Day 8: A Moment

I was going to talk about a couple sweet moments with Al the other day, or a great moment with my bff tonight, but I am so darn exhausted/drained/feverish/etc... that I just can't muster a longer story.

So instead, here's a link that my cousin sent today.

Here's the one that gave me my moment.

My alone-in-the house, spitting water out my nose moment.

(hopefully you find it funny, as even I liked some of the names they made fun of...)

This is for my niece, Dawn. She is expecting a baby girl in September. I suggested that they name her Dusk. What does everyone think?

I think her grand-daughter Nighttime would not approve. Or her grand-neices Afterhours and Graveyardshift.

Day 7: My Best Friend

I thought a lot about this one.

I am blessed to have a couple people that fit into this category.

My bff Linus, who's been in my life for 13 years (oh, that lovely day on the school bus!) It's amazing how one person can be a part of your life through so much: the worst times in Jr. High, and then the ups and downs of high school. First loves. Losing our virginities. First heartbreaks. College. Keg parties, hockey games and classes. The worst & hardest days. The most joyful. We learned it all together and for that, she'll always be my best!

Then there is S. You'll recall him from the roommate drama I just went through that basically ended our friendship of 10 years. I honestly thought he'd be around forever. That he'd wrestle with my kids; they'd call him Uncle S. I thought he'd be over for Super Bowl Sunday and holidays. But he won't be. Regardless, that doesn't detract from the times we had together that were amazing. All those memories:

When I picked him to be on my team for the summer bible camp obstacle course. And he screwed up, so I had to step in and win it for the team. The first time he gave me a ride to Perkins after church and I climbed into his truck. He said if I wanted to listen to music, I had to hold the antenna really straight, as he drop a boom box in my lap. Then a few months later when he got a real car radio. I remember late nights at the car shows, at the movies or just driving around with no where to go. I remember kissing him good-bye as he left for Marine bootcamp and welcoming him home when he returned. I remember writing him letters through his two tours to Japan and his one to Iraq.

He will always be considered my best friend.

But, really, when I think about who my best friends are, I have to add two more people to the list:

Al, of course. He's my rock in so many ways. We respect each other and I trust him with my life and heart. We communicate very well and have a great time together. He can make me laugh like no one's business. And at the end of the day, he makes me a better, more relaxed and well-rounded person. Friends don't get much better!

My sister, the ginger (because she's a red-head and a little spicy...OK a LOT spicy.) We have certainly gone through our phases where we were NOT friends. In fact, as kids, we fought. Like boys. Pulled out hair, drew blood, caused bruises. It was bad. I take a lot of the blame for it since I'm 5 years older and I shouldn't have been beating up on my baby sister. At any rate, we got past it. Past the crappy teenage years. Past the acting-out; rebelling against the parents; selfishly ignoring everyone but your friends. (We were both guilty of these things at various times.) But now that we're past all of those things, we are best friends. She is my go-to when I need a laugh or a cry. She's my confidant and my compass and often, my voice of reason (especially when the "reason" is getting out, doing something, and having fun.) I've waited a long time to call my sister my best friend, but she really, really is!

Day 6: My Day

Again, I don't think you really care about the details of my day, but I promised to diligently follow this meme so I wouldn't leave my lovely followers without something to read in my absence. At any rate, here was my day:

0530: Hear dogs ringing bell downstairs, stir Al awake to take care of it. He grumbles, but gets up.

0630: Hear dogs ringing bell again, both Al and I groan, roll over and ignore it

0700: Still trying to fall back asleep, dogs ring the bell again. Al gets up. I go to the bathroom.

0730: Al and I lay in bed, talking, kissing, etc...

0800: Finally get up. Shower. I debate over shoes. Get dressed. Debate over shoes once more. Decide I like my outfit.

0815: I check email, Facebook, blogs. Feed the dogs. Start breakfast.

0830: Realize I'm going to be late for class and decide that it's more important to me to spend time with Al then it is go to school for one hour of class.

0845: Eat breakfast. Realize I forgot coffee. Panic. Stop panicking.

0900: Finish getting my stuff together to leave for school.

0920: Let dogs out. Kiss Al good-bye. Start driving.

0925: Sing "Way Out Here" in my car at the top of my lungs. Curse a few cars in traffic. Realize I really want coffee.

1000: Arrive at school. Find my friends. Get coffee before doing anything else.

1010: Set up in the Lab at school with the intention to study. Look at Parade of Homes. Blog. Study a little. Look at Facebook. Check email. Study a little more.

1130: Finish my lab hours. Head to Cafeteria for lunch with friend from school. Gossip about classmates. Bitch about our boring professor. Talk about Al. Talk about her training program and new personal trainer.

