First off, no offenses to anyone with that title. It's purely a line from Joe Dirt. So if you're offended, cool your jets.
To the point I'm trying to make with this post. There's something that has always bugged me (at least since I moved away from home) and for some reason tonight I am tired of just thinking it to myself.
When we turn 18, we move away from home (at least most of us do) to embark on our new and exciting life as a college student) Nothing is more exciting and awesome than the new found freedom (at least to me because I had pretty strict parents) I was wide-eyed and giddy to make new friends and have new experiences. I never once had the thought that I was going to hate where I was moving.
Maybe its because I came from a small town with not much to do on the weekends besides drive around on dirt roads. It really frustrates me when people constantly gripe about the place they are. Kirksville was certainly not the ideal location for a young adult to live. We had about 6 bars, and barely even a movie theater. But I never once caught myself saying "I hate Kirksville because there's nothing to do" I had TONS to do. I had amazing friends and there was ALWAYS something fun going on. Even if there wasn't we made our own fun. I remember nights spent building risque snowmen all over campus, watching Jon & Kate +8 and taking a drink every time you saw a sextuplet. I never missed Starbucks, Bread Co, or any of that jazz (maybe a mall just a little, but there wasn't one close to West Plains either).
Point being, Kirksville is a lame town thats always cold and there's not much there. But I (and all my friends) had a blast. Best memories of my life that I always wish I could relive.
Springfield is like living in New York City compared to Kirksville. Its by far the biggest town I've ever lived in and while it may not be to others, I think its pretty great. It may not be the most awesome town in the world, but to the group of friends that frequently sit around playing CatchPhrase, we definitely make it fun.
It makes me sad and mad when people constantly bash Springfield for being lame and this and that and the other...It's only as bad as you make it. If you come in open-minded and willing to make to friends and have new experiences, you could just possibly have the time of your life. I know that I'm super excited to move to Phoenix soon, but I'm sure as hell going to miss CatchPhrase, downtown, and even the Hodeo when I leave. And most importantly I'm going to miss the amazing friends I've made here. They have truly made Springfield an amazing place to spend a few years, and I am so happy to have them all in my life.
Sunday, January 22, 2012
Saturday, January 14, 2012
The Beginning of the End
As per usual weekends in Springfield, we decided to venture downtown and see if anything exciting was happening. The cardinals caravan was in town, and I knew some of the players were supposed to be at one of the bars, so I kind of had an idea of where we should go.
Danny got off work at 10 and came to get his lady friends (Kathy & I) to chauffeur us around. We went to Trolleys, but there was hardly any crowd and no sign of the baseball players/future husband I was looking for. Danny and Kathy wouldn't stop complaining about how hungry they were so we ended up at TGI Fridays (on a Friday, HA!)
We finally went back to my house with intentions of watching movies and using my brain scratcher.
I've been realizing a lot lately, that this is the end. In just a few months we'll all (well mostly) be saying good bye to Springfield and I'm so sad that I'm going to be so far away from my amazing friends.
I remember this feeling from Truman. On the last night before graduation, I remember standing on the stage at Wrongdaddy's screaming the words to "I Love College" with my best friends and knowing that after the next day, our lives would never be the same. I'm still happy I get to talk to those girls occasionally even though one is married and pregnant, one is getting married, one lives in New Orleans, and one is in nursing school. We're certainly not those rambunctious sorority girls with nothing better to do with our lives than a Monday Night Power Hour!
I'm so excited to start a new chapter of my life in Phoenix and I truly love moving to a new city and starting fresh, but at the same time, I know I'm going to have that moment where I'm screaming "I Love College" and bawling my eyes out over saying good-bye to Springfield. This time I just already know its coming.
Danny got off work at 10 and came to get his lady friends (Kathy & I) to chauffeur us around. We went to Trolleys, but there was hardly any crowd and no sign of the baseball players/future husband I was looking for. Danny and Kathy wouldn't stop complaining about how hungry they were so we ended up at TGI Fridays (on a Friday, HA!)
I've been realizing a lot lately, that this is the end. In just a few months we'll all (well mostly) be saying good bye to Springfield and I'm so sad that I'm going to be so far away from my amazing friends.
