"I Wish I Were a House Wife"

I know I may come off sounding ungrateful at the start of this post but just stay with me.

I love having my summer free. My schedule is as follows.

Wake at 6:30, roll back over til 10 AM. Fix coffee, eat a huge bowl of cereal on the couch, lay around til 12 on the couch watching Dr. Phil (for therapy) and a random movie (today it was The Freedrom Writers). Run the dishwasher, start some laundry, munch, munch, munch. Debate on running errands. Do some more laundry. Take a nap. Josh comes home, then do whatever our energy provides us to do (typically Lowe's).

With that being said, I like being lazy. But I do get lonely. :::sigh::: The life of the lonely "I wish I were a house wife." I use that term loosely. I have tried to throw myself into projects, such as decorating around the house but I only have so much money. I did clean Josh's office--that took all day and I felt reproductive. My future projects include finishing painting the kitchen, paint master bedroom, paint master bath... But who wants to paint by themselves? Not mention the task of Josh and I agreeing on paint colors. (Fingers crossed paint will be bought this weekend).

But anyway, am I considered a house wife? As mom would say, "I'm playing house." Which, I guess I am in a way. And I enjoy being up here with Josh during the summer because during the school year our schedules do not lend us too much time. I guess I need to stop complaining be more productive around the house. I mean it's not like I don't have anything to do. I have plenty to do. It's just getting my motivation in check.

What do you do that motivates you to get stuff done during the summer around the house? What makes you a house wife? Or a house husband? Or a house man/woman?

Summer Reading List...Thus Far

One thing that I look forward to do in the summer is to dive into my summer reading. Usually a couple weeks up to the start of summer break I make a list of books I want to read. This summer, I decided to wing it based off the website http://www.chicklitclub.com/. Amazing book finds and authors that I never heard of. I previewed their website several times. What I like about this website is that they have several editors/readers that read "chick lit" books and give their own personal reviews. I was able to compare my taste of my favorite previous reads to their previous favorite reads. They are continuously adding books to their list and updating their website. So, with that being said, I will start with my summer reads thus far

Book Number 1: Certain Girls by Jennifer Weiner
This is the sequel to "Good in Bed" which was hilarious but also heart-wrenching. "Certain Girls" focuses on Cannie and her daughter turning 13. Cannie must find the balance between her writing career, marriage to her doctor, and her daughter's biological father. Joy, the daughter, tries to reconnect with her biological father and grandfather to find out more from her past parent's relationship. The plot stays busy and is a constant story line. In the previous book, Cannie's voice was strong and the main narrator/point of view. In "Certain Girls," Joy expresses her feelings and takes the weight off of Cannie. You feel torn between Joy and Cannie and often times I found myself wanting to shake Cannie and talk to her myself, even though I am not a mother. Jennifer Weiner did a great job at this read--still funny, and sharp wit but focuses on some serious topics.

Book Number 2: Accidental It Girl by Libby Street.
Definitely a different read. This focuses on the life of a young woman who is a top selling paparazzi photographer. We see the pictures in the magazine and if you watch TMZ you get to see some of their photographers. However, this story focuses on the life of Sadie who takes pictures of hunk movie star Ethan that results in an accident with Ethan then giving Sadie a taste of her own medicine. I don't want to say too much about what happens in the book because I don't want to give too much of the events away. An easy read that is funny and really offers a point of view of celebrities verses the paparazzi.

Book Number 3: Stupid and Contagious by Caprice Cane

Ok. You have to admit the title has caught your attention. Any book that says "Stupid and Contagious" makes you wonder what the story is about because oftentimes I think stupidity is contagious. I debated on if I should have downloaded this book to read and if it would be worth my time reading. The dialogue bounces back and forth between Heaven and Brady who have two different life aspirations but end up somehow taking a road trip together, against Brady's desire. Some parts of the book were a little off but the laugh out loud moments and mouth dropping events overcame the awkwardness of the book. A short read that makes you want a cup of coffee after reading.

