Good Luck Crafting?

Until this past Saturday, our volleyball team had not won a game this season. Entering conference play without a win was not the way anyone wanted the season to start. This Saturday was not only our conference opener, but our home opener as well. Friday night, I couldn't sleep, so I decided to attempt an "easy" wreath project that I saw on Pinterest.

Doesn't look too difficult, right? I originally decided that I wanted to do an LSU wreath, so I purchased some purple and gold table cloths. However, Texas doesn't seem to offer much in the way of LSU items. I opted instead to use the "B" that kiddo and I made on her first day of Mother's Day Out this year since it also has purple and gold in it. 

I have to say that this was an easy wreath to make, even if at times it appeared to be a hot mess. This may become my go-to wreath making strategy! 

See? HOT MESS! 

Hmmm...not too shabby!

Finished product: 

The next day, our volleyball team won their first game of the season. Looks like I'm going to be pre-game crafting for the rest of the season. Guess I better start scoping out Pinterest more! 

Silent Love

I've been with the boy for over a year now. It's been a pretty rocky ride, and as much as I would like to place all of the blame on him, I can't. We've had issues that have been worked through, but one thing that always bothered me was not feeling like he made an effort to show me that he loves me. I know he loves me. I can see it in the way he looks at me. I can see it in the way he's changed some of his behaviors. I feel loved by him. So, what's the problem? 

The problem has always been that the two of us show love in very different ways. I've spent a good portion of this relationship looking for him to show me love in the ways that I show it and can see it. I was texting one of my best friends, frustrated about something stupid, and she told me that in order for me to really see the ways that he shows me he loves me, I need to take my expectations for how he should be showing me he loves me and toss them. You know what? She was right. 

I've spent this past year only looking at the ways I WANTED him to show me love. Sure, I worded it more in a "I need to show me love like this" sort of way, but if I'm really being honest with myself, I wanted him to show me love in a way that made it easy for me to see and was comfortable for me. After talking with my friend K, she reminded me that his love language and mine are probably so different that I can't even begin to think of how he shows me love. My co-worker, A, agreed with her. 

After looking over the love languages, A told me that it's obvious that his love language is physical touch, where as that is my lowest language of love. Perhaps the reason that I don't see the ways in which he loves me is that I place such a low value on the love language he places such a high value one. I learned that I needed to readjust my thinking, and I've started to try to be more aware of looking for ways that HE shows me versus ways I WANT him to show me.

One of the greatest examples that I have actually occurred last night. The boy is a Cowboys fan and I'm a Saints fan. Anyone watching that game last night knows that my Saints forgot how to play football on the flight from NOLA to Dallas. As we were watching the game together, I noticed at halftime that it was as if I was watching the game with one of my friends who doesn't care about sports. The boy REALLY gets into his team's games, and yet he hadn't cheered at all...in fact, at the end of the game, I realized that he never cheered once. He only acknowledged two plays that he felt should have been reversed, but even then, there was no yelling at the TV, just a look and a grunt. 

It was at that moment that I realized what he wasn't doing showed me loved me more than anything he could have actually done or said in that moment. He knew how upset I was, and he didn't want to do anything else that could add to that hurt. The boy a year ago would not have been like that. (In fact, the boy a year ago was NOT like that but the tables were reversed.) The boy, a year ago, would have cheered with every Cowboy touchdown, argued with every call against the Cowboys, and gotten his digs in both online and in real life.

 The boy with me last night, was not the same boy I started dating a year ago. The boy with me last night made me realize that I don't want to be the same girl that he started dating a year ago. The boy with me last night taught me one of the most important lessons I've ever learned about love. Sometimes, it's the things that we don't do that show a person how much we love them. 

Three Things for 3

Kiddo, 

Happy 3rd birthday, puddin. I know it seems like these past 3 years have been an eternity to you, but to me they have flown by. I know you have an extremely busy life, but I wanted to offer you three things that I wish for you in this upcoming year. 

