Happy Birthday to You My Beautiful Little Girl

Today is a special day, My sweet, beautiful little girl turns 6 today.

E is one of the most sweet little girls you will ever have in your life.  She is my little ray of sunshine.  She lights up a room with her smile, she can make you laugh with her complete and utter randomness, she can make you feel better with just a hug.  She is a joy to have around all the time.

 She brings so much to the world with her smile, laughter, wit, sarcasm, randomness, sense of humor, and her stunning beauty.

I want so much to give her the world but yet shield her of it at the same time. I never want to see her get hurt even though I know heartbreaks will come, unpleasant situations will arise, life will be bumpy from time to time.  I hope she knows that I will always have her back, I will always be here for her, and forever love her more than the world itself.

She is my little fnkybee in training.

The world wouldn’t be as bright as it is today without her in it.

Happy Birthday to you my sweet baby girl, I love you more than you will ever know.

Awesome words to wake up to..

I clicked on my Facebook app on my phone this am and see that I have a notification, my sister had tagged me in a post.  I click on it to see what the post is about.  It pops up and it reads…

“what I do, who I’m with, and what I see should be envied. Regrets are for suckers! I’m blessed and I owe all of it to my sister (aka Jamie Gregory Pfister) thanks sis! I love you more than you could ever know sis!”

How awesome is that!  Talk about a great way to start your day!  I am a very lucky girl to have such a great sister.  I hope she knows how much I love her too and how much she means to me.  I hope she knows what it means to me to have her here in Tennessee, to know that she is just a 25 minute drive away, a phone call away, that she is my best friend, she is my strength, my back bone.  How much I value our relationship as sisters.  I am a lucky girl, my kids are lucky to have the best aunt the world. I honestly don’t know what I would do without her.

When I stop and take it all in for a moment I am reminded that I am a very lucky girl when it comes to my life.  I have a wonderful husband that is my world, my best friend, my rock.  He is a man who provides everything we need and much of what we want.  A man who can fix anything from a car to a gloomy day.  He is my everything.  He loves me unconditionally and tells me everyday.  He is the best father to our kids.  I have two fabulous munchkins that are healthy, smart, funny and beautiful.  They can make me smile on the gloomiest of days, they light up a room with their smiles, their laughter.  I am thankful everyday that I wake up to their smiling faces.  I have the best sister a girl could ask for.  Like I said before she is my best friend, my strength, my critic, my biggest fan.  I have my dad and step mom down here now which still blows my mind and I have to pinch myself every now and again. They are the best grandparents kids could ask for.  My kids are their world, my sister and I are their world.  I am thankful to have them here.  I have this life that can’t get any better.  I am surrounded by my loving family and good friends.

 

My munchkins.

 

I am a happy girl, I am a lucky girl, I am a loved….

 

A reason for a little black dress…

Have a seat because I am about to blow your mind.

Yesterday I was shocked by my husband.  Our anniversary is Monday so we are going to celebrate it tomorrow night.  There is a band playing tomorrow night, Mindset Defect, and I had mentioned to B that we should go see them again and maybe go get a bite to eat before.  Now when there is dinner involved our conversation usually goes something like this:  Me: Where do yo want to eat?  B:  I don’t know, where do you want to eat? This gets repeated at least 10 times until we both surrender and we go to one of our default restaurants.  Yesterday I received an email from B with a link to a restaurant website asking what I thought about it. What! Did he just research places to eat and suggest something totally different?  Yes, yes he did.  He suggested The Standard at the Smith House.  I have never heard of this place before so I clicked the link and checked it out.

“The Smith House is Nashville’s only remaining grand townhouse from the 1840′s era still standing.  It has a rich history and continues to be an integral part of the life in downtown Nashville.”

