Time After Time

Have you ever met someone who didn't know who N'Sync was? I have. And this is our story.
(cue Law & Order music here - ba ba bum).

It is high school blood drive season at work. Any co-workers who might be reading this are probably giving the screen an all-knowing head tilt and eyebrow lift, anticipating what I'm going to say next. For the rest of you, I'll set the scene by just saying it's exhausting and exhiliarating to hang with 16- and 17-year olds all day.  They're invincible and awesome to themselves, and to them, I'm old.

I was at a very small area high school for a few hours yesterday and thought I was totally hitting it off with the students who were helping at the donor registration table. Until the song "Bye Bye Bye" came on.  An apparently jock (though this school and group of kids was surprisingly seemingly clique-less) said something along the lines of "Maddie told me she liked the BackStreet Boys and I lost all respect for her."   Another girl laughed and said something like, "Yeah, NSync is where it's at." The girl next to her said, "Who's NSync?" I laughed. No one else did. The first girl just turned to the girl who asked and casually said "oh just another boy band like Backstreet" and the conversation moved on.  I'M SORRY, WHAT?!!!  Incredulously, I asked, "were you being serious?" and she nodded and again they went back to another conversation.  Can you believe this? Self-admittedly, I was Team Backstreet Boys but for god's sake, JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE was in N'Sync and what are these girls doing with their weekends if not practicing Joey and Lance's choreographed dance moves?! It made me wonder what the boy band, or Britney vs XTina, type-feud is these days. Please comment if you know.

But more than that, it got me wondering how and when I became the person on the outskirts of the conversation, the adult, the authority figure?   More music came on and this time it was the song, "Time after time." The teacher who coordinated the blood drive asked the entire group of students, "who sings this song?" and  was met with many blank stares. Then, the same jock from above said, "Janis Joplin." Let that sink in.
Teacher: "No, she was dead before this song came out. Think more 80s." 
Another nearby boy: "Oh, oh, TLC."  (Did he hear a second and third voice that I wasn't hearing?!)
Teacher: "No. That's no the 80s." 
Yet another kid walking by: "We don't know, Mr.G.You're old."
I laughed, but as the boy walked by me, he said,"I bet you know the answer." AKA HE CALLED ME OLD, TOO.

I smiled and shrugged. It's not the worst thing I've been called. For whatever reason, those moments made me think about the interesting juxtaposition between that morning and the few other times recently I've been hanging out with a high schooler.  Earlier this summer, I become a part of the Catholic Charities Mentoring Moms program. Google it if you're curious and feel free to ask me any questions should you want to get involved (it's not a Catholic thing, by the way).  My mentee is in high school and is a teen mom of a not quite 1 year old baby with another on the way.  Her problems and our conversations are a stark contrast to those I encounter at high school blood drive registration tables.  She worries about formula and homework and Medicare every single day, and is working toward getting a drivers license, and you know what, somehow I think she probably knows who N'Sync is! ;)   We work through a lot of real and very adult things together.

So I guess I don't know when it happened that I grew up, perhaps motherhood had something to do with it, but in any case, whether it's music education or parenting advice, I'm happy I'm able to help others. Overall, I have fun at my job and in my mentoring program.  I make upjokes about SnapChat (which I don't even have) to get teens to laugh at me. I may be an "old" person, but I like to think I'm cool. Despite thinking that N'Sync is still cool. Despite what hanging with high schoolers makes me feel like.

A case of the Mondays

Today has been a rough day.  First, I didn’t wake up to my alarm. More accurately, I apparently didn’t set my alarm, but that’s just semantics at this point. I have a toddler so an alarm clock is a moot point. But still – didn’t wake up early like I’d hoped to throw in laundry and get some things done. Then, when I did wake up, feed and let the dog out, he seemed to have come back inside with a SMELL.  If you’d have been in our house this morning, you’d agree that ALL CAPS IS NECESSARY. So my mind immediately went to “omg – he was skunked.” So I fall into that Google rabbit hole – HARD.  Matt didn’t seem to think that was the case, he figured he rolled in some of his own poo. Agree to to disagree.  We nonetheless had to give him an impromptu bath today in the backyard. Nevermind the fact that I just paid almost $100 just last week to have him bathed and groomed.

After Matt went to work and consulted some “country folks,” we don’t believe the skunking to be the case. I googled until I could google no more, and still, I actually have no idea what the h-e-double hockey sticks (again, toddler) our crazy dog got into.

Then, during my meal prep time before work (I try to get as much of the chopping and prep work done days or at least hours before dinner if possible), I got freakin’ jalapeno juice in my eye!!!

THEN, over my lunch break I then went to work off some steam at a Kosama class and long story short, somehow hit myself super hard with my own kettlebell.  Don’t try that at home, folks.

But what you should try is this: First, a deep breath:)  Second, a step back for some perspective.  As I’m cursing myself, I do realize I have no one to blame but myself, but then again, why blame.  To get through the rest of the workout, my mind was taken back to a motivational speaker I once saw whose ‘jist’ was this:

If you are angry at someone or something, you give that person or event power of your life.  Usually they don't even know it - what a waste!   (I probably waste so much time each week being upset by things and people who have no idea that’s the case!)

