Suessical

I have loved this quote for a really long time.  I have also come to realize that this is one of the hardest things to do.  Over the last few weeks though I have had a change of heart and it turns out if you really believe in what you are doing saying what you feel becomes a lot easier.  I've also had the hardest time in my life caring about what people think about me.  Caring about others opinions has effected the decisions that I've made over the past few years and I am not sure that those decisions were for the best.

Don't get me wrong, I do believe that everything happens for a reason.  I know that there is a purpose behind all of the things that we go through in life.  But I also believe that we can make decisions that take us of the path that we were on and lead us astray for a period of time.  I am happy that I am able to actually live by this motto now and not just like it!

The Fab Five.

The last time I wrote about these girls was here, in the 10 Influencers post.  I met these ladies my sophomore year of high school and they are my closest friends even though I now live 2000 miles away.

We've been through a lot together: college...

Weddings: Alyssa was first... 

then Angie...

then Amy...

{and Meaghan is next...}

We kept skating together (even though this program {above} nearly killed all of us)

The next big step for the Fab Five is BABIES!  We found out last night that Amy is preggo with the first of the Fab Five babies!!  I can't wait for this next little adventure in our group's life :)

30 Things Recap

The 30 things have been completed.  I learned a lot from doing this and highly recommend doing this if you want to take a little stroll through your life.


Enjoy my musings:


1. List 20 random facts about yourself.
2. Describe 3 legitimate fears you have and explain how they became fears.
3. Describe your relationship with your parents.
4. List 10 things you would tell your 16 year-old self, if you could.
5. What are the 5 things that make you most happy right now?
6. What is the hardest thing you have ever experienced?
7. What is your dream job, and why?
8. What are 5 passions you have?
9. List 10 people who have influenced you and describe how.
10. Describe your most embarrasing moment.
11. Describe 10 pet peeves you have.
12. Describe a typical day in your current life.
13. Describe 5 weaknesses you have.
14. Describe 5 strengths you have.
15. If you were an animal, what would you be and why?
16. What are your 5 greatest accomplishments?
17. What is the thing you most wish you were great at?
18. What has been the most difficult thing you have had to forgive?
19. If you could live anywhere, where would it be and why?
20. Describe 3 significant memories from your childhood.
21. If you could have one superpower, what would it be and what would you do with it first?
22. Where do you see yourself in 5 years? 10 years? 15 years?
23. List your top 5 hobbies and why you love them.
24. Describe your family dynamic of your childhood vs. your family dynamic now.
25. If you could have dinner with anyone in history, who would it be and what would you eat?
26. What popular notion do you think the world has most wrong?
27. What is your favorite part of your body and why?
28. What is your love language?
29. What do you think people misunderstand most about you?
30. List 10 things you would hope to be remembered for.

Happy {belated} Mother's Day

I LOVE this video.  Whatever you feelings on religion or the other topics mentioned in this video, the fact remains that one of the best things father's can do for their daughters is to unconditionally love her mother.

Happy {belated} Mother's Day to all Moms out there!

30/30: Remember me!

30. List 10 things you want to be remembered for...


1. Being a very happy person


2. I want to be remembered as someone who was very selfless and willing to help others


3. Being awesome at my job, not only kicking butt at my responsibilities but helping out people who are up and coming in the industry.


4. I want to be remembered for doing the best that I can to become a better person spiritually, to stay on the path to eternal salvation


5. I want to be remembered for changing my life.  For taking charge of the situation and making a change.  


6. For being brave in the face of adversity


7. Being an amazing wife and mother.  I want to be one of those women that people say "I don't know how she does it" about...


8. I want someone to remember that one time I kept a plant alive {because I am assuming that might actually happen}


9. Being a good listener.


10. Raising good strong children who have strong faith and belief in themselves.

29/30: Misunderstood

29. What is the thing people most misunderstand about you?


I am a big fan of Thought Catalog, found here.  The other day I was perusing the site and found this article: I don't know how to be a skinny girl.  Here's a little clip of the article that is most relevant to this topic:

And you would think that would make me feel overjoyed, freaking amazing, ready to run a marathon because I’m so excited by the prospect of finally being where I’ve always wanted to be. And to a certain extent it does, but there’s another part that looms saying that prospect is scary. Terrifying, even, because of one thing.

I don’t know how to BE a skinny girl.

And that sounds weird to say. There shouldn’t and isn’t really a way of “being” a skinny girl or a fat girl. You just develop your personality the way you develop it, and for some that means different things than for others. But the thing is, I don’t remember a time when I wasn’t overweight. I started gaining a lot of weight when I was about 12, and went up and down throughout the next 10 years of my life. I got used to being the fat friend, the fat classmate, the fat family member

...

But my personality developed around those roles. I learned to use sarcasm, self-deprecation and dry wit to gain people’s affection, making them laugh. I learned nuanced details about friends that others didn’t take the time to do, and I was always, ALWAYS there for them. I learned to seek out the misfits like I felt I was, and let irritation and jealousy take over when it came to the girls I secretly wanted to be more like. I learned to dislike them for their popularity with boys, for the way their clothes would always look better than mine, for the bikinis they wore all summer. I would never be those girls, so I might as well hate them (though hate is a strong word… I just strongly disliked them).