All photos from:  www.smithhousenashville.com

How fancy!  I’m impressed..completely impressed.  Then he called and asked what time the show started because he was going to make reservations.  You read that correctly…HE was going to make reservations.  People, this doesn’t happen.  It’s usually “why don’t you call make us reservations”…meaning me call.  I soon received an email that he forwarded to me confirming our reservations for Friday night at 7.  Wow. I just about fell out of my chair.  I checked his head when he got home last night.  ;)

So now my dilemma, what to wear.  A cute little cocktail dress would be completely appropriate for this restaurant but where the dilemma really falls is that yes we are going to fancy restaurant for dinner but right afterwards we head to a concert..a hard rock concert.  So how to dress the part for both?  I think I will go the cocktail dress route because it is fun and I never have a reason to wear a sexy little black dress.  And this means…drum roll please!…I have to go shopping!  Darn it!     I have a couple of cute little dresses but they are old..seriously over 5 years old.  I need a new one.

So with that, I will take my butt to my room to get ready to go….Shopping!

Hi ho hi ho..it’s off to shop I go..going to have some fun and buy a dress..hi ho hi ho hi ho

My bestie

I only have a few moments until the house fully awakes this morning, so this might be short and sweet.  I have my best friend from high school in town with her 2 little boys.  They arrived Friday and are here until tomorrow.  I cannot begin to say how much I have loved having her here with me, I love her so.  This is the most time we have been able to spend together since 1998 when I moved away.  We met each other our Freshman year of high school and that is all she wrote, we were together constantly.  Then I moved, she moved and we lost touch for awhile, we would talk every once in a while and when my mom passed away she was in town in a split second to be there for me, with me.  She loved my mom like she was her own daughter.  Over the last 2 years I have seen her more but it has just been  a quick visit here and there or if she was in town at her dad’s and I was at mine (before he moved down here).  I love this girl more than she knows, it is one of those genuine friendships that doesn’t come around very often, she gets me..I get her.  I do and cherish our friendship and will forever.  What I find amazing and truly wonderful is that even though we haven’t spent a lengthy period of time together over the past 12 years, we haven’t skipped a beat.  There hasn’t been an awkward silence or a time when we haven’t had anything to talk about.  We just picked up like we always do and there is never a moment of silence.  We will be the two old broads sitting at a bar when we are 75 having a beer and laughing so hard we most likely pee in our depends.  I can’t wait!

It has been a wonderful visit.  I have gotten to know her kids who are 4 and 2, both precious boys with her infectious smile and laugh.  They are sweet hearts and I love them so.  She also has gotten to know mine and has fell in love with them, E even made the comment yesterday that she wanted to go home with her.  Umm..No but we will make sure that this length of time between visits never happen again      We have had a blast.  I have been officially reminded though how much energy and craziness a 2 & 4 year old have and the first night they were here I thanked my kids for being 5 & 8!  haha!   I am going to need a huge nap come tomorrow afternoon!

She truly is like a sister to me and I was reminded of this Thursday when her and I were going back and forth on facebook talking and giving each other a hard time about god knows what.  But one of her friend’s up in Columbus wrote “Are you two sisters?”  Well no but we might as well be.  We were inseparable for many years, her family was like mine and vice versa.  She is one of my only friends to have a relationship with my Dad the way they do.  It’s a little creepy.  My dad talks to me about everything….everything, and some of the things we talk about is a little weird for a dad/daughter to talk about, we have just always been uber honest with each other and as weird as some of the openness is that we have, I truly appreciate it.  Well it’s the same way with my friend and my dad.  We went out there Saturday to visit and as some of the conversations started taking a weirdly honest turn I could only think one thing…how cool is that.   For one that my dad is comfortable with it because I think most would be like “what the hell!” and two that she is that comfortable with him.  Now don’t get me wrong we aren’t talking about completely weird stuff that crosses any lines or anything just normal stuff that you wouldn’t normally talk to a dad about, and someone else’s dad at that.  That’s all.  But I think it is awesome.

