Question #20 Are You A Car Person?

Last night, the fam and I went to the Cleveland Auto Show.  We usually go every year and enjoy getting out of the house and doing something different.  Plus, A and L love cars!  ;)  We took my mom this year...she was a car show virgin!  Last night was a lot of fun.  We went right after work and had dinner there.  After dinner, L went DIRECTLY to the booth that sells die cast cars....big shock hahaha!  We actually got out of there without buying him a car, but out of the corner of my eye I noticed some leather coin purses in the shape of animals a few booths down....bad...just bad!  Two Christmases ago, my mom got me an AMAZING owl purse (I don't know if I have talked about how much I love owls on my blog, but I LOVE owls).  She bought it on eBay. I have had SO many compliments on this purse...not even kidding...I've had people grab my arm and drag me to their friend so they could show off my purse.  If I had a nickle for every compliment I've gotten on this purse, I could buy three more of them (the purse is $88!)  Anyway, this lady was selling matching coin purses and key chains to match my purse.  She actually had two purses too!  My mom and I were so excited.  She said she sold her stuff on eBay, so I guessing this is actually who my mom got my purse from.  I ended up getting the matching coin purse and key chain.  Duh....they are ridiculously cute!

 My new coin purse and key chain!!!

 My awesome owl purse!

OK, so on with my actual question....Are you a car person?  What is your favorite car?  I'll admit, I like cars, but I am not really a "cars" person.  Does that makes sense?  I can appreciate the design and form of a vehicle, but anything deeper like engine size or whatever is completely a different language for me.  Walking around the car show last night, I realized that I wasn't all that impressed with other cars like I used to be because I now finally have the car I've been wanting for years.  Yeah, yeah, I know....a Ford Edge isn't all that great of a car, but for practical, affordable purposes, it's my dream car.  Don't get me wrong, the BMWs, Mercedes, and Audis are awesome, but they don't have any place in my real world!  I'm just as happy with my Edge.  I was pleased to find that almost the exact same model, color and all, was displayed at the car show.  Coincidentally enough, it was parked RIGHT NEXT to the almost exact same Ford Escape my mom just bought a week or two after we bought our car.  What are the chances of that happening?  Needless to say, I thought that was just too cool.  Hahahaha.  What can I say....I'm easily amused ;)

My gang and I in front of "our" car at the car show!

Question #19 Best and Worst Dressed

The Oscar's were last night.  I love award season.  It's so fun to see all these stars dressed up!  The fashion is either amazingly awesome or awesomely ridiculous....and I love it all!  There's nothing better than sitting in front of your TV at home, with dirty hair and in your comfy yoga pants judging all the outfits of these stars.  Hahaha.  You know, because I am so perfect!  No doubt anyone not living in a cave probably has his/ her best and worst dressed of the evening....do tell :)

My favorites were Jessica Chastain, Charlize Theron, and Naomi Watts.  If I had to say who had the best hair it'd be Anne Hathaway hands down.  I adore her short hair style.  It looks so amazing on her.  I can't look at her without the strong desire to chop all my hair off.  In the past, I've never shied away from a short hair cut....maybe a change is in the future!  I actually really love Charlize Theron's hair really short too.  If there is anyone that can pull off a haircut like that and still be amazing, it's her.  Runners up would be Sandra Bullock (I wasn't terribly fond of her hairstyle) and Octavia Spencer.  I would have really liked to see Melissa McCarthy and Adele pull off some really fabulous plus size fashions off, but again, I was left disappointed and they were left looking like they were wearing a grey garbage bag and a black, sparkly garbage bag.  I always feel a little disappointed that the plus sized women don't find something better.  I realize we are in a society (and especially Hollywood) where being plus sized means you are limited to designers, but they are rich, commission someone to make a dress for you!  Wearing an amazing dress and looking just as beautiful as the rest of the teeny women in Hollywood would be an amazing boost for plus sized women all over.

