30 Blogs in 30 Days: Day 3: My Relationship with my Parents

On Day 3 of 30 Blogs in 30 Days, I'm supposed to describe my relationship with my parents. This is a little awkward, because it's not something I talk to about to everyone.  Sometimes I'm personal on my blog, but I'm never super personal. My relationship with my parent(s) is a very personal issue to me. It's a unique relationship & not one that everyone can relate to. 

my mom:

I often tell my Mawmaw, who is like my mother, that my Mom annoys me.  Today she said something to me that I will never forget.  She said, "What if you had to go see your mom where I had to go see mine?" My grandmother frequently reminds me that there's nobody like your mother and you are only given one mother in your life. I need that reminder sometimes.

The truth is that I have learned a lot from my Mom. I've learned how to be a good friend, to put others first, to love unconditionally, and a number of things to apply to my life once I become a mother.  My mom's great. She puts up with more than she should and would give someone her last dime if it would benefit someone else. She's hilarious and fun to be around. A lot of things she does to make others laugh, she does unintentionally, which makes her even funnier. I love my mom and can't imagine my life without her. I'm grateful for all her sacrifices and attempts to help make me who I am today. 

"I know you were on my side, even when I was wrong

And I love you for giving me your eyes,

for staying back and watching me shine

And I didn't know if you knew,

so I'm taking this chance to say

that I had the best day, with you, today..."

-Taylor Swift

my dad:

Ahhh, "PD"... can't live with him, can't live without him. He's a character, that's for sure. He's the kind that doesn't try to be funny, but is, in a not-laughing-with-him kind of way. We have had our ups and downs, that's for sure. But what Mawmaw says about mothers also applies to fathers, and I think some time in the past three years or so, I have found forgiveness and unconditional love for my father. He raised me. When I realized how big of a Momma's boy my brother was going to be, I quickly learned me and Dad needed to be a team. He's done some pretty crappy things in the past, but I try to remind myself of all the good he's done. He's a super hard worker. He's a product of my grandfather's generation and [I know deep down] that he lives his life knowing right from wrong.  He has morals in surprising times and he has a huge heart. People often don't know that about him. He gets his feelings hurt and he would do anything for anyone. He's a country boy redneck, Rock-n-Roll loving man but the Lord loves him, as do I! 

"You don't choose your family.

They are God's gift to you, as you are to them."

-Desmond Tutu

*****

Stay tuned for Day 4: 10 Things I Would Tell My 16-year-old Self

Click to see my other blogs from 30 Blogs in 30 Days.

Momma got an iPhone! (Part 1)

So Momma got a new iPhone today.  She went from a flip phone to an iPhone & was always "this person" when it came to iPhones:

In the first hour of teaching from the ground up all about iPhones, I got the following funny quotes/scenarios from my mom:

• "What is this watery stuff? Why is it there?" (Referring to the generic background)
• "Why are these buttons jiggling?"
• Me: "Mom, they're asking for your security code."
  Mom: "Why?!?! That is my personal information! It's ****."
  Me: "OMG Mom! Not your Pin Number!!"
•  "Does IMDB have to be capitalized?"
• "It says I have six 'inboxes'."
• "What is that sound?"
•  Then she focused for a really long time on her new alarm sound.
  Me: "Mom, can we move on?"
  (She picks the alarm that sounds like a nuclear bomb is headed our way. That'll sound nice in the mornings.)
• I told Mom to search for the BB&T app.
  [5 minutes later...] Mom: "Dream car??"
  Me: "What??"
  Mom: "It's asking me what my dream car is."
  Me: "I don't know what your dream car is, Mom!!"

Then she ended it with a, "This is fun!!" 

It's so funny and a little frustrating to teach "the older generation" current technology but I admire her for trying! She'll get the hang of it soon, hopefully. I just warned her that she can not text and drive using her iPhone.  ;) 

I'm sure I'll be updating this in the future.  :) Until then....

"Graduation!"

I was going to do you a whole life update via bullet points...but this turned into a post-pictures-from-graduation-and-go-to-bed kind of post, so, stay tuned for more info later! ;)

So anyways, I GRADUATED "WALKED" Thursday night! I won't actually get my diploma until August when I finish my internship hours, but, here's a couple pictures from "the hooding ceremony."