For the past couple of years her and her husband have talked about wanting to move down here, but they have to wait for the economy to get a bit better for the sale of their house and two her husband has to have an opening within his company down here.  Well, she is ready to move..now.  He told her yesterday that there are a couple of positions open around here right now and one being just 10 miles away.  WHAT!  But he has to wait a year before he is able to transfer      What a bummer.  But we sat last night and daydreamed anyway, looking at real estate in the area and cost of living etc.  Having her and her family down here with me would be a wish come true and if it ever happens I will be the happiest girl on earth.

 

A Smorgasbord Post: A letter, the recap and a benefit.

I have so much to cover.  This is going to be one hell of a smorgasbord of a post.  I could break it up into different posts I guess but…oh what the hell here we go.

First we will start with a letter.  I see a new trend going on with my blog, letters to things that will never write me back.  They (I don’t even know who the hell ‘they’ are) can’t write me back, ‘they’ don’t even have hands to write with, hell ‘they’ aren’t even real people.  So far ‘they’ have been my cold, my eyes, and another cold.  This time it will be a Mother Nature.  I might be going crazy.

Dear Mother Nature,

We need to talk about your weather trends this winter.  I am not happy with your weather, I am not happy with your snow.  One of the reasons I love it here in Tennessee is because of the weather.  It doesn’t *usually* get crazy cold until January and the snow *usually* doesn’t come until late January or February.  This year you decided to start in December with the frigid temperatures and the snow.  Not cool nor is it funny.  I have had it.  I woke up this morning to almost 3 inches of snow on the ground with more coming throughout the day and even more falling and accumulating tomorrow.  What the crap is this, a funny joke?  Well you suck at being a comedian if that is the case.  If you were on a stage I would so throw tomatoes at you.  So now with all this snow on the ground and it being Tennessee, schools are out once again and will be for at least half the week.  Do you not understand that the kids need to go to school?  They need to go so they can learn and most importantly be out of the house in a social setting away from us moms so we can get done what we need to get done.  I don’t mind a snow day later in the week, Wednesday is good or even Thursday.  But to throw up your white stuff on a Sunday night into Monday with even more on a Tuesday..are you kidding me?  Do you not get that we just spent the entire weekend with our kids and we now need a bit of a break?  Now don’t get me wrong I am grateful to not here my annoying beeping alarm in the am but I had stuff to get done today and now that is shot.  Instead I will be in the house with an 8 year old and a non stop talking 5 year old.  I will be less at least one ear come days end.  Take right this second for example, I am trying to type a post and I have my 8 yr old standing in front of me with silly puddy saying ‘Mom, look at this’ every 6 seconds when he puts it in a different shape and my 5 yr old doing the same thing while yelling at the dog for trying to eat her silly puddy.  You obviously have no children and have no idea what you put us moms through.  I would love your cooperation from here on out for the rest of the winter and I would prefer your shenanigans later in the week from now on.  Thank you in advance for listening to my requests and complying.

Sincerely,

Jamie

Ok moving on..

I had a great weekend.   Friday evening brought the old 3 back together with dinner and drinky poos afterwards.  Fan-tabulous!  I had a great time catching up and hanging out.  Much needed.  Saturday needless to say I didn’t exist because I am old and honestly it takes me a day to recover from just a late night anymore.

Yesterday was the benefit for Brandi and it was A-Mazing!  I arrived around 3:30, the music started at 4.  When I got there the place was already 85% full!  Unbelievable!!!!!  Throughout the night it just kept filling to the point that there wasn’t an empty seat in the place and you couldn’t walk through.  It was amazing to see all the people and feel all the love and support that was in that place.  50-60 people drove up from Louisiana (where Brandi is from) to be there with her for this event.  Absolutely amazing.  And a band from New Orleans came up to play.  I felt like I was right there on Bourbon Street.  Brandi got up and used every ounce of energy she had to be on stage with the Wooten Brothers.  She is a true trooper.  Throughout the evening they had a silent auction with amazing items.  The music talent I don’t even have words for…it was amazing.  Between the New Orleans band to famous musicians in Nashville I was wowed every time new people took the stage.  When I left last night at 7:45 they had already raised $8,000 and this morning I heard they raised $11,000 last night and that does not include money from the silent auction.  The Kenny Rogers even donated $1,000 to Brandi plus another grand from another well known country musician.  Un-believable!  Brandi is much loved throughout our town.  I heart Nashville for so many reasons and one main reason is the way this town comes together.  It was first proved to me when we had the flood and again last night when the place almost met capacity.  Brandi is loved by all and she will strive and win this battle with cancer.

