Breathless: Part 1

It’s funny how you meet some people in life. The majority of friends you meet in school or at church or somewhere random. I met one of my best friends when I was 15 working at an arcade in Fishers, Indiana. He was 17, tall, went to a rival high school and totally looks like a hotter version of Neil Patrick Harris. We actually dated for a few months back then. My favorite thing about him is that he used to make me great CDs. For instance, I’d had a really bad day and still had to work. He had his senior dinner to go to and we were smack in the middle of a huge ice storm. I didn’t expect to see him at all that day and was totally bummed out. Then, out of nowhere, he comes walking up with a rose and a CD for me. I knew I really liked him in that instant…plus, he had great taste in music…what was not to like? What I didn’t know was how significant he would be in my life.

We went on dates to the most random places. We celebrated my 16th birthday at a cheesy restaurant downtown where he kissed me for the first time in the elevator. We’d go to BW3’s and watch football. I’d go watch him and his friends play basketball in the neighboring town. He would always lose his keys and wallet...it was endearing. We’d joke around together at work and spent many summer nights hanging out on our trampoline just looking at the trees. Most importantly, he was there for me when my family life was falling apart.

We had a great few months, but like most teenage relationships – it ended. We were supposed to go to his senior prom together, but ended up breaking up before then. Of course there was drama surrounding it, but again, that’s to be expected when you’re a teenager. He graduated, went off to college and we kept in touch.

Fast forward a few years and I am a senior in high school. I wanted to go to my senior prom with someone important and couldn’t think of a better person than Chris. We’d remained really good friends throughout the past few years. There are great pictures of this event…and most of them involve me looking like I Dream of Genie. (Note to all high-schoolers: DO NOT DESIGN YOUR OWN PROM DRESS. I look at it now and wonder how anyone let me out in public like that.)  Prom was an interesting night, but I'm so glad I chose to go with Chris.



To be continued…

"Gettin' Married"

One of the commenters from my "Planning" post directed me to this video.  It's so perfect :) 

**If you are a gettin' married or havin' babies...please do not take offense.  Sometimes single girls feel this way and it has nothing to do with you :) **

Home

This past weekend I was able to head down South and visit my friends in Nashville. It’s always so good to see them. I can’t believe a few months have already passed since they came up here to visit. Time really flies. I hadn’t seen Babykins since the middle of May. Poor thing barely recognized me. Only after I spent two days with him did he finally not immediately start crying when he saw me! I guess that’s what you get when you move 600 miles away.


After a great flight (my row was the life of the party on Southwest!), I got to spend Friday night with the girls having a fabulous dinner at La Paz and ice cream at Sweet CiCis. So yummy. Then I went back to Stacia’s to “help” her bake a cake (she does it professionally). By “help” I mean, sit there, play DJ and look at things online. I’m not allowed to touch anything. It makes sense if you’ve ever seen me bake (which you probably haven’t, because I don’t…for good reason.)

The next morning, after running around their neighborhood in the blazing heat (um, hello Nashville? It’s FALL. Get the memo.), I had a delicious chocolate croissant, got ready and headed to Jen’s. I had grand plans for going out…but it turned into movie night with a few beers. I was exhausted. Jen & I got to have lunch with Carrie - a former co-worker - at Cheesecake Factory and did a little retail therapy in the Green Hills area. Sunday night Jen & Matt made yummy fajitas, Charlie & Stacia came over and we watched a movie (Date Night = hilarious!). It was good just to have time to catch up. I watched Babykins on Monday. We went to the park to run around in the 90 degree heat. Seriously, Nashville…summer has ended! By the time he woke up from his nap, it was time for me to head to the airport. Sort of sad, but I got a lot of cute pictures of him over the weekend…and none of anything else. So not cool.

As much fun as I had this weekend, I was actually ready to get back to Chicago. For months, I’ve been referring to Nashville as “home.” It still seemed that a lot of my life was there and I was just trying Chicago on for size. I was talking to my mom on the way to the airport when she asked if I was ready to leave. She fully expected me to say “no” and start bawling because I had to leave my friends. I surprised her, and myself, when I said “Yeah, I’m ready to get back home.” Neither of us saw it coming.

It was great to see my friends. I hate that I don’t get to do so more often. Yes, it makes me sad that I don’t get to be Babykin’s primary babysitter anymore and it hurts that he doesn’t recognize me. Yep, it absolutely sucks that I don’t get to hang out with Jen, Matt, Stacia, Charlie, Rebecca, Carrie and everyone else all the time. I gave up a life in Nashville with the hopes of a better one in Chicago. While it will be hard to top the amazing friends I made there, this life - my Chicago life - is perfect for me at this point. I’m sure I’ll go through many ups and downs just like I did in Nashville, but this is where I know I’m meant to be. As I curled up in my messy, hot room last night, I was just happy to finally be home.