My worst dressed were Kristen Stewart, Catherine Zeta Jones, and Zoe Saldana.  I will say, I don't think Kristen Stewart's dress was ugly, it was just ill fitted.  But her hair and make-up was just awful....did she just roll out of bed?  Good grief.  I realize she has a hurt foot and was hobbling around for the cause, but still...at very least wash and brush that rats nest of hair.  Gross.  You can only take angsty so far...then it's just called being dirty!  Ew.  I really don't know what Catherine Zeta Jones was thinking.  The whole entire package was a disaster.  The dress was awful, her hair parted down the middle was so outdated, and her make-up was really heavy.  She looked SOOOO much older.  I am sure she was trying for just the opposite, but she failed miserably.  And she's such a beautiful woman...you really have to be trying hard to make her ugly.  I just wasn't feeling Zoe's dress.  Too much happening...flowers, bow, belt, the grey to black fade at the bottom...not into it.

Alright...your turn!

Question #18 Shopping Anyone?

This weekend we bought a nice, new corner desk to replace the rabbit's cage (our bunny, Ollie, passed away a few weeks back).  Now we have a desk to put our big computer on.  This is good news because now I can blog and not have to be in our basement wondering what kind of trouble L is getting into!!  Clearly, this doesn't STOP L from getting in trouble, he can just do it in front of my face now.  Good stuff.  Cool, I totally just vacuumed my family room while thinking of what I wanted to write and skipped the running up and down steps.  This is all just too cool!

 New desk....yup....I'm in the middle of blogging....Yay for being above ground on the computer!!!  ;)

Alright, I don't know if you noticed, but I've kind of been on a shopping binge...last weekend Ikea, this weekend new desk...and that's just 30% of it ;)  I am addicted.  Are you a shopper like me or is shopping torture to you?

I hate shopping when I don't have any money (which, sadly, is more often than not) because you always find stuff you want, but can't buy.  We just got our tax refund...bad news....I can't stop.  I just love shopping for deals and I have this one store (well, technically it's two, but they are owned by the same person , are next to each other, and basically the same store just different stuff in each) that is like crack to me.  This weekend, they had a 75% off sale and I couldn't/ can't stay away.  To be fair, most of what I bought this weekend was gifts.  In the next few months, I have 3 birthdays, 2 babies, and a wedding shower.  I figure I better shop while I can afford it!  Plus, now I can buy more because everything was 75% off!!!  I am such a good shopper, I actually have friends and family texting me with items they are looking for...for example, one of my good friends just found out she's having a baby and she needs everything!  Yay!  This is a perfect way to satisfy my shopping need, my love for baby stuff, and helping a friend. I have already helped her find a co-sleeper, baby swing, and crib/ changing table (all at my favorite store, of course!) 

 Here is a text from my friend giving me my next shopping challenge....challenge accepted!  Hahahahaha!

I love shopping....maybe I should be a personal shopper...not sure I am going to find anyone in my town that needs a personal shopper....maybe we need to move...hahahahaha!!!!  How about you?  Are you a shopper or hater?

PS- I forgot all about Ziva's birthday...she's gonna be four in two days....here's what she got for her b-day!  She is sooo happy :)

Question #17 Seasons

Last night and this morning I was brutally reminded that it is winter.  The wind has been blowing really hard and it's snowing.  It's enough to take your breath away.  So, today I thought I would ask what is your favorite season?  Living in Ohio, you practically can experience all four season in a weeks time.  The weather here changes so fast you can't keep up.  However, as far as I can remember, it wasn't always this way and we had a lot more clear cut seasons.  I always liked that about Ohio...you got to experience spring, summer, fall, and winter. 

If I had to chose a favorite season, I guess it would be fall.  I love the leaves changing colors, the warm days and cool nights, Halloween, picking out pumpkins, getting your sweaters and pants out, Thanksgiving, mums, I love all of it!  Fall is the perfect transition season.  That being said, I really do appreciate and enjoy all of the seasons.  In spring, the air is fresh, everything is warming up, flowers are blooming, Easter....it's all so fresh and rejuvenating after a hard winter.  Everything is coming back to life.  Summer is great because it's so hot, gardens grow, flowers are bright, the sun is out, picnics, swimming, Fourth of July....I love it all!  I know a lot of people who aren't huge fans of winter.  I would say winter is probably my least favorite season, but there's a lot about winter I still love.  There is nothing like a fresh layer of snow, sitting inside all warm and cozy, Christmas and New Year's, hot chocolate, snow days....shoot I even like driving in the snow.  I take it like a challenge given to me by mother nature.  Slow and steady! 