We love you Brandi!

And to you Nashville, I love you, I am proud to call this wonderful city home.  To see everyone come together for whatever cause it is and to witness the love this city can show is by far hands down what makes this the most amazing city to live in.  The only complaint I have now with you is the weather and hopefully my letter to Mother Nature will heed much needed results in that department.

Sunshine and Smiles.

It’s amazing what some sunshine, a good friend and a new outfit will do for your attitude.  It makes you smile and puts an extra spring in your step.

A few things that makes me smile on any given day:

• Spending an afternoon with a good friend and making her smile.
• Pretty toes freshly pedicured.
• Rocking a new outfit.
• Walking through a room to be stopped suddenly by my husband for a random hug and being told that I am beautiful and loved.
• A great fitting pair of jeans, a good purse and awesome boots.
• flip flops
• Coming home to find that my dog didn’t chew up anything and make a mess.
• Sunshine after too many dab and dreary days.
• A full tank of gas with the feeling “I can go anywhere”
• Closing my eyes and smelling the ocean.
• Hearing a random and sincere ‘thank you’ from my son.
• My kid’s smiles and laughter.
• My daughter’s random questions.
• Watching my daughter’s sense of humor grow and come alive. (i’m doomed)
• Listening to my kids feed off of each other with their style of humor.
• A great conversation with my sister.
• Hearing ‘I love you’
• My daughter breaking out the scale and saying “Mommy lets see what you weigh”  You step on with your eyes closed, open one up and slowly look down and immediately think “Hell yeah!”
• When everything just ‘goes right’ throughout an entire day.
• Having a part in making a complete stranger smile.
• My husband.

Yesterday was an awesome day.

The sun was shining and I got to take my friend for her birthday pedicures and spend a couple of hours with her catching up.  It was a great time and we have beautiful toes now.  I took off next to Walmart to get some much needed household supplies.  I hate that place but I have to admit it was a smooth trip for the most part, (I even had 2 employees smile and say hello!  This NEVER happens) until I got to the check out and the woman in front of me had more crap in her cart than I have ever seen.  It took for.ev.er.  I think she bought everything in the Christmas clearance aisle.  But when it was finally my turn the old check out lady was in a terrific mood and wanted to cut up with me..this never happens!  3 happy employees in Walmart on the same day…Did they give out happy drugs before they went on the clock?  Both kids walked in from school with huge smiles on their faces and were in excellent moods.  I had the kids go through all their video games to see if there were any they were tired of to trade in at GameStop.  We had a whole bag full when all said and done.  We took off to Gamestop to trade them in and get a new game.  I love GameStop.  I know almost all the guys that work in there and they love me.  (I obviously spend way too much time in there with my kids)  I dropped the games off at the counter and went to check out the games with the kids.  The guy comes to tell me how much credit we have and it’s $151.00!!!!  WHAT!  They are running a promotion right now and you get 50% trade in.  SCORE!

We are the Trade In Champions.

*We are the champions – my friends
And we’ll keep on fighting – till the end -
We are the champions -
We are the champions
No time for losers
‘Cause we are the champions – of the world -*

We walked out of there with 2 brand new games, a used game and pre ordered my son’s new Pokemon game and still have a little credit left.  My son is ecstatic, needless to say.  Now he has to wait till March to get it.  Oh the anticipation!

My day ended with the biggest hug from my son and the most genuine thank you.  I love that kid!