1150: Text Al: remind him to go to the dry-cleaner and to get his hair buzzed. Remind him that I love him.

1230: Finish lunch. Get out Evidence book. Attempt to study. Shoe shop online instead. Read 2 cases for today. Take notes. Blog. Facebook. Waste time online. Read last few pages for today's assignment.

1400: Start Evidence class. Admire my professor's bow tie and homemade vest. Tune in and out while taking rigorous notes.

1550: Class is over.

1555: Stop by my locker at school and decide what homework I'm not going to touch over the next couple of days.

1605: Head to the library to print off my mentor handbook. Print handbook. Curse the library staplers.

1615: Stop in the hallway and mingle with classmates. Talk about mentoring incoming students. Talk about skipping the mentor event to go happy hour. Decide against it.

1630: Sit down in commons to wait until Mentor event. Start to feel a little drowsy and sick. Assume it's hunger. "Stalk" my mentor's in the school directory. Look them up on Facebook. Sigh relief that they're all normal looking.

1715: Sign in at Mentor event. Place name-tag on left side of my shirt. Debate with classmates that it should be placed on the right side so it can be read when shaking hands. Switch it to right side.

1720: Get Jimmy Johns at mentor event. Water is better then soda. Sit at my "team" table. Meet the Alumni mentor. Meet my first-year mentees. Determine that they are awesome!

1900: Mentor program ends. Stop at my locker and walk to my car. It's raining pretty hard. Curse forgetting my umbrella. Realize that the sickness I was feeling earlier wasn't just hunger.

1910: Call Al. Ask if he wants me to pick up a movie. We decide to watch the baseball game instead. Stop at the gas station and buy raspberry tea.

1920: Drive home. Road visibility sucks. Realize I am getting really sick. Most drivers have their heads up their butts.

2000: Arrive home. Yell at dogs to get off me. Yell at dogs to stop smelling my butt. Put my bags away and give Al a kiss.

2010: Check my temperature. 100.3. Time for comfy clothes. Curl up on the couch with Al and my tea.

2035: Twins homerun!

2040: Decide if I don't post now, I might not get to it tonight.

2041: Sick. Post blog so I can go to bed.

Love ya'll, good night!

Day 5: My Definition of Love

You can take all the love songs in the world:

"love lifts us up where we belong"

"all you need is love"

"I was made for loving you baby"

And so on, and so forth.

But what none of those songs do is really encompass what love is.

To me, love is respect . It's trust and communication. It's hard work.

Love is family and support; it's a verb more then anything I know.

Did I mention that it takes work?

I think so many people confuse lust and romance with love. Love has nothing to do with the knot in your stomach or the butterflies you feel when "he/she" walks into the room. It's not about the flowers and feel-good poems. It's not even about compatibility and friendship.

It's about being willing, for that person, to put yourself on the line. To put everything you are on the table and work every day at giving that person the best you have. Love is the best thing you can do for someone and should be done regardless of what is being received.

In the bible, God uses "agape" to describe the eternal, selfless love that God has for all people. Regardless of your beliefs on religion, if we all look at love as a working, selfless, giving thing, I think we'd all be a little better off.

Day 4: What I Ate Today

This one is a little weird, do ya'll really care what I ate today?

Anyway, here goes...

Breakfast:

Coffee (duh!)

Apple Sauce

Granola Thins

Lunch:

Egg salad sandwich

Peach

100 calorie yogurt pretzels

Diet Dr. Pepper

Midafternoon Snack:

Apple

Sm. bag of Fritos

2 Hershey's kisses

Diet Dr. Pepper (yes, I drink WAY too much of this!)

Dinner:

Whole wheat pasta & spaghetti sauce

2 pieces of whole grain bread

1 glass of milk

I'm still waiting on dessert...maybe a Skinny Cow White Mint & Truffle ice cream bar...Yep. Delish!

There you have it folks. Eat up!

Our Weekend

I wanted to give ya'll an overview of our first reuinted weekend.

On Thursday, after I picked him up at the airport, we went to lunch with my parents. We then packed up a few things at my place and headed out to the farm for the night.

He wanted to see his dad, pick-up his car that's been stored there, and "say hi to the farm."

(His words. Not mine. I think he's weird.)

We made it out there with enough time to watch the Vikings season opener game against the Saints.
I won't get into my sentiments on the game (we were completely robbed in the playoffs last year and wanted retribution this time around), but I was sorely dissappointed.

On the plus side, we got to watch the game from Dad D's new 3D TV.

Aren't the glasses cool?