I remember this feeling from Truman. On the last night before graduation, I remember standing on the stage at Wrongdaddy's screaming the words to "I Love College" with my best friends and knowing that after the next day, our lives would never be the same. I'm still happy I get to talk to those girls occasionally even though one is married and pregnant, one is getting married, one lives in New Orleans, and one is in nursing school. We're certainly not those rambunctious sorority girls with nothing better to do with our lives than a Monday Night Power Hour!
I'm so excited to start a new chapter of my life in Phoenix and I truly love moving to a new city and starting fresh, but at the same time, I know I'm going to have that moment where I'm screaming "I Love College" and bawling my eyes out over saying good-bye to Springfield. This time I just already know its coming.
Thursday, January 5, 2012
Karma Schmarma
So I don't know if I ever believed in karma before some recent events, but the way my life has unfolded during 2011 makes me wonder if the way we treat other people truly reflects on how people treat us. I'm not really talking about myself in this instance. Granted, there have been times when I have been a less than stellar friend, daughter, student, etc., but in general I think I'm a pretty good person, and would do just about anything to help out someone in need. I'm such a sucker for school kids selling things, and even though I'm broke, I always try and throw a few dollars in the collection plate on Sunday. I'm really working on myself to be someone that everyone wants to be friends with.
Some people, I have learned, could care less about anyone else on this planet, as long as they are receiving self-gratification. I'm not going to use any real names in this story, but my close friends will probably know who all the "main characters" are.
In the springtime, I met this guy at a bar. He seemed pretty nice, it was kind of whatever. I was fresh out of a relationship, and not really looking to settle down with anyone at this time. For this story, we'll just refer to him as X. I hung out with X every now and then for a couple months. Nothing serious, usually just meeting up at a bar or restaurant for a drink. Over those few month's I began to meet some friends of X. His best friend and partner in crime being Y. X & Y went everywhere and always partied together.
There were times when X would not invite me out to do things because "Y didn't particularly like having me around because I ruined their chances to pick up other girls" Whatever, I wasn't in a relationship with X, and I wasn't sitting around waiting for anything to happen. I was going out with my friends, doing my own thing, and having a great time.
One night I was out with X and he had 2 new friends. Z & W. He told me that Z & W were new to town, and Z just happened to be Y's brother. They were fun for sure, and I introduced them to the rest of my friends.
I had heard rumors that X was a shady gator, but since I didn't really have any feelings invested I didn't really care what he did on his own time. He, however, found out that I was not sitting at home twiddling my thumbs the whole time he was out doing other things, and that made him mad enough to never want to talk to me.
During the time I wasn't really talking to X or Y, I continued to have fun and do my own thing. Over the summer Y began to date a girl named G. G was friends with a girl who happened to be "in a relationship" with X. No one except a very select few (not me) knew that X had a girlfriend. Y confronted G's friend about X's activity and she did not believe he would do the things he did. Y decided he could no longer be friends with someone that would treat their girlfriend so poorly.
Finally, with X out of the picture, I began to hang out with Y and G a lot more. Z was around a lot too. The only person that would really hang out with X was W. W and X only lasted as friends for a few weeks, because X did some unfriendly things to him too.
So hear I am, almost a year after the fact, and I am so happy to be such good friends with Y & G (who are a super cute couple) and Z. W is still around, but kind of doing his own thing. I just think its the pure definition that if you treat people badly, it will come back and haunt you.
This is just a very very quick story of the last year, but I've never seen more clearly how true karma is. We've talked so much about writing a book about this last year, because so many things have happened, so I guess this is the first step. Just getting the words out so I don't forget.
Some people, I have learned, could care less about anyone else on this planet, as long as they are receiving self-gratification. I'm not going to use any real names in this story, but my close friends will probably know who all the "main characters" are.
In the springtime, I met this guy at a bar. He seemed pretty nice, it was kind of whatever. I was fresh out of a relationship, and not really looking to settle down with anyone at this time. For this story, we'll just refer to him as X. I hung out with X every now and then for a couple months. Nothing serious, usually just meeting up at a bar or restaurant for a drink. Over those few month's I began to meet some friends of X. His best friend and partner in crime being Y. X & Y went everywhere and always partied together.