Today I am determined to have another wonderful day!  I have a lunch date with a friend and a girls night out tonight in my hot boots!  Oh yeah baby!

Let’s do this!

WORD.

 

A Failed Mission.

Yesterday I took off to do a little shopping..little being the main word.  I had a gift card to use at Kohl’s from taking a pair of boots back, I was on a mission not to go over the gift card amount.  I wandered aimlessly around the store not finding anything that was sticking out screaming buy me.  I thought this shopping trip might just be a waste.  But I was on a mission.  I looked harder, closer and finally my brain kicked into shopping mode and it was on.  Grab one of these, a pair of those, well maybe two pair in different sizes, another shirt, then one to go underneath it, then that looks kind of cute so I will try that with a pair of these etc.  I walked into the dressing room with so much that my arms hurt.  First a pair of jeans, get them up and ewww gross, back off into the ‘no way in hell’ pile.  Again a pair of jeans..same reaction.  I started to lose any hope.  I grabbed another pair of jeans, get them on, look in the mirror and it was like the clouds parted and angels started singing…Ahhhhhh……  Don’t you just love a good pair of jeans?  These were A-Mazing.  I grab a shirt to try on with them and it was a-dorable.  All articles places in the ‘hell yes’ pile.  Again grab yet another pair of jeans, the same brand which has become one of my top fav brands, and they were again A-Mazing.  I, at this point, was on a roll.  From there on out most everything went into the ‘hell yes’ pile.  So I was left with the dilemma ..I only have x amount of money on the gift card and now in my ‘hell yes’ pile I have 3 pairs of jeans, 4 tops, 3 camis, 2 rings and a pair of earrings.  Hmmm…..  I am not good at narrowing anything down, especially when it comes to this kind of shopping I admit it, I have a problem.  So what did I do?  I walked out with everything in my ‘hell yes’ pile.  At least I didn’t bring another pair of boots into my closet.  That justifies it, right?  I completely failed my mission.  On a positive I will look hot tomorrow night for the girls night out and I have something to wear with my hot boots that have been very lonely in my closet and have been worn zero times.

 

I love my boots, they need to be worn..ASAP

 

And as I was looking for a picture of them I noticed they are on sale right now!  $22.90 @ Alloy.com

I love boots, la la la la!

 

This is It! Big Fat Man in Red arrives tonight!

Ok kids this is it!!!  It’s Christmas Eve and the big fat man in red will be visiting tonight!  I am SO excited!  My kids are completely beside themselves with anticipation and have smiles galore this am.  My daughter’s first words this morning..”Only one more day!” as she takes one of the final rings off the tree.  We are already tracking santa via the NORAD Santa Tracker.  He was in North Korea the last time we checked.  If you go to the site and then click on the google earth tracker you can watch him fly with his reindeer and when he reaches his next destination you watch how quick he delivers the presents and watch the “presents delivered” counter go up!  So much fun!  The countdown is on!

We are headed out to my dads later today for our family Christmas with them and the kids have already asked a million times what our ETA is.  Another big questions is “Can we open presents as soon as we get there?”  No children, you must wait!     Hopefully today will wear them out so they are fast asleep soon after arriving back home tonight.  We are expecting a white Christmas when we wake up tomorrow morning!  The first one in 17 years here in our part of Tennessee!  I am excited because I have not seen a white Christmas since 2001!  My dad is not as excited..he thought he left all this white stuff up in Indiana when he moved.  I think he brought it with him.  He can’t complain too much because back home they have 8 inches of snow on the ground with another round coming tonight and tomorrow.  I’ll take an inch over 8 any day!

