Legacy.

We’ve had way too much death and illness in our families this year. The past two-three months in particular has been really tough for us, because my husband’s father and then grandfather were diagnosed with esophageal cancer and passed away after suffering for some time. At the beginning of the year, my grandmother was “in training” for my wedding (to gain strength to be on her feet longer), fell on her treadmill and still has not recovered. She will most likely never recover—she’s in her mid-80s for Pete’s sake. She’s had many complications from her fall and is in a nursing home. I just can’t wait for 2010 to begin and get some new karma going.

All this turmoil has gotten me thinking…what will happen when I die or possibly get ill someday? Will people come see me if I’m in the hospital or will it be too painful? Will I be a pain in the butt or will I be able to bring some light into people’s lives? Obviously, I have many questions. But I had a realization, too. I never knew my great-grandparents or other ancestors. I know very, very little about them. I know some stories of them (most of which weren’t very kind), but there’s no legacy there. It seems we all pass through here way too quickly. We make our own traditions while here, pass them onto generations, some may remain, some may disappear. But I sure as hell don’t know what traditions were passed down from my ancestors. We have so few. We have documents of our ancestors. But no warmth, no personal connection. Life is so temporary & fleeting. I can do my best to love and be loved. I can try to pass things down to my direct descendents someday. I can help others. But what can I do to create a legacy?

Choose love.

I saw this somewhere recently and I already forget where. At any rate, I love this simple sentence that says so much. To me, it means that no matter what happens in life, choose love. Someone hits your car & leaves the scene, choose love. Someone betrays your trust, choose love. You’re diagnosed with a terminal illness, choose love. No, it’s not “choose stupidity.” It’s enlightened because it shows that no matter what happens, you can rise above and be greater than that anger that wants the best of you. I’d like to aspire to this simple phrase.

Wag more. Bark less.

We have two dogs and a cat. They annoy the crap out of me sometimes. They’re so needy and dependent on me and there are days when I feel I’m barely able to get out of bed. Much less care for other living beings. But they’ve taught me a lot and I just need to embrace that when they frustrate me.

Things they’ve taught me:
· Get fresh air & enjoy your time sniffing outside.
· The longer the walk, the better.
· Get lots of sleep.
· When in doubt, snuggle.
· Warm=happy
· Meeting new people is fun.
· The power of unconditional love.
· Wag more. bark less. (I got that off a bumper sticker, but who cares? It’s still true!)

Quote of the Day

"When you get to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on."
--Franklin D. Roosevelt

Pet peeves...

I have a lot of pet peeves. There. I said it. I try to be all positive, but sometimes my pet peeves get in the way. SO, in an effort to let them go and move on with my life, I will write them down, acknowledge them and get going with the positivity again. :-) (See? It's already working!)



1. People who talk on their cell phones in public restrooms.

2. Bad (read: slow and/or unpredictable) drivers.

3. Misspellings, bad grammar, typos. I'm clearly not perfect, but these three all bug me. Sometimes, they're quite humorous, in which case I'm grateful for them to brighten my day.

4. People who create and sustain the drama in their lives.

5. Bad desserts (why make them and waste calories if they taste like crap?!)

6. Those who think they're better than others.

Warning: these pet peeves may very well continue into future posts!

Who I Am

More about me...

I'm afraid of heights & water.

I'm never going to be perfect. I'm learning to be fine with that.

I love kids and can't wait to have my own.

I hate clutter.

I lack self-discipline.

I hate Wal-Mart, but continue shopping there for the prices.

I follow celebrity news more than "real" news.

I love my job. Really, I do!

I want to be a better wife. My husband is incredibly sweet & thoughtful and I love him more each day.

I would love to be a modern hippie (minus the drugs). I'm all about love, happiness, granola, and yoga.

I hate confrontation.

My favorite dessert is tiramisu.

I am finally starting to enjoy cooking, but still hate cleaning up.

I don't take myself too seriously, or anyone else for that matter. I often say things to get a laugh.
I have a need (a disease, if you will) to please.

I analyze myself and others a lot. It helps me understand people and their actions.

An Open Letter to My Younger Self

Uh, so I already suck at this. Here it goes again...

Dear Younger Self:

• Don't get caught up in the never-ending quest for acceptance. Sure, acceptance from your loved ones is great. But from "friends" that would stab you in the back for the last piece of pizza? Skip it. Not everyone has to like you. You will be working on this one for the rest of your life.


• Live each day as though it's your last. You won't regret the things you did. You will regret the things you didn't do, such as not asking so-and-so on a date, not joining a sport, or worse yet, not attending the funerals of your loved ones.


• You choose your reaction to the drama in your life. 'Nuff said.


• Cliches may be lame, but they're cliches for a reason. They're usually right, as frustrating as that is.


• You will look & feel less awkward as you "find yourself." You had some rough years, but just wait. It WILL get better.


• Speaking of looks, people will judge you on that. It's a fact of life and it sucks. BUT, don't spend so much time on your looks that your inner self gets ugly.


• Avoid the negativity trap.


• Never underestimate the value of quality time with your loved ones. You'll only have them for so long and you never know when it will end.


• Stop looking in the wrong places to fill that void. Food and shopping will never fill your heart.

The Rejected...

So here it is! My new blog!

I decided to jump in and try this...we'll see how long it lasts.

Before I start any official business, I want to explain the name & content of the blog. I really put a lot of thought into this before starting this new adventure. "What will I write about?" "What will it be called?" I worried about these questions and wanted to make it relevant so it didn't end up being some 30 year old girl having diarrhea of the mouth. No one wants to see that.

I thought about doing a blog about fitness, but let's face it: I failed at that one before. I thought about trying to blog my kitchen hits & misses, but then I realized they're mostly "misses" these days. I thought about just making it a diary, but decided I didn't want to overshare on a daily basis. SO, I decided I wanted to write a blog about my life and about just life in general. Life includes my fitness attempts, my kitchen failures, and my innermost secrets (well, we'll see about that).

My rejected titles:

1. "Striving for imperfection": I don't care if my life isn't perfect, but let's not rule it out.
2. Variations of my current title, such as "The Journey" (deemed too important-sounding), "The Path" (a little religious?), "The Trek" (that sounds treacherous!), & "The Ride" (which sounds like I'm a third party to my life).
3. "This Girl's Blog": I decided it sounded entirely too boring. Why would anyone bother?

I decided on "The Drive," because life isn't about the destination, it's about how you get there, the drive. It's usually bumpy and I'm bound to make some wrong turns along the way, but it can be oh-so-fun if you let it. So, ride along if you want, but I'm driving!