There is no place in life without a CHOICE:  do I get up now, or snooze for 5 more minutes, what should I wear today, am I going to text while driving on the way to work, etc, etc.  The thing is, you may not always like the choice(s) you have in front of you.  But there is always, ALWAYS A CHOICE in every situation. And the awesome thing is that YOU HAVE POWER OVER THOSE CHOICES. YOU are in charge.  Again, you may not always agree with the circumstance you're in (ie -"it's not my fault I'm homeless" or that my day totally stinks – literally and figuratively) but you can always accept those circumstances and CHOOSE to believe you'll get through it.  So basically, instead of asking "WHY ME?!" that something is happening to, CHOOSE to ask yourself "WHAT FOR?"   Sometimes less than ideal things happen so you learn lessons you couldn't possibly have under any different circumstances, but again, you have to CHOOSE to see it that way.  I'm choosing to see today

Again, these are lessons I learned from Reon Schutte  (sp??) – he was imprisoned in South Africa if I remember correctly. And imprisoned in a cell built for 12 people, but that housed 50. It's actually been declared one of the worst prisons in the entire world by the UN and other organizations.

Hey, if he can survive that, the power of the mind - the power of choice, is a pretty big deal.  Just throwing it out there in case any of you are experiencing or ever experience a case of the “Mondays.” Today is a bad good day.  :)

A picture worth a 1,000 words

What's in my purse doesn't seem all that exciting of a topic, but when it inconveniently spilled out all over my backseat today, I thought the contents quite representative of the latest and greatest in my world so figured I may as well share an update.

In the picture, you can see a diaper, tissues and small portion of a pack of Wet Ones. My little guy is now 15 months old and I'm a total mom now. Not like full-on nail files and super glue supplies kind of mom (yet) but I always try to be prepared! [See below for bonus picture of the adorable 15-month old]

There's also a water bottle..filled with flavored water, Crystal Light Energy to be exact. And ugh, yes, I know it contains Aspartame and I know Aspartame is enemy of the state numero uno these days, but you know what else? There are kids in Africa who don't have artificial sweeteners so I'm going to at least finish the box, ok?!


Ignore the rogue cash. That's just there. I can't be bothered to always put my change back in its rightful wallet spot every time.

Most excitingly, that stack of papers are for our mortgage guy. We're moving! We listed our house for sale earlier this month and it sold four days later! That left us pleasantly surprised and also scrambling to find a place to live. After A LOT of showings (sorry to our real estate agent if reading this right now), we did manage to find what we think is a perfect next house that checks all the boxes on our wants lists, and I can't wait to move in next month. After a wonderful 5 1/2 years, we have just a few weeks to pack up and get out. No time to feel sappy about leaving!

Not pictured: my keys. They're in there somewhere, even though I can NEVER find them.

I'll end now with the adorable bonus picture as promised:

Ended the year with a quite literal bang

I'm taking an unplanned PTO day today because Reid seems to have a little cold. I am actually not feeling 100% myself, and the dog Riley woke up with an eye problem. I called the vet to ask what to do and they said to just "wait and see." That's not a game I'm good at, especially knowing that they'll be closed tomorrow for the holiday.  So I made the mistake of googling each of their symptoms and ended in an Internet rabbit hole with some very alarming diagnoses.  I discovered Riley could have conjunctivitis and go blind!! I also discovered that some people really, really love their dogs too much.

Anyway...to top things off, this morning I got up extra early to go to work to get some things I could do during baby naps. When I was leaving (Keep in mind, it's like -300 degrees here) the door didn't seem to want to work fully, but I didn't notice when I was backing out that it had only gone up about 3/4 of the way so the top of my Equinox clipped the bottom of the garage door on the way out!! I panicked and put on the brakes of course, and of course remembered to out the car in drive before releasing it. Ok actually I didn't remember to do that last part, so I kinda backed into it again.  My car luck!!

So I had to go wake up Matt in the middle of the night. Ok it's not the middle of the night; most of you probably get up way earlier than either of us--it was about 6:15. Probably not his favorite way I've ever woken him up. I showed him what happened, we shoved some screws back in, hammered them mostly into place and voila. I'm not entirely sure in the fog of it all if I was supposed to call the garage company to come today or what. For now, it's temporarily fixed--except I'm too scared to leave the house just in case, so we're all stuck inside with all the germs. Oh well. Happy New Year!


😮

Balance is the new black

Pre-motherhood I was like, “I have a demanding (but good) job and a rockin’ social life, but a calendar to keep all the business all straight.”  Post-baby Reid, I’m like, “HAHAAHAHAHAHAHA.” I now agree with the recent statements by some CEO I saw on the news (name escapes me and no time to look it up) that women can’t have it all, much to my personal dismay.

I’m drowning in laundry and can’t remember anything anymore that I don’t write down.  And I feel all alone in this. Because when I do take a personal moment to check my Facebook and Instagram news feeds, apparently I’m the only one who isn’t growing a garden, working out with a personal trainer and taking my kid to the zoo or fishing.

Obviously, I’m not alone this, I know that. So why do you/we pretend we’ve got it all together?? There just CANNOT be as many of you out there as social media and general office conversation would suggest.  I have to believe that. I have to.  If you’re reading this and you do in fact have and do it all, PLEASE tell me, how and where do you get the time?!  I like learning new things.

 In lieu of any responses, I would like to start a new hashtag, #MHM (messy house Monday). I figure it #MCM (man crush Monday, which I had to google several months back because I’m lame now) can be a thing, why can’t this?! It’s not Monday but you can see my living room nonetheless, complete with dog toys and hair, baby stuff, and general dirt haphazardly strewn about.  I caught the room on a pretty good day actually, but then again, dust doesn’t photograph well.

