One. More. Month.

“The thing about football - the important thing about football - is that it is not just about football.”  ~Terry Pratchett

That's right, kids.  It's just one month until the kick off of my very favorite season.  COLLEGE FOOTBALL! 

I'll be celebrating the beginning of the season by attending the Oklahoma State v. Mississippi State game in Houston (thank you, football gods, for making this game only an hour from me!) and cheering on the Pokes.  I'll be continuing my celebration with a Notre Dame game, homecoming at OSU, a SEC game here in Aggieland, and at least one more OSU road game this year.  Maybe two.  Gotta get my fix in while I have the chance!

Happy College-Football-Season-Is-In-Sight Day to all!

Life Is Good.

"Expect to have hope rekindled.  Expect your prayers to be answered in wondrous ways.  The dry seasons in life do not last.  The spring rains will come again."  ~Sarah Ban Breathnach
 

I'm a life lover.  I'll admit it.  I know that people who read this blog probably think that I'm all optimistic, pie in the sky, happy all the time.  And honestly, for the most part, that's true.  I am generally happy and I think that life is mostly good.

But I understand that life is hard too.  We have pain and struggles and sometimes things just suck.  A lot.  I've been to more funerals in 29 years than most people go to in a lifetime.  I've had my heart broken, cried myself to sleep, and wished that things were different--that I was different. I've given two eulogies and carried one casket.  I've lost friends far too young and said goodbye to people who I couldn't have imagined living without.  I've mourned and felt pain and grieved.

 But in the end, life is good.  We're put on this earth for a reason.  There are always people who love us and need us here.  Life is good.  Please remember that.

Girls from my elementary school class at the senior prom.

FOMO

"I still find each day too short for all the thoughts I want to think, all the walks I want to take, all the books I want to read, and all the friends I want to see." ~John Burroughs

Last week, I had lunch with a friend of a friend who I just met.  Within 15 minutes, she said to me, "Oh, you have FOMO.  It's a disease.  I have it too."  And like that, I was diagnosed.  I'm am lifelong sufferer.  As far back as I can remember, I've had this problem.

What is FOMO, you ask?  Well, the full name is Fear Of Missing Out.  I can't stand the idea that something fun could happen and I might miss it.

It's the reason that I do things like take two months off of life and gallivant around Eastern Europe.  And spend way too much money on last minute flights for birthday water skiing trips.  It's why I hate missing weddings or concerts or girls' weekends.  Why I spend every winter on the side of a mountain with the same crazy people.  The reason I run half marathons and have 30 by 30 lists and love singing karaoke.  The reason I spend a ridiculously large amount of my disposable income going places like Stillwater, Oklahoma and South Bend, Indiana.  It's what motivated me to jump off a 9 foot wall onto a football field and off a Tarzan platform in a jungle in Costa Rica.  It's why I go to birthday parties and engagement dinners. 

There are a few side effects, like a depleted bank account and running off of entirely too little sleep pretty much all the time.  And I'm pretty sure there is no cure.  But it's the opposite of fatal.  Because instead of killing me, it's making me live.  And I have to admit, I am enjoying every minute!

My 30 Things List: Part 4

Here we go again....we're on the fourth installment of our little series here.  We're over halfway done now, can you believe it?  If you missed any of the prior parts, be sure to check them out here.

Every woman should know...

How she likes her eggs (ala Julia Roberts in Runaway Bride).  Oh, that Julia Roberts.....love her.  Again, this item has much more to do with knowing yourself and far less to do with eggs.  But the idea is important.  Every 30 year old woman should know herself and what she likes, apart from a relationship.  And then when she gets into a relationship, she has to be true to herself.  Women need to understand that it's important not to lose herself just because she is a "we" instead of a "me."

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be?” ~Marianne Williamson


That she cannot marry someone just so she does not hurt another person's feelings.  Oh listen, I have given this advice to several people in my life.  The bottom line is that you are living your life.  And you have to make decisions that are right for you.  Whether it be ending a relationship or leaving a job or changing hair dressers....whatever.  My mom told me years ago that no one was going to look out for you in the world except for you.  Sometimes, that means making decisions that are hurtful for another person.  But you can't end up giving up your dream or missing your calling or settling for the wrong relationship just because you don't want to hurt someone else's feelings.

"When you do what you fear most, then you can do anything."  ~Stephen Richards

Every woman should have...

An "I Voted" sticker from an election.  I don't care if you are Democrat or Republican or Tea Party or Pink Panther-whatever party....vote.  It's your right.  One that people fought and died for.  But also, if you are going to vote, do your homework and make an informed decision on candidates and issues.  Don't vote just based upon the biased media coverage that happens on every channel.  That's all I'll say about that.