Up To Speed...

First off, if you don’t already read Amy’s blog…go over there right now and do so! She and her husband are absolutely adorable. I love that she always tells the truth about their struggle with infertility and yet, she still stays positive, sees that God is in control and has a plan....even though it's not easy.  To be honest, I love seeing her posts on my Google Reader every morning. The other day, she had a great post encouraging people to share their stories of their “click” moment. Go HERE right now and read it. It’s amazing how many people are struggling with the same things (singleness, infertility, job issues, etc) and it’s great to see that while we may not have all the answers, God does. And that is OK.

So, being the blog stalker I am…I participated. I figured there has GOT to be more amazing, single girls out there struggling with God’s timing. And what do you know…there are! And they even commented! This is amazing to me. So, if you are new to my blog, welcome!!  Now please allow me to give you a very quick tour of my life.

This is me:



 This is my family:



We don’t normally dress like this. It was my cousin’s wedding…where I was a bridesmaid. Shocking.



I grew up here:

(Glamorous, is it not?)

After surviving high school, I went off to college here:


(Go BOILERS!)



Finally, after four awesome fun-filled years, they gave me a degree and kicked me out. So, I picked up and moved here:

This was not in my plan, but the job was too perfect to pass up. I worked for an amazing company that has a hotel resembling this:

I started dating a guy we call “Jerk” within two weeks of settling in. We continued dating for almost two years….until I realized that it wasn’t working and he was, in fact, a jerk. During this time, I didn’t really have any friends at work or in my life at all. It was a dark, dark period in my life. There are a few blog posts on this if you go back in the short history of my blog. So, back to the story, we broke up. Yay!

The only good thing that came out of that crappy relationship was this:

This is Lexie – she’s my little Morkie puppy. She weighs 8lbs and has entirely too much personality for her own good. But she’s adorable, so I put up with it.

All of a sudden, things started falling into place for me. I started liking my job and then met these people at work:

You can read all about these ladies HERE. They are my “people.” They put me back together again and became my family in the South. One of them even made me an Aunt for the first time. I love her for that.

So by this point, my life was cruising along fairly well. I had a bunch of great friends, a decent job and didn’t really need anything else. Then it hit me: I should start dating. It didn’t go well. You can read about that HERE.

Eventually, I realized that while I had grown to love the South and all the people there, it wasn’t where I was meant to stay. So, I prayed about it and started searching for any job possible. Lo and behold, God provided. And I cried. It was a good thing. You can read about it HERE.

After some drama, I moved here:

I worked for a crappy company for 6 months before landing my dream job downtown. You can read about that HERE.

So, that catches the newbies up on my life. Again, this is NOT where I thought I’d be when I mapped out my life. But, it’s the perfect place for me. I can’t imagine my life being much better. We’ll see though…God always has something in store.

My Life...on another blog

I found an amazing blog post that perfectly describes my life...with pictures, no less.  The hysterical Allie at Hyperbole & a Half makes perfect light of my lack of responsibility.  Whenever I have a bad day, this is where I go to laugh. 

Here's my favorite post:  This is Why I'll Never Be An Adult.  Seriously one of the best blog posts I've seen in a while!  She's a definite favorite in my Google reader :)

Weekend Update

This past weekend was interesting. Friday night, I packed up Lex and headed out to the suburbs to hang out with Ann, Jaime, Harper & Ann’s mom, Mary. It was nice to have a low key, pizza & wine fueled evening. We just hung around and talked. Lex and Haper barked up a storm – they LOVE each other. Unfortunately, we didn’t sleep too much because the dogs kept us up the whole night, but that was alright.


Saturday morning, we lounged around for a while and worked on some wedding stuff. I can’t believe it’s coming up so soon! Ann has so many creative ideas and I can’t wait to see them all in one place at one time! It’s going to be beautiful. It’s been a rough road for her, so I know she’s excited to just get married, go on a much needed vacation and get away from all the drama. She definitely deserves it at this point!

I eventually rolled back into town and headed over to Jason’s. Things between us have been rough lately…and it’s mostly been my doing. I have a lot of stuff going on with my family right now and I’ve needed to deal with that in my own way. Unfortunately, this made me push Jason away and left him hurt and confused. After doing a lot of soul searching, I realized that I didn’t see myself marrying him for several reasons. The reasons were my own and not everyone understands them, but to me, they are valid. At this point, I had two options: I could go on ignoring that fact, or be upfront and honest with him. I chose the second. Jason sometimes reads this, so I’m not going to go over all the details out of respect for him. I’ll just say that he is a great guy…definitely the best I’ve dated. We had a great time together and there are so many things I like about him. But the cold, hard reality was that I couldn’t lead him on in false hope. I hope he knows that I didn’t go into this planning on hurting him and I’m SO sorry that it had to end this way. I really do hope that he and I can remain friends, but I understand that he’s not ready (or may not ever be ready) for that.

