The Narrative.: May 2013

Tuesday, May 21, 2013

Prayers for Oklahoma

My eyes are still bright red and swollen after spending the last hour watching NBC relay Oklahoma's devastation to the rest of the country. My heart aches for the parents who had to search, for those who are still looking, and especially for those who lost their children to this nightmare.

I am sad for the selfless teachers who made every attempt, but were unable to save each of their students; although unwarranted, I am sure the 'what ifs' and 'why not mes' are echoing through their thoughts. These teachers, and all others, are heroes in every sense of the word.

I hurt for the emergency teams, volunteers, and neighbors who came face-to-face with unimaginable tragedies. I have never been in a situation that calls for such heroic efforts as this, but I don't know that I would be able to do what these people did; I am, by no means, strong enough to witness such grief.

My thoughts, prayers, and condolences go out to the entire community of Moore and the entire state of Oklahoma. I want to encourage everyone with the means to, to donate and help this community rebuild again. Every little bit will help.

http://www.redcross.org/charitable-donations

<3 <3

Thursday, May 16, 2013

Eighty

Today my grandma turned 80 years old. Eighty! This just fascinates me. I have barely scraped the surface of life, and already feel like I have done so much and am blessed beyond words. By the time I reach 80, the blessings will be too high to count; I will have experienced 55 more Christmases, I will have walked down the aisle, I will *hopefully* have multiple children, grandchildren, and even a great grandchild or two (that’s weird to think about). I will have retired, I will have seen more of this world, I will have built my own home, and so much more.

How bittersweet this thought is, though, as by this time I will have lost many loved ones who I won’t be able to share these experiences with (I can’t even think about this without getting teary-eyed). I will also have gray hair, not the greatest swimsuit body, and aches and pains all over the place.

My grandma, however, is not your typical 80-year-old woman. Let me just brag for a minute…

She has the most flawless skin there is. And I mean FLAWLESS. Barely even a wrinkle on that face of hers.

She really is beautiful. She’s like one of those freaks of nature that gets even prettier with age.

She is healthy! She takes regular walks and has had no health issues whatsoever (at least nothing serious that she would inform her children or grandchildren of).

She is incredibly kind. One of the most precious things about her…whenever she is proud of me, excited for me, or is congratulating me in some way, as she speaks to me, she will hold my hand and gently squeeze it. That simple little gesture says so much.

She is so humble.

She is such a lady—always has a comb with her, enjoys her pedicures, takes forever to get ready, loves to shop, etc.

She is an amazing baker. Best cinnamon rolls, best cake, best dinner rolls, and the absolute best stuffing (aka dressing). You name it, my grandma can bake it!

December 2012 (she is 79 and a half in this picture)

Cheers to my Grandma and cheers to 80. Cheers to embracing every experience, each day, and all the people we are surrounded by.

Happy Birthday, Grandma!

Wednesday, May 15, 2013

As much as it kills me to admit this, I have to...

I am no longer running the Missoula Marathon.

About three or four weeks into my training, I was struck with some sort of injury. I’m not sure what it was exactly (or even how it happened), but the pain was behind my right knee and shot all the way down my calf. It lasted for about five weeks, and during that time I only ran twice. Talk about a training buzz kill.

After lots of rest and a half dozen ice massages, I think it is officially healed now (although I haven’t ran for two weeks) as it no longer hurts when I walk (it used to) and it no longer hurts when I apply pressure to it (it used to).

My friend, Sam, who was also training for this race was also injured (and still is!). She got hurt about the same time I did and thinks she has a stress fracture.

So here’s the deal…nine weeks away from race day, I feel completely out of shape and really don’t want to pack 18 weeks of training into such a dinky little time-frame. Also, let’s not forget that my sister’s wedding is a week away and this weather has been so dang weird lately—no one wants to be stuck training during all of that!

So, it’s official. I’m a quitter. Sam and I both decided this on Monday night and I am working to get each of our $90 registration fees applied to next year’s race when we will *hopefully* be more prepared!

I feel like such a loser.

Tuesday, May 14, 2013

In a nut shell...

My baby brother graduated from college on Friday...

Here he is with his grandmas.

This little girl went to pre-school orientation on Saturday...

I got to watch this little guy while she was there...

I gave my dear mother a movie, a CD, and these beauties for Mother's day...

Can you believe I arranged these myself!? Beginner's luck, I'd say.

And then took her out for lunch...

And ended the weekend with a triple movie date to The Great Gatsby...

Saturday, May 11, 2013

<==========8

A month ago we had my sister's bachelorette party (I can't believe I haven't posted about it yet!).

Guests were invited to wear their tackiest bridesmaid dress, and boy did they!

The bride, of course, wore a wedding gown.

Once everyone arrived, we enjoyed a delicious meal together that was prepared by my dear mother. She made caesar salad, candied carrots, pastry-wrapped chicken stuffed with cheese (and topped with an inappropriate pastry shape), and potatoes.

The cloth napkins were the perfect addition to our table setting.

I repurposed the vases from Abby's shower.

Mmm, mmm, mmm!

The hunk of the evening...

Abby's bridesmaid, April, baked these sweet things.

Abby saving the day...

After dinner, the guests went on a scavenger hunt. Everyone started with clue number one, which lead them to clue two, which lead them to clue three....all the way up to ten where the winning team found a prize. It went okay, but if I could do it over, I would start everyone out with a different clue.

The clues, of course, were dirty and inappropriate. **Dad, if you're reading this, stop here.** For example, clue number one said, "A great place to do the deed, especially when on your monthly bleed." Terrible and disgusting--Lord, forgive me--but, the answer for that one (if you haven't guessed it yet), is the shower.

If anyone out there is planning a bacherlorette party and would like to know all ten of the dirty clues I came up with, let me know and I'll email them to you!

After the hunt, we played dirty charades. This was my favorite game of the night and, aside from one *surprisingly* shy person, I think everyone really liked it! Everyone was on their own team and had to act out two different dirty words (i.e. porn, missionary, dildo). Whoever was first to guess their word received one point. AND, if the girl who was acting out the word had her word guessed within 30 seconds, she got a point too. The person with the most points won (I did first and second prizes).

Lastly, the group split into two teams and each stood in a straight line. I gave the first person in line a cucumber, they placed the cucumbers upove their knees and between their legs, and passed it to the next girl in line. Two rules: 1) no hands allowed 2) if the cucumber drops, the team has to start over from the beginning. The first team to get their cucumber to the end of the line wins. We played best out of three and the winning team won "BJ Blast" (...which I think was like rock candy...which sounds painful).

Marissa and Shannon

The losing team.

The WINNING team!

After the games, Abby opened her presents, we chit chatted, drank, adjusted our sexy dresses, and headed out the door! The night was spent bar hopping, singing karaoke, and dancing our booties off. We stayed out alllll niiiiighhhhttt loooonnngggg! Even my mom stayed all night (she was our dd)!