Well I'm gonna be two days behind now. My cold decided to kick it up a notch the past few days and after going to St. Louis and back today all I can think is going to bed...again... I already took a 2 hour nap when we got home. My brain might be a little fuzzy from the cold medicine, too...

In other news, if I wasn't already married I would seriously consider a proposal from Bigelow's "Constant Comment" tea. We spend all our time together these days.

Nov. 7th- Kara

Nov 7th- Kara

There once was a girl, kind and fair
Who was blessed with flowing red hair
She's bossy and bold
But truer than gold
And she likes me even when my limericks don't rhyme.

Kara is my best friend.  That's what she told me when we were sophomores in college and stayed up late during the first week of school talking about boys and crushes. (Well, I think she actually said, "Do you want to be best friends? Let's be best friends!") I thought to myself that perhaps the moniker of best friend might be a bit early considering we'd only had about three conversations previous to this, but I'm kinda mellow, so I said, "ok" and it stuck. Kara and I didn't talk much our freshman year. I only have two memories of her, in fact, the first is that she was really loud and excited about going to the PhatBash (yes that's what it was called... such a bad name!) on our first night in the dorms, (And I was amazed by (and scared by) her, because how could someone feel so comfortable so quickly? *I* felt like a turtle in a ball pit. -Totally out of place and sinking fast.) The second memory I have is her trying to teach me Hebrew on a napkin when I was totally uninterested. Then our sophomore year we ended up in the same suite by a random series of coincidences and the rest is history.

Kara and I have come a long way since, then. She is one of the few people outside my family who can read me accurately, and who knows when I'm upset even when I try to hide it. Kara and I are not very similar... but I think we are very complimentary. She is pretty intense and bossy (in a good way!) and I am pretty low key and can't make decisions, but love going along for the ride. She has emotional responses which help me recognize when someone was out of line or offensive, and I can encourage her to wait to confront someone until the next day. Basically she's the rabbit and I'm the turtle and when they work together they both finish the race in record time. I think the one place where we do line up nicely is our sense of humor. We pretty much think all of the same things are funny. OK, I may never have her appreciation for Kristen Wiig from SNL, and she may never share my love of the Pioneer Woman, but other than that we are good.

Only a couple of white girls with the same sense of humor could pose as such believable thugs

Have you ever played the "which character would I be" game? Basically you take an ensemble cast (like Friends) and cast yourself and your friends in the roles. One of the nicest things about Kara is that she always seems to cast me as the lead character. I know it doesn't necessarily seem like much, but people are usually pretty self focused, and when a show revolves more around one character, that is the character that people naturally put themselves into... But Kara doesn't do that. With Friends, she thinks I'm Rachel. I'm also Frodo, to her Sam, Harry to her Ron, and Diana to her Anne. (Ok I know that Anne is actually the main character in that last one, but come on! A red-head with a tendency towards emotional reactions and dramatics...and a dark headed bosom friend who basically goes along with everything she says.. LM Montgomery was pretty much writing about the two of us!)

Kara is always there when I need someone to help me shop for clothes, or a sympathetic ear, or an encouragement. She always seems to know exactly what to say (and what not to say) when I'm upset, and I know that I can trust her to assume the best about me. She is very good at talking and filling the silence, so that I don't have to come up with things to say, but listening when I do have something. She knows I hate to drive, so she always does. (In fact she's even coming with us to St. Louis tomorrow, so that I won't have to drive as much!) She doesn't mind that I don't like politics or that I hate intellectual arguing, even though she loves them, and she has been a crucial member of my support system in the past year.