This is our first Christmas with them down here and I am uberly excited.  I am looking forward to spending the day with them today and them being here with us tomorrow.  I am just glad that they understood that we are set in our ways and spoiled by the fact that we don’t travel on Christmas day..hell we usually don’t even get dressed!  So when the time came to address this I was a bit nervous but my dad being the wonderful realistic man that he is said that’s the way it should be!  Yes sir!  He always hated having to do the run around on Christmas day, I hate that I am making him runaround again but this is different.  It’s not the in-laws or a million stops, its just one and he gets to be with his kids and grandkids.  I have a feeling there will be many tears shed from him and my step mom this year.  Who am I kidding?!?!  They have shed so many tears already we could fill an olympic size pool!  Just play “Tennessee Christmas” and watch the water flow!  hahaha!  God love’em the old saps!  I have the fridge stocked with Christmas dinner, we roast a beef tenderloin..Yummo-O, stuff to make munchies and a whole liquor store.  Yes I have 4 bottles of wine, a bottle of Boone’s Farm courtesy of a friend as a gag present, baileys and crown.  We are set..bring on the family fun!  The only downside of tomorrow is my sister has to work in the afternoon.  At least she will be here tonight and for the majority of the day tomorrow.  She is hoping to get many sympathy tips!  I hope she does too because that sucks donkey balls!

My tree is starting to overflow or I guess I should say underflow (haha) with presents ready to open, that are tempting the kids into craziness.  My tree is skinny so it only takes a few to make it look full under there and it makes it look like it vomited presents come Christmas morning.  They are going to be so much fun in the am!

If you are traveling I hope your travels are safe and quick!

So to you and your family near and far I wish you a very Merry Christmas!

We will be….ROCK’N AROUND THE CHRISTMAS TREE!!!

Peace.

A Snow Day.

It’s a snow day.  Yes there is no exclamation point, no YAY! we are going to play in the snow all day, I am not excited about this like the kids are.  Snow day means the kids are home, they want things, they will bicker and fight, they will want to go out and play in the snow, my to do list for the day will not get completed, I will not nurse this cold I have with a much needed nap.  Phooey on the snow day.  I know, what a grumpy mom I am but it is what it is, at least for this snow day.   Here is a picture of our “Snow Event”

 

Wow..that is one hell of an ‘event’

I am sorry but if you can still see the grass poking up through the snow it is not a snow event.  Turn on the news, what is happening in the mid west is a snow event.  What I will say is the roads are a mess so I do understand the cancellation of schools for ICE but not snow. I found myself cracking up last night because the news would break in during commercials of the football game with Severe Weather Updates.  I think what they really wanted to say was “People of Nashville, you do not know how to drive in this so stay off the roads!”  I did a post about a week ago regarding snow here, up north and down south, this is a fine example of that.  I pulled up my local news app last night on my phone and read an article on traffic.  Nashville Metro Police responded to 44 wrecks between the hours of 1-2pm.  Why so many?  Because people here don’t know how to drive in any event, snow or ice.  I do not like to drive on ice and refuse to do so but at 1pm it was not icy it was snowy.  What happens to people’s brains when they see snow?  Do they automatically forget any common sense regarding driving they might have had before the wonderful white stuff started magically falling from the sky?  I don’t know, it confuses me.  It’s not hard people…slow down, take extra time, take extra precautions, become even more of a defensive driver, be aware of other ding dongs around you, do not ride someone’s bumper.  If you do not know how to drive in the magical white stuff, please stay home.  All smartassness aside this is, in all actuality, an event for here in Middle Tennessee, we have not had snow on the ground before Christmas in 4 years so it is something to talk about.

