Letter Project - Day Three - Letter to your Parents

Mom and Dad, What do you say to your mom and dad? Thank you? Good job? That seems silly, but now that I am older I realize how thankful I am to have parents like you. You showed me what good parenting is, how to be a good wife and mom, and the picture of the perfect husdand and father. You taught me the importance of saving money, but that there is also importance in spending a little every now and then. You disciplined me when I needed it. You hugged me and wiped tears. You put up with teenager mood swings. You showed me how important it is to be a hard worker, give your best and have a good attitude about it no matter what. You taught me the value of a church family and fellowship and insisted that I was there every Sunday morning whether prom had been the night before or we had been in Knoxville until two in the morning. You lead me to my Savior and I could then not only call you mom and dad, but brother and sister. You showed me the great importance of Tennessee football. haha. You put up with my love for animals whether it be a dog, a cat, a bunny, a hampster, or a fish. You got up in the middle of the night to kill a snake. Dad, you watched Legends of the Fall with us 100 times, and Mom, you have put up with King of the Hill for a long time now. You are putting me through college which I could never thank you enough for. It is beyond comforting to know that I will not have to worry about loans. You gave me a lifetime of memories, and continue to. I like to think that I turned out pretty good, but I know that who I am today is a direct result of you. I love you more than anything.

Letter Project - Day Two - Letter to your "Crush"

Crush seems like such a childish word, but maybe thats how good things happen-by being somewhat childish. About a month ago my family and I were driving home from Tennesee, and my dad says to me, "I gotta summer intern that aint got no girlfriend." You have to know my dad to realize how ammusing that statement was. In my head Im thinking "Oh lord...he's probably such a redneck or a geek or ugly, and wow...my DAD is setting me up. WHAT has my life come to?!" But I proceeded to ask about a million questions until my dad says "Michelle, if he wasn't a good guy do you think I'd be telling you about him? Just find him on that website you and momma are always on." Haha. So I did. I looked him up. We started talking. The first thing he said to me was about how I needed to trade in my Tennessee orange for some Kentucky blue. He obviously had no idea who he was talking to. But from there we started talking everyday. Then we hung out. I wont lie...at first it was just...akward. But I gave it another chance. Thank goodness. Now I can admit that I have a big crush on him...as lame as that sounds. But I like lame. We are dating now, and I think maybe the key to making a relationship work is trying your hardest to never lose that original "crush" feeling when it all began.

Letter Project - Day One - Letter to your Best Friend

Brittney, I remember the first day I came to South Green. I had on blue shorts and a shirt with flowers on. You had on a pocahanas shirt. I was told that you lived in my neighborhood and you would "show me the ropes."Twelve years later I still have the best friend that anyone could ask for. But that is enough sappiness. We are not sappy people. Remember that time when we were little and we watched Titanic? We both sat in the recliner and my mom fast forwarded through the sex. haha. And remember the time we were on the swings at recess yelling about our crushes at the time? "I love WC!" "I love WB!"Remember the time we tore down Emily and McCartmey's fort at the creek and they got SO mad at us? Haha...we were so mean. And the time when I spilt the chocolate cake on the stairs. BUMP BUMP BUMP! lmao. Remember when we sat at the bar coloring those pictures for certain people? How dumb...And all the times we snuck out of your house when we were barely 16..haha!Remember that time Corey and AD came over and we went to South Green's play ground? Wow...And the time when we stayed at your grandma's and she stayed up with us all night telling us stories..All of our deep conversations in the hot tub..And the time I had a little to much and face planted on the back deck. HA!Remember the sound you made in high school...in first period sophomore year...it sounded JUST like him! And remember when we came back from FUGE and you and Brucie could NOT remember that guys name...what was his name?? Remember when we went to Tennessee and saw that man on the bench in Celina..and two days later when we drove back though he was still there? Bless him..And while we were in Tennessee you electricuted yourself on the fence! lol! I said "Brittney!! You have to let go!"Sure there were rough times, but we always stuck together. And the best thing is that in twelve more years we will have another million memories! Love you best friend/sister from another mister!