I discovered that this has been my issue in the past, especially with the girls that date my brother.  I obviously love my brother and being the oldest I am super protective, so lets just say I have been less than welcoming to the girls that he has dated.  


To give myself a little credit, some of those girls were actually terrible horrible influences in his life and I am glad they are gone.  A few of them though were legitimately good people and I was not nice to them.  I have a problem getting defensive and putting up a wall around people I perceive to be "better" than me, and this article put in words what I couldn't for the longest time.  My brother told his current girlfriend that I am "sort of a bitch" or something like that, before I even had a chance to meet her.  I was ready this time, he made fun of me that I "practiced being nice", but that is something that I was willing to do to make an effort and try to flip the situation.


So... I think that the most misunderstood thing about me from people who don't know me, is that I am not a nice person.  That I have an attitude and I am judgmental, it couldn't be more opposite.  If I am like that around you {which I hope doesn't happen anymore since I am trying to correct it} it is because you intimidate me and I have a perception of you as being better than I am in some way, shape or form {usually appearance/attractiveness}.


Here's to working that issue out and being the nice person that I actually am 100% of the time.

28/30: Language of Love

28. What is your love language?

I took the quiz here, and here are my scores

1. Words of Affirmation: 3
2. Quality Time: 10
3. Receiving Gifts: 5
4. Acts of Service: 4
5. Physical Touch: 8

The maximum score is 12 in any category. Here's what another site says about the love languages.

Love Language #2:

Quality Time – The person whose love language is quality time is the one that is always planning things with other people. They like being with those that they love and enjoy spending time just being together. Often you will find that they are the ones that are asking you what you are doing and would you like to get together. This person enjoys being with other people. When you offer to spend time with a person whose love language is quality time they are overjoyed at the thought that you value them enough to take time with them. They think of time as valuable and a gift when given. If you don’t plan time to spend with this person, they will feel that you don’t care about them or love them.

Love Language #5:

Physical Touch – This love language is probably the most popularly exemplified in the form of physical intimacy. It can take the form of a hug, a kiss, hand holding or yes … you guessed it... sexual intimacy. Have you ever met someone that is always hugging people? They greet everyone with a hug even people they may not know. The person whose love language is physical touch is always touching you in some way. They enjoy snuggling on the couch, holding hands, dancing, kissing, etc … If you know someone whose language is physical touch, step it up in these areas and they will be assured that you truly care about them.

Those both sound about right...  What is your love language?

27/30: Favorite Body Part

27. What is your favorite body part {why}?

This is going to sound weird, but I like my face...

I am a very expressive person and people tell me that I am making faces and I don't even know...  

Sometimes I like that people know what I am thinking when they look at me and sometimes I HATE it.  That's just how I operate!

26/30: Worldy Things

26. What popular notion do you think the world has most wrong?

I think there are several things that the world has wrong, but the most wrong?  The most wrong notion is the perception and expectations placed on women by the media and the problems it creates for fantastic women.

It sorta starts with Barbie, she's not exactly a realistic version of a human being {not that that will stop me from purchasing them for my future daughters}.  The problem has been exaggerated by the high expectations that we hold for ourselves.  Not everyone is going to look like Jennifer Aniston or Angelina Jolie, and we have to accept that!  The best that any of us can do is be the best version of ourselves.  We are all going to have flaws, and if you are with someone who can't appreciate you with your flaws, you need to move on.

I am a firm believer in being your best self and trying to ignore what the world thinks you should be.  Don't get me wrong, this is one of the hardest things ever to do, but I think it is the only way to be completely and unconditionally happy with your life.  If you wander through the world looking at what everyone else has you'll never be happy, or fully satisfied.  Be the best you and you'll find someone who loves every single part of it.

25/30: Dinner Date

25. If you could have dinner with anyone in history, who would it be and what would you eat?

Most people would probably pick someone famous and have a fancy meal, but the more I think about it the more I know what the easy answer is for me.

I would have dinner with my Nanny and Mamaw (my grandmas) and we would most definitely have BBQ.  My mom's mom, Nanny, passed away 11 years ago it would be awesome to get to talk to her and get her opinion and advise on life.  I didn't get to know her when I was an adult and I feel like that is something that is missing in my life.  You have a different relationship with your parents and grandparents when you are older and I am sad that I won't have that with her.

24/30: Family Dynamic

Describe your family dynamic from your childhood v. your family dynamic now.

I had a great childhood, today when I was out for my run I remembered the simple things that made it so great.  Catching lightening bugs at my grandparents house.  Hanging out with my brothers and cousins, playing outside all day.  Our family has always been pretty independent.  We all had our own sports or activities and we were always all going different directions.  Sometimes it was like we are all members of the same team and less like a family.  I always knew/know that my parents loved/love me and it was always felt in our home, but it was never overtly stated in sweeping terms.  I had all the support that I needed to succeed and the discipline to know that I had to work for things that I wanted.