I’m usually all for fakin’ it til I make it but today something just changed in my head. I started thinking, really, what’s my (or my husband’s, for that matter) ROI on in fact dusting? On staying up 30 minutes late, sacrificing sleep to unload the dishwasher? My/our moods and health are worse off for it and just because I crossed that task off my list, it doesn’t help my mental state when there’s still 50 other “to dos” on it. The queen isn’t coming over for dinner tonight – or ever -  so I’m pretty sure the clutter sit there another day, week, or month.  It isn’t anything to be ashamed of, right?!  I realize it’s many times my own fault, for lack of a better word, for assuming judgment on others’ part of my mess, so I’m publicly saying that I’m going to try to let that go.

Of course, I can’t ignore the“must-do’s” but I’ve decided to put everything else off until ‘tomorrow’ and spend time with my family instead; I want Reid (and heck, Matt, tooJ) to have fun and to remember my smile and my laugh. (Because they’re guys, they’re  as heck not going to remember or notice the mess!)  And I don’t care if you think this is stupid, I want my dog to have a good quality of life and in turn, caring for them is caring for myself. I will be happier, too, if I just finally need to give myself and accept a break. 

Starting right after this…because #TMI, but I technically wrote this via voice to text note on my phone (hands free) while driving AND pumping (which is a WHOLE OTHER thing for another time).

Like Father, Like Son?

I wrote in a letter now framed in baby’s room that “…if you are anything like your dad, the world will be a better place.”  I meant that it would be great if our baby was as kind, caring and laid-back as Matt (also, I really want him to have dimples).  Well, instead, it seems as if our dear, sweet boy has instead adopted his dad’s philosophy of time and is going to be late, two days post-term as I write this.

I don’t feel physically “DONE” or uncomfortably miserably as some pregnant family and friends of mine have described toward the end (feel so incredibly fortunate to still be able to get plenty of sleep), but I am entirely mentally bummed out he isn’t here.  What’s he waiting for? I get it, it’s cold outside but I’ve told him, that’s what blankets are for – and trust me, we have PLENTY of blankets (and clothes, and toys, books and anything he could possibly need).

I’ve tried a few old wives tales, but I can only eat so much pineapple. And I’m sick of the concerned, seeming judgmental stares from gym-goers while walking on the treadmills. I’m just going to have to resign myself to HIS timetable, however frustrating that is for type-A me. Again, of ALL the traits to take from Matt…

Here’s hoping when he does come, he’s extremely apologetic and wants to spend his whole life making it up to me by listening to and following every word I say from here on out. J

Throwback Wednesday

Yesterday was our two-year wedding anniversary. That also means we moved into our FOUR years ago same day. Whoa! l remember us eating dinner that night, cross-legged on the floor, in the stereotypical way you see in movies, furniture- and utensil-less eating out of a pizza box. How far we’ve come!

A la last year’s anniversary post, we’re still having tons of fun! Some of this year’s adventures included:

“Successfully” graduating dog obedience and CPR classes.

Running in Omaha’s first Ugly Sweater 5K (and learning a lot about each other, and the layout of each of the Goodwill stores in town, in shopping for this event).

Attending National Figure Skating Championships, which Omaha hosted. It may not sound cool to you, but I love watching figure skating! Michelle Kwan was a childhood idol, toe pick!

An April girl’s trip to Vegas, mixing and mingling with country music star’s at the ACMs!

A long weekend with friends in Baltimore, MD! We toured DC for our first time (so cool!) and went to two Orioles vs. Dodgers baseball games at Camden Yard (also super cool). The Dodgers may have lost those match ups but look who is in the Playoffs now!! J

Another trip to the Kentucky Derby! Matt even picked the big race winner, Orb! I was too busy trying to keep dry and rain from the pouring rain to place many bets myself.

More successful sports seasons for each of us (I earned yet another gold medal in softball at the Cornhusker State games and Matt made his baseball league’s All-Star game)

And more….

We are hoping to take one last mini-trip yet this calendar year, but we have to mix that in with all the new home improvements projects we also have planned.  Now Creighton basketball starts in the next few weeks, and of course we renewed our seats for the Big East debut season, so we will be busy, busy!

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – time flies when you’re having fun!

Fun with fate

"Serenity now" is one example of a phrase meant to elicit calrm and make you feel better. Over the years, I've had and still have many of these as inside jokes with friends. Recently, Matt brought one of his own home he thought would be fun for us to use in stressful times: "God will provide." A co-worker of his has decided to leave the company to begin one of his own and to address some of the concerns about taking such a leap, apparently that has been his response, "God will provide, right?" 

Well, Matt and I could not stop laughing yesterday when on our way home from grocery shopping at Target and a yard sign caught Matt’s eye that said “Moving sale – all must go – great deals” and  so he thought we needed to take a detour to go.  So strange because we've never been to a garage sale together and I'm not sure either of us has been to one individually either. Anyhow, we go for about 3 minutes, there’s nothing good – or at least, that we needed – except on way back to our car we found $40 simply lying on the ground so with no one remotely in site, Matt pocketed it.  Like God’s way of providing/saying “you don’t need this stuff – buy something better” lol

Here's hoping this continues. I could use some "providing," "serenity," whatever you want to call it these coming months.