What is your favorite holiday?  Do you love snow or sun?  Or are you like me and soak up each season as they come?

Question #16 and Weekend Wrap-Up

If you were an animal, what animal would you be?  Personally, I haven't given the question a lot of thought, so off the cuff, I'd say some sort of big cat.  Maybe a white tiger?  I guess I wouldn't mind an orange tiger either.  As we've established in a previous post, I am a cat person.  While being a normal house cat would be fine, I like the idea of a big cat better...more power.  Roar!  Hahaha.  I love how graceful big cats are. It's also really awesome how they still purr like a domestic cat.  Cats in general are great because they can be completely bi-polar and it's accepted by all!

The animal question flows right into my weekend wrap-up.  Sometime...I believe it was in late November, we took L on a train ride through the Cuyahoga Valley National Park.  He loves trains and the area is really beautiful any time of the year.  They had recently opened a little store/ train depot where we bought our tickets and even bought a few Christmas gifts.  They have a little play area and we noticed a contest to name their mascot, an Otter.  L immediately picked Ollie for the otter (we had a rabbit named Ollie...he just passed away two weeks ago) and so we filled out a form for him and forgot about it completely.  In January, I got a phone call and it was from the little store.  They had picked the winning name for the otter and it was Ollie.  They wanted to have a little reception/ ceremony for the winners (there were six).  I thought it sounded fun, so we RSVPed.  It was this past Saturday.  Four of the six kids showed up and L was the youngest by at least 5 years.  Ollie the Otter was a cartoon and he was painted on the wall of the store by the kid's play area.  There were color form clothes, etc to stick on the painting.  It was all very cute.  We met the artist and she was really sweet.  She did a little demonstration on how to draw (L wasn't really into the art lesson, but my mom got into it!), then a park ranger came in and swore the four kids in as Junior Park Rangers.  This was super cute, they got a button badge and a patch (he wore the badge all weekend and kept telling me he didn't have anything to save anyone with...it was pretty funny!)  They also gave each kid a bag with a really nice stuffed otter, a bunch of wildlife toys, a signed picture of Ollie, etc.  Overall, it was really fun.  We had a heck of a time getting L to cuddle his Ollie...he wanted nothing to do with it until later in the day at nap time....he's such a funny kid.  Needless to say, we know L will never tell us if he could be any animal, it'd be an otter.  Hahaha!!!

My mom and I had been talking about taking a trip to Ikea for years.  Well, on Sunday, we finally broke down and went.  The nearest Ikea is 2 1/2 hours away in Pittsburgh, PA.  So we loaded L up and heading to PA.  I'm not even gonna lie....that place is HUGE!  I'd love to say L was having a really good day and was behaving, but really he was awful and complaining about everything.  We did end up spending 2 1/2 hours there, so I can't blame the kid for getting cranky towards the end.  I was pretty overwhelmed and exhausted too.  I ended up buying a chair, a six drawer dresser, a two drawer dresser, a set of 12 silverware, 18 glasses and a few little odds and ends.  Wow....you definitely have to have an idea of what you are looking for/ budget when going to Ikea.  I'm glad I got the chance to see what it's like to go there, but it may be a while before I will be heading back!  Hahahaha!

Question #15 Favorite Ethan Hawke Movie

Since I wrote a normal post about how freaking dumb cancer is, I figured I'd still do a question too.  A little more specific of a question.  And don't forget random....I LOVE random questions.  For years now, my BFF and I have swooned over Ethan Hawke (I'd say she's more into him than I ever have been, but I definitely think he's not hard on the eyes).....I mean, since "White Fang"...that's a long time ago (side note...that was my brother's favorite movie and I never seemed to mind watching it...hmmm....).  Anyway, obviously one of the best Ethan Hawke movies is "Reality Bites"....if you weren't school girl crushing after that movie, something is wrong with you.  So here goes Ethan fans....what is your favorite Ethan Hawke movie?

