I'd be down for that.

I love Humans of New York. 

“My story didn’t turn out like I thought. Without going into it, I’ll just say that I’m a lot more alone than I thought I’d be at this point. But I’ve also learned that I’m a lot stronger than I realized, and I’m proud of myself for that. We took a beach trip recently. I got us all packed up, drove us there, and we had a great day--- all by ourselves. On the ride home, I remember thinking: ‘I got this.’”

One of the comments: Women: you never know how strong you are until being strong is your only option. 

Another Humans of New York story that I love: “I’ve been trying the online dating thing, but I’m an outgoing person, so I always imagined meeting someone naturally. I guess I just thought one day someone would sit next to me and strike up a conversation. If somebody walked up to me right now and said, ‘Let’s go explore,’ I’d totally be down for that.”

The comments are overwhelmingly positive:

Go talk to the guy sitting behind you! Don't wait around, make it happen 

This was me. Outgoing and active, I went to wine tastings and the bookstore and running club and never struck up a conversation of meaning. I did online dating and met the man that lived a few blocks away. I biked and ran past his house many times. We're getting married next month. It doesn't matter how you find that partner.

Anyone would be lucky to date her

Don't be afraid to be THAT person too!! Someone may be waiting for that same thing

There's a guy next to you probably thinking the same.

Tell the universe what you want in a man... Like you would a dress. This color. This size. These sleeves. And know that your dress... YOUR man... Exists. And is looking for YOU. And is on his way to you even now. And needs you, for all that you bring... Just and much as that dress needs you to make it look fantastic on.

I think we're all waiting for someone else to take the risk... We need to buck up and have brave hearts.

Three zero, and other notes

First off, I have to say that my 30th birthday was probably my favorite birthday yet.

Thanks to everybody who wished me happy birthday, who uploaded embarrassing photos of an NSYNC concert (yes!) and to my bff, her husband, and my family for a pretty amazing game of Cards Against Humanity that night.

Beers were had, cupcakes were eaten, and there were plenty of laughs.

Good times, all. Good times.

-----

I went to a conference in Salina on my birthday.

Everyone was obsessed with the weather. I admit that I did not check the weather beforehand, or during the conference.

I managed to miss most of the rain on the drive back, which was nice.

I dodged most of the rain on the way home.

This was Salina a few hours after I left it. It turns out that yes, you should absolutely check the weather before you travel.

That little intersection on the map is Salina. I was pretty thankful I had already left!

-----

On my birthday my boss took a pretty sweet picture of us at the conference in Salina. My other co-worker made a comment about the photo. She said it looked like he farted, and I was laughing about it.

Naturally, I tweeted that comment and the photo. I was then re-tweeted by Most Farted (@MostFarted).

On my birthday.

See, I told you my birthday was awesome! My life is complete now.

-----

Seriously, thank you to everyone who wished me a happy birthday. I don't think I'm worthy of two birthday cakes and 24 cupcakes, but that didn't stop me from tasting everything.

Thank you!

So far 30 feels a lot like 29. Exactly like it.

I'm also happy to report that after doing my leadership class on Thursday and going out of town on Friday, and giving presentations at each of those things, this little introvert introverted nearly all weekend.

I'm not even sure I saw daylight on Saturday. It was a peaceful day of uninterrupted snoozing all day.

It was a perfect weekend.

I have wonderful people in my life.

Thank you!

Major life problems

The house I'm in the process of buying is more than 100 years old.

It's 115 years old, to be exact.

I love some things about it, and other things I want to change immediately.

The thing, though, is that I can't make all of the changes right away. Sure, I can tear off wallpaper and rip up cat carpet, but the rest of the changes are likely going to happen gradually over time.

In case you do not know me very well, I have a pretty severe case of No Patience. I don't want to wait to make changes, I want them to happen now.

Now.

NOW!

(Please note, I don't even own the thing yet, and I'm already thinking this.)

Speaking of owning the thing, I went to the bank today. This is the second time I've filled out house paperwork, and as with a lot of other things in life, it's a lot less scary the second time around.

I signed papers for about 30 minutes today and had to promise the bank that I'm not a terrorist (true story).

Now that the process is moving forward, I can start thinking about my major life problem, which is the point of this here blog post.

The house is old and beautiful. It has beautiful wood trim and other woodwork in the house. My major life problem comes in here: All the cool kid designs nowadays call for white trim.