[Another update with more details on that soon, deal?!]

My work personality works at home

"Blair talks a lot and very quickly," so says my latest personality profile. Indeed. 
I technically took said profile during the hiring process in 2011 for my current job, but about a month ago recieved these results. The intent I believe was to make each of us on the team realize how to better work with each other. Though truly SPOT ON, I was at first discouraged by the results, thinking I might be too intense a person to be a good co-worker, employee or even friend or wife. But then, I shrugged it off. Am who I am - and knowledge is power, so now I feel empowered and even more confident. Now, while I do, as the profile states, tend to do things quickly, rushed and angrily, Matt is much more relaxed, one thing at a time, methodical kind of guy, so if nothing else, reading these together and having him provide counterpoints about how what I was seeing as a potential negative in these bullet points was actually just further proof of how awesomely we complement each other was pretty cool. I think in the future I can continue to use these results/newfound awareness to my advantage in "selling" my ideas better at home not just at work! :)  All this talk about it, I figure I better at least share some of the profile's results:

I could be the next Pope!

On a commercial break from watching the Oscars last night, I randomly asked Matt what I should write my next blog post about, as I haven’t written anything recently.   Unexpectedly, he had answer right away: “Well, that church story is a great one.”

Ah yes, it is.  But first, some background information: after getting engaged, we did attend church quite a bit and then of course had the full Catholic ceremony for our wedding, but since then, have only attended sporadically, on mostly the major holidays and the occasional free Sunday.  I’m not even baptized (gasp!)  

Because I am not sure who may end up reading this, I won’t get into the specific details of how exactly it happened, but what happened is this:  I accidentally ended up on a church communications committee!

(Pause to let those of you who know me well finish laughing).

Now, as the fourth member of said communications committee, I am responsible for helping with a monthly newsletter to more than 1,000 parishioners and updates to the church’s Facebook page.  The other committee members are older men, and only one of them is even remotely involved in communications in his career.  Needless to say, they are very grateful to have me, even though they might not be if they knew it wasn’t my original intent. Anyway, my first issue was emailed out at the beginning of February and I leaned heavily on my memory of my Catholicism classes at Creighton for story ideas. When I couldn’t come up with anything, I turned to www.Allrecipes.com for some meatless Lenten recipes to include and wrote an article and prayer for Fat Tuesday and how to make Mardi Gras meaningful.  The other guys filled in the rest of the space with blurbs about upcoming events.

While me writing for a Catholic e-newsletter might seem hilarious, even ironic to some (myself included), I just have to remember:  I enjoy writing and I enjoy working in groups. 

And this group really seems to like working with me, too.   On our latest conference call, giving me my own column was even discussed!  I’m not quite ready for that yet, BUT because I’m competitive, I need March’s issue to be the best, most read, most opened, most forwarded one yet.  Story ideas welcome.

God bless.  ;)

Resolve to be nicer than this guy this year

It has been since the Peter Parker encounter that I got a guy’s phone number.  But it happened again on New Year’s Eve.  And this time my husband was there for the whole thing.

That night, I didn’t feel well and ended up missing midnight but I took enough Zicam to get me by for at least a meal out at one of our favorite local semi-dive bars.

Soup, salad, and a few “surprise me” drinks from the bartender later, we were having a pretty good time. It only got better when a guy whom I’d noticed earlier as looking at our table an awful lot came up to us and asked if we were married. We said yes and he explained his disappointment because he was meeting a blind date (who does that on NYE?!) and told her he was wearing a blue polo shirt, which is what Matt happened to be wearing, so he was just curious if I was supposed to actually be talking to him. Ha ha.  Then he tells me I look familiar – and I thought the same too – and we discover it was at the formerly-named Qwest Center where we probably ran into each other when each of us was working a past job/event there.  During the “no, that’s not it, have you ever been to…” hulabaloo, in walks this guy’s ex-fiance! I mean, what are the odds?!  Apparently she put on a lot of weight according to him.

Anyway, back to his blind date.  I asked for the scoop and he told us he was so excited that he had a gay guy at The Buckle dress him.  He said he  she had a great personality, which he discovered when he had phone and text conversations with this girl. He'd only seen one picture  of her on social media. I asked him describe her and he said, “she’s not a perfect Barbie doll type but she isn’t an untouchable either” – charmer, this guy.  We small-talked for awhile longer about his potential midnight kiss and what he does now for a living, etc.  At one point I even invited him and the not-yet-there other stranger he was meeting to join us at our table for a drink (now who does that either?!)  Through the course of conversation, we learned that one of his side jobs is lawn care and we talked about him reseeding our backyard or something, which is when he gave me his number to call anytime. It wasn’t until the guy walked away a few minutes later that Matt said, “hey – how come he gave YOU his number, not me?”    

Finally, a girl arrives by herself. At this place, it’s really obvious when someone walks in so I think we all knew it was her.  And we all (me, Matt and our new friend Ryan) simultaneously gasped because let's just say she wasn’t exactly what any of us were expecting. Now, this is where our inside information ended and we didn't talk to him the rest of the night, but from what I observed, their date lasted one drink’s worth until he didn’t pay for hers and told her he didn’t like her and wanted her to leave – because that she did, without saying goodbye to him.

Cheers to not being single! And to a fun-filled 2013!