Book Number 4: Mating Rituals of the North American WASP by Lauren Lipton
So the title is a little off. When Camille asked what I was reading, her first response was, "Seriously? How wasps mate?" A New Yorker and a man who is from the old "English" get drunk one night and get married--uh oh! This leads to an insane plan and plot about the two staying married to please his great aunt and family will. This read was slow at some points and sometimes hard to get through. I felt like I kept being thrown between time changes because her New Yorker life is completely different from his old English style life. I finished it because of course I wanted to see what happens with the marriage in the end. Not really a beach read. It was a read that offered a different lifestyle view. Just goes to show be careful what you do in Vegas!

Book Number 5: Twenty Times a Lady by Karyn Bosnak

If you know me well, you know I'm an avid fan of read the book then watch the movie. While searching on Chick Lit Club, I found that they have a section for books that are becoming movies. This book is in production to become a movie with Anna Feris (I think). What I thought would be trashy ended up being really funny. I tried not to picture Anna Feris as the main character (the last time I did that, I was royally upset with The Last Song and Miley Cyrus). And I must say I was successful. Delilah Darling is on a conquest to reunite with her past 20 lovers and see if any "romance or connection" is still between them. What is hilarious is her past conquests that left Delilah and myself thinking, "What in the world...." It made me think what if I went back to my past loves and tried to reconnect with them to see what would happen between us. At the end, Delilah and myself realize that what we have in front of us is just perfect for us. A must read that I am crossing my fingers that the movie does not disappoint!


That's it so far. I'm currently in the middle of another read but I don't know want to report on it just yet....

Ta-Da!

Don't you love my new layout?

Since returning to the blogger world, Blogger finally decided to give some templates to use instead of me searching and hunting all over the world wide web to find something uber cute. And ta-da! I found one that I love!

Chances are, however, that it will change in the next week.

I know this isn't much of a Welcome Back Kotter Special, but tomorrow, I am kicking off the weekend with the five summer books I have read thus-far. I know you are anxious.

Is It True?

Yes, it is.

It's hard to believe.

When I think about it, my heart starts to beat really fast.

I have broken into a sweat a few times today.

My feet have grown cold because I'm nervous.

My stomach has been knots. I don't know how I kept lunch down.

Oh yeah, I went to the bathroom so it didn't stay too long.

No, this can't be true.

I guess I need to put my big girl panties and deal with it.

School starts back tomorrow.

Hurt and Love

Hurt.

It's a word that is used in several different meanings. I most often hear, "He hurt my feelings." Or I'll say, "Don't say such hurtful things to one another." But to me, those are only surfuce hurts.

Hurt can be much deeper than that. It can be a personal struggle. It could be domestic abuse. It could emotional abuse. It could be losing someone you loved deeply for. It could mean betrayal. It could physical pain. It could heart hurting.

A deep physical hurt can be rare and raw. I can only think of a small handful of experiences when I felt raw. My heart physically hurt. I felt like my heart had just shattered in pieces and felt like I would never move on. I hurt and ached so deeply that I thought no one would ever understand my pain.

Certain events cause such deep hurting that few, random people truly understand the pain and emotions one experiences. Its hard for a friend to grasp the words or actions to do to ease the pain for a loved one. Do you sit there and hold their hand? Or do you stumble around on phrases to say to make it better? Do you make a joke of the situation or do you cry with the person?

Today, I was reminded that people are placed in our lives to help us handle certain hurt. Tragic events occur in our lives that makes us question why God would put us through them. But today, God reminded me that He places certain people in our life to minister to, or for them to minister to us. Today a friend told me, "I just can't right now. I hurt too much and I'm too weak for her." She sympathized so much for our friend and could identify with the situation that she physically felt weak for her. This is a true friendship. When a friend is truly hurt, the other friend should be able to physically feel the pain because the love is so deep. Often like a mother's love for her child. My mom once told me, "I cannot identify with what you are going through, but I hurt for you because you are my child."