Before I go on and tell you which Ethan Hawke movie is my favorite, I want to tell you what brought this whole topic up.  This picture......

Yes, that's our beloved Ethan Hawke.  Looking like he is suffering a serious mid-life crisis.  I mean, really?  He looks terrible.  And manliner?  No.  Just No.  I can't stop talking about this picture....it's like a train wreck I can't stop watching.  It's so embarrassing.

Man....I am seriously so distracted by the disaster of a picture...I almost forgot to tell you my favorite Ethan movie.  I love "Great Expectations".  That movie is so visually beautiful and the story is great.  There isn't anything I don't love about it.  I love all the green clothes Gwyneth Paltrow wears.  Overall, I just love the movie.  "White Fang" comes in second.  And probably "Reality Bites" afterwards.  I know there are lots of people of who love the "Before Sunrise" trilogy.  I watched the first two a long time ago and wasn't super inspired, but I kind of think maybe if I watched them now, I could appreciate it more.  I also really enjoyed "Gattaca" and "Taking Lives".  After looking at his movie resume, I've come to realize I may be more of an Ethan Hawke fan than I thought.  Interesting....

  So I will close this post with a MUCH better picture....Troy Dyer....who doesn't love Troy Dyer?

Cancer Blows UPDATE

Seriously, is there a single person alive who hasn't either directly or indirectly been effected by cancer?  Ugh.  What a freaking pain in the butt (and for me, that is literal).  I remember a year, or five after I was diagnosed, I'd go to the Dr.'s for a cold and come out looking like a pin cushion because they wanted to test my numbers.  Just in case.  If I had a dollar every time I've heard that I could retire.  And worse, it's not just doctors you hear it from.  It's literally everyone in your life.  And for YEARS after having cancer.  You know at this point in the game, I have no more of a disposition to get cancer than any other average Joe?  None the less, my family and even myself, are bound to worry about any strange little change in my body.  Granted, I am usually the least worried out of the bunch.  Still, it takes it's toll.  I'd be lying if I said I never worried a little about it.

So, anyway, what prompted this rant is that I found a hard lump on my ankle.  I have had a small, hard lump on the outside of my left arm for a few months that I just chalked up to a fatty deposit or something.  Well, now I have a similar lump on my left ankle.  Goody.  Under the advice of my mom, I now have to go to the Dr.'s.  Boo.  I honestly can't decide if I am more worried about what it is or more annoyed at having to go see ANOTHER Dr. who probably doesn't know what's going on and will send me to another, and another....you can see a pattern here, I'm sure.  My best guess is that it's nothing to really worry about.  I am a little worried that even if it's just a calcium deposit or something like that, I'll have to have it removed and that ticks me off.  Ideally, I'd like to go through a whole year without having surgery.  I know, it's a lofty goal!  Ugh.  I actually feel raging mad about this whole situation.  I am so fed up with body crap.  I don't want to think about this stuff let alone worry about it.  Grr.  Yup, definitely more angry and annoyed than worried.  Alright, I'm gonna take my lumpy body and go get ready for work now.  And in a half hour....sigh....I'll go call the doctor.  Yippee.     

UPDATE:
I went to my internist and she wasn't sure what the lumps were.  She sent me to a surgeon.  I was supposed to have an appointment on Thursday this week, however, they called because there was a cancellation, so I went in yesterday.  The Dr. said the one on my arm is a lipoma (fat deposit...just what I thought!), but he was a little perplexed by the one on my ankle.  He did an ultrasound of it and still wasn't a hundred percent certain what was happening, but he thought it could possibly be an inflamed vein.  For three weeks, I have to wear a compression sock and take anti-inflammatories.  If it doesn't go away by then, he said he'd have to open it up and figure out what was causing it.  Here's hoping the compression socks work!!!