Not another Elf on a Shelf

To quote Twilight character Bella Swan, "No one has loved anyone as much" as I love my husband.

That said, he could always be better (who couldn't?!).  I wish I could invent an "Elf on the Shelf: Husband Version" to always keep mine--and yours--on his best behavior.

I only just learned about this Elf on the Shelf business three weeks ago and now I can't seem to get away from them. From what I gather from my Facebook feed, this elf guy, whom everyone must name on their own, does scouting trips about those in your home to the North Pole, reporting who was good and who isn't worth signing (ha - see what I did there).  The "only" problem is that I can't think of a good name for this new product. I spent WAY too much time thinking about this and before I knew it, I was in a day dream getting an offer from Mark Cuban on Shark Tank (though in reality I'd really want the offer to come from the guy with the thick, brown Ken doll hair whose name escapes me at the moment).

Before things to that point, or any point for that matter, there's still the whole product name hurdle to jump before we get really kick off R&D. Here are all the words I was trying to play/rhyme with: 

Spouse in the House
Lover Bear in the Chair
Wife for Life

As you can see, I have some work to do. Good thing I have some time off from my day job to around the Holidays to keep thinking . . .

Thank you

Post script:  I actually wrote this November 21 but didn’t post it because I got busy.  Considering a few things that have happened recently--namely, the Sandy Hook shooting and the recent passing of one of the top five most influential people in my life, “Mama Tu Tu,” I felt compelled to reflect and go back to and focus on living a life of thanks --even about the trivial stuff below.  Life is too short.

People never cease to amaze me – in good ways and in bad. Today, for instance, I was parked in a parking lot responding to a text (don’t text and drive, people) and my window was rolled down, as was the gentleman’s who drove past me, grumbling audibly that some “stupid kids” stole his parking spot. But also today I worked registration table at a blood drive. People always respond well to the Red Cross name, but in light of Superstorm Sandy, people are especially responsive and eager to help the cause. People are here telling me their stories about volunteering, many just stop in not planning to spend 45 minutes of their day donating blood, but do it anyway; it is so awesome to see. So much so that it has put me in a very cheerful mood. But it’s not time for cheer just yet (just over a month until Christmas). ‘Tis the season of thanks right now.

I’m thankful for:

• Holiday traditions:  I missed a call from one of my grandma’s this week and even Matt knew enough to joke, “Annual call for you to bring olives to Thanksgiving, huh?”   Yep. Two cans black, one jar green. It has been my job for several years since entering adulthood for every holiday.
• LivingSocial/Groupon/AmazonLocal, etc. : I LOVE these! Perhaps too much. It’s like, one minute I think, “a shellac manicure or new magazine subscription or two-night hotel stay would be nice” and the next minutes, BAM – there it is!  Saving money is fun.
• Twitter:   …Making me feel cooler than I really am since July 2012. Scooter’s Coffee follows me for Heaven’s sake!  Social media is fun, too.

Obviously I’m thankful for the ol’ standbys, too: my health and that of my family and friends, the fact that I have a job that allows me some spending money (which I spent too much of on a recent trip to Mall of America), a house that keeps me safe and warm and all that good stuff. I’m going to try better to not take it all for granted. In fact, I’m going to stop writing and go home to hug my husband right now! Happy Thanksgiving!

Time flies when you're having fun!

One Year Later: We're still awesome!  Matt & I celebrated our one-year anniversary last week. We went out to dinner and exchanged gifts. He got several "paper"-themed gifts (tickets to the Shrek musical, cigars, a reprint of the Omaha World-Herald front page from our wedding day, etc.), since paper is the traditional one-year gift, and I got a Calvin Johnson Detroit Lions jersey - score!  I just really cannot believe it's already been a year. The memories of our wedding night are a blur but I do know the fun we had that day hasn't stopped for a second. In just the past year alone, we've really enjoyed ourselves. I don't know why people say the first year is the hardest. We reminisced at our anniversary dinner at our go-to special occasion joint, Bonefish Grill, and man, got tired just talking it all through!
Since last October, we...

• Went to Negril, Jamaica on our Honeymoon
• Enjoyed an annual trip to Unadilla - this year via party bus to the town's Groundhog Day celebration
• (Matt) went on his usual March Madness / golfing  / boys trip to Phoenix
• Took in the Power & Light district and a Kansas City Royals game this spring
• Traveled to Brekenridge, CO with friends for a weekend of nature and laughs
• (I) went to Milwaukee on a girls trip
• Wore big hats, won money and drank mint juleps at the Kentucky Derby! 
• GOT A DOG
• Participated in a full-scale recreation of a Bert the Conquerer episode, Wife Carry Obstacle Course
• (I) ran a 10k -- oh, and I won a gold medal at the Cornhusker State Games in softball!
• Built a new deck
• Played in approximately 19,000 games each (ok, maybe I'm exaggerating but not by much) between each of our volleyball, golf and baseball/softball leagues
• Toured the Dallas Cowboys stadium (and saw Big Tex just weeks before he burnt down!)
• Wished many of our friends and family the best as they tied the knot themselves
• And tons of other stuff I'm sure, too...

So I wanted to include a small photo montage for your enjoyment. And this comes on the heels of our next adventure--a MN road trip to see a NFL game and shop at IKEA - woo! Cheers to us, to many more years of fun to come, and to all of who have been part of that fun along the way, this year and always!
xo

Peter Parker (ha ha, get it?)