I'm not going to paint beautiful old trim white.

You don't paint wood, people! You just don't.

My challenge is making the house cute, like a young(ish) person lives there, and not like grandma lives there (no offense to grandmas).

How do you make the woodwork pop, in a good way, without it looking old?

Hmm.

I like blue and green paint for some of the smaller rooms. But for the main living areas?

Who knows.

When I watch the home renovation shows on television, I turn my nose up at all of the rooms and houses with white trim.

I've taken to Pinterest to solve my major life problem. I created a board specifically for paint colors that go with wood trim, and another board for photos of pretty rooms in old houses.

Pinterest is amazing, people.

Here are some pins I like so far.

I LOVE THIS COLOR!

Very Important Update

Conversations I've had this weekend:

We don't eat shoes.
No, don't eat it.
I'm serious. We don't eat shoes.
Stop!
(Baby keeps eating the shoe.)

Don't shut the door. Don't do it!
I mean it. Keep the door open.
(Babies shut the door and laugh on the other side.)

Say 'Aunt Monica.' Say it! Say 'Aunt Monica!'
Baby: Bob.

Why aren't you wearing a shirt?

Why are you eating your toes?

A little love.

It could be the most beautiful thing I've ever seen.

When I first walked in to the house I just bought, my jaw dropped. I walked around in awe and I didn't want to leave it.

It has a spiral staircase, an upstairs bedroom that could be a cute craft room, a basement that's not totally creepy, and possibly the most beautiful woodwork I've ever seen.

The house was built in 1900. Holy beautiful, Batman!

The homeowners actually lived in it and took pretty good care of it. It wasn't a rental property, which is important.

I was kind of in shock that I could actually afford it. I went home after I walked through it the first time and crunched the numbers.

Hey, it could actually work.

Sign me up!

I didn't even try to have a poker face. I loved it instantly.

My home buying process has been kind of messy. The word messy might actually be an understatement. There was a house in my price range with a hole in the basement wall big enough for a tiger to hide in. Then there was that house that shook when my Dad jumped up and down in it.

Sigh.

Then there was one with a bad roof, a cute one with a bathroom floor that was about to cave in, the basement with the creepy rape room, the knob and tube wiring running rampant in this town, and one house that probably had dead bodies hiding in it somewhere.

House hunting in my price range is rough, let me tell you.

Then there was the house I tried to buy and backed away from, which involved lawyers, anxiety medicine, and vacationing out of the country with possible legal doom awaiting me when I got back.

Ha, ha. I don't think I've ever done anything the easy way in life. Why start now?

I don't expect something perfect, but I wanted to find something livable. A good roof is important, a few bedrooms would be nice to grow into, a designated craft room would be nice, and a fenced in backyard for my fur child is ideal.

This house was the best one I've seen yet. Through all the messiness over the past few months, I can definitely say the wait was worth it.

I have a beautiful house!

I don't mind tackling a few projects. Carpet needs to be ripped out of one of the bedrooms. I'm not a cat person, but I can smell cats a mile away.

Ew. That carpet has to go.

I'm hoping there's wood underneath. If that's the case, I'll sand that bedroom and the one beside it, then stain the floors to match the rest of the house.

As much as I love the grandma rose wall paper in one of the bedrooms, that's probably going to go away, too.

I'm also going to take down some really, really ugly 'closets' and see if I can make it look better. I call them 'closets' because, really, they're just atrociousness that someone tried to paint to look normal.

You can't hide atrocious. You just can't.

Could I (and by I, I mean my Dad) bring the washer and dryer upstairs, and hide it in a closet in one of the bedrooms?

Hmm.

Like I said, I don't mind projects. That spiral staircase could use some love, too. With some cleaning and a little love, this house is going to be a pretty amazing place to live.

Hooray, I have a house!

My realtor sent me a text message yesterday morning that was pretty cool. She said she wanted to visit me in a year to see what I've done with the house.

I've been waiting years for a house to pour a little love into. This is really the only thing I've wanted since college.

Hooray!

(Bonus points: My realtor knows my family pretty well. When I went in to sign the papers, she told me stories about my grandparents, who died when I was young. It's cool hearing about them because I don't remember them. Small world, right?)

Great advice.

I had a great time today at my leadership class.