The next morning (Friday) I did homework while Al and his dad worked on Al's car. He needed to get his Minnesota plates since he'd paid his car loan off during deployment and transferred the title to Minnesota. He also needed to change the oil, tires, etc... and basic upkeep for a car that hasn't been driven in 9 months. Once those things were out of the way, we ran into town for lunch and to spend a little more time with Dad D before we left for the cities.

Starting Friday evening, we "moved in" to a family friend's house. We are dog and house sitting while they are in Hawaii. It's actually perfect because we get the place to ourselves and get to "play house" during this time. No roommates, no parents, just us.

We went grocery shopping and picked up wine for the week.

We picked up a couple things for the house.

It's really like we live together and so far, it's been amazing.

The only thing I will say is that I am seriously reconsidering dogs. Their dogs are well-trained. They ring a bell by the door when they need to go out, the follow commands pretty well.

But I think due to the fact that they are both under 3 years (one is under 1-yr-old) and they are show-dogs (one is a Champion), they are spoiled. A LOT.

They get special food and strict rules on toys, bones, etc... And they're allowed to run the house. I don't mind most of it, except that the owners will get up in middle of the night to let them out, which I find ludacris. My family has dogs and NONE of them have to get up in the middle of the night except for my grandma - but her dog has diabtetes.

Having to get up in the middle of the night should be reserved for babies, not dogs.

Don't tell Al I said that though... Shhh!

The rest of our weekend was pretty mellow. We went on a walk around the neighborhood with the dogs, looking at houses for sale and trying to get a feel of what our house-styles are.

We went to church on Sunday and out with my parents for lunch. We visited with some of his family (he hadn't met his niece yet) on Sunday evening.

We stopped by my grandparent's house to visit for a bit and on the way back hit an outlet mall. We both got a few nice things for good prices. While I was in Old Navy picking up a couple new shirts, Al asked for my earrings.

(Last year, he bought me a pair of diamond stud earrings. They were simple but pretty. He bought them through a jeweler that allows upgrades and puts the price you spent on the original pair towards the upgrade if you bring the originals in.)

He brought them into the store and we upgraded.

Gorgeous, huh?

Since this post is already too long, I will leave you with a conversation Al and I had Saturday night.

We were curled up together (I was reading for school and he was working on a printing machine he bought) and we had "Say Yes to the Dress" on in the background.

In the show, one of the brides said that she knew she was going to marry her fiance when she went over her "list" of qualities for her future mate and he met every single one of them.

Me: You meet almost all the qualifications on my list

Al: Which ones don't I meet?

Me: Superficial, unimportant ones. They're not deal-breakers.

Al: {nods} I don't have a list, but if I did it would read "Melissa"

Cute, huh?!

Day 3: Your Parents

Many people spend their lives figuring out what they want to be "when they grow up" and working hard to get there. For my mom, the first part was easy. She wanted to be a mother, plain and simple. Making that happen was the hard part.

My mother spent a lot of money and time, and went through a lot of heartache to conceive me (and later my sister.) She went through numerous miscarriages and visited doctors to address concerns and was blessed along the way with two babies.

As any woman who was lucky enough to have children, despite the obstacles, she has devoted her entire life to being a mother. She would have loved to stay home and focus on being a mother and wife, but it simply wasn't possible. My dad was working on his degree (they were pretty young, after all) and delivering pizzas. Mom had to work just to make ends meet.

Although she's held a few different jobs throughout her life and been married more then once, I know she would say her greatest achievement is motherhood. I would agree.

She has given so much of herself to making sure my sister had everything we ever needed. Sometimes she was making her own bread and barely paying the bills, especially when she was a single mom. But, I can say without reservation, that she always has sacrificed herself so we could be happy. Never once, through all the hard times, did I doubt that I was loved, cared for and supported. She's an angel.

ooo

I could say a few words about my dad; tell you he's a nice guy and always loved me. Those things are true. But what's also true is that he's always been better at the fun stuff - pizza and movie nights, coaching my little league softball, and cracking jokes - then he ever was at the important stuff. Dad never disciplined or sent money or helped with homework.

He's always been the guy who thinks loving me "a whole heap of a lot" was what I needed from my father. But it wasn't.

Which is where my step-dad comes in.

He's an amazing man, who not only loves my mom, but came into our lives at a time when I was just about to leave for college and my sister was in the hell-years of being a teenager. Never once did he waiver in taking on this role. And he has managed to provide everything for our family we could possibly ask for.

He is the reason I can change a tire, shoot a gun and throw a good punch. He is the reason I work hard, manage my money and rely on only myself to get the things I want in life. He taught me how to be an independent woman. For these things, I am eternally grateful.

I am so blessed to have an amazing set of parents. I couldn't ask for anything better.