Valentine's Day....Love it or Hate it?

I have a lot of mixed feelings about Valentine's Day.  While I like the fact that there is a day to focus on your love you have for your loved ones, I also think it's gotten ridiculously commercialized.  Besides, why do we need a day to remind us that we love our spouses, kids, family, friends, etc?  Shouldn't we remember this daily?  I guess with life being so busy for everyone, Valentine's Day gives you a chance to show someone you appreciate them, I know that can sometimes get forgotten in day to day living.  But really, do we need heart shaped EVERYTHING to do this?  A and I have never really been big into celebrating Valentine's Day.  I usually get him a card and a little treat (sometimes I even make him something cool like bacon roses....I'll have to find a pic to post...they were super cool and yummy!)  I do have to admit, having a child that is school aged now and making Valentine cards for his classmates is kind of fun (ask me how I feel about it after a few years!  Hahahaha).  Being that it's L's first year of Valentine's Day in school, of course I had to find something really cool to make.  So....I spent TWO hours peeling the papers off crayons (L helped a teeny bit with this, but lost interest fast), breaking them into little bits (he liked this a little better and helps some) and melting them down into shapes of little hearts.  I am so thankful I did this the weekend before L's birthday party, or else they would have never gotten done.  Last night, my mom, L, and I bagged all the little heart crayons up in clear bags and tied a construction paper heart on with ribbon.  Inside the heart shaped card it read "You bring color to my life!"  We let L put stickers all over the front and backs of the hearts (I had all kinds of stickers, but he preferred the car stickers....and he literally put STOP sign stickers on every heart that he did)....L petered out after half of the hearts and we were left haphazardly putting stickers on the rest, but at least he lasted that long!!!  They really turned out super cute.     

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lego Birthday Party

Sorry it's been so long since I've actually blogged, but between celebrating L's FOURTH birthday and the flu running rampant through my house, I've been quite the busy/ bedridden girl.  I am going to write a little about L's birthday party today.  Honestly, I probably overdid it big time, but really it was so fun and everything looked amazing.  When I do something, I want to do it right.  And when I have a theme, you can bet I am sticking to it like glue.  Hahaha.

Here are some of the pictures of the things I did (with some help from my mom...thank you mom!) that made this party so cool!!!

 I guess I should have put these in order, but I am assuming you can figure it out.  This is a picture of the cake before it was frosted.  I actually made three cakes.  One 9x13, one 7x11 and one in a bread pan.  We toggled back and forth with ideas for the "nubs" and if we should put something between the layers.  One of the ideas for the "nubs" was jumbo marshmallows, but I couldn't find those anywhere.  Last minute I thought Oreos would be great and mom got the double stuffed so they were a little bigger, which worked perfectly.  We really aren't that skilled in cake making, but I think we pulled this off alright.  I bought some sort of gel frosting color and boy, was that stuff ever bright.  And let me tell you, it looked great, but was EVERYWHERE!!!  Everyone had red, yellow, or blue lips!  In the end, the second layer didn't fit exactly as we had originally planned, but I liked it put at an angle better...gave it more depth.  The little Lego men sitting on the cake was an awesome last minute addition as well!!

 I really love these goody bags.  They turned out SUPER cute.  I just bought colored bags at the party store and cut out 6 circles from an empty roll of toilet paper, painted them, and CAREFULLY glued them on.  Shockingly, not a single "nub" fell off and I had those bad boys PACKED with goodies!!!

 It's funny, but something as simple as this was really the hit of the party.  One night after putting L to bed, I stole his Legos and built this.  It was super simple, but such a neat touch.  I actually ended up putting some Lego trees and two Lego guys in that empty green space.  Everyone loved it!  So easy, but really tied the whole party together.

I saw this idea on Pinterest.  I thought it was really sweet!  I had to hide both the "4" and silverware/napkin caddy from L until his actual birthday for fear he'd get excited and end up taking it all apart!  Hahaha!