So what are we going to do on this snow day?  I will be a good mommy and take the kids outside to play for a minute.  I say a minute because that is all they will last.  We have no snow boots, no snow suits, we don’t have the appropriate gloves.  We do have the appropriate coats so at least their chest will stay warm while their toes get frost bite.  They do not own long underwear..well my son does but only because we needed it for his halloween costume.  I have a snow pants and long johns but only because I have kept them from when I lived in Indiana and would ski and actually need the appropriate snow attire, but I can’t put that on while watching my kid’s jeans get sopping wet with snow.  Well I could but that would be mean      Where I am from up home we have Perfect’s Ski Slopes.  We would ski all the time, Oh how I miss that!!!  Last year my sister in law got us passes for Perfects to take the kids skiing and tubing.  What a great Christmas gift!..if we lived up there still, now that we have moved away not so much.  She does get an A for an awesome gift and the idea behind it!  But why haven’t we used it?  I will tell you.  In order for me to take the kids skiing or tubing in the snow I would have to go out and spend over $200 for the appropriate warm attire to only to be worn that one time, I can’t justify that.  It just doesn’t snow down here enough with accumulation to really play in that would justify buying all the snow suits, boots and appropriate gloves.  So what do we do when we get some to play in?   My poor kids..do you remember the kid from A Christmas Story when his mom bundled him up so much he couldn’t move?

That is what they look like minus the snow suit.  They have on as many pairs of pants I can get on them under a pair of jeans or sweats, my daughter has on 3 pairs of leggins under her jeans, they have 6 shirts on plus their coats, 5 pairs of socks in their tennis shoes, and at least 2 pairs of gloves.  Poor kids.  We were up home at my dad’s one time last winter when a snow storm came, we got about 5 inches of snow and the kids were completely amazed!  They got to actually play in snow..real accumulation.  They got to build a REAL snowman!

 

So pretty! The trail leading into the woods at dad's old house

Man, I miss my dad’s old house and the nature and beauty that surrounded it.

My dad's house from 2009

My dad's house from 2009

Back to reality..a snow day up there is totally different than a snow day down here.  It is what it is.  So today we will have our snow day, play in the snow for a moment and occupy our time the best we can.  I see some video games in our near future because that is the kind of energy I have today.

Happy Snow Day!

My 100th Post..It’s Epic. Well not really I just Called it That.

Well people…this is it…are you ready?  Hold on to your pants because I am about to blow them off!  It’s my 100th post.  It’s Epic.

No, not really but that was one hell of an intro wasn’t it!   It is my 100th post but the blowing your pants off with my epicness is the questionable part.  

I started this blog back when ever I did my first post and I didn’t know what to expect out of it.  Was I going to keep up with it?  What the hell was I going to blog about?  Did I have anything at all interesting to say?  Is anybody going to give a darn about it?  I have found that the answer was YES to all the above questions!  Unbelievable!  Seriously, I am blown away.

I started my blog so I would have a place to write things down, make notes of my life, a place to put down my thoughts, my rants, share my photos, and vent if I need to.  I never intended for anyone to really keep up with it and/or care what came out of my brain, I just thought of it as mine.  Well I have been taken back by the fact that there are some fellow bloggers that actually do keep up with it, care what I have to say, think that I am funny, and comment to reassure I am not crazy.  There are fellow bloggers that click on my blog while scanning the 100,000′s of other blogs out there.  Wow.  Some just read and leave, some most probably start reading and then move on, but some actually take the time to comment.  That is pretty darn cool.

When I started this venture, like I said before, I didn’t know what to expect or hell, what I was doing for that matter.  What I have learned is blogging is awesome, I find it therapeutic, it is nerve calming, it is reassuring, it is comforting, it is scary.  I used to write when I was younger, keeping a journal of sorts, jotting things down here or there, I was a doodler..big time, I kept a binder full of poems that I would write, usually about something crazy that was going on.  But as I got older and busier that went to the way side.  I had forgotten how much I enjoy writing, not that it is professional in any way shape or form.  I am sure anyone would have a hay day given my blog and a red pen.  I am not a professional writer, never claimed to be, don’t want to be.  I write as I would say it to you if we were having a conversation in person, as it flows (flows thats a good one..like anything just ‘flows’ from my brain) from my mind.  I don’t have time for big words and all that jazz.  My blog is me..who I am…the person I have grown to be…it is my life.