Now it's pretty much the same, we're all spread out across the globe, my parents live in Scotland for the remainder of the year and my brothers live in Orlando.  The rest of our family is scattered across Tennessee and Mississippi.  I still talk to my mom every day and I call my dad for advise all the time.

23/30: 5 Hobbies

5 hobbies...

1. Reading. I have always loved to read.  This goes back to when I was a kid, I have always loved to read.  Books can take you places that you sometimes can't go.  A good book can keep you entertained for hours, it also makes you smart.

2. Scrapbooking. Yes I know this makes me a stereotypically someone from Utah.  I haven't been as good about getting things documented, mostly because I moved away from Steph.  We used to have scrapbooking dates and I would be totally caught up to present day but now I am probably two years behind. I love scrapbooking because it lets you take a walk down memory lane whenever you want.  It's a tangible documentation of your life, and as someone who went to law school, I like documentation.

3. Writing this blog. It is so freeing.  I like that I can come here and write what I want, and put it out there for the world.  Half the time I think that no one is reading, but the other half of the time I get sweet notes from my friends about a post or about how something that I am doing inspires them.  The feeling you get when someone says that to you is pretty cool.

4. Hiking with the dogs.  I love to take the dogs out into the woods, they don't really mind it either.  Taking some time just for me to walk around in the woods, up a mountain, to just think about anything and everything or even nothing at all.  I think that I always need to live around mountains because I don't know if I could live without a place like that to go in my life.

5. Baking.  I think that I totally missed my calling sometimes.  I love to bake and people tell me that I am good at it.  Chocolate chip cookies are my favorite/speciality but recently I have been branching out into other cakes, cupcakes, cookies, and breads.  I think that one day I would love to open my own bakery, but that is a pipe dream.

22/30: 5, 10, 15...

I have been thinking about this quite a bit since a certain someone told me that I should work on my 5 year plan, which lead to an emotional breakdown...  The overarching theme of these three is that I want to be happy, and if I am not happy I want to have the strength and ability to change my circumstances.

5 years -- 32 years old
I hope to be married with at least one kid or one on the way.  I hope to have run a few more races and learned a few more things about life.  I'd like to have another job or two on my resume and a clear vision of which path I am going down.  My husband and I will have a great marriage, that while its not always easy will be worth fighting for.

10 years -- 37 years old
Still married, 2-3 kidlets.  Have found the things that make me the happiest and following those.  Still kicking it with the hubs and loving my life

15 years -- 42 years old
Still married, same 3 kidlets. This seems like an eternity from now, and I know that I will be happy, but I don't know the details.  Who can know that?

21/30: SUPER POWER!

This one is really easy for me.  With the insane amount of time it takes to travel anywhere from my current location, I would like the ability to either fly or teleport.  That way I could see my family more often, because spending time with my Aunt and her family this weekend was so fun...  I got to see other sides of my cousins that you don't see during the holidays, which is usually the only time I get to see them.  I love that my littlest cousin Annie has this fantastic imagination and all she does all day is think of great things to do and she loves to read.  Those are things that I wouldn't know unless I got to spend that time with them this past weekend.

If I could pick another super power it would be reading minds.  That would take away the guessing game when you are trying to figure out what people are thinking...  It is a double edged sword though, because it take some of the intrigue out of relationships.

What would your super power be?  Let me know in the comments!

20/30: 3 Childhood Memories

List three significant memories from your childhood:

My first marriage proposal
I was in pre-kindergarten when I got my first marriage proposal.  I still have the crayon drawn picture from one Mr. Luke Koon, asking for my hand in marriage.  Things didn't work out between us, in fact he is married now with a little boy on the way.  Elementary school was awesome, wasn't it?

My first {and last} attempt at Nordic Ski Jumping
Have you seen this video?  Zia was/is way more brave that I was.  I went on that same jump when I was 10.  You're not supposed to snowplow stop on the first part of the run (it's called the in run).  Once you land the jump its fine to snowplow on the outrun, but it's not allowed on the in run.  I hated the speed that came with keeping your skis straight it was terrifying.

The Opening and Closing Ceremonies of the 2002 Winter Olympic Games
Do I really need to say more?  Being a 16/17 year old when these Games were going on in my backyard was both a blessing and a curse.  I was too young to be a volunteer at any of the venues and I was too old to be a flower sweeper or Child of Light.  I know that I did not appreciate it at the time, but this was one of the coolest experiences of my life.  I got an little feeling of how awesome it was before we took our places during the Opening Ceremonies, it was seriously the coolest feeling.  I will never be an Olympian as an athlete, but I think that is probably what this was like.  I stood at the end of the tunnel waiting for our turn to take the ice and I started crying, it was that powerful of a feeling in the stadium.  Performing for the thousands of people in that stadium, and the millions more watching on TV made me so proud.