God reminded me of that today when I was hurting for a close, sweet friend. God reminded me that He knows of our pain. He knows of our weakness. When we are brought to this point, then God truly works.

COMPASSION

God shows compasion for the weary and weak. God never said that we will always know why we endure the hardships we do. He just promised that He would never leave us, never fail us. But experiencing the hurt I felt today for a friend is not even a quarter of what she feels. But God does know her pain. Only He can restore her and ease the hurt.

Hurt.

It's deep. It's true. Just as God's love for us.

Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning. Great is Thy faithfulness.

Lamentations 3:22-23

Learning to cherish

Have you ever known of a time that you knew that time or even was eventually coming but you kind of refused to acknowledge that event?

Well I definitely faced that time tonight. One of my dearest, kindest, best friends Heather is moving to Florida this week. We went and had dinner for one last time at our favorite resturant in Greenville. I know she's only moving to FL and I'll see her again. Granted, we did not see each other every week or talk every day. BUT, I knew if I ever needed anything, she was just 10 minutes down the road. Now, it's 10 hours away. None the less, I am excited for her and this new part of her life.

Tonight at dinner, we were reflecting on some past events from our high school, college, and present days. What has always been so great about our relationship is that one of us always remember something that the other forgot. For example, we were walking up to Soby's and she said, "Hey, I wonder if creepy kitchen guy from Ellis' still works here?" And it instantly reminded me of creepy kitchen guy (this guy was always creating awkward and weird situations for HP when we worked at Ellis'). I then reminded her of the time when she called and blessed me out for not talking to her because I was so busy (I suck at priorities). At that time I was furious, then had a break down later on that night which resulted in a phone call from her, apologizing for her meanie attitude towards me. Ohh the fights between girls and best friends...

Of course, the conversation turned towards past relationships with old guys (this is because I was talking about my weird dreams I've been having lately about guys in my past...that's a whole other issue). We both agreed that if you cannot walk away from a relationship feeling like you learned something from that relationship, then you can't grow to be who you need to be. I felt like honestly tonight I could look back and recount each relationship with each guy and say I learned something from that relationship. But is it ok to go back and regret some parts of your past? Or can you not necessarily regret the past, but if you could go back you would kind of do some things over? I know you can't always play the what if game when it comes to what you would do in the past or for the future. But come on, it is fun to play. Of course, on our recounting of our relationships, it had me shuttering at the thought of some of them (what was I thinking of dating someone 10 years older than me when I was 18??). But at some point you have to cherish those times that you had because at one time that person meant something to you (small or big). I'm not saying that I would have taken back a relationship, but I do wonder what if I had put more work into a certain relationship or should I have just walked aways completely at the beginning? Now, don't get me wrong, I am more than thrilled and happy in my relationship with Josh. I could not be with someone more compatible. But walking down memory lane with Heather was a nice closing to our dinner.

I reminded Heather that with all our past, one that that she has along with some of my other closest friends, is that she was there through all of it. She has watched me have emotional breakdowns in her car at 11:30 at night to laughing with me (or at me, I could never tell) when I've done really dumb stuff. She always had a special talent of wedging me open with my secrets and closed up thoughts. That's one thing that I would not take back for the world--a friend that saw the good and ugly. So, after tonight, I finally learned that I have to cherish the moments we had in the past and cherish the moments that God continues to bless us with in the future. After all, that's what Skype is for.

For My Catelyn

I got the chance to spend a LATE Friday night with my friend Catelyn Briggs Franklin. While the boys were out doing the "boy" thing for Andy's last night before the wedding, I went over to see Catelyn. We had the opportunity to catch up and talk about life. The more I get to know this girl, the more I love her. Not only is she easy to talk but the girl loves to read! A woman after my own heart. I look forward to building our friendship!

(I thought I had a better pic...but Saturday night was a lil bit crazy.)