Life

"If you want love, it's not that tough. Start by giving it first."
"Oh yea, life goes on, long after the thrill of living is gone."
"You left me to remain, with all your excuses for everything."
"He's into me for everything I'm not, according to you."
"The day I thought I'd never get through, I got over you."
"I'm better off without you more than you-more than you know."
"You're the only one I've ever believed in-the answer that could never be found."
"Take your space and take your reasons, but you'll think of me."
"Just the thought of you can drive me wild. Oh, you make me smile."
"For as much as she's stumbbled, she's running. For as much as she runs, she's still here."
"Yea we've both got dreams we could chase alone, or we could make our own."
"You give love a bad name."
"It doesn't me love's wrong just because you're feeling low, and doesn't mean love's gone because you feel like you want to let go."
"Say what you need to say."
"Are you mine? Not just when you want to be, but all of the time?"
"If I could do it again, you know I'd do it the same."
"But you and your heart shouldn't feel so far apart."
"She laid her heart and soul right in your hands. You stole her every dream, and you crushed her plans."
"But you are the greatest thing about me. If it's love and we decide that it's forever, no one else could do it better. "
"So listen with all your heart. Hold it inside forever. You may find all your dreams have already come true."
"Don't think I don't think about it."


Sometimes music says it best.

We live in the country with the highest divorce rate in the world. One out of every two marriages ends in divorce. That mean if you get married, it has only a 50% chance of being successful. It forces one to wonder...what is the point?

A good friend said to me last night "I don't believe in love. It doesn't exist. Compatibility is what brings people together."

What if that is true?

I will have to admit that he is quite the cynic. And though I am not a mushy-gushy hopeless romantic, I choose to believe that love most definitely exist.

I see it around me everyday. I have no other choice but to believe it exist. I see it when a mother looks at her newborn. I see it when best friends confide in each other. I see it when someone waits and prays to hear from their husband in Afghanistan every minute of every day. I see it when my best friend lays down with the love of her life at night until they are asleep - which happens to be her daughter. I see it when my mom and dad look at each other. I see it when an elderly couple in a restaurant smile, hold hands, and know that the company of one another is enough.

So why do marriages end? I suppose it is because we are all human. We make mistakes. We judge feelings wrong. We assume that something is love when in reality it is nothing more than lust. Sometime we just fall out of love. The spark that was once the driving force of a relationship burns out.

What is your take on it? Why do you think 50% of couples in the US just can't seem to get it right?

Upside Down

I can't sleep. So I write.
I keep thinking about this past weekend's events.
It's funny when you think you have someone figured out only to learn they are not the person you thought they were. But now I know that's OK. That is what life is about-learning from your mistakes.
I remember when I left Glasgow and came to Western. I thought my life was figured out. I was going to go to school, graduate in four years, marry Andreu, support him through medical school, and by 30 we would have two kids and a couple of dogs...maybe even a cat.
Oh how I was wrong.
But that is also ok.
This common theme seems to reoccur in my life. I would expect that it occurs in everyone's. Life tends to throw us for loops occasionally...right at the moment when you think you have it figured out.
Why is that? I don't pretend to know the answer to that one.
But I have learned that no matter how hard you may try, you can't plan life, because right when you think you have it all together, your world can be turned upside down. And another thing I have learned...when your world is turned upside down, embrace it. Enjoy it. Hang upside down for as long as it takes, because it is at those times, when our world is upside down, that we learn. We grow. We change for the better.

