Dear 2013

Dear 2013,

First off, let me apologize for the anticlimactic way we met.  I'm sure you deserve better than a groggy Tylenol PM-induced zombie sleep hug.  I'll make it up to you, I swear!

I've decided to make this the year of openness.  To be open with my feelings, open to new experiences (not the blank check of yes that I wrote a couple years ago, mind you), and open to new people.  I've learned a lot in 2012, one of the big things being that when you hide negative feelings they don't disappear, they grow, they warp.  Something that could have been solved in a matter of hours suddenly becomes a festering disaster.  So I'm learning to express my not-so-wonderful feelings in a healthy adult way.  Beyond that, though, I want to be open with my good feelings.  To tell that guy at work that I have been in love with him since the company softball tournament, to tell my friends that I appreciate the kind things they do, to let myself show excitement over silly things. 

2012 and I created some incredible memories, I went to Florida for the first time (and second!), I got to watch Justin Verlander AND Rick Porcello pitch live, I moved into a wonderful neighborhood with two wonderful people, and I took a new job.  I got to see Snow Patrol, Keane, Death Cab for Cutie, Ingrid Michaelson, and Lady Antebellum, and I grew closer to some amazing people.  2012 was the grace year, and I see that I still have a lot of work to do in that area, but I'm happy I made the resolution.  It changed my way of thinking about people and situations.  So 2013, though my resolution for you may seem boring (or even self-indulgent) I am confident that we'll do fine together.

All my love,
Stephanie

P.S. This was a highlight of 2012, your move 2013. :)

Auld Lang Syne

December 22. 

What just happened?  Wasn't it summer like two weeks ago?  Wasn't I just weeping into a bowl of homemade guacamole, lamenting to my Mom about the 4th of July camping trip my friends were all on?  Wasn't I just sitting on the deck at Katie's family's cottage cougaring on the neighbor boys playing baseball in the lake?  Weren't we all just ringing in 2012?

Last year I made the resolution to display more grace. Grace is hard.  It's almost as hard to receive it as it is to give it.  But grace forces everyone to grow a little bit, and I think that 2012 has been a year of incredible growth. 

Paul wrote to the Corinthians, "When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me." 

This year has definitely shown me the importance of "putting the ways of childhood behind me".  I learned what I can and can't tolerate, I learned the importance of honesty, and I learned that sharing your feelings (something I avoid at all costs) can be the most freeing thing.  I've also learned that the world doesn't end just because a friendship does. 

I've witnessed a greater change in my relationships this year more than any other.  Changes that have caused me to hold onto some tighter, and changes that have shown me it's okay to release others.  Let's chalk it up to the circumstances of being a 20-something.

I hate philosophizing and reflecting too much on my 20's, because, let's be honest, I'm only 25 and I have another 4 1/2 years to experience this period of time.  I feel like it might be a bit disingenuous.  I can't possibly generalize the entire decade yet, but I'll probably keep trying.

Oh oh oh, The Sweetest Thing

My 25th birthday is approaching.  I've been using these past few days to reflect on how I've spent the last quarter of a century, and what kinds of things have led me to become the woman I am today.  Now, the list of things that have groomed me into a woman of grace and dignity is much too long to share in it's entirety, so I thought I'd select a few highlights.

There are plenty of young women out there looking for a road map to success, so why not follow mine?  Might not be success, but it gets you to my level, which is pretty sweet.


1. Fly under the radar for as long as possible.

This was my mantra in high school and college.  I joined the clubs that gave me something to do after school, but didn't subject me to ridicule.  Art and French club? Yes.  No one bangs on the field trip to the Frank Lloyd Wright house.  Marching Band?  C'mon, even the jocks giggled at the idea of your band-bus orgies.  They didn't even know the Art and French club existed.  Flying under the radar exposes you to normal social situations.  Plus you get to skip class to go taste French cuisine.

2. Stop buying Cosmo.

Yes, the make-up tips are awesome, and yes, every issue walks you through the steps to achieving beachy waves, but is it worth the $5 every month that you could be putting into a Roth IRA?  I mean, come on ladies.   I have several years worth of Cosmopolitan Magazine under my bed.  EVERY issue is the SAME!  The sex tips are identical but with newer squirmier names.  ...It just dawned on me that I spent $300 on cosmo magazines.  I want to spare you from that realization.

3. Say yes.

 
"Yes" leads to ridiculousness in it's best form.  "Yes" brings you to new people.  "Yes" leads to karaoke at hotel bars (the ones that serve as the inspiration for every backwoods themed horror movie).  "Yes" gives you the chance to hate life for a bit, but when you realize that "yes" led you to some much needed growth, you'll see that "yes" was worth it.

4. Say no.

Saying "no" helps you avoid the second date with the awkward skeeze.  "No" helps you avoid DUIs, STDs, and the need for various inoculations. "No" insinuates that you have a backbone, and principles, and sometimes a full life that proves you can't be bothered with things that don't concern you.

5. Watch "She's the Man".

Watch it over and over again.  Watch it to the point where every other sentence you speak is a reference to Amanda Bynes' greatest masterpiece.  Then, when people tell you that movie is stupid, or it sucks, laugh and say "I know! THAT'S why I love it!" then don't let them see you cry.  We both know how good that movie is...

6. Take a job you aren't qualified for.

I spent two years distributing medications, administering shots, and bathing other people.  Should I be trusted to stick a needle into someone else?  Nope.  And I know that now.  Hundreds of thousands of dollars saved in avoiding Med School = Success.  And an added bonus? You qualify yourself for that job.  Or at least you get pretty darn close.  One more skill set, yo.

