Reading through time.

I love this website: http://www.histfiction.net/

I have decided to "read through time" - so I can basically watch the world grow and change through time as I read each one.  I have already read:

"Dazzling Brightness" - Greek Mythology (5000 B.C.)

"Empire Rising" - Bronze Age/Mesopotamia/the beginning of civilized cities (3157 B.C.)

"Dawn of Empire" - not on the list, but it followed "Empire Rising" - same characters

"Akhenaten: Dweller in Truth" - ancient Egypt (1540 B.C.)

Next, I am reading "The Egyptian"

I know I am a nerd, but I am enjoying this a LOT.  When I am finished, I will have read through most of the world's development - yee haw!

say yes.

I am having issues with something.  I am learning that I am fundamentally different than some people in my life, and I am not quite sure how to handle it.

I thrive on saying yes.  When the chance to try something new, experience something, see something comes my way, even if it's outside my comfort zone and even if I am not sure I will enjoy it, I still want to say yes to it, at least once.  I want to live my life knowing I have been open to most everything.  I would rather be slightly tired and very busy and know I have lived a full life.


I find myself struggling with those around me who are the opposite.  When given the perfect chance to do new things, they decide to go home instead, or just skip out and stay in their comfort zone.  For a while, it just bothered me.  Now I am starting to realize it's just a fundamental difference between us, and one I have a lot of internal trouble with.  I don't know how to truly love and connect with these (what I call) "no" people.  I WANT to, but it actually hurts me and pulls me down.  


It is not that I can't connect with people who are unlike myself.  Wes and I are complete opposites, truly.  But we encourage each other to grow, to be better.  We are always open to new things.  Our comfort zone is very large, and we know there's nothing wrong with trying things and not liking them - that's just life.  We are not afraid of trying and failing, but we ARE afraid of not trying.  


I look at some of the people in my life and I think - if they continue living in this complacent way for years - if something ever happens - they get into a bad accident, or they get cancer and don't have that long to live - they will regret so much.  That they never experienced things, even things they could drive to in a day.  That they had the time, health, ability, but they never traveled anywhere.  That they never tried new hobbies even once.  That they chose to stay home when there were a thousand new places they could have been.  That they never read any new genre of book, never tried their hand at art or went to see someone in another state even though they could.  It's incredibly sad.  

I want to always know, in my heart, that my life can always get better, every day.  I can create that, and I choose to create it.  I want to know that my best days are always ahead of me, even when I am 80 and enjoy different things than I do today.  If you believe your life was at its best in the past, you are living a sad life, and I never want to do that.

Maybe I am the minority.  Maybe I am not considerate enough of people's preferences and fears.  But I know myself, and I know I can not be close (in my heart) to those who I do not share this with - it is the very core of myself and my life.  I don't want to fight it.  I don't want to chase people who just want to stay the way they are now forever.  I don't want to feel sad and hurt and exhausted from worrying that they will have regrets.  

Perhaps the best I can hope for is that living my life saying yes will help others to do the same....and even if it does not, I can not regret a thing about my life.  I just hope the people I love can say the same.

What's going on?

As some of you may have noticed, I have been in a crazy-busy fog for the past couple of weeks.  I haven't even had time to let most people know why, so now that it's Saturday (and I feel pressured to get 100 things done but am TRYING to chill), I thought I'd write and let everyone know what's up.

Two weeks ago, my company did its third round of layoffs in two years.  I have now made it through all three, and you can't understand how lucky I feel about that.  I am in the Atlanta office of a nationwide company of aroun 500 employees.  There have always been about 20 people in our office here.  The first round cut three people from our construction department.  The second didn't hit us.  But this recent one laid off 7 of 17 of us, so it was a big hit, and a painful one, as people we are friends with lost their jobs.  Both of my bosses lost their jobs, so I figured I was next on the block.  But someone felt like I was worth keeping around, and I am now filling 3 roles instead of 1.  Thus - the nutso two weeks I've had.  I am not complaining at all.  My days seem to go by in an hour.  I am constantly busy.  But I am learning whole new areas of the company, and in the end, I will be able to do several types of jobs well.  So even though my brain feels like mush, I know this is making me more valuable in the end.