“Have you ever stopped to ponder the amount of blood spilt, the volume of tears shed, the degree of pain and anguish endured, the number of noble men and women lost in battle so that we as individuals might have a say in governing our country?  Honor the lives sacrificed for your freedoms. Vote.” ~Richelle Goodrich

Pictures hung on her wall.  You guys can thank Cousin Swiss Mister for this one.  A while back he was talking to a friend about feeling unhappy and unsettled.  She asked if he had any pictures hung on his wall, which he admitted he did not.  When you hang pictures on your wall, it give you a place to belong.  It's important to fit somewhere.  You get that with each of those little nail holes.

"A man travels the world over in search of what he needs and returns home to find it."  ~George Augustus Moore

A comfort hoodie.  There is nothing I like more than a big ol' comfy hoodie.  When I have a rough day, I put one on and instantly feel better.  Seriously, it's like some sort of anti-depressant for me.  When I was in law school, I took every final I ever had in a hoodie.  Something about it is comforting and just makes me happy.  Plus, my favorite one is orange, so that instantly makes me even happier.

My favorite OSU hoodie.

Because of this comfort hoodie bit, I'm linking up with my dear friend Almost Gypsy Soul for Soul Food Friday.  Check out her blog.  Follow her.  She's awesome.

A Birthday Surprise

"Seize the day. Remember all those women on the Titanic who passed on the dessert plate." ~ Erma Bombeck (via my friend Mama Rock)

A couple of weekends ago, I pulled off a pretty clever birthday surprise for The Boy from Texas.  We had been trying to figure out a plan to see each other the weekend before his birthday, but had basically given up because we failed to plan in advance and plane tickets were too expensive.  So, alas, we decided I would stay here and clean the house and he would stay there and mow his lawn.

But you know that I'm a girl who LOVES birthdays.  I mean seriously LOVES them.  It all started when I was a little kid and Aunt Elaine introduced me to birthday cakes and my mom hired her students to come to my party dressed up as clowns and two grandmas spoiled us with lots of presents.

Childhood birthday party with my grandmas

So the thought of The Boy from Texas spending his birthday weekend mowing the lawn was not going to fly with this girl.  So on Friday at about 3:00, I sent him a text message containing only this picture.  Then I got on a plane.

By the time I got to Dallas, he texted back saying, "Does that say you arrive at 7:30 today?  TODAY?"  I wrote back and just said, "Airport.  7:30.  Don't be late."  He called me a turkey (I was going for being called "girlfriend of the year," but I'll take what I can get) and said he would be there.

And from there we spent the weekend on the lake with the family just skiing and swimming and hanging out.  Cousin Whitney and her new husband even joined us on the last day of their honeymoon.  My mom made The Boy from Texas a strawberry birthday cake (I would whine that she never makes me a homemade cake, but you guys would just tell me to shut up after reading about the clowns above) and my parents took us to dinner.  And then, well because it's my family, we took pictures of ram lambs.

The old classic 1970's model boat

The yearly father/daughter lake photo

Swimming in the cove

With the honeymooners

Gambler checking out what was going on across the fence

Completely worth the price of that plane ticket to pull off the birthday surprise.  At least I'm telling myself that.  Ask me again when I'm broke and living in a cardboard box under a bridge.

Better Than My "Nuh Uh" Argument

“Then there are the simple things. The way she fits against my side when we’re sitting together. How she can silence my addled thoughts with one look. The sound of my name from her lips. The way she can make a moment, any moment, a thousands times better when she is there. How the simplest pleasures in life become exciting with the promise of sharing the experience with her.” ~Erik Tombin 

I don't believe in "soul mates."  There.  I said it.

*Shocked faces*

I've never really found the best way to articulate my argument, beyond the ever-so-eloquent response to "Nuh uh, soul mates do not exist!"  I didn't go to law school for nothing, people.

And then ND Friend sent me a blog last week.  And as I sat at my computer read it, I just kept thinking YES!  This is what I have been trying to say.  This is exactly how I feel and exactly what I think.

My belief is this....

I do not think that we are somehow destined to end up with one person.  I do not believe that there is one person hand picked for us who will complete us and we are on some crazy mission impossible to find him.  And I think that we put way too much pressure on ourselves and on everyone else when we have in our heads that it's not right if he's not our soul mate.  Because then the first time you fight or he leaves his socks out on the floor or something is difficult, you automatically are going to think, "Wait, that means he's not my soul mate, I have to keep looking for the one."  And what if you thought you found the one, but he didn't agree and fell in love with someone else?  Do you just give up and throw in the towel because your soul mate is gone?  Too much pressure.  I just don't buy it.

