Character is (hopefully) not dead...

Being the anxious girl I am, I'm often a bit taken back by the world we live in. It can be a scary place. That being said, I feel like my life is pretty safe. I'm healthy, we live in a pretty quiet part of town, I married someone I knew for years before our relationship became romantic, and I am cautious by nature. I realize that any security is a false sense of security. Bad things happen unexpectedly all the time. I try to keep that in the corner of my mind. I like the idea of being more realistic and less surprised (about an hour after starting this blog I found out my identity was stolen...talk about timing...).

I tend to forget about my security, and how fortunate I am to have it. However, I was reminded last week while on my way to a concert with some older, single friends. We talked at length about romantic relationships, and how much harder they are when you're older. I was only 24 when Matt and I were married. He was my first serious boyfriend. I didn't go through any heartache, or break-ups. Again, my life has been safe. For these girls--they've endured the fix-ups, the comments about "not getting any younger" (which is annoying--Matt and I get that one all the time because we don't have kids), the assumptions that they are now too "set in their ways" for a relationship. Not to mention the bad dates with weird guys. I never considered how it is to find a good relationship.


All that being said, I don't believe character is dead. When I think about these awesome women, I remember that there are probably some really awesome single men that have had their share of comments, and bad experiences too. More than anything though, I think that these women will be just fine even if they never find that guy. They are independent, creative, smart and wonderful people. They go out and have fun, and are happy! Their singleness is not built on dysfunction, but that they'd rather be single than settle. I like that.

 I learned my own lesson from our concert-bound conversation. That we have a choice to be happy and live a good life despite our circumstances. Waiting around for things to change and not allowing ourselves to enjoy the right now is a waste of a good life. Thank you my sweet, amazing single friends! You rock!

New Adventures in Home Ownership!

Being a home-owner is pretty sweet. Sure, it is fraught with hard work. Evidenced by forgetting our new trash schedule, our sink backing up into our bathtub, and waking up to half of our walnut tree in the street. That being said, it has been a huge answer to prayer. For years we weren't really sure where we wanted to end up. While we know Stockton is not going to be our forever home, we still have some years here. We were definitely growing out of apartment life, and I was sure tired of half of our belongings living in storage. Our dogs were practically begging for a bigger yard, Matt needed some garage space, I wanted an area to be crafty (thanks Pinterest), and since the "will we or won't we" baby talk officially begun, it was a no-brainer.

After everything we went through to get this house, I could cry every time we walk in the door. I wake up so thankful that it's really ours. It's glorious, albeit humble, but it is ours. While I'm really looking forward to the day when I feel like the work is finished, We are enjoying the process. It really is a ton of fun! As long as our air conditioner keeps pumping out cold air (can you believe this HOT weather?) I will continue to love our little house!