Last Wednesday, I took my dog for a walk and came back with both a newfound sense of trust in him being off leash—and a new “friend.” Here’s what happened:  Approximately one minute into our walk, we see a guy walking his also young, crazy and cute dog, so the dogs stop to sniff each other.  Other dog owners can attest that usually when this happens, we are able to move on quickly, but this guy was different. He first asked, “is your dog friendly?”  I said, “yes.” [Silent pause].  Second thing out of his mouth, “Wow, that’s a nice ring.” Now, yes, it is. But what a weird thing to say. It means you were looking to see if I was married. It also means you were using your dog to pick up chicks at the park – how cliché. Despite knowing that I was in fact married, he went on to say that I was good-looking and asked if I had any sisters or single friends. He said his name was Peter, he was 32, and he just moved here a week ago to go to Law School, etc, etc. We let the dogs run around and play together while we walked behind and chatted for a bit. I told him about cool things on campus because I was an undergrad there and about places to visit in Omaha. He was really upfront in saying he knew he was coming off as weird, but he just didn’t know how to make friends here if he didn’t just blatantly try. So he gave me his phone number and said to text him if me, my husband or friends ever wanted to show him the ropes, take him Cornhusker tailgating, etc.

So, when I found out we needed a guy sub for volleyball this week, I thought of Peter. When I told Matt I might ask the guy I met at the park, I found out is apparently frowned upon in our establishment to get random guys’ phone numbers. But it’s not like that!! I’m trying to be nice and be helpful in him getting to know people.  I know a lot of people!! Is that so wrong?!

Anyway, Peter won’t be subbing at volleyball.

Do things REALLY happen for a reason?

Friday: I arrive in Milwaukee for a friend's bachelorette weekend (Congrats again, Alex if you're reading this). The group of us girl pedal-tavern our way through the downtown streets of the Third Ward getting drinks and cover charges paid for all the while. A pair of guys in particular took a liking to us.I had  to keep reminding one I was married (apparently guys don't have the same instinct girls do to first glance at a girl's left ring finger before approaching). Anyway, SUPER fun night, after which we promptly slept in until almost noon.

Saturday: When homemade breakfast burritos bettered our belly pain, we packed up and went tailgating at Miller Park before the Milwaukee Brewers game. We shotgunned beers until we ran out -- and then traded brats for more beer! It's nothing short of impressive that we were able to even cook brats: One bridesmaid had bought a new grill for the occasion and we packed it with everything else, but all of us girls, Creighton-educated mind you, failed to realize the grill wasn't yet assembled (HA!) Another bridesmaid, and apparently former Kinex junkie, along with the help of the MOH, Mac-Guyvered the thing together (also with the help of some tools from nearby tailgaters) in no time at all! #GirlPower  We made lots of friends at the time and even came away with a foul ball, thanks to our awesome third-row, third-base line seats -- another SUPER fun night!

Sunday: A nice farwell lunch at a local place and then off to the airport for me. The fun ended there. I did successfully make it to my layover stop in Denver, but only to hear that my flight had been delayed three hours. I tweeted my rage to the airline and my so-far weak following.  The delay was bad enough, until two hours later they CANCELED my flight! No explanation!
"Sorry, the reason hasn't been coded in our system." "
No, I'M sorry, but you're going to have to do better than that!"
Other flights through the same airline and others were off to Omaha without a hitch, but no, not mine. Another hour was wasted in the customer service line where I was rebooked on a different carrier's midnight flight to Lincoln. It was supposedly the closest they could get me and I just wanted to be home. Upon arrival at the new airline's gate, they had no record of me or my reservation. Of course not. So back to square one and the original airline who screwed me over. This time, I refused to wait in line and cut everyone to complain about what happened. Now said midnight flight, which was only a decent option at best, was full and not an option anymore anyway. Now supposedly the soonest flight home to Omaha that wasn't full with other rebooked passengers was Tuesday morning (HA!) Surpringly, I remained calm. I also did some side glances for the candid cameras, ending with me shaking my head. Just my luck this happened on the first trip I ever had to fly alone.  Anyway, I guess I asked the right questions because 'all of a sudden' (OR, all along and she was just unhelpful - whichever) a 10 AM flight Monday appeared and I took it. I mean, my only other option was to rent a car and drive the eight hours, which I never really considered. Can you imagine what would've happened to me on an overnight trip down I-80?!

Monday: I get a call first thing in the morning from my boss, on my personal cell, so I knew it was urgent. A sponsor needed ASAP a key piece of paperwork that only I had saved on my computer, which was of course at my house. We went back and forth trying to come up with a temporary fix to please the sponsor or find some other solution but nothing was panning out. When I texted Matt to inform him of the latest, "WHY IS THIS HAPPENING TO ME?!" happening, he simply replied: "What can I do?"
Not "sorry babe, that sucks," but "what can I do?" It caused me pause. I have a good one, everyone. He had already rearranged his work day because he had to come get me 45 minutes away in the middle of the day, but the guy also agrees to race home before that to do a search for a file on my work computer and call my boss, whom he has met just once in passing, for me. He may not be a real romantic, but I have to give it to him - he's always there when it matters, however ridiculous the situation - my knight in shining armour! So I was grinning in appreciation when it was my turn to board, but the grin quickly turned into a panicked frown when the attendant said my boarding pass wouldn't actually work and that I was not in their system.  It was 15 minutes from takeoff so I once again cut everyone in the service desk line so someone could fix this for me. And luckily, they did. I made it safely to Lincoln where my hubs and dog were there to greet me. But of course, 20 minutes into the drive home, Matt says, "Why are we going west?" -- that's opposite of home. We end up in Crete, out of our way and I am about 60/40 flattered and annoyed that he was too excited to see me to see any of the road signs!  But I allowed myself no other choice but to focus on the positive.  I wasn't in a hotel room by myself anymore, this nightmare was [almost] over and I seemed to learn some things about myself along the way. So I say again as I've said before, I DO think things happen for a reason. If nothing else, this whole experience gave me some writing materials for the blog - it'd almost been a month since last post! :)

