Happy Birthday, Blog!

One year ago, I had a simple little life. It wasn’t necessarily boring; it just wasn’t as fulfilled as I knew it could be. I was stuck, as they say back home, right square in the middle of a rut; I needed a push to get me out of it. I took an encourager’s advice and started this blog as a way to create some accountability for trying new things and seeing what I could learn along the way.

So, one year later, did it work? Let’s see…

I plunged into a swimming pool of freezing cold water and learned that there is such a thing as “too cold to eat ice cream”.

I rappelled down a 32 story building and decided to leave the tall buildings to Spiderman from now on.

I participated in a Zumba marathon and took a few dance classes; I learned, again, that I dance like a frog in a blender.

I went to my first major league baseball game and after 13 long innings, remembered why I like football better.

I ziplined through a forest and decided that was as close to skydiving as I want to get.

I parasailed the Florida Keys and learned that anything done with my best friend makes for a great adventure.

I went behind the scenes with the band and almost made it to the tour bus. I was reminded that being a friend is more fun than being a fan.

I met a few MMA superstars and realized that you really can’t judge a book by its cover.

By all accounts, I had a lot of fun adventures in 2011 but as it turns out, the one thing to make my life all it was meant to be wasn’t a thing after all. It was, and is, and always will be, a person.

In March, I had my very last first date and found out that there are men out there who will talk to you even though there’s a game on the big screen.

In May, he asked me to love him forever and I finally understood what they mean when they say 'when you know, you know'.

In August, we had a perfect-for-us wedding by the lake and I was reminded that if you get to spend Happily Ever After with your best friend, nothing else matters.

And in September, I stood semi-bravely by as the man of my dreams got on a plane for unmentionable places. I’m still learning what I’m learning from this…

My 2011 was beyond my wildest imagination and more than anything I could have dreamed. I do believe it was my Best. Year. Yet. As you look back over your 2011, I hope you find amazing adventures outside of your comfort zone and special memories somewhere outside of your box. I hope that your 2011 was something new, something different, Something More.

Cheesy Chaos

Hi! Remember me? Apparently, I’ve been gone so long that I could write my name in the dust that’s been collecting on this blog. I partially blame it on Pinterest J

In the past few weeks, I’ve spent all my extra time making a dry erase calendar for our kitchen and Christmas gifts for friends and family. There’s no doubt in my mind that Pinterest is a phenomenal thing. And until recently, I thought the only danger in the site would be that it would take up too much of my already limited time. I was wrong.

Last week, I learned on Pinterest that if you turn a standard pop-up toaster on its side and insert a cheese sandwich, in no time flat, you’ll have “grilled cheese perfection”.

Since my toaster slots weren’t wide enough for a sandwich, I opted for a piece of cheese toast instead. I put my bread topped with cheese in, hit the button, and waited in delicious anticipation.

And that’s when it happened.

Out of nowhere, that bread sized disk of hot, sticky, gooey, cheesy goodness shot out of that toaster. I don’t mean it just slid half way out of the toaster slot. I mean it catapulted across the kitchen, scaring me half to death in the process as it flew by me. In slow motion, I saw the flying mass of hot mess flip over in mid-air and land cheese side down on my favorite rug. And let me just say, there were no mama-pleasing words uttered as I burned my fingers trying to get volcanic cheese sauce out of the rug.

And sadly, it did not end there.

I was dumb enough (or tired enough; in my defense, I had worked a lot of hours that week) to think that perhaps turning down the toast setting and sliding the toaster all the way back on the counter would give me the grilled cheese perfection result I’d been promised.

Let me assure you, it did not.

And it was in that moment, on my hands and knees picking bits of a second piece of imbedded cheese toast out of the rug, that I realized that the next time I want a grilled cheese, I’m calling my dad. He makes the best ones on the planet and there are some things you just can’t replicate no matter how hard you try.