Neither Kara nor I are very touchy... Some people are touchy people, some aren't and we are the latter. One time we were on a walk and I was demonstrating something and I had to touch her arm and so I did... and then it was silent for about 30 seconds and then we both started talking about how it was weird. So Kara and I don't really hug or anything... instead we talk about our forever friendship... and usually as dramatically as possible, because I wasn't joking about identifying with Anne and Diana (I'm terribly sorry to all the boys out there who have never read Anne of Green Gables. Maybe you should go rent the movie with Megan Follows, I swear it's not as bad as you think it is.) Here is an excerpt from an e-mail Kara sent me not long after Nathan was diagnosed, she might be a little embarrassed that I put this in here... but I think it shows how incredible of a friend Kara is to me.

"So you just keep in your head that there's nothing you can ask me for that could be harder than what you're facing, so you owe it to me to ask and to give me as much of the load as can be given.  Even then, it will be so little. 
Just to make sure you don't forget, you are my best friend and I am your best friend.  And we decided all that a long time ago, but we didn't swear an oath like Anne and Diana, so I just wanted to do that now:
Just like Anne, and pretend we're holding hands over running water: I solemnly swear to be faithful to my bosom friend, Renee Dunn, as long as the sun and moon shall endure."

Yes, dramatic but that doesn't make it any less heartfelt, and it still makes me tear up. I'm so incredibly grateful for such an amazing friend.

Nov 6th- Ron and Linda

Nov. 6th - Ron and Linda

Today I'm very grateful for Nathan's aunt and uncle who live here in Springfield. I swear I didn't marry Nathan for his family, but they sure are some fantastic perks! Ron and Linda have opened their home to us on many occasions. Nathan stayed with them several times during college. Over the summers, before he got his apartment and even during the great Ice Storm of 2007. Actually he, myself, and another friend all stayed there during the ice storm and it was great because they had power, heat, and even cable. Because of them, I actually really enjoyed the ice storm. It was like a mini vacation! Their house is a home away from home when we are on the south side of town and in need of somewhere to hang out for a few hours (or last year if I needed to get away from the hospital to take a nap), and they have hosted my family several times, because our tiny apartment doesn't exactly have a guest room. Beyond that, they even loaned us a recliner this weekend so that Nathan can sleep better. Laying down is really hard on his back and he had been only getting 3 hours or so a night. Last night, because of the recliner, he got six!

Linda is very thoughtful. She always remembers to send out cards for special occasions (or just cause), even though I can never seem to remember to reciprocate. She keeps her house in nearly spotless condition, and has gotten the perfect Thanksgiving turkey down to a science. She is also (apparently) a fantastic Words with Friends (aka Scrabble on the iPhone) player, though I only know this from Paula, who holds her two victories against Linda as great accomplishments (even though one was an accidental resignation). She is incredibly nice and always willing to help out in any way she can. (Though she does have a secret competitive streak... She is the reason I know that one of Paula's victories was an accidental resignation... and that it was Ron on her phone who accidentally resigned.) Linda is also the picture taking impetus at all family functions and it's very rare to have 3 or more family sets gathered together without getting at least one group shot.

Thanksgiving- last year

I love Ron's sense of humor. He and Paula are hilarious to watch together because they both tease each other mercilessly. Ron has the family reputation of cheating at cards... though I can't say that I've ever witnessed him actually cheating... just playing with good strategy. The rest of the family would probably say the reason why I've never seen him is just he's that good at it... but let's just say that Paula is not the only person who likes to tease Ron... or vice versa. Ron loves Arkansas football, band(s), and people, and he has a wonderful talent at drawing people in and making them feel comfortable. Ron asked me all about where I was from and my family on that first Thanksgiving that I crashed, and even remembered the information a year later when I came back.

Actually, in a very indirect way, Ron and Linda are the reason that Nathan and I met in the first place. Without them, Nathan probably wouldn't have applied to SMS and he definitely wouldn't have made the presidential scholarship application deadline (which he subsequently got). They are just constantly looking out for us, and I know that we could ask them for anything in their power and they would make it happen... right down to letting us take the furniture from their house! Basically Ron and Linda are some of the kindest people I know and I'm so grateful to have married into such an incredible family.