Lenoir-Rhyne Counseling Graduates

Leah & Cynthia, two amazing inspirations of classmates!

"Being Hooded"

my love

"The Girl RDs" ~ My friends, Tori & Maria... Love them! 

Brother Bear

Pat & Me with Mom

A Proud Momaw!

Momma ♥

"Love & support brings happiness through all"

I spent the week leading up to "graduation," as I'll call it, packing my life up, taking 50 trips to Lincolnton & back, and trying to organize closing down a building of 150 freshmen as quickly as possible. Luckily, I had 6 great RAs who did a good job at helping me ensure that everything ran as smoothly as possible, making my job easier in the end once everyone had went home.

I found out I had to be out of my apartment two weeks earlier than I thought I had to be, two weeks before I had to be out. So, with classes ending, crap due, and all the closing stuff needed to be done, on top of still internship-searching and everything else life brings at the last minute, I had to pack up & move!! I was planning on doing all of that once everything was done & I had a moment to breathe. But looking back, I'm glad it all happened the way it did. {That's a whole other post for a later day.}

But, the night before graduation I just got really SAD. Sad mostly because I wanted a lot of things done that weren't done, and I had taken SO many trips to Lincolnton and back, along with Mom, Momaw, and Alex, and there was still SO much to do. {I seriously had way too much stuff.} My original graduation-day plans were to sleep in {a little}, do a couple things {including get a pedicure}, & then get ready early so I wasn't rushed and got to a graduation banquet we had beforehand ON TIME {for once}.

Oh! Here's some pics from that too :) ::

Me with the cute couple, Jonathan {"the boy RD"} & Melissa

My date to the banquet, my awesome friend Jodi, & her 4 kids!!!!!! Hot Momma Alert!! Haha

I love this girl! My sistah-friend, Jodi! What a blessing she is!

But do you think my graduation day plans were fulfilled? UM, ABSOLUTELY NOT. But it's okay. I was smart & showered early. I have an AMAZING grandmother that came that morning to help me pack & load the car(s) {again}. My necklace waited until the END of the night to break & I even got to take Momaw to lunch & had enough time to run to the nail salon & get my toes & nails painted. {Had to save the pedi for another day!} At the end of the day I felt BLESSED. It was a super long day but it was one I will remember! I am so thankful for the loved ones of mine that were able to come and know that the ones that couldn't make it are proud of me! Yep, that pretty much sums it up....I was thankful & blessed!!

Now, onto securing that internship....

1-1-11

I know it's not technically 1-1-11 anymore because it's past midnight, but that's not how I do things. To me, it's still the same day until I go to bed!

I have heard a little less about new years resolutions this year. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that the world is slowly learning that they are just words and are worthless without added effort behind them.

While I have many things I wish and hope for myself in this upcoming year, I have vowed to *not* have a resolution this year. Every year I usually end up {eventually} getting lazy, or busy, or a little of both and lose sight of my new years resolution. Either way, by mid-year, heck, maybe mid-January, I am like "oh crap, well, A for effort, right?" and go on with my life.

Not this year! This year I'm being more practical with my "new years resolution." It's more like a new life resolution. I would love to be able to say I don't give up this year, that I keep on keepin' on until I get closer and closer to my goal, no matter WHAT goal that is. That if I fail, I don't stop trying. I will definitely have my bad days, but this year, I hope that I don't get stuck in a rut. I hope I accept myself for my faults and don't let that stop me from having what I want. I hope to have less excuses and more success stories!

I don't think that's too much to ask for 2011.

As my girl Taylor Swift says...
"it's the end of a decade, but the start of an age..."

I can't wait to see what this "age" has in store for me! What will this year hold?? Only time will tell, but I pray that God guides my steps and gives me strength to face whatever 2011 has to bring!

So far, it's been one day of 2011 and I slept in, did some Mary Kay work, did a lot of lounging around, and spent my evening with my Mom and my boyfriend, laughing until we cried and enjoying some good ol' TV-on-DVD. Not a bad start if I do say so myself... :)

"Hey, what side's the gas tank on???"