Alternative Lifestyles

We went on a vacation with another couple this weekend to Breckenridge, CO. As part of our ubber-touristy trip, we white-water rafted, rode a gondola to the top of a mountain, hiked and ziplined (is that a word?).  Pretending to be adventurous for a few days sure was fun! 

All the fun prompted Matt to ask the group a question: If we lived only 3 hours away (instead of 8+), do you think we would come all the time?

We took the conversation in a direction that had us all living in side-by-side plots in small town Colorado. We "dreamed" of possible careers for ourselves whenv we moved. Kristie was going to find a teaching job in the district, I was to purchasae the for-sale cupcake shop on Main Street, Matt was going to be a dealer (demand is HIGH out there for stuff to get high it seems) and Ross was going to win the state lottery. Because the entire plan somewhat hinges on one of us in fact winning the lottery to fund our future move, in reality, not going to happen. Not only can we not afford a home on Lake Dillon, but we seemed to learn this weekend that not only are we amazingly sycronized paddlers, but that we also just don't fit in in CO. Actually, us girls were even called "yuppies" by two locals (named Steve & Abram, mind you). They sited our hair and bags as evidence (we had washed and brushed our hair and our bags were not made of hemp, so...I guess??)

Better yuppie than hippie in my book. Or so I thought until I looked up the definition of each on Urbandictionary.com. In a nutshell, "yuppie "= Christian Bale's character from American Psycho and "hippie" = a Phish fan who loves acid -- and everything in general.

A life of love, peace, equality and simplicity. Doesn't sound so bad does it? The more I read about it online, the better it sounded, even to anal-ol' me. So in honor of the fun weekend and the adventurous Coloradan hippie lifestyle , I write this while listening to The Grateful Dead. If only the hippie lifestyle paid a yuppie paycheck....because I like being able to afford vacations to Colorado if I want.

15 ways to stay married for 15 years & then some

The moment I read this article after it went viral a month or so ago, I knew I had to both share it and write about it. It is hands down the best relationship of any kind I have ever received.

Here’s author Lydia Netzer’s 15 Ways to Stay Married for 15 years—and then my own commentary about each one. (You can click here for her full blog post explaining each point).

1. Go to bed mad.

Hahahaha – I was right the first time! 

2. Laugh if you can.

Laughing is my favorite thing to do. Making me laugh during a supposed fight is Matt’s favorite thing to do.  Approximately 99.9% of the time, I am not actually as mad as I am letting on. Having him there to diffuse the situation is always so great.

3. Don't criticize. Ever.
Even non-verbally?? Dang, I guess I should stop “subtly” poking Matt’s belly. Being married has not good for either of our diets. Super bummer coming into swimsuit season!

4. Be the mirror.
Mirror, cheerleader, same thing. Matt has been awfully busy at work for awhile now. His new position has required him to learn a lot of new things and perform in a much more fast-paced environment, so it’s my job as a good wife to tell him he’s awesome, he’s best employee ever, etc, etc. You’d be surprised what I come up with sometimes!

5. Be proud and brag.

Ok, so like, he IS awesome and probably at least among the best employees they’ve got. But also, even with his ever-growing midsection (haha, one last jab), he’s hot. And good at volleyball. Oh, and baseball. Even listening. Really, anything he does. J  He better be out there right now telling everyone how cool and pretty I am!

6. Do your own thing.

Speaking of baseball...that’s Matt’s “thing” – as long as he can, that’s what he’ll drive drive more than hour to twice a week to play. I have my own leagues of softball, too. Our interests are shared but we still have our own time away from each other to be ourselves. It gives us something to talk about for the brief periods of time between sports that we do get to hang out.

7. Have kids.

Next, please.

8. Get really good at sex.

Also skipping this one.  

9. Move.

Does travelling count? Because we have done plenty of that.  In fact, we went to the Kentucky Derby this year! [The fact that I had too many mint juleps and passed out in the infield during the actual Derby race is beside the point].  Back to the point, unless something *CRAZY* happens, we’re not going anywhere in terms of actually moving away.

10. Stop thinking temporarily.
I couldn’t have said anything better than what Lydia did, so enjoy: Marriage is not conditional. It is permanent. Your husband will be with you until you die. That is a given. It sounds obvious, but really making it a given is hard. You tend to think in "ifs" and "thens" even when you've publicly committed to forever. If he does this, I won't tolerate it. If I do this, he'll leave me. If I get fat. If I change jobs. If he says mean things. If he doesn't pay more attention. It's natural, especially in the beginning of your marriage, to keep those doubts in your head. But the sooner you can let go of the idea that marriage is temporary -- and will end if certain awful conditions are met -- the sooner you will let go of all kinds of conflict and stress. Yes, you may find yourself in a horrible situation where it's absolutely necessary to get a divorce. But going into it with divorce in the back of your mind, even in the way way way back of your mind, is going to cause a lot of unnecessary angst. Accept that you're going to stay with him. He's going to stay with you. Inhabit that and figure out how to make THAT work, instead of living with the "what if"s and "in case of's."