That kind of put a damper on my Saturday because no one likes to have those conversations. I called Megan (Jason’s best friend’s wife and my close friend) on the way home because I wanted her to hear what happened from me. As always, she was amazing and having been in a similar situation, she totally understood. Thank God for great friends.

I eventually put on my running shoes and went to relieve some stress. I hadn’t run the entire week so it was good to get back into it (I signed up for a 5k in less than a month!). It’s amazing how that will totally clear your head…it felt so good.

That night, my roommate and I went out. Amanda & I have lived together since July and hadn’t ever been in the same city over the weekends. This weekend, by all miracles, we were both in Chicago…and I needed to go OUT. So out we went! We hit up a couple Wicker Park/Bucktown bars…and it was a BLAST. I met some people from Indiana and had a great time meeting new people. It was a great way to take my mind off of everything. I have absolutely no clue what time we got home, but puppy & I fell into bed and didn’t wake up until 10am.

I stayed in my pajamas until at least five and then went to the grocery store. Coincidentally, ALL of the hot men in Wicker Park hang out at the Jewel on Sunday nights. Seriously…what is the deal with that!? I did run into my cousin and his girlfriend though. I love that I live in a place where that’s actually possible! I wrapped up the weekend with another run (Amanda came with me, too) and some episodes of How I Met Your Mother.

This week is getting busier by the second. I’m going to see Billy Elliot on Wednesday with Caitlin (Ben’s girlfriend) and am THRILLED at that! Then on Friday, I leave for N.A.S.H.V.I.L.L.E! Holy crap, I’m SO excited to see my friends and of course, Babykins!!

“After all, things change, so do cities, people come into your life and they go. But it's comforting to know that the ones you love are always in your heart... and if you're very lucky, a plane ride away” ~Carrie Bradshaw

25 Things

**I did one of these a while back on Facebook.  That one was pretty lame. 

This one is slightly less lame.**

1. When I have more than two drinks, my Southern accent comes out. I have no control over this, but people in Chicago think it’s hilarious.


2. I can hear a song one time and sing it back to you. Memorizing lyrics is my talent

3. I can still do the splits, reach 8 inches past my toes and touch my head to my feet…backwards. That’s what 10 years of gymnastics will do to you. These also make for great bar tricks.

4. I absolutely suck at team sports. Anyone who’s seen me play kickball can attest to this.

5. I talk to my dog. Sometimes, she answers me.

6. I speed read. Due to this, I’ve actually read the same book twice without realizing it until later.

7. People in Tennessee call me a Yankee because I'm from Indiana, but people from Chicago call me a southerner because I'm from Indiana.

8. I'm terrified of a lot of Disney movies. The main ones are Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, Pinocchio, Lady & the Tramp, and Bambi. For some reason I have horrible memories of these movies and absolutely refuse to watch them.

9. I still have bad dreams about the “Kiddy-Napper” from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. That guy scared the crap out of me as a kid, but I still love the movie.

10. My Google Reader is full of wedding photographers and Mom’s of Multiples Blogs. I don’t know why I find both of those so fascinating.

11. I have recently learned that I cannot and should not dance in public. People can take pictures of it…and it’s not pretty.

12. I'm obsessed with music. Any kind: Broadway, Country, Pop, 80s, Classic Rock, ect. When I hear a song, it takes me back to the place I first heard it. I always have music on and usually sing in the shower & the car. 

13. I hate shopping for clothes. I love shopping for shoes and home décor.

14. I’m happiest when I’m near water. Any type: Ocean, Lake, Swimming pool…whatever.

15. I’m a big believer in going with your gut. It’s nearly impossible for me to ignore mine.

16. I love my huge family. My little cousins are adorable – all 23 of them. It is so much fun to watch them grow up.

17. I took piano lessons for 10 years and can absolutely not play anything. I desperately wish my parents wouldn’t have let me quit.

18. The only living thing allowed in my apartment (besides me & my roommate) is my dog. Plants don’t stand a chance with me. It’s a disaster.

19. Sometimes, my favorite thing to do is nothing. I love just laying around the house in my PJs and snuggling with Lexie.

20. I love DVR. I hate commercials. Currently, I’m addicted to: Glee, How I Met Your Mother, Modern Family, Law & Order SVU, & Brother’s & Sisters.

21. Caffeine makes me go insane. I’m not allowed to have iced coffee and be around people…I literally bounce.

22. I refuse to settle…for anything.

23. I thought I’d get married at 25 – I’m rapidly approaching 27 and am shockingly ok with the fact that I’m nowhere near being married.

24. I didn’t drink beer all throughout college. I do now…and love it.

25. It’s really hard to think of 25 things…plus, I’m at work…I should probably go get some work done :)