Day 2: Your First Love

I've actually told this story here.

But if I were to be more accurate, my first love was baseball.

When I was 3 and someone asked me what my name was, my answer was always

"Kiiiiiiiirbeeeee Pucketttttttttt"

Yep, apparently my name was not Melissa, but was actually Kirby Puckett. And I said it just like the TV announcers used to. It was cute until I was 10.

Kidding.

Later that same year (for my birthday) I waited in line with my parents to meet Kirby Puckett. To this day, we have a framed photo of us which hung behind my Opa's desk in Germany for 30 years. It now sits on display in their basement. And someday it will be mine.

I love the feel of the bat when you connect with a baseball. I love the smell of fresh grass and the noise of a ballpark. I love hot dogs and beer and Cracker Jacks. I love the whole game.

Baseball was my first love until my first love came along.

Day 1: Introduction

By now, most of you know me pretty well.

Instead of running down a "nutshell" about me, I am going to tell you 5 interesting facts that you may not already know:

1. Once, when I was 17, I read an article in Cosmo that informed me the least used stall in a public bathroom was the one closest to the door. I was convinced that EVERYONE was going to read that article and start using that stall, so instead, I started using the 2nd one from the door. To this day, I go immediately to the 2nd stall in every public bathroom.

2. In high-school, I would have given anything to be a star athlete. I've never had any natural athletic ability and I never wanted to work hard enough to get it. I was a brain and a personality, but in my school, sports was so much more important.

3. I have only one real fear: that I will get cancer young as a result of my HPV and never get to see the beautiful babies AL and I can produce. I want to be on this earth long enough to meet that child.

4. I love being the oldest child and I'm exactly as you'd expect the oldest child to be: bossy. Although I like to say that I am controlling because I want so much for my siblings to be happy and successful people. I want them to learn, love, live and experience life in every way possible. I am also protective and unyieldingly loyal to (most specifically, Ginger) those kids.

5. I love writing. I want to write a book someday, but I want to write about something that no one else has. I don't want to write another milso saga (although I love them) and I don't want to write the story of my time in law school. I want to write something interesting, compelling and unique. Until I figure out what that is, my blog will have to serve as my writing outlet.

I look forward to starting 30-day journey with ya'll and I hope you'll stick around.

Enjoy learning more about me over the next 30 days!

Our Homecoming!

He woke up this morning to work on his car with his dad. It's been sitting out at the farm, bearing the elements, so he needs a new battery and to make sure everything else is in working order. This gives me a chance to blog for a minute and squeeze some homework in.

Few words really need to be said here.

He's finally home and I am eternally happy!

Waiting, wringing my hands (my step-dad is working)

Mom told me to get my lips "kissing ready"

My step-dad made a joke about Al getting cold feet and turning around to head back to TX. This was my face in response.

Then he called to say his plane had landed, but it would be a bit because he was in the back of the plane. He said it would be a hours. And let me tell you, it felt like it.

But it was worth it.

Now, since he's here for a month and between quality time together, family and the fact that I still have class and work to attend to - I will be blogging less for the next 30 days.

I promise to give you important updates on cool things we do and share LOTS of pictures of our time together. But insightful, detailed posts will be less prominent.

Instead, I will start the "30 days" thing I've seen a couple of you do.

You can still have a little dose of me everyday (and after reading through them, they will likely tie-in quite well to this month with Al.) Plus, some of them I can set up in advance and let Blogger do the work.

I hope you will stick with me through this time. I promise I will keep up on reading your blogs and commenting when I can. I also promise I will be back to my blogging-self.

In the mean time, I have more important things to get my hands on. {wink, wink}

Preview of what's to come:

Day 1 - Introduction

Day 2 - Your First Love

Day 3 - Your Parents

Day 4 - What you ate today

Day 5 - Your Definition of Love

Day 6 - Your Day

Day 7 - Your Best Friend

Day 8 - A moment

Day 9 - Your Beliefs

Day 10 - What you Wore Today

Day 11 - Your Siblings

Day 12 - What's in Your Bag?

Day 13 - This Week

Day 14 - What you Wore Today

Day 15 - Your Dreams

Day 16 - Your First Kiss

Day 17 - Your Favorite Memory

Day 18 - Your Favorite Birthday

Day 19 - Something you Regret

Day 20 - This Month

Day 21 - Another Moment

Day 22 - Something that upsets you

Day 23 - Something that makes you feel better

Day 24 - Something that makes you cry

Day 25 - A First

Day 26 - Your Fears

Day 27 - Your Favorite Place

Day 28 - Something that you Miss

Day 29 - Your Aspirations

Day 30 - One Last Moment