We also had your normal party decorations like Lego plates, streamers (with Lego pics on the end of them),
and a "Happy Birthday" Lego sign.  We also had tons of balloons.  I sent A and L to go to the party store the day of the party and said get ONE Lego balloon and maybe FIVE regular balloons.  They came back with 12 regular balloons and one Lego.  For some unknown reason, the regular balloons started popping, so mom and I had to run back and get more.  They gave us extra since A called and said more had popped while we were gone.  We had balloons everywhere.  The kids loved it.  Overall it was really a great party and well worth all the work.  L had a blast and cleaned up like a fat rat!!!!

Question # 14 Parenting?

Gosh...keeping a blog daily is difficult.  Today's question(s) is something I've been giving a lot of thought to lately.  What kind of parent are you (or would like to be)?  What are things you do well related to parenting?  Where could you improve?  These are hard questions to answer truthfully, no matter how candid you think you are with yourself.  No one wants to admit they make mistakes...even if you can own your mistakes, learning from them, and changing the way you deal with things is not a simple fix.   

I am going to preface this with some excuses.  No matter how valid they are, to me, they still come out sounding like excuses.  We all have our crosses to bear.  Some have it worse than others and you will always find someone out there who have overcome adversity worse than yours.  That being said, sometimes these things compile and make it hard to manage anything, let alone being a stellar parent.  I live with chronic pain.  I am not the chronic pain patient who is happy with "take your meds and you'll be fine".  I've fought my pain tooth and nail for eight LONG years so far.  I've suffered through four shoulder surgeries and two surgeries to implant a spinal cord stimulators with hopes of helping relieve some of the pain I suffer.  Currently, I am in the "take your meds and you'll be fine" stage of things, but not by choice and certainly not happily.  I am always looking for new ways to take care of my pain.  Anyway, having chronic pain takes a very real toll on your body.  Not only are you always exhausted from being in pain constantly, you are also on medications to help which makes you constantly tired.  Add to that, having a spinal cord stimulator sends a numbing/ tingling feeling to my whole body at any given move of my neck which can leave me feeling weak at different times.  Basically, I am not perfect and this kind of stuff greatly effects my parenting.

I think I am a parent who is quick to hug and sooth, yet isn't afraid to get crazy at my kid if he is making me nuts.  I am not that parent who will tell you that having a child completes my life.  I love L.  I love L unconditionally.  He is a huge part of me.  My child is wonderfully different and quirky and I love that the most about him.  He is ridiculously smart and never forgets anything.  I'm proud at how clever he is and how he thinks things through in a way that I never could.  He also makes me absolutely crazy mad and frustrated.  He has and probably always will keep me on my toes.  Nothing with L is simple.  Sometimes, I even love that about him.  I want to be the parent that knows how to help a child like L grow and be successful and happy.  I am not that parent right now.  I feel like a fish out of water most of the time.  Nurturing may come natural to me (more natural than I actually expected...that was my big fear during my pregnancy), but disciplining and teaching my child the ins and outs of life are definitely not a natural skill to me.  I push and want things just so and perfect and even though L is not far behind me in perfectionism, a four year old's idea of perfect is vastly different than mine.  I try to reason with a child who doesn't know what reasoning is yet.  It is so hard to describe what kind of parent you are.  I can say though, with 100% surety, I give parenting my all.  My effort is stellar!  I am always trying to think of new and exciting things to do with L.  I go above and beyond to celebrate milestones in his life.  I never stop trying. 

Wow....such a simple question led to a deep look into my life as a mom.  Sometimes it helps to just write it all out.  Like any good mom, I have lots of areas to work on.  I need to slow down and enjoy my child more.  Help him learn things like writing and spelling.  Being a parent is a never ending job.  I know before I became a parent, I knew that I'd probably mess up my kid somehow, because we all are a little bit of effed up, seems like it's a natural thing to do!  When your child knows that he/ she is loved and is happy, that's all that matters in the end.  :) 

Question #13 How Did You Meet Your Spouse?