Nov. 5th- Bill and Paula

So, you may have noticed I didn't write a double doozy last night... and tonight is not looking too promising either.... perhaps tomorrow? I promise to get caught up... eventually!

Nov. 5th- Bill and Paula
I got really lucky with my in-laws. There are so many horror stories out there of horrible in-laws, and if half of them are true then I firmly believe I hit the jackpot. Not only did they raise the incredible guy I call my husband, but they love me like a daughter as well. They have both been so supportive of me, our marriage and Nathan as we have gone through the past year.

Bill is pretty much the closest thing to a human teddy bear there is. He's so sweet and like my own dad, the strong silent type. Bill is also a workaholic, like my dad. He works for the postal service and has for longer than I've been alive. He has some good stories of things he has encountered over the years, including an old lady that gave him alcohol for thank you presents. (Bill and Paula don't drink.) They used the beer as slug killer and I'm not sure what they did with the other stuff. He loves electronics and gadgets and many a time he has tried out some device only to buy one for us after being impressed with it. (Or buying one for himself, too, if he was just researching for us!!) He is very thoughtful and always thinking ahead. This does tend to make him a worrier, but as one myself, I can relate. Bill always pays attention to the names of the waitstaff when we are in a restaurant. This is a habit that Nathan has learned from him over the years and I think it's so nice. I'm sure the waiters/waitresses appreciate being remembered as well.

Paula is a spitfire. She is constantly doing something, be it Words with Friends on her iPhone, or getting things done around the house, or even just reading a book- she puts everything she is into the task at hand. She has a great sense of humor, and we have gotten pretty close over the past year. There is just something about getting lost in the streets of St. Louis and ending up at the closed zoo that will really bond a mother and daughter-in-law- especially when it ends in White Castle, which are officially the grossest hamburgers known to man. She stayed in Springfield last year from the end of Sept to the end of Nov while Nathan was in the hospital and was able to take leave to stay with Nathan during the bone marrow transplant and immediate recovery period when he had to be in St. Louis. I don't know what we would have done without her. The picture above was taken at the Corn maze this year. Paula had been reading books to her students (she's a school librarian) about corn mazes and got really excited about them, so when she heard we had one she decided to come up for a visit. Unfortunately this foray into the maze ended in disaster, as she stepped on a corn cob which rolled right out from under her. She got a couple of cuts on her chin and hand and sprained some ligaments in her arm, meaning she had to wear a sling for like a week and take a whole lot of Tylenol. After we got out of the maze, we ended up having to go to Urgent Care for her. But the thing she was really upset about was "ruining our fun."

I haven't had as much time with Bill and Paula to amass a story trove like I did for my immediate family, but here a few goodies. Bill brought home a white kitten and named it Shadow. Sometimes, Bill creates different names in his head, and one time he called the cat Snowball, but it's name is Shadow. I digress. Anyway, one day Paula came home to find Bill wrapping up his toe, which was bleeding quite a bit. He had other scratches, too. She asked him what happened and he replied, "Well.... turns out Shadow doesn't like being vacuumed."

Did you get that?

He tried to vacuum the cat.

But you know, I may be getting the story wrong... because Bill learned the hard way that Shadow doesn't like to take showers, either.

 Paula was there for the best New Years party to ever take place inside a hospital. This story shall mainly be told via pictures. It included much sparkling grape juice and nurses.

 and scarf twirling
















Drs orders to wear party hats

 And people who didn't need no stinkin' orders












 A 1AM trip to the cafeteria- (Nathan came, too!)

And this face... Which was pretty much worth the price of admission on it's own.

Nov 4th- Dad

You may note that it is in fact November 5th. Here's the thing. I write my blogs late at night.... normally I start at around 11 or midnight... only last night I came home at 9:30 with a bad headache and took some Excedrin,  made some tea, sat down on the couch in the office and pretty much fell asleep within minutes. (I laugh in the face of caffeine!) I only woke up once to gulp down some more tea, and then at 11 for a few minutes to help Nathan get to bed.. (He's not moving too easily these days.) Then I went to my actual bed and continued the snooze fest. Granted I could have written when I woke up this morning, but it just felt weird, so I decided to pull a double doozy tonight, though I shall give each person their own blog post.

