Random Acts of Kindness, anyone??

Two days ago at work, I read a blog about a lady (that I don't know) that did 38 Random Acts of Kindness for her 38th birthday.

She and her three girls spent the entire day doing awesome things for others... just because they could.

They did things like:
     taping enough $ to buy a coke to the front of a machine
                   taking the grocery carts back in the store for the workers
giving Krispy Kreme donuts to construction workers
           helping elderly people unload their groceries
                          giving away coupons for Krispy Kreme donuts that they already had
      and other various and random acts of kindness.

I turn 25 in a little over 3 months (yes, I know - I'm getting old, but who cares?!), and that blog has inspired me...

For my 25th birthday this year, I'm going to make a list and DO 25 Random Acts of Kindness.

...but I've also made another decision:
I'm going to try and start doing at least one random act of kindness each and every day.
If for no other reason than just to brighten someone's day.
No personal gain.
Just a smile from me to you.
(because, after all, you can't NOT smile when someone else smiles at you, right?)

because the world would be a much grander place if we all did 38 Random Acts of Kindness for our 38th birthdays... or just any ol' birthday...

...anyone else want to accept that challenge??

(psst... the more you do to help others, the more you tend to generate happiness in your own life - just a little tip)

;)

Apple butter tastes like apples... and butter.

I opened my planner today to check and make sure (for the umpteenth time) that I knew what all I had going on this week - it's going to be uber busy! - and this was plastered across the top:

"There are no precedents: You are the first You that ever was."
                                                                      Christopher Morley

...hmm...

He's right.
            I am.
     (and so are you.)
and so is a little someone special to me that I miss dearly...

She's Ruthie to me... and today I just so happened to have put on my necklace that she gave me for Christmas last year... remember this one?

...and when I thought of Ruthie, I thought of three things - the first two she said to me and the other one she so kindly had her mom place in my journal that was part of my "Going Away/We Love You/We'll Miss You/Merry Christmas" gift:

"If I could hug you right now, I would, but I have glue all over my hands."

"Apple butter tastes like apples... and butter."

and

"Some things that look pretty just don't taste good."


She's one of a kind, and even when she's miles and miles and MILES away, she can still make me smile.

That, in and of itself, is a quality that I think we should all try to possess
(and I nod)
because it just makes life so much... prettier (even if it doesn't always taste good).

absence

'tis true what they say:
"Absence makes the heart grow fonder."


I miss him.
More and more.
Every day.


Thanksgiving cannot get here fast enough.
I'm not sure that I have EVER looked forward to a Thanksgiving this much in my entire life.
Don't worry...
as soon as that plane ticket is purchased for that trip, you will all know.
There will be no avoiding that knowledge...
as it will be plastered here, on facebook... EVERYWHERE that I can make it known will be made known.

Absence...
it's true...

but absence isn't the only thing making my heart grow fonder.
The main factor there is a four letter word that I'll let you figure out on your own, as we have decided together we weren't saying out loud until we saw each other again... face to face.
(and no, that's not the reason I can't wait til Thanksgiving - that reason is just the incredible longing I have to be in his arms)

...but if I get to feel the feeling that I felt last time I saw him in the Denver airport all over again??

Well, then?  Then I would take absence any day.
Over and over if I have to.
:)

Not even "Murphy"

"Have no fear of moving into the unknown.  Simply step out fearlessly knowing that I am with you; therefore, no harm can befall you - all is very, very well.  Do this in complete faith and confidence."

Pope John Paul II

Over the past couple of weeks, Mr. Wonderful and I have been in daily conversation about the steps for him to take to begin getting ready to move to the great state of Alabama.

Yes, he's moving down here to be with me... but he's also moving down here to be with his "second family" - the guys who have been there for him through thick and thin the past few years of his life, even though he's been thousands of miles away from them.

He's starting a new chapter.

WE are starting a new chapter.  Together.

And we have all the confidence in the world that things will happen the way that they are supposed to - provided that the few bumps in the road the "Murphy" throws our way are few and far between and not of too severe of consequence.

You are all familiar with "Murphy," right??

As in... Murphy's Law... "Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong."

"Murphy" sometimes likes to follow Mr. Wonderful (and I guess all of us in some way or another, at some point or another), but we're determined that we will take every step we can possibly think of to try and avoid "Murphy" to the best of our ability.

...it'll never happen, right?

Not completely, at least.

But we're aware of that, and we're prepared for things to go wrong.

That's part of the beauty in knowing that you sometimes "can't win for losing."

This time, though?  This time we're neither one losing.  We're gaining each other, and we're gaining progress in the steps towards finally being together... in the same state... for more than week at a time.

I couldn't be more ecstatic about something... at least not right now.  :)

Today, Mr. Wonderful started by taking some financial steps, which were huge in this progression.  And he's even possibly moving out of his apartment this coming weekend to save even more money... we fear "Murphy" to a certain degree, but you know what?

We're so excited, and things feel so right... not even "Murphy" can stand in the way. 

:)

Just one more thing...

Every day, my watch alarm goes off at 3:50 P.M.
       And every day, I reach down and press the 'Stop/Reset' button.

Every day, that same alarm reminds me of one thing:
         My flight to Colorado.

I set for that purpose two weeks ago, so I wouldn't miss my flight.
I had to leave class early to make it to the airport.

So, every day, I get a reminder of him.
Just one more thing to make me smile.  :)

I smile.

I smile
   because he makes me.
I smile
   because he smiles.
I smile
   because he adores me.
I smile
   because of the little things.
I smile
   because he makes me.
I smile
   because we love cottages.
I smile
   because we're ticklish.
I smile
   because he makes me laugh.
I smile
   because we fit... like a glove.
I smile
   because he makes me.

...to Colorado.

This song is what comes to mind when I think about my trip.  Not only because he actually says 'Colorado' in it, but because I now truly know that this really is a good life - and it's gonna BE a good life, too.

Give it a listen:

"When you're happy like a fool,
let it take you over.
When everything is out,
you gotta take it in.
Oh, this has gotta be the good life.
This has gotta be a good life.
This could really be a good life, good life.
I say, oh, got this feeling that you can't fight,
like this city is on fire tonight.
This could really be a good life,
a good, good life."


We listened to that song numerous times at Camp Sumatanga this summer, and somehow I knew that it would not only encompass my summer at camp but also the next few months of my life... and it truly has.

I have been blessed with a wonderful man, my own wonderful family, some wonderful new (and old) friends, and now his wonderful family.

At times, I feel like I don't deserve it because I haven't been exactly who I was meant to be... but once I think about it...
I really have been exactly who I was meant to be.

If I hadn't made my past mistakes, I wouldn't have moved home.
If I hadn't moved home, I wouldn't have started school at Athens.
If I hadn't started at Athens, I wouldn't have had to move home from Florida.
If I hadn't moved home from Florida, I wouldn't have started back work at Children's.
If I hadn't started working there again, I wouldn't have met the new friend(s).
If I hadn't met Jenn, I might not have met Mr. Wonderful.
And if I hadn't met Mr. Wonderful?

Well, then, I don't know that I would've ever found this kind of happiness, love, and adoration.

It's possible... but it wouldn't have been the kind I was destined to have in my life.
It wouldn't be him... and therefore, it wouldn't be the same.

I finish this post with a smile on my face because at this very moment I am smiling a smile bigger than I have ever smiled, inside and out.  I am thankful every single day for what I have been given, and I intend on living every day in that manner...

...because it really is a good life.
A good, good life.