It's the rest of my life where I'm noticing the toll....

I got a cold...not a bad one.  I've worked super hard this year to keep myself from getting sick.  I drink a lot of water.  I have consumed a lot of orange juice (FYI:  Florida's Natural is the best stuff out there, in my opinion).  I take zinc to keep my immune system up.  I stay more active.  I've done a few massages (discounted ones...I love Groupon!) - these really help your lymphatic system and therefore, your immune system.  With all this effort, I still got a slight cold and I'm fighting it off.

I have not had the quality time I love with my husband.  We usually spend our weeknights eating dinner we've cooked and watching our favorite TV shows.  This week, we were so busy that we were eating Wendy's and even forgetting to even record our shows.  Ugh!

I miss my friends. Even the couple of times I've seen you guys lately, it's been zip in/zip out.  It sucks.  I need quality time to talk and chill out and be together.  I am a cheeseball, I know.  I just loooooooove you. 

So this week, my goal is to work hard and learn a lot, but leave work by 5:30 each day, make some dinners for my sweetheart (burgundy beef, chicken stroganoff and baked spaghetti, to be exact), get caught up on some TV, read some of my current book ("The Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide" - Sarah, this is for you!), see "New Moon" on Friday night (and love it!), and celebrate the 3-year anniversary of the group that has brought me so many wonderful memories and friends on Sunday - I can't believe it's been three years.

Speaking of the Magnolias, we have some super fun stuff coming up....New Moon, anniversary potluck party, Avon party, going to see "The Road", Girls' Night In, and our Holiday Party - fun!

Random other things I've thought lately:
1. I love The Limited.  clothes, jewelry, etc. new development. 
2. New Zealand is coming up really soon!  Ahhh!
3. The regular cold medicine you can grab from the medicine aisle does nothing for me.  The Sudafed behind the counter = awesome.


I need to clean my room and get organized, but I might take a nap, as today's my only chance for it.....

Here's hoping this week is a little more relaxed!

What's that SMELL?

I love perfume.  I can't get enough of it.  So, of course, I end up with half-empty bottles of 12 different kinds, and I love them all.  But occasionally, I have to toss one.  So sad, parting ways with a fragrance I have loved!

Last night I did the bathroom clean-out.  You know, when you toss all the half empty products you won't use anymore, and clean out the little things that have been shoved to the back of the medicine cabinet or drawers.  Every time I do this, I choose one seasonally-appropriate fragrance and think - "I am going to use this one until it's all gone, I need to use it up!"  So now, my "use it up" fragrance is my whole set of Japanese Cherry Blossom lotion/spray/body butter, etc.

What about you, ladies?  Do you do the same thing I do?  Or do you just use one scent only?  What's your current choice of scent?

It's nice being a newlywed.

We have been married for two weeks.  People keep asking us if we feel different.  My answer is that I feel like we're a better version of us, but we're the same us...if that makes sense at all.  

We lived together for almost a year and a half before getting married - something I believe, despite what many think, that every couple should do.  The divorce rate is simply too high, and people's expectations too varied, to walk into a marriage with no idea of how you will be when you live in the same space.  We were lucky - we were ten times better once we moved into the same place together.  I know others who were the complete opposite, and some have even divorced because of it.  I have a friend who thought she was ready to marry her long term boyfriend, and yet, after they'd lived together for only three or four months, it became clear that they weren't right for each other - thank goodness they tried it.

All the things that existed in the "us" before getting married just seem sweeter now.  Going on a date seems sweeter.  Sharing things seems sweeter.  Cooking dinner for each other seems sweeter.  