Nov 4th- Dad

You ever hear someone discussing the "strong, silent type?" They are pretty much talking about my dad. My dad is the eldest of 9 children and I think that growing up he learned a few things. 1) Eat fast and 2) Talking isn't really necessary unless you have something to say. He had some kidney stones at one point when I was growing up, so he slowed down the eating some, but the second is pretty much the same. If my dad calls me, I immediately get worried, because we do not talk on the phone... It's happened about 2 times since I went to college and  they both involved a serious illness in the family. Don't get me wrong, he can talk for a long time about things he knows about... Big A's/ fertilizer and internet recipe websites and turkey bone sleds. (I unfortunately wasn't paying enough attention during the discussion of that last thing, so all I know is that my father knows something about making (miniature? life sized?) sleds from the bones of turkeys.) It is also worth noting that my Dad is very smart. His father got very sick when Dad was in high school and passed away a few years after he graduated, so he doesn't have a college education. Too busy trying to keep the family farm/business going, to have a chance to go off to school. I asked my Dad what he would have done if he had been able to go to college and he wasn't totally sure, but mentioned being a doctor. He definitely could have been. Apparently he and Mom used to clean up on Trivial Pursuit nights with friends. My dad really likes to read, but doesn't really own any books. He just picks up whatever other people are reading... and if they want it he hands it over and if he never finishes, he doesn't seem to mind. (That would drive me bonkers!) He does collect and read (not in the bathroom) the "Uncle John's Bathroom Readers." It's all the disparate bits of knowledge. They call to him.

Living in a house with all girls he did have a tendency to get teased quite a bit when we were growing up, but my father is the mellow-est person I know. He "just goes with the flow." I think I've seen him get mad about 5 times in my life- Normally when Rhonda and I weren't doing something that he told us to do about 20 times in a row. I think this is because he has a very active imagination... at least I assume it's imagination that makes him jump and duck and jerk around when he's watching a fight/action scene in a movie. Yeah, that is pretty hilarious to watch. My Dad does a lot of the cooking at home, and he (and myself, growing up) were the bakers in the family... but he always does the harder things...Cinnamon rolls, regular rolls, pie crust, ect. Dad's "cornmeal" rolls are incredible. (They just have a little bit of corn meal in them, they are not cornbread or anything) and his coconut cream pie, is about the most delicious thing on the planet... (though I have to wheedle pretty hard for that one, cause it's a lot of work/ time consuming.) He's a jack of all trades- part electrician, carpenter, chef, mechanic, and professional computer solitaire player...if such a thing existed. He's a workaholic and his only condition for Nathan marrying me was that we "try to avoid the busy season" (We did the best we could but since I was teaching at the time we had to get married during the tail end of it.)

Dad has a presence. It has some to do with his height and strength, but it isn't just that. He has the biggest hands of nearly anyone I know. I'm not sure how that lends to his presence, just trust me on this one. He's larger than life and sometimes stories about him sound like tall tales. For example: My father has fallen off a grain bin. In case you are not familiar, this is what a grain bin looks like

They vary in height, and that is a smallish one, but it's got the right kind of ladder for the story. I have no clue how tall the one in question was. You see he was on top of a grain bin... I'm not really sure what he was doing-- Hooking something up, probably. Then when he went to get back down the side he missed a step on the ladder and couldn't catch himself and went tumbling. Oh and see the concrete pad there? Pretty much all grain bins are on concrete pads like that and this was no exception. In fact I think the concrete pad may have been built father off of the ground than that one and he hit the edge(?) of it... with his face. I've never visited the scene of the fall, so I'm not totally sure. Anyway my dad fell off and walked away without a scratch! .... ok not true at all... that really was a tall tale. He did fall off and hit some sort of concrete with his face, though. He broke bones in his foot and his hand, knocked out several teeth and had to have his jaw wired shut for several weeks. Now he has fake teeth. Seriously how many people can say they have dentures because of a grain bin fall? I pretty much think my Dad is a super hero. He even has the Clark Kent hair.

