Finding a Balance

When I was single I did what I wanted, when I wanted. Spent time with my friends, went to work, cooked myself dinner. Everything. Now that I am in a relationship I spend most of my time with my boyfriend; I guess maybe because it is still a relatively new relationship.

But, I know from experience that he can not be my whole life. I don't want him to. I don't want to lose my friends or myself. He wouldn't want me to either.

So, right now I'm struggling to find a balance. I say struggle because for some reason or another, I'm having a hard time with it. I absolutely do not want to be like that friend that we all know that can't do anything without her boyfriend. That WILL NOT be me. But yet I am becoming her.

I also know that I want to be a better friend. I realized recently that a lot of what I know about my friend's lives is from their Twitter posts. I should not rely solely on their facebook/ twitter/ blog posts to inform me of how they are and whats going on in their lives.

It's all about finding a balance. A balance between all the loves in my life. My lovely lady friends, myself, my family and my wonderful boyfriend. I know tomorrow is February, but this is my new, new years resolution!

Since Faith totally called me out for not blogging enough... I suppose I better thank her for my awesome award :-) Thanks Faith for the Happy 101 Award. *tear* I didn't even have an acceptance speech prepared!


So as part of the Happy 101 here are the rules:

1) List 10 things that make you happy
2) Tag 10 bloggers that brighten your day
3) If you are one of the 10 bloggers awarded, link back to my blog and continue brightening people's day!

Ten things that make me happy:

1. The Beatles (I can tell what song it is just by the first note)
2. Coffee (I have no idea how else I would wake up in the morning)
3. When D calls me (yeah I still get excited)
4. Facebook (it's my job to be on it all day and I love it... not to mention Sorority Life... I really do like playing that game!)
5. Going out to eat (I love food)
6. Metallic blue 1965 Ford Mustang convertibles
   
7. My beautiful niece Zoe
8. When D tells me he loves me!
9. Spending quality time with my good friends
10. Making movies

10 bloggers that brighten my day

1. Chelsea from Chelsea Talks Smack
2. David from The Rest is Still Unwritten
3. Sleepy Jane
4. Jen at Welcome to the Jungle
5. A Damn Good Shot
6. Ashalah Blogs
7. Jenn at Living Life
8. Julie from The Ordinary Days
   
9. Stephanie at Bits and Pieces of My World
10. Erin from Mama Said No!
    

The Traveling Necklace

So many people ask me about this that I thought I would share the story on here.

A couple of years ago my Mom and I took a vacation to Santa Monica, CA for my cousin's wedding. One of the days that we were there we went shopping. And at a little boutique we both came across this necklace at the same time. We both REALLY liked it. So we bought it.



As some of you may or may not know my Mom and I live about 1000 miles away from each other and only see one another a couple of times a year. We are also really super close. Probably as close a mother and daughter could be.

So, when it came time for me to back to my end of the country and her to hers, we discussed who would get to keep the necklace. We both really like it and wanted to keep it. So, my Mom came up with an idea!

"Whenever we see each other, we will trade the necklace. For example if I have it when I go to visit her I will give it to her. Then next time we see each other she will give it to me. We call it the traveling necklace"

Both of us get SO many compliments on it. Even before people know the story behind it. It was probably less than $10 at a little boutique in Santa Monica that I can't even remember the name of, but yet it has come to mean so much; to both of us.

To Be Yourself is All that You Can Do

When I was growing up I thought that being liked and loved was the most important thing. In school, I was never the popular girl, the athletic person, or anything like that. Even if my so- called friends were mean to me, which happened a lot especially in middle school, I would just take it. In fear that I would be without friends. I would do anything to please them. And they took advantage of me.

As I grew older, I realized that if they were doing that then they weren't truly friends. Now at 25 almost 26 I don't have "friends" like that. But old habits don't die that easily.

I still have this complex that if I disagree or say something wrong that someone may not like me. Even people very close to me.

D tells me all the time that he loves me for me. But yet I still sometimes just want to agree with him when I don't. I'm not sure why. Perhaps it's a fear of him not liking me anymore and leaving.

It may sound like something so simple for some, but being myself all the time is something I really do struggle with.

I consider myself a very truthful person. I don't lie. I hate liars. Trust is the most important thing to me in a relationship, yet sometimes I find myself agreeing with things I don't agree with or don't know anything about. For what? Why do I do this? For things that are so small, minuscule.

Do you ever feel like you don't know yourself very well? That maybe some people know you better than you know yourself? What are some good ways to get to know yourself better?

A Brand New Year

Well hello 2010! You just kinda sprang outa nowhere. I know this is a very sorry excuse for a blog as of late. But when you blog as a career, it's hard to get the motivation to do it on your off time.

Well, it looks like it's a new decade as well. I really wish I had pictures from the past decade to include in this post like my friend Faith did. But that would require a scanner and a bunch of time. Unfortunately I have neither. It would have made a very interesting post though. Perhaps I will make it a project of mine for sometime this year.

Anyway, 2009 wasn't half bad. Actually half it sucked while the other half totally rocked. I honestly don't even remember the first half. Looking back at old posts, it looked like I talked about the same 3 things over and over. Boys, weight loss, and finding a job.

And then fate happened when my mom told me about a website called plentyoffish.com; a FREE dating website. What could be better than a single, poor chick looking for a guy? I dated some creepy interesting guys. But on one night in late July I had a date with a guy. A guy I would fall head over heels for. I know it's only been 5 months, but I seriously feel like I have known him forever. He treats me exactly the way I want/ deserve to be treated. I can't wait to see what the future has in store for us.



And just as importantly I landed my first professional job! For almost a year before that I felt worthless and like my education was for not. What a horrible feeling after spending 6 years in college. My job is amazing! I feel like I am not only using my degree but learning new things in the process. The company is so good to me. I even got a paid vacation only after 3 months of working there. I feel appreciated and like the work I am doing is really helping the business profit.


Of course slipping into comfort zone with the BF has left me with some not so healthy eating habits. BUT I haven't gained back everything... some... not everything. But we both belong to a the same gym, so we are encouraging each other to start working out again. It's much easy with your partner by your side.

So here is to a new year, a new decade, and as always working towards a better ME!