Not Your "Normal" 26-Year-Old... I guess

First Half of Post: Marriage - Second Half of Post: Life Progress

In the past year or so I've noticed on blogs and facebook the "older" single crowd is starting to speak up a little more. (Haha or maybe it's because everyone I follow and am friends with on Facebook is my same age and so the probability of these posts is going up) Not in a contentious type of way but just a way of saying, "Hey, these are my own thoughts on my situation... it's not so bad." These were two blogs/articles that I found that I liked what they wrote and I've just added my own thoughts and opinions along with them.

I have been very blessed to have close friends and close family members in my life who love me for who I am I don't treat me as if I am "broken" or incomplete because I am not married; I never have to feel ashamed when I am with them because I know they love me no matter what.

The Older YSA Crowd

3. I love weddings! Especially when it is a wedding for a close friend or family member. Never have I ever been jelous or bitter when celebrating their bliss. I love seeing someone I care about making a life step that makes them so happy. I mean how immature to be bitter just because someone else is happy.

I love getting together with people I love at weddings; catching up and swapping fun stories about the happy couple. Oh and dancing! I love dancing, so when there is dancing at a wedding I go from "happy-camper" status to "cloud nine."

My younger brother got married last summer... gasp! I know! How on Earth... Is Amy Ok? (sad head tilt) Last I checked I'm not dying or even ill... so umm.. I'm great... In fact I was so excited for my brother I wasn't even thinking about me... that was until people kept asking me or family members if I was ok with the situation... but then I would forget them and continue being super excited for my brother's wedding.

4. Haha, yeah... no need to pity me.

5. Sometimes with those pity parties from other people you do start to question your self worth. I think she says here is perfect, "If a guy isn't interested in us, it's OKAY. God is. And in my eyes, knowing that and reflecting that knowledge in our daily living is what makes a person truly attractive."

8. The first time I had someone say to me, "Don't worry, you're turn will come too!" I was 20... TWENTY-years-old. Haha umm, thanks, I know. (Can't imagine what they must think of me now)

9. "I rather be happily single than miserably married." Amen! Don't get me wrong, I'm excited to one day be married and sharing life with my best friend, my partner in crime, etc. But I'm not just going to settle for Joe-Shmoe because everyone is making me feel like if I don't jump on the train now I'll miss it completely.

This second article is an article that, not only was relatable, but was also a good life reminder for its outlook. Constantly I find myself stressing about what I'm doing next and why I'm not where I feel I'm supposed to be but the thing is, why am I stressing about what is next all that time? Shouldn't I be enjoying the "now" and learning from the "now?" What's the rush to completely growing up? I've got YEARS to be grown up.. Yes, of course, making goals is important and we should always be working towards moving along, but we shouldn't be stressing over it... I shouldn't be stressing over it!

I like that this article reminds me to also be considerate when I am talking to people and not asking what is next all the time but asking about what they are doing with their life right now.

Ask What I'm Doing Now
and The After Math of "26 Unmarried and Childless"

What I find so interesting about these articles is that the first one spoke out to many single people; her article went viral (on noss speed) with the single crowd. BUT what the second article explains, the first article wasn't meant entirely for the "single" crowd. The first article was about a friend of her's with infertility problems, another who had lost a job, etc.

P.S. you should check out the author of these two articles... she's HILLARIOUS! MandieMarie

Closing thoughts: Well, I'm 26 and even though I have my downs of thinking I am behind in life or in a rut, I also remember that I am still me and I live a pretty interesting and filled life and I wouldn't trade it. I also have great family and friends to share my life moments with; I am not alone. And yes I want to be married and start that life chapter but I am also not going to sit around doing nothing until that day comes. I'm going to keep going on adventures and learning and growing and being me.

Blogs... they're kind of funny

The other day I was thinking about a post I wanted to write  for my blog but then I thought, "Maybe that is too personal to publicly write about" and then I started to think about blogs. They can be a digital journal. Of course not ALL blogs are journals; some are purely informative, retail, a place for married people (who are too cool for Facebook) to post, advertisement, recipes, etc. But I use mine as a journal of random thoughts that I force the 3, maybe 4, of you to read. (Haha, Thanks)

When we were younger we all used to lock up all our secrets in our "diaries" now we blog about it. We tell the world. So my thought is, where do we draw the line of sharing and not sharing? Sometimes maybe we're too secretive and we need to share the hard things as much as the good things so that everyone knows that we are just human. Maybe someone else needs to read about the hard things to know that they are not alone in what they are going through too. But then again, sometimes it gets old hearing people's sob stories. I don't know, I guess a happy variety is always good... leaning on the the side of more positive posts.

One great thing about blogs is that is a great way to stay connected with friends who are not in the same state as I am. I love hearing about their little daily activities, their full stories, seeing their pictures, etc. Of course this does not beat getting to see them in person but it helps to get to enjoy the things that they wouldn't have time to fully share in a phone conversation.

The type of blogs I enjoy are the ones that make me laugh, inspire me to think outside the box or be more creative, and the ones that are written by friends and family.

Anyways... cheers to blogs and their funny-ness.