Nov 3rd- Mom

So I read it over today and thought that yesterday's entry was less than well written.. Sorry about that. I shall attempt to do better from here on out!

Nov. 3rd- Mom

Mom's senior picture. She's so cute!

Today I am thankful for my Mom. I have a really supportive mother... It's odd because it's actually ridiculously hard to get an opinion out of her. Seriously, ask the woman about your hairstyle or politics or what she wants to do when she visits and ya get nothin'. Ask her opinion on chocolate, though and it's another matter. But because she doesn't always speak her mind, it also means that I've never heard her say that there is anything I can't do. Well, besides touch a hot stove, but it was really more of a shouldn't and I kinda think she was right on that one. My mom believes in me, and because of that I work hard to live up to her expectations. She came to every play, every concert, every event, all through elementary and highschool and when I decided to go to college for Musical Theatre (a perhaps less than practical major, dare I say?) she supported that just as she did everything else. Mom loves to brag about her kids. She loves showing off our accomplishments and that has always made me feel very special. I remember in kindergarten overhearing Mom discussing my "grades" with someone. She made a huge deal out of the fact that I had recieved all "E's" on my report card. I'm pretty sure that most kindergarteners get all E's but she sounded so proud of me that I thought I was really something special. I'm pretty sure I became an honor's student as a direct result and I hope to repeat that when I have children someday.

My mom is kinda quirky, like me. She likes to collects things- for instance she collects magnets. and when I say "collects" I mean that she had my dad install painted metal sheeting above the wainscotting in their kitchen so that she could cover all the available space with them. (Before she had to use cookie sheets and there was wasted space!) She also loves to craft, and if you ever come to my apartment you will see a gorgeous counted cross-stitch picture she made for me that took her 3 years (off and on) to make. She carries a bag with her wherever she goes that has her current projects, and I'm pretty sure that every member of my extended family has a picture somewhere of something she made. Mom made Rhonda and I a Barbie RV out of plastic canvas.

It was epic. She furnished several Barbie rooms with plastic canvas furniture, too. Oh, and did I mention that she used to tape Jeopardy? I don't know if she still does or not, but I wouldn't be surprised.

My mother is the person who introduced me to musicals. She is the reason I fell in love with theatre, but that's not all I got from her. We share a love of television (though Mom is more TLC and I'm more Bravo), a love of reading (Agatha Christie- her, Mercedes Lackey- me), a sense of determination that more than nudges up against the line between it and stubbornness, and a love of brain teasers and logic problems. The most important thing I think I learned from my mom (and a few other ladies I will be mentioning later this month, I am sure) is a sense of self confidence. I know I'm not perfect, but I also know that I'm a pretty good person. I'm not thin, but I think I'm still beautiful. I'm not Einstein, but I'm still smart. I'm not Rembrandt, Cezanne, or Monet, but I have artistic talent. I'm ridiculously shy and I make horrible first impressions, but I'm definitely worth knowing. And the reason I know all that is that I have a mom who knew all that and taught it to me.

Nathan asked my parents permission to ask me to marry him. And after he proposed to me at sunrise that July morning in Arkansas, I started calling a lot of different people. Mom was the first on the list- if for no other reason, because I knew she would be up that early! So I called her, and said, "Mom, I'm engaged!" and she said, happily, but matter of factly, "I know." I'm not quite sure why but I feel like that story encompasses so much of my mom. Well, that story and this picture...

Ok, mainly just the story, I just think this accidental picture I took is hilarious... and yes, she made that latch-hook in the background... it's part of her nativity collection which you can see on the shelves that are right next to it.