After the wedding and saying goodbye to the friends who were in town, we got back to our norm - work for both of us.  My book club meeting.  Magnolia events with the ladies.  Golfing with Zac for Wes.  Nighttime TV shows.  But all the little normal things have a tiny silver lining.  A tiny hint of sweetness in your mouth all the time. 

Life threw us some curve balls with all the wedding planning and families being all over the world, but we feel like everything has worked out better than we could have planned it anyway - most couples have their wedding and honeymoon, and then it's immediately back to real life, fun over.  Not us.  We began celebrating in the summer with my extended family, and then had the October wedding, and now we get to look ahead to our December travels, a second wedding, and honeymoon there.  Spreading it over a few months is making it so enjoyable...

This is a huge wedding month for people I know - there are at least 5 friends of mine who got married/are getting married this month.  I hope all of those couples love being newlyweds as much as we do.  And even more, I hope we all loving being not-so-newlyweds in the future, never losing sight of how wonderful it is to have a partner to experience everything in life with - a teammate to tackle anything and everything.  

Speaking of tackling, I need to tackle some shopping and some housework.  Housewife duties.  Being married does NOT mean you suddenly like cleaning bathrooms, I assure you.

Day 2 of Wedding Weekend: Recap!

Our day two began bright and early - Wes and his boys headed out for his Bachelor Day!

They began the day with a round of golf at Bridgemill - complete with beer too early in the morning, and a cooler of sangria that Wes specifically requested, so Ann & I made it.  After golf, they had lunch at Bogey's - and then headed to paintball, where they proceeded to play "capture the flag" - which was not a flag at all, but a blow up doll that Wes says looks like me (that they also "accidentally" hit in the face with some paintballs)!  Boys!  They played AFRICA vs. AMERICA teams, and I think everyone won a game or two.


Meanwhile, Ann and I got some excellent airbrush tans at Aloha Sun Tanning in Marietta - highly recommended if you need color and don't want the skin cancer worries!  A lady airbrushes you (not a machine) so it's much more reliable....

And THEN - it was time for.......COCKTAIL COVE.
Oh, boy.
We had the best group of friends ever there with us - and we love them.
They proceeded to put drinks in hands - even now, I don't know who bought what.
I do know that Wes isn't allowed to have his wallet when he's having drinks again!  He gets generous!

But we had an AWESOME time - singing, dancing, laughing at some of the people there...the DJ played songs we requested - Keyia did a performance of "Single Ladies" that the whole place watched and loved - the boys did an incredible Backstreet Boys performance ("I Want It That Way") - and we got to dance to New Kids and tons of other fun stuff.  We stayed out late - isn't that what you're supposed to do before your wedding - party it up?  Well, we certainly did, and loved (almost) every minute of it.

Day 2 ended late into the night - but it was worth it - and maybe we'll do it again some time. 

 

 

Day 1 of Wedding Weekend Recap!

I guess I can sum up our feelings about our wedding with something Wes said to me today…”Let’s get married again this weekend!”

We had SUCH a good weekend. I promised a written record of the things we did for all of those who weren’t here…so we’ll begin with…

Day 1 of wedding weekend: Thursday, October 13th

We began the weekend trying to relax a bit…

Me and Ann went to Spa Om Magie (http://www.ommagie.com/) for AMAZING massages to relax us. They completely understand relaxation at this spa, and I highly recommend going to them. I felt like a different bride when I walked out of their doors…the décor, smells, and sounds are enough to relax you – and when you throw in one of the best massages I’ve ever had, it’s worth every penny.

We then took our relaxed selves to Ruby Nails in Marietta (on Delk Road) for manicures, pedicures, etc. This is a brand new salon, and one of the nicer ones I’ve been to. Their brand new massage chairs are amazing!

Some of our out-of-town guests arrived that evening, so we had a casual pizza dinner at Mellow Mushroom, ran a couple of errands, and then went home to prepare for the following day’s festivities….

Details of Day 2 (Friday) coming soon!