My Expertise

I have been married a bit over 7 months now, thus I am an expert on marriage.

I'm an expert on shutting up (but I'm not an expert on when to do it)
I'm an expert on playing nice (sometimes)
I'm an expert on not doing dishes
I'm an expert on trying not to gag when I try to clean the toilet
I'm an expert on smiling when I think I might just destroy every living thing in my apartment (building on occasion)
I'm an expert on tickling my husband until we fall asleep
I'm an expert at stealing the remote effectively controlling the DVR and volume
... and so many other things.

TWLOHA

Have you guys heard of, To Write Love on Her Arms?

If you haven't, then I vote you check out that link. TWLOHA is to raise awareness about suicide. It's to create a community. It's to give hope. It's to awaken people to what's going on around them. It's to connect people to resources. It's incredible.

And I'm at their conference today and tomorrow.

See, a friend of mine asked me if I was planning on going. I didn't know they were coming, I responded. I then checked out the website. However, it costs $125 to attend. [insert painful sound]. But, one thing my parents taught me was that asking never hurts and you'd always wonder... so I emailed them. And Kaitlyn got back to me and worked with me on a price which was super affordable for me to go. Because they're amazing and they *want* students involved.

So, I'm going!

Move Community Conferences from To Write Love on Her Arms. on Vimeo.

TWO MINUTES?!

Don't you ever feel this way? I know that in just turning on my computer my husband probably heard the painful squeals of, "Why are you taking so long?!? 30 seconds is tooooooo loooooooooong."

One of my favorite dad quotes: "Why won't this microwave speed up?"

I could go into all of my societal complaints about how we expect too much in too little time and blah blah, but rather, I'll just wish you a happy Thursday!

Self-Care

I get a challenge weekly from different people. They don't actually know that they've given me a challenge -- for example my best friend doesn't call me and say, Nicole! This is what you have to do this week! -- but I get them anyway. Typically it's a great conversation which I make into something more, counselor style.

So, this week's challenge for me is to find ways I take care of myself.

I have a problem. And this problem is that I take care of everyone, EVERYONE, but me. Oops. So when I was talking with a friend about how t.i.r.e.d. I am, she asked me, "well, what do you do to rejuvenate yourself?" Um... [insert crickets]

Thus, my challenge this week is to figure out what I do to replenish my spirits (how many different synonyms can I use..?)

Here's the start of that list:
-swimming
-singing loudly and probably badly
-reading
-eating food

What do y'all do?

Things in my home...

...which make me happy:

1. Polka Dots in the Bathroom


2. An iPod Dock for internet music


3. Our dining room table which is completely ours


4. Window air conditioning units


5. My grow license plate sign

Then

Here we go again.

I used to blog about my wedding. Then I stopped. We got married and I didn't know what to do next.

Then it was time for finals, of the fall variety. Then it was time for for the next semester. Then we moved. Then I started summer classes. Then I was working 40/80 hour weeks. Then I couldn't find a blog name I liked. Then we were broke. Then we had money. Then, then, then... I then decided there never would be a good time to blog so screw it. Here we are.

I don't have a vision for this blog at all. It's just going to be my thoughts and such. I suppose we'll just figure it out as we go.