November 2nd- Rhonda

Today I am grateful for my "baby" sister. I know that she is actually only 18 months younger than me and I can't actually remember a time when she wasn't around, but I still like to call her baby. I think it's a complex of the eldest. Rhonda and I don't look anything alike. Mom maintains that we have the same eye shape but basically I think Rhonda takes after the Carneys (Mom's side) and I take after the Millers (Dad's side). She's always been a tiny little thing and I'm the more... robust model. She won a cutest baby contest - I only came in 1st runner up (different contests, different years.) I look young for my age, but Rhonda still gets asked if her parents are home by salesmen who come to her house. (She has two children of her own!) Growing up, Rhonda and I fought like crazy. Being only 18 months apart can do that. Plus she had a pretty serious temper when she was little... Rhonda is how I learned to remain calm... because nothing drove her crazier than for her to be spittin' mad and for me to just be looking at her with no emotion. It probably didn't help that I was always stronger than her, too, so I could just wrap my arms around her and hold her still. Rhonda is also the reason I can sing in with the guy in most songs. She would yell at me if I didn't sing the song the way it was "supposed" to be- heck she's probably the reason I'm such a mimic, too. When Rhonda is startled she makes a high pitched squeal, and so I nick-named her Squeaker. (Yes, I was very creative and witty, I know) I loved to cause this. When we would clean our rooms I would pick up a bag or a purse or something and start talking to her, and then casually look down into the bag and then yell as if there was something (mouse, spider, whatever) inside and throw it at her... she was scared every single time. Or if I was cleaning  my contacts I would use my cleaning solution bottle as a squirt gun when she walked past. I pretty much took tormenting as a full time occupation. Don't you worry, she gave it back as well, she just never gave me a nickname... unless "idjit" counts. Today our lives are pretty much nothing alike, and we live 5 hours apart, but we both know that the other one is always gonna be there when we need them. We are pretty similar in how we think and make a fearsome Taboo team (did I mention that Rhonda is the only person I know who loves games as much as I do? Actually I think she loves them more.) I'm so incredibly glad to have a sister, to have someone who is so similar but so different from me and knows me so well. I feel very strongly that I need to have more than one child when that time comes because I know how much of a blessing my sister is to me. Story time!

When I was in HS and Rhonda was in Jr. High we rode the bus. I was 18 before I got my license, but I think I wasn't old enough to have it at this particular time anyway. One day mom had work at 3:30 AM (She works in the kitchen of a nursing home/hospital.)  Dad had to go in early, too for some reason, so he made sure that we were up and then left. We got ready to go and then went out to catch the bus. Something of import is that our house has a semi-long driveway, and you can't see the bus coming until you (or it) are at the end of it. Usually in the winter we would sit inside and wait for the bus, because it gets awfully cold at the end of the driveway at 7 in the morning. This day either we were running late and didn't know it or the bus was running early- either way we missed it. We went outside eventually and waited and waited, but the bus never showed up, so finally we gave up...I didn't know what to do. I felt like it was all my fault and I don't like being in trouble. Especially when I didn't mean to do something wrong. So outside in the cold, waiting and giving up on the bus I started crying. I know, what a big 15 year old baby! (I was totally a goody-two shoes growing up.) There was no way to fix this. Our parents were gone and thus the cars were gone, so we had to stay home. I was so upset and silently dreading calling my mom and telling her, crying as we walked into the house and then Rhonda in all her 14 year old glory went and picked up the phone and called Mom to let her know what happened either of us saying a word to the other. I don't think Mom was really all that mad, and I was able to calm down and eventually enjoy our impromptu free day, but I still remember how grateful I was to Rhonda for making that call so I didn't have to.
  She's pretty much the best sister I know.... and she makes cute babies, too.