(1) The desire to potty train. I know it seems like it's going to be an inconvenience to you, but I promise that learning to use the potty will be worth it. It's a right of passage that we all must go through. I know that right now it seems like it will take away from all of the fun in life. Who wants to have to leave the pool to go potty? Who wants to stop listening to their music in the chair to go potty? Who wants to stop eating to go potty? While I understand your desire to lead a potty training rebellion, I promise that one day you will appreciate the independence that going to the potty provides, such as a safe place to hide out from Mommy when you need to be alone or not needing Mommy to follow you into the bathroom to help change a pull up when cute boys are around. Whatever your motivation (or bribe), I hope that this year you at least show an interest in the potty.

(2) Always be an individual. As I spent last night decorating the apartment with Thomas the Train decorations, it made my heart happy that you like what you like no matter what it is. You can play with Thomas and your Princesses and Mommy loves that. You're not afraid to wear your cowboy boots with fancy dresses. You will sing and dance in public. You do all of these things because they make you happy, and you don't need the approval of others to be happy. I hope that you never feel the need to change who you are for anyone, even for Mommy. 

(3) Be a helper. This year Mommy wants to begin to help you understand that we can be helpers. To each other, to our family, to our friends, to our community, and to our world. I know you don't fully grasp the concept behind the Lottie Moon offering we've been saving, but next year you will. I want you to help Mommy pick out the gifts that we send to Operation Christmas Child. I want you to help Mommy buy the items for the Thanksgiving baskets that we put together at church. I want you to help Mommy with these things because I want you to see that even though we don't have much to give, we can still give what we have to help others. You're always so eager to help Mommy in the kitchen, with coloring our holiday decorations, and sometimes with picking up your room. I want to show you this year that even though you are young, you can make a difference to other people.

Always remember that Mommy loves you, puddin. She can't wait to see you when you get home today for all of the surprises she has planned. After all, you only turn 3 once, so let's make it the best 3rd birthday ever. 

Love,

Mommy

Pre-Kiddo Birthday Reflections

Three years ago tomorrow, I embarked on the scariest journey of my life. I woke up the day after my office baby shower in pain. I couldn't get out of bed because I was in so much pain. My parents had arrived in Tennessee the night before for my shower (a surprise to me on all ends!) and planned to stay with me until my daughter was born. (Due date being 2 weeks later) I didn't feel like I Was in labor, so I just opted to stay in bed for an extra hour.

Once I gave in to the idea of going to the hospital, I was in such a daze (while screaming for drugs and offering anything, literally ANYTHING, in exchange for said drugs) that I didn't have time to process what was actually happening. Once the "real" labor started, my dad got caught in the room and spent the entire time staring out the window at the VA hospital next door, and taking phone calls from concerned relatives and relatives by choice that I finally yelled at him to stop taking calls while I pushed. When kiddo was finally out, the nurse laid her on my chest and we gave each other "oh shit, what now" looks. (Kiddo had this look mastered coming out of the womb...proud mom here.)

Working in college athletics has made for an interesting dynamic with my parents living with me part time and kiddo staying with them part time, but these past three years have led me to reflect on things I am grateful for that kiddo's birth has brought about:

1) I'm grateful that I have family and family by choice who have stepped up to be involved in my daughter's life.

2) I'm grateful that my doctor, knowing how terrified I was, stayed after her shift at the hospital was over to make sure she was there to deliver my daughter.

3) I'm grateful that a position opened at a school in Texas exactly when I needed one to open up so I could move closer to my family.

4) I'm grateful that kiddo has taught me how to be more patient and to slow down with life.

5) I'm grateful that kiddo has taught me what it truly means to love another person,

These past three years haven't been easy. In fact, they've been the most challenging three years of my life. They've forced me to grow up in ways that I didn't know I needed to grow up. They also taught me more about how to love the life I've been given because it's way better than the life I had imagined for myself. Thanks for the past three years, puddin. Mommy loves you.

