Getting Older

So currently I am on the cusp of yet another birthday and I have just one question: If no one likes you when you're 23, then how do they feel about you when you are 24?

On a more serious note, I don't know if anyone else is like this, but I like to reflect when I get to a birthday. When I was in high school we were told to write out who we were going to be and what we were going to do by age 25. This was also an assignment when I was in hair school. Unfortunately, I found this list and assignment the other day while cleaning.

I say "unfortunately" because there were so many things on that list that I still haven't done, and I am running out of time. All in all, though, I was fairly proud of what I had done. I finished hair school and my degree (though the degree was in a different subject then planned); I got married and have a place to live (though not my own house); I have a job, but it isn't the one that I wanted to have; as well, I like to cook and have spent many years honing my skill, but I never took those professional cooking classes that I wanted.

I realized as I read my list, that the things that I hadn't done were the more spontaneous, adventurous things that somehow fell to the wayside when I was trying to figure the rest of my life out. I wanted (and still want) to swim with sharks in a steel cage (long story). I thought that I would have a few children by now (granted this was planned when I was 14, so cut me a little slack as to the timing thing, when you have been married for a year and a half, it would be hard to have a couple by now). I wanted to have travelled across Europe and spend several months being a lost tourist (anyone who knows my sense of direction knows that this is a distinct possibility).

I have accomplished many things and I know that I have many things yet to do, I think that I may have to change the timeline, because I am going to come up a little short!

At a loss for words

I know that I have been pretty absent lately with regards to the posting, but I find myself with nothing interesting to write about. Stay tuned, something interesting is on its way, I hope!

What is this TAG you speak of?

So I got tagged?! Liam you beast, how could you make me expose myself like this!

I am not very interesting, but here it goes:

1. My hair has ADHD. I need to constantly change it to be happy. (the medication helps, just kidding!)

2. I get really grouchy when I am hungry.

3. I really want to go back to university, but for a completely unrelated degree.

4. I am really claustrophobic. Like really. I can't even handle a blanket close to my face.

5. The smell of bacon makes me want to vomit.

6. I am a big clutz. I can trip when there is nothing to trip on. I bump myself on things that I have swerved to avoid.

There, happy now! I bet you all know way more than you ever wanted to. I am keeping the rest secret, so there! As for tagging others, TAG! If you read this and you haven't already done it, then consider yourself tagged.

The Comfort of Mundane things

This is a typical Monday for me. I wake up, do the normal waking up/getting ready things, and I drive Mark to school. Then it is my time. I do laundry, scrub floors, etc. and then I run errands. This is my day off.
I guess that I am lucky because I don't have little people trailing behind me as I clean, systematically destroying all that I have done. But, for all the monotony of having to clean everything and do everything all day, I actually don't mind it. I feel good as I check things off my list. (Yes, there is a list, mainly becuase I am anal!) Then at the end of the day I can sit back and be glad that I did what I could to keep our home as it should be. I want Mark to be able to study in peace, not worried about the mess or anything. I will admit that there are days when it seems like too much to do in a day and that I just don't have the energy. It is on these days that I move a little slower, but I know that I can get it done.
It is amazing how much we can talk ourselves into doing.

A Shower of Brides

So this weekend I was pleased (I guess) to be invited to my friend's bridal shower. She is getting married in two weeks and I am so happy for her to have found her eternal companion. This was your typical bridal shower with the usual games (Like the "What's in your purse game?" which I won!) as well as general embarassing of the bride to be. The first thing that we had to do was to write some encouragement/advice for the bride. Now, I wrote down all the things that people had told me, and I wrote down what I thought she should know, but then I hit a dead end. I stopped and I needed to think what it was that she needed to hear. Everyone is so individual that it is hard to know what kind of advice she needs. I don't know what she is dealing with inside, so I paused and took a little more time to reflect. I simply told her to relax and that life is too short to stress over the things that just don't matter.

It was at this point that the lightbulb went off above my head. I stress the silly things, I freak out (internally) about the things that don't matter. I think that we as women, particularly in our Church, feel like we are inadequate. We feel like we have to do so much more, and be so much better. I think that to some extent this is true. But, I think that so many of us have taken it to the next level.

It took a simple bridal shower for me to realize that I am being too hard on myself for the things that I am having trouble with. And if I have any advice for any woman, married or single, it is to let yourself relax a little and realize that even if you aren't perfect, you are still special and that perfection can be overrated.