Let's Look at Life in a Different Light

I ran across this Coca-Cola commercial and I know it is an ad but I liked that it shows people doing good things without having a personal agenda or motive for themselves. I think with such a fast paced society, filled with instant gratification, it can be easy not to look around once in a while and see that there's more to society than just ourselves. Sometimes I see something that I could do for someone else and I think about doing it and then I decide I am too busy or that it doesn't matter. I kick myself and feel guilty every time I do this. It really can be so simple to take the time, even a small 30 seconds to 5 minutes, to do something for someone else each day.  The thing is, that small 30 seconds probably would mean the world to that person. Just think what the world could be like with that attitude and think how much happier we probably all would be.

The video also shows people enjoying life in its little moments; something I sometimes forget to do. But I think finding joy in those little moments is really want life is all about and those little moments are really the ones that matter.

Anyways, I just liked this and wanted to share. The original commercial played the song, "Give a little bit" but because of copyright stuff they had to change to YouTube version.

If you knew you were going to die tomorrow...

If you knew you were going to die tomorrow, what would you today? Do you ever think about that?

On a fun level, I would want to have a dance party with my college friends, go boating or have a pool party with my close friends that I grew up with, spend the rest of the day with my family having a big potluck and playing games; badminton, croquet, woofleball, cards, etc. and then have a late sleepover with my dance friends.

If I didn't have people in my life that I loved, I would jump on a plane and go to a beautiful place that I have never been and eat delicious food, read a favorite book and take some pictures.

On a serious note; I think it is hard to really know what you really would decide to do if you were going to die tomorrow. I think I would at least want to be with my family. I don't know if I would just want to sit and enjoy their company or if I would want to go do activities. I don't know if I would want them to know that I knew I was going to die or if I would just enjoy the time without the sadness.

I've always said that I would like to send a thank you note to everyone in my life that I love and have appreciated their influence on my life. If I had those notes ready, I would mail those out on my "last" day.

Maybe I would try to do one more thing on my bucket list; something I've never done before as a last hoorah!

What would you do if you knew you were going to die tomorrow?

Workout with YouTube

One day in January I went to go to the field house on campus to go for a run; I'm a woose and running outside at that time of the year is NOT an option. As I was about to walk into the gym I noticed a sign on the door, "The Filedhouse will be closed on January 11 for a Track and Field meet." As a friend of mine always says, "Dangit Jim!"

As I headed home I started to try to think of other things I could do for a workout. I hadn't had a chance to work out for the entire week and really wanted to. I then remember a few weeks earlier a roommate of mine just looked up a workout on YouTube and she really liked it; so I decided to jump on there and see what I could find. WOW! So many choices! I feel kind of dumb I didn't think of this before... you can find ANYTHING on youtube.

Anyways, I thought I would share with you the awesome 30 minute workout that I did but also the "Aw ha!" moment of knowing you can simply jump on to your computer to find a quick workout for the day and still feel good about getting some physical activity in.

The "Just Like Heaven" Debate

The movie, Just Like Heaven, came out in theaters when I was in high school. My friends and I went to go see it for one of our friend's birthday... our lives have never been the same since that day.

*Spoiler Alert* (You can get over it, if you haven't seen the movie now, do you really think you care that much NOT to know what happens) Near the end of movie, Reese Witherspoon's character is about to die and Mark Ruffalo jumps to save her and what he did next was a huge debate with my friends. Did he give her one last kiss or did he try to give her CPR? Whichever side we were on we didn't even think the other side existed until someone mentioned the last kiss and the debate began. First it was a small discussion after the movie and then it turned into heated debates during lunch at school. Both sides were  presented with reasonable defenses but at the end of the day neither side won; we all kept to our side of the opinion and no one was swayed to the opposite side of their opinion. Eventually we called it what it was and the discussion died off.

Fast forward 9 years and we still have this debate on the "once-in-awhile" occasion; though it doesn't get as heated as it used to, it's more a funny memory that we enjoy reminiscing about. I love this memory; makes me think of these great girls who are a part of my life, who cared and who stuck to their guns and opinions BUT still love and care about each other at the end of the day. Looking back on this fun memory I almost look at each side being labeled as romantic or practical thinkers (not that I'm saying the romantic thinkers aren't practical people and vice versa). Of course a romantic thinker would see a last kiss as the perfect send off and a practical thinker would do the step-by-step procedure in an emergency situation. The funny thing is, it seems to be that the girls who had the "romantic view" are all married and those with the, "IT WAS CPR!" argument are still kickin' it in the single lane.

Well, I'm still single, not even  just dating but not married, nope, 100% single. Can you guess where I fall? That's right, I'm on the CPR side of the debate. It only makes sense to me that if someone, who I loved, was dying I would probably do all that I could to save them.

Where do you fall? CPR or Last Kiss? Practical or Romantic?

"... then it will really be a good day."

"You may think that today is just another day in your life. It's not just another day. It's the one day that is given to you... today."

I watched this TedTalk that a cousin sent out in a work newsletter and I just wanted to share it. Just another reminder to put life back into perspective. (Only 10 minutes long)