I said I find it therapeutic, and after blogging for awhile I was amazed to realize this.  I noticed how much better I felt after I did a post, especially a post about touchy subjects in my life, or when I was irate and needed to vent.  Getting it out feels so good.  I write, I feel better, I move on.  Another thing I have noticed is how scary it is.  I am one that thinks..out of sight out of mind.  I took this to the extreme when I had my 2 kids..yes my eyes were closed through both births…out of sight out of mind at it’s finest.  ”I have my eyes closed and can’t see that I am pushing a baby out so it’s not really happening, so what the hell is that pain I am feeling????”  Wow..talk about getting off track..jumping back on..aaaaand continue.  But what I mean is when I sit to post about some touchier subjects they become real again, you relive the emotions, the fears, the feelings.  That is scary but again, so therapeutic.  I guess you can say my blog has become my therapy with some life happenings…and its Free!  Hells Yeah!

The comments…they are awesome.  First and foremost it proves people actually read my blog…still funny to me.  But it’s cool because some comments reconfirm that I am not crazy or losing my mind, it lets me know others have had similar feelings or thoughts, that I am not alone in some of my thinking, and others have been in similar situations and with that you get advice.  I have taken some of the advice and have applied it to my every day life or in certain situations.  Thank you to all that reads and comments!  You all rock my world!

Another cool factor of blogging…the community that I have found in it with fellow bloggers…complete strangers.  I love meeting new people, hearing what they have to say, learning about them..their lives, I love the diversity of it all.  What blows my mind is finding complete strangers that are similar to myself, that have or are going through the same things, reading their blogs and thinking “I have been through that too!” and seeing how they handled it.  Its pretty darn coolio.  I have found my twin  ;)  a couple of states away…we share the same brain at times, I always look forward to reading her blog. Shout out!..you know who you are!   I have found other bloggers that I look forward to reading their blogs because they always make me laugh and put a smile on my face…word, others are more on the serious side and get me thinking, others are from older people that share their stories of times past..fascinating!  Its just neat, what a generic word. but it is just that.  The community aspect of blogging is something I was unaware of and didn’t know I would find or didn’t know I was looking for.  But I did and it’s Awesome.

I have had some rough patches along the way of my blogging experience..pissing some people off, I’m good at that I have learned.  But it is what it is.  I think they are just way to touchy but whatever.  I have learned what I can and can’t blog about or at least how to go about it more discreetly.  I have learned people don’t like to be called out in my blog…oops, truth hurts doesn’t it?  It is all a learning experience and with anything you learn from your mistakes and grow from it and become better.  And I have learned how to use the ‘Private’ post button and use it when I really need to get things out..specific things.  Sadly I have to make it for my eyes only because god forbid I piss another person off.  If I could go back and change one thing from my blogging experience, I would have never, never, ever, never, made it known to personal everyday friends and family.  I made that mistake when I got Freshly Pressed, I was just so excited and made the mistake in all the hoopla.  OOPS!  Oh well…too late now.

Which leads me to getting Freshly Pressed for a post I did titled It is What it is When You Wear What you Wear.  That was a funny, crazy, whirlwind couple of days.  300+ comments and over 10,000 views.  I didn’t realize I couldn’t get that many people’s panties in a bunch.  I never set out in hopes to get FP’d so that day when the first comment came in congratulating me on getting FP’d my first thought “they just commented on the wrong blog” then I immediately went to the front page and there it was.  Holy Flippity!  What cracks me up is I wrote that post in about 10-15 minutes and was being a complete smart ass in some of it and people read it, twisted it, yelled at me, agreed with me, tweeted it, reposted it, handed my ass to me, applauded me etc.  What an experience that was and I am pretty sure I am ok with that 15 minutes of fame for awhile.  No more FP’d for me please!

So with all that said…I am thankful for finding my blogging home, I am thankful for all of you who takes a couple of minutes out of your day to read it and share your comments, advice, and stories.  I am thankful for the friends that have been made, your stories, your blogs.  I am thankful for free therapy!

So here’s to the next 100!

Cheers!  and always…..KEEP ROCK’N!