First of all, don't mind me while I reminisce for a moment. I remember the days when I drove "the Stratus" as I called it. It had no heat, no air, and was forever out of gas!! I drove that thing until, well, it had no heat and no air. I don't recall if the Stratus had this handy little thing, but if it did, I was unaware.

Back in February, driving home from Pat's appointment at Duke Hospital, we stopped at a gas station. I'm pretty sure that Pat and I were screaming at Mom for being a horrible driver {love you Mom!} and I'm pretty sure that she made a couple last second slam-on-the-brake motions before pulling into this gas station. It was when she did it again while she asked which side the gas tank was on, when Pat introduced us to THIS:

Does this mean anything to you? No, not the fact the gas tank's on E, but look closer. Pat thought both of us were pretty out of it to NOT know about this. What is it, you ask?? Well, check out the gas symbol...there's an arrow to the left of it!! That means the gas tank's on the left!!

WHO KNEW?! 

Okay, I understand that probably some of you knew this before. HOWEVER, I KNOW that Mom & I were not the last people on the planet to figure this out! Not every car is blessed with this little symbol, but my car is {which isn't really convenient now that I've pumped gas in it more than once} & Mawmaw's car has it too! I took my grandmother's car to fill it up with gas. Pulling into the gas station I thought to myself, "Crap! I don't know which side the gas tank's on." & BAM! It hit me! I remembered to look for the arrow! Sure enough, I found out the gas tank was on the right!!

Leave it to me to have a brain fart after seeing the arrow and pulling to the RIGHT of the pump. Duh, Nicole!! But nevertheless, had I been thinking {a little more}, this handy invention would have totally served it's purpose!!

Just wanted to educate you a little tonight....You're welcome to those of you who I just enlightened! ;)

mother's day & "fish pics!"

First, let me give a shout out to my awesome Mom and wish her a Happy Mother's Day! I know she ran around all over the place today but I hope she had a great day! We went to brunch first thing this morning at Cracker Barrel {OMG their french toast was A-MAZING!} and by the time we got out, hours had passed and she had to leave to drive to Charlotte to go visit Pat. I got to give her her present though and take her to brunch and spend some time with her, so, for that I am extremely thankful. I am so glad I got to spend a part of Mother's Day with my mother. I am blessed to have her as my mother and even more blessed to say that she's such a big part of my life today! She's an awesome lady, super hard working, and would do anything she could to help Pat and I out. I love her to death and don't know what I would do without her. I wish her all the happiness in the world. She deserves it so so much! ♥

So, after she left, I took a NICE nap until time to get up, get ready, and go meet Alex's family for a Mother's Day cookout. {Can I just say that I LOVE his family?!} But this blog isn't about the cookout, or his family {well, it kind of is...}, but it's about our FISHING fun!!

Alex caught the first fish of the day! :)

Then we came across TONS of baby frogs! They must have just hatched or something. To tell you there were TONS of frogs doesn't even cover it. Literally {not even exaggerating} there were thousands of tiny tiny tiny frogs all over the outline of that pond! Check out how little they were! {Click the pictures to see an enlarged view.}

Alex said something about "yeah there are tons of them, but hardly any of them will survive." I can't remember why he said that, but that's probably a good thing because CAN YOU IMAGINE alllllllllllllll those frogs hanging out in the area? Seriously, it'd be enough to drive someone crazy! I also found a "school" {?} of tadpoles too...tons of them...but here's a shot of one group...

Seriously- just begin to envision the plague of frogs we'd have on our hands if all of these survived.

Okay, here's some more shots of the evening...

Here's Wesley, Alex's cousin. Jeez Louise let me tell you something! The boy probably caught 20 fish while were were fishing at their pond! "It's all in the reel" haha... We all thought he was in a "bed" of fish or something, but he proved us wrong but moving to another area of the pond and {again} almost immediately catching another fish. One {dumb} fish he caught twice because he "recognized" it {hahaha} and noticed it's lip was bleeding in another area. {Which led to a discussion of "branding fish" haha but anyways...} We kept telling Wesley we were going to submit him to "Fish Pics," which is pictures of people and the fish they catch on the local news. Either that or sign him up for a professional fishing tournament! I mean, the boy was on FIRE!

