Our United States Armed Forces

For the sacrifices they have made in the past, the ones they are making now, and those they will make in the future to keep our country safe, and of course, FREE.

I’m grateful for my grandfathers, for my father, for my uncle, and for my sister and brother who have greatly contributed to my admiration and appreciation for our armed forces. It takes immeasurable courage, dedication, and sacrifice to be a part of our military and I imagine the pride is strong, and the honor great to be able to say you are a member. They receive small thanks for a contribution so big.

How blessed I feel to be closely connected to both family and friends who so selflessly and nobly put their lives on the line to protect those rights so many people tend to take for granted. Could you do it?

Don’t for a second forget- this is the Home of the Free- because of the Brave.

"I feel, as never before, how justly, from the dawn of history to the present time, men have paid the homage of their gratitude and admiration to the memory of those who nobly sacrifice their lives, that their fellow-men may live in safety and in honor." Edward Everett

This One Is For Kristie

Happiness for her: Hearing more than one heartbeat. Having siblings just as crazy as you are. Marrying your high school sweetheart. Lounging on Sundays with the girls. Living and loving where you came from. Being blessed with boundless humor. Parents who are truly incomparable. Getting your friends to attach your initials to the front of their names somehow… ie: Kanna Blane and Kally Benney. Working from home when necessary. Resilient faith. A beginner Zumba dancer’s worst nightmare to stand beside. A healthy family. Being a loyal friend to those both near and far. China Cottage around the corner and a fountain for the girls to play in down the street. A genius memory for movie quotes. Being a great reminder to your friends about special dates, certain upcoming events, and pushing for a new blog entry. An unmistakable laugh. Sir Mix-A-Lot’s pride and joy on the karaoke machine. Knowing your worth. Having limitless love. Being able to exude such happiness from these things that it cannot go unnoticed by others.

Waboom.

December

Quite possibly my favorite month of the year...

The Christmas music. The Christmas trees. The Christmas lights.

The chill in the air. The rosy cheeks. The first snowflakes.

How generous people can be. The act of giving. The focus on December 25th of why we're all here.

The time off from work. Seeing family at the holidays. Wrapping up all you need to in the current year.

The traditional Christmas Eve dinner. Baking cookies. Bûche de Noël.

December puts the perfect amount of finishing touches on the past year, and is the perfect lead in to the next.

Carl Lane Metzler

My cousin would have been 29 years old today… and on this Thanksgiving, I’m most thankful for him. As tradition goes, we watched the ‘video montage’ my Aunt made of Carl… 40 minutes of heartache and laughs all in one. There are about 10 songs in this video… 3 of them make me cry the whole way through, but only 1 of them stops my breath- Flogging Molly’s “If I Ever Leave This World Alive.” I don’t think it’s a popular song, but yet, somehow it always seems to find its way into my life time and time again when I don’t expect it. I absolutely LOVE this song. Couple other things I love because of Carl- Guinness, Livestrong, and Boondock Saints. One thing I don’t- Goldschläger.

I am amazed at one thing in particular that has been different with Carl than other people I’ve lost in life… his memory is still so strong. It has been over 6 years and I can still clearly recall the conversations, see his face in detail from the last time I hugged him goodbye, and hear his laugh and his slight little lisp. His personality was so strong and I’ve been able to find him so often in my daily life because of it. Happy Birthday Carlos.

“I held him close for only a short time, but after he was gone, I'd see his smile on the face of a perfect stranger & I knew he would be there with me all the rest of my days.”

Text Messaging

Specifically how all my friends know I’m much better at text than I am at returning an actual phone call. I love that my Mom sends text photos upside down and double spaces all of her words. That I get updated photos of my niece and nephew this way. I love that my friends are able to talk their husbands into letting them have text service back on their phone plan, and then upgraded to unlimited accessibility. I pretend to get mad and then laugh to tears at the inappropriateness of my high school friends 3am updates. Adore the ones that simply say good morning. I love the panther kitten calls that my Auntie sends over before a football game. Or the classic ‘O-H’ each Fall Saturday from diehard fans. I see my dog in 99% percent of what Dad sends my way… the other 1% is always some natural phenomenon he has stumbled across. I love the videos that come through of friend’s babies growing up that I watch each week as if not to miss a single moment of their development. I love the forwards that never need an explanation of who it’s from. And I love forwarding the ‘I don’t give a…’ to my girlfriends who share in my idea of an idiotic greeting card line. Storing good texts are so much simpler than saving voicemails. I only wish we could do without the confusion of tone and how our wording comes across sometimes… it’s one thing a human voice will always be best at. I admit that I hide behind texts occasionally, like writing and emailing instead of having an actual conversation… I’m sorry about that. But not really… texting makes me happy.

Someone Else’s Blog

Specifically ‘1,000 Awesome Things’ by Neil Pasricha

Working his way through 1,000 awesome things in life, one weekday at a time. I think what I love most about his picks are that they are so often forgotten…

Such as: picking up a ‘q’ and ‘u’ at the same time during a Scrabble game, pants straight out of the dryer on a cold day, the parking lot pull through, when you get the milk/cereal ratio just right, when your microwave pops your popcorn perfectly, waking up before your alarm and realizing you have hours left to sleep, being at home when the storm starts, when batteries are included, finding something you lost a long time ago, the little hole at the top of the sink that prevents the water from overflowing, pulling out a weed… roots attached.

But my absolute favorites (so far): when the guy in front of you at a red light nudges up a bit so that you are able to make that right hand turn, living with someone who doesn’t mind killing spiders, using rock paper scissors to settle an argument, perfect parallel parking on the first try, bakery air, snow falling on Christmas Eve, absolute perfect silence, squeezing through a door as it’s shutting without having to touch it, listening to your new favorite song over and over and over again, when it seems like the lyrics to a song were written just for you, when you find out your new place has a really good shower, fully justifying whatever terrible thing you’re eating, figuring out ‘how did we get on this topic', correctly guessing if the door is push or pull, when someone pronounces your name right on the first try.

Especially that last one...

Excellent Customer Service

Boring post but worth mentioning...

It has always been a mission of mine (and a hard one at that) to be a little kinder than necessary. I don’t expect it from others of course because I’d be disappointed, often. But it’s always a nice surprise when it does happen. USAA… great customer service. I think if I was having a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day I would even consider calling USAA just to have a good friend to talk to. I’m also going to throw Chipotle, Target cashiers, Barnes and Noble, Vanguard Group, and United Colors of Benetton in there. Now you pretty much know which businesses I cling to, and for good reason.