11. Do not put yourself in trouble's way.

My ex-boyfriend of five years, from about 10 years ago, recently tried to add me as a friend on Facebook out of the blue. It didn’t even cross my mind to accept because of this very point. If Matt played with social media, I’d expect the same from him.  I don’t want to be in a place to even  be able to touch temptation with a 10-foot pole.

12. Make a husband pact with your friends.

I don’t do much criticizing of the hubs, but ok, friends, if I do – don’t judge him for it. It’s probably me that’s the problem.

13. Bitch to his mother, not yours.

“To,” huh – not “about?”

14. Be loyal.

‘Duh.  

15. Trust the person you married.

100% without a doubt. If any doubt, don’t do it. Call it quits. If you can trust each other, not just in terms of being unfaithful, but simply trust yourself around each other to not say that mean thing you’re thinking, that’s not a good sign. If you’ve got trust, then you’ve got loyalty in the bag, too. Now, I’ve never climbed up and then jumped off a 6-foot ladder with my eyes closed and asked Matt to catch me, but I do still trust the guy.

By no means is this a end-all-be-all of marriage advice, but I found it pretty comprehensive from what I know so far--though I couldn't believe saying "I told you" as often as possible didn't make the cut. In fact,  reading Lydia’s version made me smile and think about things in a different light, and I even made Matt sit through my reading her article aloud, as well as my on the spot live commentary. We had some good laughs and discussion that way. I hope my version allows you the same self-realizations and smiles. If not, go "bitch" to your mother about me then, I guess.

It's a Boy!

It's no secret that I've never wanted kids. That's not to say that I'll never have kids, I've just never felt the urge that every female around me always seemed to have. I think it stems from me not thinking I'd be good enough at raising them. As it turns out, that last part may not be true after all.  Last week, Matt and I adopted a dog! We had been working with a local rescue shelter (check it out: http://www.grrin.org/) for several months now. There are various steps we had to go through to get the dog--phone interview, home visit from the dog's caseworker and then finally a supervised meeting with the dog and his current foster family (not kidding).  They told us at the beginning that we may have to meet many dogs before finding "the one" but we fell in love with the first one we got to meet! He has been a great addition to our little family.

Ok, now that I've said that, I'll say this--he's a handful! Bundle of joy, sure, but also "of energy!" That guy has to be playing constantly, and I am left with the bulk of the work in playing with and taking care of him by default, because I can work from home sometimes and even when not, I get home before Matt does. The disproportionate work load has already given me a small glimpse into what it must be like to be a new mom--covered in drool, cleaning up "accidents," getting on a feeding schedule and new routine in life in general. The silver lining? Throwing the dog's tennis ball to him 1,987 times a day is going to get my biceps in shape in no time! [Note for any parents who may be reading this: yes, I understand an actual child is much more difficult to care for than this dog ever has been or will be].

I guess all I mean by all of this is that while it's only been a week of this new life, I'm adjusting to my new duties easily. And happily I might add.  A comment by the vet at our visit the other day really triggered all of this self-reflection--he said, "you're being very maternal with him." Now, the vet didn't necessarily say it in a tone that implied that the extent of my "maternal, protective" behavior was a good thing, but still. I guess I HAVE had a maternal instinct all along.  And if you ask Matt, it'll be $250 in adoption costs well-spent to give me the confidence and mothering skills for a real, human kid someday!

6-Months

This weekend marked our six month anniversary of being married! I've said it before and I'll say it again--neither of us are romantic people, and normally we'd let something like a six month anniversary, which is not a real milestone, pass us by. (In fact, to this day, we have no idea when we even started dating!) You can imagine my surprise then when I got home Saturday night to a card and a pretty bouquet of flowers. [I also got home that night to Matt passed out on the couch with a beer in his hand, somehow not spilling a single drop. That's more like it, like us]. The flowers were a super sweet gesture, especially considering I didn't remember the occasion and thought they were "just because" blooms at first. I'll skip the middle part of the story about how I completely overanalyzed every word of the card and took offense to it, offending Matt in the process and I'll just say the story ended with hugs and kisses at least.

But I also got something else for my 6-month anniversary--an email from The Knot.

Subject: It's Been 6 Months since your wedding...
Body: ...So we'd like to introduce you to TheBump.com

For those of you unfamiliar (or bad at context clues), The Bump is "The Knot's sister site dedicated to all things baby."  Their email goes on to so very kindly invited me to click on links offering must-have tools for getting pregnant faster and even a 24/7 chat room for other women trying to get pregnant right now . Thank god one of the other options they gave me was to also forward this email to a friend!

If I could stop rolling my eyes or somehow figure out how to reign in my frustration at their inferences about where I should be in relationship, I'd tell you how I really feel about it. Needless to say, Matt didn't get baby news for his present on our 6 months anniversary.  Ok, now I promise to never say "6 month anniversary" again -- or at least until we do actually have a child and that child reaches dating age.