November 1st- Nathan

I suppose it is a bit cliche to use my husband as the first person I'm grateful for, but it's true. There have been several times when we weren't sure what the future was going to hold for us... especially in the last year, and I don't think I will ever stop being grateful for every day that I see his handsome mug. Cancer and it's possible outcomes are not something that anyone should ever have to face... especially at 24 years old, but those who do, know how daunting just living out each day can seem, and how unspeakably glad you are to see progress and hope. And Nathan has soldiered on with such strength and endurance and a smile (though I know that sometimes he could only have been smiling with his outside). And when it comes right down to it, what concerns him the most is not his health- but me. He wants to make sure I'm ok. He wants to protect me. He wants to comfort and take care of me. I don't know that I have done anything to deserve that kind of love, but I sincerely hope I can live up to it. I didn't date in high school. Heck, I didn't really even date in college.... I just fell head over heels for my first real boyfriend and never looked back. I don't think I made a mistake, though. I mean any guy who will write you a haiku for every hour of your anniversary is pretty darn special... especially when he actually writes you 25 because he knows you will be bummed out at midnight the day after your anniversary.

There is so little I can actually do to help Nathan when he is hurt or not feeling well, but I do all that I can, and long to take some of it away. I miss pre-cancer, but I wouldn't give him up for anything. I don't know anyone else who laughs as hard at my jokes or thinks I'm as adorable or appreciates me just as I am. I don't even know what story to tell because there are so many. I guess I will tell the story of when I realized that Nathan was someone special... I apologize if you've heard this story umpteen times, I think it's one of my favorites, and appropriately it happened on Thanksgiving. I'm not really sure if this took place on Thanksgiving of 2003 or 2004 (I think 2004 but I can't guarantee it)- regardless we were living in Scholars. I worked the front desk the Tuesday night before Thanksgiving so I didn't leave for home until Wednesday morning. Unfortunately, I had really really bad luck with cars in college and I got to Lebanon and then my car broke down. It broke down so hard the mechanic told me I would be better off buying a new car rather than getting this one fixed. So I was stranded in Lebanon, and used AAA to tow myself and my car back to Springfield. Obviously, I was devastated by not being able to go home for Thanksgiving, and I didn't know what to do. After going to my room and crying for a while I decided to see if anyone was still in the dorm. It was mainly deserted but I knew that Nathan's plans meant that he was still around. I went down to his room and knocked and his suite mate was still there. We chatted for a few seconds and then Nathan came out of his room, where he'd been sleeping. He saw me and looked really confused and asked me why I was still there....and I gave a really fast answer and bolted from their room cause I was about to start crying. He followed me and gave me a hug and told me that I was going to come to his family's Thanksgiving and that I shouldn't even try to argue, because there was no use. He was going to call his mom, right now, and let her know. So I went and though I missed my family, his family was very sweet to me and so welcoming to an unexpected stranger who was crashing their event. I had a great time and never felt like an outsider or unwelcome in the slightest. That Thanksgiving went from the worst one ever to my fondest Thanksgiving memory, because of one man. How could I not be grateful for him? And the next year (or maybe the one after?) I came back as his girlfriend, then as his fiance, and then as his wife. How's that for a romantic comedy montage?

The People Project

I've got an ambitious new project for November. November is known for 2 things: Thanksgiving and writing.... oh you didn't know? Well, November is National Novel writing month. Also, one of those facebook theme/dares for the past few years is to post something that you are thankful for each day. Last year a friend of mine took it a step further and wrote each day about a person he is thankful for. I thought that was really nice and I enjoyed reading about the person that he chose each day. So I decided to blatantly rip him off (thanks Rob!). Each day in November I'm going to highlight a different person or persons... There are only 30 days and I'm thankful for way more than thirty persons, so sometimes people will have to share days. They will not be given in any sort of order, and just because someone shares a day doesn't mean that I don't think they are any less important. I just want to share memories of people and highlight how grateful I am for the people I've come across in life.... so without further ado...