One Free Weekend, One Night, One Direction

My year has really been divided into three segments: Pre-1D Day, 1D Day, and Post-1D Day. When my TX bestie and I bought tickets to see One Direction in Houston, it was a surreal moment for me. It never seemed real to me, even though I had the tickets printed out and on our ticket board in the office. As the tickets slowly worked their way down, there were a few hiccups along the path to the awesome summer that we had planned. Those hiccups had be nervous about 1D Day.

1D Day started off not like any other. TX bestie challenged me to use all of 1D's songs in tweets between the time I woke up and the time we left for the concert. It was a tall order, but it was also a lot of fun. The ride to Houston was spent belting out the set list at the top of our lungs (yes, we found the set list online and made ourselves cds to know exactly what we were going to hear at the concert.)

When we got to the hotel to check-in, it seemed as if our night as going to be even more awesome than I thought. However, the room we were assigned to was still being cleaned. The housekeeping staff didn't speak English, and we didn't speak Spanish, but it seemed as if they weren't in a hurry to finish cleaning our room. We just wanted to put our stuff down and have a few drinks before heading over to the concert. We were placed in a new room and continued with our game plan.

As we were walking to the concert, I was nervous about our tickets being legit. TX bestie and I work in ticketing, so we know the dangers of purchasing tickets, especially for an event such as this one, via third party sites. I think both of us were holding out breath until our tickets scanned and we knew we were in. WE WERE GOING TO SEE ONE DIRECTION LIVE!!!! Once it hit, that realization hit, and my excitement finally hit an all time high.

After people watching and showing our age by wondering why children were allowed to wear some of the outfits they were wearing, and why some children were there unsupervised, we made our way inside the stadium. All the way up to the nosebleeds, to Section 511.

However, when we went to our seats, there was someone in them. This woman admitted that she and her daughter were in the wrong seats, but were unwilling to move. I went to get the usher, who was also unwilling to move them. As someone who is in charge of ushers at our event, we know it is their job to move people who are in the wrong seats. (Our seats were on the first row of the section, so for nosebleed seats, they were pretty awesome.) The usher told me that Section 511, was actually Section 512. I brought her to the aisle between our section and showed her the labeling on the aisle: 

Our usher told me that this was incorrect, and that the side on the right (Section 510) was actually Section 511 and the side on the left (Section 511) was actually Section 512. SERIOUSLY?! This usher tried to tell me that the entire stadium was labeled incorrectly. I shut down because it wasn't going to be pretty if I didn't, and my TX bestie took up the fight with the usher. After demanding a supervisor, we realized that there were 15-20 people in our same position, people who were in our seats because the usher had sat people in the wrong section. This woman honestly believed the stadium was mislabeled and was unwilling to move all of the people who were in the wrong seats because she was the one who had sat them there. The supervisor got another usher to move people out of the incorrect seats, so we were able to have our awesome front row nosebleed seats. 

These people just moved to the seats behind us and we made a point to stand the entire time. However, they were moved from those seats as well. After watching them be moved four times, I began to feel sorry for this woman's teenage daughter. It has to be humiliating to just accidentally sit in someone's seats and then be moved, but to purposely sit in other people's seats and then have an usher come and move you multiple times has to be even more humiliating. As ticket people, we can't understand why people don't just sit in the seats they purchased, or at least wait until half way through an event to attempt to move to better seats. 

The concert was worth every penny and all of the trouble. Even though I had to watch Louis (I mean One Direction) either like this: 

 Or like this:

The frustrations were worth it. We both agreed that we would probably never see them on a stadium tour again. Stadium tours just aren't really our thing. We were both glad that we made the decision to attend the concert. It was a great way to end our summer, and enjoy our last free weekend before our sport schedule begins. There were pictures taken, and video clips shot, but I went into this weekend with my new motto of make more memories, take less pictures, and I don't regret anything. 

Louis singing "Little Things"