7. Invest in fabulous shoes.

 They look great in the background of all the self-portraits you will take in your bedroom.

8. Brown bag it at work.

You'll save so much more than I did over the last four years.  I'm a sucker for Kalamata olives.

9.  Keep a blog.

But only tell three people about it.  You've got stories to share, just not with everyone. Yet.  Also, I just put my blog within a blog.  You've either been inceptioned (inceived?) or pimped.  Just let it happen.

10. Don't take yourself too seriously.

I'm 25.  What do I know?  I'm not even old enough to remember Desert Storm.

Can I Kick It?

Let's post a new blog.

It's been a while.

And I'm not sure I'm ready to let The Sweetest Thing join the internet dumping ground of abandoned blogs.

Last night I had a free Whitecaps ticket thrust upon me.  I like to think that this is because I am such a big deal in the GR area that the West Michigan Whitecaps are eager for me to check out their facilities and drum up some excitement for the 2012 season.

Of course that's not true... but let's pretend it is.

Now, the whitecaps are nothing spectacular, but I like to watch 'em because that's where Brandon Inge stumbled out of, along with Joel Zumaya, Ramon Santiago, Brennan Bosch, and my favorite, Don Kelly.

So somehow I ended up sitting next to a soccer fan.  Soccer fans kind of suck.  I'm sure many of them are nice people, but that doesn't downplay the suckiness factor.  Soccer fans like to inform the world of their love of soccer.  They also like to convince non-soccer fans to love it too.  You can be talking about the latest episode of America's Got Talent and suddenly they're throwing out references to the Chicago fire, and it takes you 20 minutes to realize they're talking soccer and not Mrs. O'leary's cow.

So soccer fan, true to form, waits until the Whitecaps take to the plate to start talking about his life as a soccer ref.  Because I made the mistake of telling him that "I don't really get soccerrrrr...", he took the time to walk me through the rule book and demonstrate various fouls on/to me (that slow-motion elbow to the trachea was eye-opening, ...stranger).  Every soccer conversation I get sucked into ends with me stating "I just can't get on board with a sport where both teams can lose at the same time.  What's the point of watching for an hour if it just ends in a tie?" and I slink away...

Usually this is effective, but in a stadium full to capacity of people anxiously waiting for post-game fireworks, my escape routes were limited.  His response?

"Typical baseball fan..."

I'd look Psychotic (in a balaclava)

So week one of working from home is now under my belt.  Five days of steady decline into slovenliness. 

I began the week by waking up at 7:30 with all intentions of developing a professional routine.  I showered.  I brushed my teeth.  I prepared a grown-up breakfast of cheerios and half a grapefruit.  I even put on shoes.  I met the arrangement with anticipation comparable to my first day of first grade.  The only thing missing was the lunch I packed for myself a week early.

I took the time to make sure my network connection was working properly (it wasn't), I verified that I had access to my e-mail (I didn't), and I made sure all of the necessary programs were uploaded onto my computer (they weren't).  I spent the first hour of work on Monday on the phone with tech support.  I spent the second hour of work on a conference call with 70 other representatives, listening to our trainer explain to one very confused individual out of DC how to save a website to her favorites (it was eventually discovered that this particular rep was in her e-mail browser and not a web browser). 

Cut to Friday, I rolled out of bed at 9:15, splashed some water on my face, changed out of the shirt I slept in (after some debate on whether or not it was necessary to do so), and settled in at my desk for another eight hours of training.  No shoes.

Shake it off

Dear 2012,

I am very excited to greet you tonight, you have no idea.  Today I found myself thinking today about the things I would like to change over the next 365 days that we will spend together.  Yes, I have those pesky pounds I'd like to say goodbye to.  I would like to continue my goal of being more well-read, and I hope to kiss a large chunk of this student loan debt goodbye before the end of next year.  But more than that, I want to welcome you and those I encounter with you, with more grace.  The past several years I have been offered more grace than I could have ever earned (thus, making it grace, right?).  Grace so ridiculous that I can't wait to share it.    

2011 was exactly what I needed in a year.  It was comfortable, fairly easy, and at times a bit boring.  But I'm not disappointed in the time we spent together, not at all.  2010, if you recall, was a huge year that brought a hurricane of change into my life.  2011 was a perfect buffer.  Over the last twelve months I have reassembled myself, established some tangible goals, and created a crude road map to get me started. 

2012, I am ready for you.  Let's play.

All my love,
Stephanie 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WbN0nX61rIs

So I finally caved and I read the Hunger Games.

I have been holding out on the series because the biggest advocate of the books that I know is also a huge Twilight fan, as in a t-shirt-making, midnight-show-attending, probably-buying-the-Bella Diamond-from-Rogers-&-Hollands-as-we-speak, fan.  Naturally I have little faith in her taste. 

Imagine my surprise when I found that people I actually respect were reading the latest craze in juvenile fiction.  Not just reading it, but LOVING it.

After watching the trailer, curiosity got the best of me. I wandered over to the Young Adult section at Schuler's and, with reticence, selected the first book off of the shelf.  Naturally the woman at the check-out lit up when she saw my choice.  "You have to come back and talk to me about this one!" she commanded.  She then went on to drop a few other titles into our conversation before handing me the sales slip to sign (apparently I need to read The War Horse too).

Long story short, I finished the book in a matter of three days.  Book two took me four days.  Book three took me two. 

I could not put down book three.  Holy smokes.  I am a skeptic when it comes to books and I don't like to be the last one to join when it comes to trends, but seriously.  Read these books.

But... you don't have to take my word for it.