This is a questions for all my married friends (which strangely enough, aren't too many!  The handful of my really good friends are ALL single).  How did you meet your spouse?  How long did you date before getting married?  Big wedding or small one?  How long have you been married?  I realize this is more than one question, but they all kind of tie together.

A and I's story is actually pretty fun.  We met in 7th grade thru a cousin we both share.  I know this sounds kind of weird, but I assure you it is not!  My mom's first cousin married A's mom's first cousin. When they had kids, A and I were related to them by the same degree. My parents and some family friends used to do an annual canoe trip right around the time of the fourth of July.  Every year, the group of people that went grew.  One year it included A and his family.  Of course we all had a blast hanging out together....these canoe trips were a lot of fun.  So A and I would see each other occasionally.  In 9th grade we spent the 4th of July together (well our families) and his parents' cat just had kittens.  I was dying to have a kitten (Mitzi), so we took one home (it almost started WW III between my parents....a whole other story).  On our way home, my mom teased me that A had a crush on me.  I wasn't really into him like that, but it was kind of funny.  Throughout high school we saw each other at different family events....somehow he was always single for me, even though he always had a girlfriend.  One random day, I got a phone call from A and he wanted to ask me out on a date.  I was so shocked and a little nervous and said sure.  I was a little backwards in the dating department, so this was kind of new to me.  The more I thought about it, the more I was kind of grossed out by A.  Hahahaha.  We went to different schools and I thought his was really dorky.  Anyway, I went through with the date, but decided I would do my best to sabotage it.  A wanted to go to dinner and a movie.  I had completely different plans.  I insisted that I drive (I had a super cute lime green VW  Beetle).  We went to Friendly's for dinner and then met my BFF (same one I swim with!!) at a boy's soccer game.  Hahaha..  This story is hilarious.  I thought the soccer team boys were super hot and didn't want to miss a game.  If you think that I was terrible doing this, it only gets worse....  We decided to ride down to Overton to "Cry Baby Bridge"....so BFF, A, and I piled into my BFF's car (I sat in the passenger seat and A in the back) and went driving.  When the date was done, he tried to kiss me and I freaked and shut the door in his face.  I didn't find out until way later that A had spent a whole day detailing his car and getting ready for our date.  I was a total goober.  He did call for another date (now that is some persistence!) but I turned him down blaming it on the start of swim season.

I went off to college and didn't think twice of A.  Every now and again we would email each other, but nothing real interesting. I would always get a kick out of his emails.  The year I got cancer, for some reason, we had started talking a little more.  I was in a relationship for 2 years, so I never really thought it was anything more than friends.  After I quit school to have my surgery and heal, I realized that my long term boyfriend just wasn't the right person for me.  A was home and around and we started talking even more.  He would come in to work and see me every now and again.  While I was still in a relationship, A and I decided to go see a movie together.  This was a really hard time for me because all of my friends were in college still and my boyfriend was living in Canada, so I was really lonely and trying to come to terms with just surviving cancer.  Having A as a friend and around was huge.  The night we went to the movie was really great.  At one point in the evening, I thought to myself that it would have been an amazing first date. I definitely started to evaluate my life, my relationship, and my future.  Again, I can't really stress where I was in my life....I wanted someone stable to be with.  It meant a lot to me that A was there for me and keeping me company.  Suddenly, I realized that I knew all the things I didn't like about A, but I never really gave him a chance to learn the things I could like about him.  It all happened fast, I broke up with my boyfriend and immediately A and I started dating.  I knew instantly that he was the one.  I swear, if you would have told me a year before that A and I would be dating and how sure I was that he'd be my husband, I would have died laughing.  All those years of laughing at him because he had a hopeless crush on me and here I was falling for him!  We were pretty much inseparable after that.  I finished my senior year of college closer to home and went home every single weekend to be with A.  We were engaged in 7 months and married 11 months after that.  We have had a lot of ups and downs, but I wouldn't want to do it with anyone else!  This past September we celebrated our 10 year anniversary by renewing our vows on the beach.

I love our story.  It's one we will tell our grandchildren years from now.  OK, your turn....tell me your story!!