That's Drew's {Alex's brother} dog, Weezy. I thought this picture was hilarious!

Funny story behind this picture --> : Olivia {Alex's cousin} caught this fish and was attempting to get the hook out of it's mouth, when it went crazy on her, flipping around like crazy...which, of course, led to her dropping it in the sand!! Not digging how fish feel, Olivia decides, and tells us, "I'm just gonna leave it there." hahahaha...she cracks me up!! {PETA: Don't worry, we thought about it for a second, decided we couldn't leave a fish in the sand, saved it, and watched it swim away, slowly.}

Gosh what a beautiful and fun evening....if only I would have stopped SNEEZING! ;) Darn you, allergies!!

My four day weekend comes to an end

I am sad to see this four day weekend go. Alex & I walked 4 miles one day & 5.8 the next! We were on a roll. Even Baby walked 5.6 miles! We were enjoying taking advantage of all this beautiful weather we've been having lately!

Saturday, Alex & I had lunch at Court Street Grille in Lincolnton with a great great friend of mine, Lindsey, her husband Rhine, & her niece, Taylor. :) It was SO much fun. Lindsey moved to the Wilmington area probably about a year ago and I have not seen her since!! :( Don't worry, we try not to miss our weekly {at least an} hour-long talks on the phone! :) I just love having TRUE friends that I can stay in touch with! I hate that all my best friends live hours away from me...but that's life! Hopefully it won't be like that forever!

Lindsey is a *MOMMY TO BE* and I can't WAIT to meet her baby!! I know she will be a fantastic mother!

On a different note, I was disappointed a bit by Easter this year, for more than one reason, but that didn't take away the fact that I was sincerely grateful to my Lord, Jesus Christ, for the sacrifice he made many years ago for me today. I can't imagine what it would have been like to physically witness the resurrection of Jesus--literally, I can't imagine. It's one of those "beyond my understanding" kind of things and I'm okay with that. Either way, I know He did it and I am proud to call Him MY SAVIOR! I know that even today, my redeemer is alive and living in me! Praise be to God!

On a more humorous note: PLEASE look at all this CANDY Mom gave me for Easter:

This picture was actually taken after my cousin Nicholas took a HUGE bag of Skittles out & ate them! Good grief! I love my Mom and her efforts but I really would gain 10 lbs. if I ate all this candy!! Her and her Easter basket DID introduce me to my two new favorite weaknesses:

and

Lindor white chocolate truffles & white chocolate Hershey's Bliss chocolates!! Thanks Mom!! :)

Now...if only I could get this paper written that's due on Wednesday, I'd be set!

You learn something new every day.

I have learned a lot here in the past week or two:

I have learned lately that when you forgive, you're not doing someone else any favors, but you're doing yourself a huge one!

I've learned I can get a lot done with the TV off.

I've learned that a clean home is a happy home.

I've learned that people actually read my blogs, and my posts on TMTGYTYD. I've also learned that that makes my heart smile! :)

I've learned that true friends can pick up where they left off after a long time of letting life get in the way.

I've learned that sometimes it's best just to end an argument with an ignorant person by ignoring their comments until they stop commenting. Otherwise you could be arguing for a loooooong time and get absolutely no where when you are "finished."

I've learned that my grandparents are awesome. and so is my Mom. {but I kind of already knew that}

I've learned that two people can see the same situation two completely different ways, and no one be wrong.

I've learned that some people are just meant to be in your life for a short while, for a specific purpose.

I've learned just because you're not best friends with someone anymore, doesn't mean you don't wish them the best and love them as a person.

I've learned that no matter how down in the dumps someone is, you can not help them if they are not willing to help themselves.

I have learned that Hank Baskett is an absolute doll and any woman would be extremely lucky to have her husband/boyfriend talk to and treat you the way he does Kendra. It really made me cry tonight! I'm rooting for those two.

I've learned that I need to clean my closet out and donate alllllllllll the stuff I NEVER wear!

I've learned that I feel prettiest with a tan.

I've learned that I have absolutely no idea what my future holds- but I KNOW WHO holds it and because of that, I am not worried!

I also learned I need a part-time JOB for the summer. If you know of anything in the Lincolnton/Hickory area, let me know! ;)