartment pool with Julie for some MUCH NEEDED sun and relaxation. We spent about 3 hours soaking up the sun, chit-chatting, and reading (I started reading Marley and Me and I love it so far).

Then, after a nap, the boys came home and we headed to our favorite restaurant, Texas Land and Cattle Company. YUM YUM. Then we went to the Landing, a bar on the south side of town that has a huge outdoor deck where they have live bands. They had a pretty good classic rock cover band there, so that made us happy. We were able to watch the fireworks, listen to music and have a few drinks in the wonderful evening weather.

Saturday we were on a massive manhunt for a classic Nintendo! We all started talking about it on Friday night and decided, by golly, we were gonna get one! We found a place not far from our apartment that sells used CDs, DVDs, video games and, you guessed it, classic Nintendos. They have several that need to be fixed, but once they are fixed, we are the first on their list of people to call, haha! We already bought a few games in anticipation for this event. I can't wait!!!!!! :)

The rest of the day Saturday was spent relaxing and cleaning the house from top to bottom.

Yesterday we met a customer at the High Winds Casino in New Buffalo, Michigan (about 45 minutes away from us). It was my first time to ever be in Michigan, which was about the only good thing about it. The boys were on a power trip because last week they BOTH managed to net $1,000 from the Blue Chip casino in Michigan City. They THOUGHT they were unstoppable. Well, needless to say... that $1,000 was gone and it was like we hadn't even been to either one of the casinos, haha. At least it was the winnings from the Blue Chip we lost and not our life savings! But, we still managed to have fun and got a free meal off Dan, the customer that met us up there. We had jumbo kings crab legs... YUMM-O (as Rachael Ray would say).

After that long and exciting weekend it is hard to believe that I am staring at my computer screen at work. I'd much rather be sleeping :)

Happy Monday to everyone! Drink up the coffee and pop!

Let the good times roll

and roll, and roll

Have I told you about my new friend Julie? She is a pretty neat gal. I met her about a month ago at a Young Professionals Network luncheon I attended. I thought it would be a great way to meet people my age and I was right. I sat down at a table, not knowing anyone and struck up a conversation with her. It didn't take long for us to find out that we live in the same apartment complex, we both have communication degrees, she has a cat just like me, and she loves to karaoke. :) Needless to say, I was happy to have made a new friend.

We decided to attend the pool party that our apartment complex was having that weekend. I was joking with Jared and Hicks saying that I have a date with my new friend and that I was nervous, haha. In reality, I was a little nervous. Making friends is hard sometimes, especially in a new place. Will we get along? Will we like the same things? What if she is freakin crazy and I don't like her? Well, she is crazy, but in a good way, haha.

So, we went to the pool party and had a blast and we've been hanging out ever since.

Last night she invited me to Karaoke at the Elks Lodge. Well, I can't turn down a good karaoke night, so I went and luckily Jared was able to come as well. We had a great time and met even more people.

Here's a couple of photos from our "Night at the Elks Lodge"

Have a wonderful day everyone!

Independence

what does it mean to me

I recently came across a really neat blog on MySpace. It is called the Group Blogging Experience (GBE) and each week the facilitator of this group post a general word or two and then everyone has until the end of week to blog about that word, your interpretation, whatever it means to them.

It is a pretty cool deal and I have had a lot of fun reading my friend Roxy's GBE blogs. Anyone can join this group and can blog about it as long as they have a public profile so that she can post all the blogs and everyone can read what others have written. But, I am not ABOUT to set my profile to public, so I figured I could write about it anyway and post it on Blogger and Myspace on my own. If you all are interested in doing this as well, just let me know and maybe we could start our own GBE right here on Blogger (Of course we could change the name and come up with our own words if we wanted). :)

So, anyway... the topic this week is Independence (next week will be an off week for the facilitator, so maybe we can come up with our own next week).

So, here's my first shot at a GBE Topic - Independence.

My dad always says, "YOU are the most important. You have to look after, and care for, YOURSELF above anything else. Do what is best for YOU!"

This phrase has been with me ever since the first time my dad said it to me when I went off to college. I have never forgotten this phrase over the years, although I have had to remind myself (or others have had to remind me) of this phrase's importance. To me, that phrase is what independence means, both in the historic-American sense of the word and the personal sense of the word.

Independence is a liberating thing. When I graduated college, when I bought my first home and when I landed my first REAL job, I felt the true feelings of success and independence fill my heart. I was proud of myself. I was proud of myself because I did those things because they were what was BEST for me and I did them, mostly, on my own.

Being married close to a year now, I have learned that the independence I had as an unmarried woman is slightly different now. It went from "what is best for me" to "what is best for us". While it is still a feeling of independence, it is difficult to grasp sometimes. Now, I ask myself, "what will JARED think about this? What should WE do? What if HE doesn't want to do what I want to do? Then, the word independence turns into cooperation, trust and compromise.

Jared and I came together as husband and wife and made a decision to move to Indiana because we felt like it was what was "best for us" at the time. We made a decision to have a fun and easy wedding in Las Vegas because it is what we thought was "best for us". Do we always see eye to eye? Heck no. But we are slowly learning the independence, cooperation and compromise of being married.

This is also true when you look at the independence of our great nation. The Declaration of Independence was written because it is what our ancestors felt was "best for them". They went to war with Great Britain to fight for independence because its what they felt was "best for them", despite the terror and loss of lives involved. They knew they were fighting for more than just a piece of land. They were fighting for respect, they were fighting for dignity, they were fighting freedom of religion and freedom of speech and they were fighting because they knew it was what was right for them.


And because they did fight for what was best for them, we are all here today to blog about it and compromise with our spouses. What a country we live in! :)


Happy Independence Day everyone!

Allergies

i hate them

I HATE allergies and sinus trouble. Absolutely HATE it. Just thought I would tell everyone that.