There were times when X would not invite me out to do things because "Y didn't particularly like having me around because I ruined their chances to pick up other girls" Whatever, I wasn't in a relationship with X, and I wasn't sitting around waiting for anything to happen. I was going out with my friends, doing my own thing, and having a great time.
One night I was out with X and he had 2 new friends. Z & W. He told me that Z & W were new to town, and Z just happened to be Y's brother. They were fun for sure, and I introduced them to the rest of my friends.
I had heard rumors that X was a shady gator, but since I didn't really have any feelings invested I didn't really care what he did on his own time. He, however, found out that I was not sitting at home twiddling my thumbs the whole time he was out doing other things, and that made him mad enough to never want to talk to me.
During the time I wasn't really talking to X or Y, I continued to have fun and do my own thing. Over the summer Y began to date a girl named G. G was friends with a girl who happened to be "in a relationship" with X. No one except a very select few (not me) knew that X had a girlfriend. Y confronted G's friend about X's activity and she did not believe he would do the things he did. Y decided he could no longer be friends with someone that would treat their girlfriend so poorly.
Finally, with X out of the picture, I began to hang out with Y and G a lot more. Z was around a lot too. The only person that would really hang out with X was W. W and X only lasted as friends for a few weeks, because X did some unfriendly things to him too.
So hear I am, almost a year after the fact, and I am so happy to be such good friends with Y & G (who are a super cute couple) and Z. W is still around, but kind of doing his own thing. I just think its the pure definition that if you treat people badly, it will come back and haunt you.
This is just a very very quick story of the last year, but I've never seen more clearly how true karma is. We've talked so much about writing a book about this last year, because so many things have happened, so I guess this is the first step. Just getting the words out so I don't forget.
Sunday, January 1, 2012
Carb Fest Has Begun!
Typically everyone says they're going to eat healthier and get into shape at the beginning of a new year, and I hope to do that this year, however, that will have to wait a few days because carb fest has begun.
A few years ago, my aunt Kristen came down and spent the weekend with me in Springfield to do some Christmas shopping. It just so happened that we had bagels for breakfast, mall pretzels for lunch, and bread bowl pastas for dinner (which happened to be the first weekend we ever saw Jersey Shore). So it was deemed carb fest weekend.
She didn't make it down before Christmas this year, but we are still celebrating the annual holiday by doing some shopping and fun girly things. So far we've been to Big Whiskey's, Happy China, and of course Andy's! We're already making plans for tomorrow!
On another note, my New Year's Eve was wonderful. Doug, Celeste, and Danny came over for snacks and cocktails....we ended up playing Catchphrase which got ridiculously intense! We ended up at Midnight Rodeo as the clock struck 12, and after toasting and downing our champagne, Celeste insisted we "dance like idiots" so the first thing I did in 2012 was dance like an idiot around a bunch of strangers. Sounds like a great start to my year! 2011 was an amazing year for me, and I hope 2012 to be just as wonderful!
A few years ago, my aunt Kristen came down and spent the weekend with me in Springfield to do some Christmas shopping. It just so happened that we had bagels for breakfast, mall pretzels for lunch, and bread bowl pastas for dinner (which happened to be the first weekend we ever saw Jersey Shore). So it was deemed carb fest weekend.
She didn't make it down before Christmas this year, but we are still celebrating the annual holiday by doing some shopping and fun girly things. So far we've been to Big Whiskey's, Happy China, and of course Andy's! We're already making plans for tomorrow!
On another note, my New Year's Eve was wonderful. Doug, Celeste, and Danny came over for snacks and cocktails....we ended up playing Catchphrase which got ridiculously intense! We ended up at Midnight Rodeo as the clock struck 12, and after toasting and downing our champagne, Celeste insisted we "dance like idiots" so the first thing I did in 2012 was dance like an idiot around a bunch of strangers. Sounds like a great start to my year! 2011 was an amazing year for me, and I hope 2012 to be just as wonderful!
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