(Bonus points: I didn't get sick in the middle of this session! Let's not talk about what happened last class period, haha.)

Anyway, there was some great advice given today.

Quotes:

"Don't be the judge, jury and executioner in 15 seconds."

"Don't do something you can't undo."

"It's neither good nor bad. It is what it is."

"You are imperfect and wired for struggle."

"If you're going to run with the big dogs, you can't piss with the puppies." (Haha!)

Chairs

There are certain things that make you feel like an adult.

Eating Easter candy for breakfast the week after Easter is one of them. Someone else (not naming names, here, people I work with) told me that one time, he ate an entire sleeve on Thin Mints for breakfast.

Yea, adulthood!

I had one of those grown up moments recently.

My office chair has seen better days. It was about time it went to that big place in the sky where worn out office chairs go (or maybe it went to someone else, I don't care).

Over the weekend I went shopping for a new chair.

I wanted the $500 one, but you know, I'll buy that when I officially make it in life (whatever that means).

I took my time, went to different stores, and sat my butt in a lot of chairs.

The super expensive ones have really high backs, and when you're super short like me, that kind of chair doesn't make a huge difference.

The one I bought is pretty cute. Not over the top, but comfortable.

Fancy pants!

I walked into my office this morning, looked at my new chair, and thought, aw, what a grown up.

:)

Excellent life advice.

Things I've said over the past few days:

"I don't give Jesus money very often."
"That's okay, he's dead."
"No he's not, he rose again!"

Bffs shouldn't sit by each other in church. Ha, ha.

On babies:

Me: "We don't play with our potatoes."
Mom: "Some of us do. Didn't you get the memo?"

"Let's not eat a shoe."

Mom: "We don't throw our potatoes on the ground."
Me: "Well, some of us do. You didn't get the memo?"
Mom: "I wrote the memo."

Words of wisdom on Easter Sunday:

Mom to Penny Pug: "Don't bark at people who bring food."

I think that's excellent life advice.

Til you shine.

Happy Easter!

I've been on a country music kick lately. I normally skip over the live songs on my playlist, but tonight I listened to Brad Paisley's "Letter to Me" live.

I love it!

He talks in the middle part of it, and it's kind of hilarious. He talks about how people say that high school is the best part of your life, and to enjoy it.

Then he says something like, if that's true, just shoot me.

Ha, ha.

He continues: Now, college...Hang in there, kids, it gets better, I promise.

:)

(Note: I'm not trying to say anything bad about high school. It was fine. College, on the other hand, sucked for me, and was nowhere near the best time of my life. Funny, it eventually has a way of working out.)

Lyrics:

"Letter To Me"

If I could write a letter to me

And send it back in time to myself at 17

First I'd prove it's me by saying look under your bed

There's a Skoal can and a Playboy no one else would know you hid

And then I'd say I know its tough

When you break up after seven months

And yeah I know you really liked her and it just don't seem fair

All I can say is pain like that is fast and it's rare

And oh you got so much going for you going right

But I know at 17 it's hard to see past Friday night

She wasn't right for you

And still you feel like there's a knife sticking out of your back

And you're wondering if you'll survive

You'll make it through this and you'll see

You're still around to write this letter to me

At the stop sign at Tomlinson and Eighth

Always stop completely don't just tap your brakes

And when you get a date with Bridgett make sure the tank is full

On second thought forget it that one turns out kinda cool

Each and every time you have a fight

Just assume you're wrong and daddy is right

And you should really thank Mrs. Bringman

She spend so much extra time

It's like she sees the diamond underneath

And she's polishing you 'til you shine

And oh you got so much going for you going right

But I know at 17 it's hard to see past Friday night

Tonight's the bonfire rally

But you're staying home instead because if you fail Algebra

Mom and dad will kill you dead

Trust me you'll squeak by and get a C

And you're still around to write this letter to me

You've got so much up ahead

You'll make new friends

You should see your kids and wife

And I'd end up saying have no fear

These are nowhere near the best years of your life

I guess I'll see you in the mirror

When you're a grown man

P.S. "go hug Aunt Rita every chance you can"

And oh you got so much going for you going right

But I know at 17 it's hard to see past Friday night

I wish you'd study Spanish

I wish you'd take a typing class

I wish you wouldn't worry, let it be

I'd say have a little faith and you'll see

If I could write a letter to me

To me