What I think is that we choose to love someone.  It's a choice. Could you choose someone else to love?  Sure.  Would you be happy with someone else?  Probably.  In the end, you make a choice to love someone.  And then when we marry them, we make a covenant to keep loving them forever.    And from my married friends, my understanding is that based on that covenant, you just keep on making that same choice day after day.  Not because he's your soul mate.  But because you love him, and you chose him, and you made a covenant to him and to God.

In other words, "Nuh uh, I don't believe in soul mates."

Oh, you want to read the article with the great explanation?  Good.  You should.  Click here.

And seriously, I'm dying to hear everyone's thoughts on this.  So please comment!

I'm Not Sure What I'll Do...

Weekend in Ft. Worth

“Surround yourself with people who make you happy. People who make you laugh, who help you when you’re in need. People who genuinely care. They are the ones worth keeping in your life. Everyone else is just passing through.”  ~Karl Marx

Well, it's Monday again.  And it feels like Monday for this girl.  I'm still in serious recovery mode after a weekend of fun in Ft. Worth.

The weekend involved:

* Me using my skills of persuasion on American Airlines in a truck stop bathroom and getting a refund when The Boy from Texas couldn't make his flight;

*  A steak dinner in the Stockyards where Real Cowboy ordered calf fries and a salad (interesting combo);

Blonde OKG and The Real Cowboy

*A Seven and Seven or two;

*  Watching a little rodeo and playing high/low during the team roping;

*  Checking dancing at Billy Bob's off my bucket list;

*  Hanging out with the long snapper for the TCU football team;

* IHOP at 2 in the morning where a fight ensued over who would pay for Real Cowboy's biscuits and gravy that BOKG ate;

* The Boy from Texas driving all night to get there at 5:30 Saturday morning,

*  Lunch with Mr. and Mrs. Animal House and the most precious baby boy in the world;

*  A tour of TCU;

Football stadium.

Basketball arena where Ski Trip John will graduate in December!

The Quad

*  A couple of OSU pictures on the purple campus...;

Go Pokes!

*  Hanging out at Ski Trip John's house;

* A Ranger's game;

  *  Some ice cream;

*  A really trashy bar;

*  More IHOP (the waiter seriously knew my name and order the second night when I walked in);

*   and lots of fun.

I have to say that one of the things I absolutely love about the people in my life is that even when they do not know each other, they are all so darn awesome that you can throw them together and they will all get along great.  This weekend just reinforced that I am completely blessed to be surrounded with so many amazingly fun people.

It.  Was.  Awesome.

And just as a note for the single ladies out there, Blonde Oklahoma Girl and I had both been single for ever a while when she started dating Real Cowboy and I started dating The Boy from Texas.  A year ago we laid on a beach in Costa Rica pretty much convinced that there was no one out there for either of us and we would die alone with cats (except that she has dogs and I'm allergic to cats, which meant we'd just die alone).  Lots of things can happen in a year.  (And it could well have been the clarity we gained from the beach in Costa Rica that made this happen, so if you are looking for an excuse to book a vacation....)

Costa Rica - May 2012

Still Going Strong

"Love is the thing that enables a woman to sing while she mops up the floor after her husband has walked across it in his barn boots."  ~Hoosier Farmer

34 years ago Sunday, these two crazy kids said I do.  

They used a second hand engagement/wedding ring set (my Dad's cousin bought them for his ex-fiancee...).  She wore a $35 dress from Sears.  His brother played the piano.  The two bridesmaids carried yellow roses.  Afterwards, they had cake and mints in the church lobby.  It was simple and small.  But they were happy.  

And 34 years (and two adorable, near-perfect children) later, they're still going strong.

I asked them both to give me the secret to a successful marriage in one sentence.  Dad followed the rules.  The English teacher, however, did not.

Dad:  Trust, communication, and compromise.

Mom:  Be honest, be kind, and don't be selfish; love one another.  Marriage is a commitment, honor it.

I would have put money one the key being for them not to go shopping together.  He's been known, multiple times, to literally kick her out of the truck in the parking lot of a mall and let her shop while we took sheep to the feed yard and then pick her up on the way home.  She's been known to tell him at the barn working cattle, "If you yell at me one more time, I'm going to the mall!"  True love at it's finest, folks.  And when on vacation in San Francisco, they are happy as larks for her to spend the whole day shopping and him to spend the whole day at the Irish Pub in North Beach.  They can say what they want, but that no joint shopping has got to be on the "keys" list somewhere!