Get On the Horse

For a class I had this spring, I had to complete 15 volunteer hours at a nonprofit organization. This is a lot easier said than done. In Bowling Green, you have to apply at most places in order to volunteer there. Why you have to pretty much sign your life away to volunteer will always be a mystery to me. But nonetheless, I applied at a few places around town hearing back from none of them. It was quite frustrating.
One day in class, we had a visitor from The Center for Courageous Kids. She told us about the center and what they do. She showed a heartfelt video. Yes, I cried in the middle of class while watching it. Her purpose for being there was to recruit volunteers for what they call "Family Weekends." After her presentation I was game. I figured I would go a few Saturdays and knock out my hours. When I asked her if I could do that her response was "Actually we recruit volunteers for entire weekends only. You would stay at the center for Friday and Saturday night."
I thought to myself "You can count me out."
Why would I want to spend an entire weekend at a camp for a stupid class?
But that ended up being my only option to fulfill the 15 hour requirement for my class. It was either a wasted weekend or fail the class. I chose the weekend.
I was told that the weekend I was going to volunteer was designed for children with SMA. I gave no thought to this.
So, on Friday April 16th, I headed to Scottsville and The Center for Courageous Kids in a bad mood.
When the other volunteers and I arrived we were given a breif history on SMA. SMA stands for Spinal Muscular Atrophy. What I heard was alarming, but still I did not think much about it.
Each volunteer is assigned a family. You go everywhere with you family, and assist them as much as they will allow.
I of course did not know what to expect so I was somewhat nervous. When I met my family, it was instant chemistry. The mother and father reminded me of my own family, and they had two girls: a four year old and a ten year old who had SMA. I fell in love with them!

Because I did not know anything about SMA going into the weekend, I entered it blind, but I came out with opened eyes to this terrible disease. The children could not walk. Some could not sit up on their own. Some could not sit up at all because of issues with their lungs. Others had to have their mouths suctioned and food blended because they could not swallow properly. Some had to have 24 hour feeding tubes, and still other were only able to communicate with their eyes. It was devistating.

But what I saw that weekend was beautiful. I witnessed children who cannot walk, cannot talk, cannot move...get on a horse, swim, go bowling.

I began the weekend with the purpose of getting my hours done for my class. But as it went on it became less and less about those hours and more and more about the children.

I thought I was doing the familes a favor by volunteering my time. But I was wrong. They taught me so much about life. Looking at the glass as half full is cliche saying, but I witnessed it first hand. In a child's life with SMA, they are constantly told what they can't do, but at camp they could do anything they wanted.

If a child who cannot walk or sit up on their own can get on a horse, then why should I let small obstacles drag me down? To often we let our circumstances dictate our attitudes and abilities. I don't want to sound too much like a cheesy motivationsl speaker, but sometimes we need to lay to rest the negative attitudes which are based on circumstances and just climb on the horse.

So Much Paper

I recently started a new job on campus. I now understand why our tuition keeps going up. With the economy the way it is, I guess I figured that budgets may be cut to some degree. Wrong.
I have literally never witnessed so much paper being wasted, and it's not just paper. The other day I was told to make labels to place on boxes full of old records. First of all, why does Western feel the need to save 714 records from 40 years ago? The boxes that they were put in alone cost over $200.00. WHY?
So I made the labels the way my boss told me to. When I printed them out she proceeded to say "hmm...I think the font should be bigger."
One sheet of labels wasted.
So I made the font bigger and printed them once again.
"Well...I think there needs to be a colon here."
Two sheets of labels wasted.
I inserted the colon and printed again.
"There needs to be another colon here."
Three sheets of labels wasted.
Finally they were approved by her.
This is not the only instance of this. I have printed out 10 page spread sheets two and three times before simply because a line is missing here or a parenthenses there.
We place orders to Office Max weekly, sometimes twice a week.
They place signs in Mass Media saying that we need to quit wasting so much paper, but the departments are free to waste as much as possible?
It doesn't make sense to me. It seems like if the money was managed better between the departments we may not have to pay $90.00 just to park our car or $1000.00 for one class.
I don't consider myself to be a "green" freak. I still drink water bottles, and drive my car regularly. But I think it is rediculous to waste so much paper and supplies when it just isn't needed.
This is all.