Today I am reminded of how I need to always consider what struggles people may be having, whether they are widely known or not. And I need to be nice, not just because I know someone is having a tough time (although I should totes kick it up a notch when I know someone is down on their luck) but I should just be nice because I don't want people to be miserable and/or annoyed and/or sad after encountering me.
I feel so fortunate that my struggles are my struggles...because seeing what other people are dealing with, I feel petty that I even call them struggles.
How many times can one person say struggles...is it starting to look like a non-word yet?
So, lesson learned-ish. I may not be a born-again sweetheart, but I do know that tomorrow morning I will wake up with a little bit more of a grateful heart than the day before, and I will hand out some extra love...because you just never know what my fellow humans may be dealing with!
I also ran over a bird today so...I may also be feeling a tad bit of guilt for that too.
Summer kickball starts tomorrow...wish me luck!
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
Sunday, June 24, 2012
Marriage, Muck, and Monday funny
A question I get quite frequently now is, "So how is married life??" I hope that I am not disappointing anyone when my response is, "Same as before, I guess!" The only difference is that we don't have silly wedding crafts and to-do lists chipping away at our free time. But, yes! Being married is fantastic and a lot of times I have to remind myself that I am now married, and I get excited all over again! But I would say that my favorite part of marriage is knowing that Mike is now my boyfriend for life, and besides death and zombie apocalypse, there is nothing that will separate us...no struggle, no argument, nothing. Being a child of divorced parents, I really have such strong feelings about getting married and staying married, even before meeting Mike. And after I met him and saw how love can be a whirlwind and you have no control over when it hits, I have absolutely no doubt in my mind that I was made to be his wife.
It's been a tough week in the Atkinson household, but this is a time when I am so thankful that, no matter how much muck there is, I have my boyfriend for life to work through it all with.
And lastly, I'm not sure why its taken me so long to visit the someecard website...I CANNOT get ENOUGH. Impossible. I wanted to send a workplace card to my gal pal Mel Mel, but a) I was LOL'ing so hard that I had to leave the room so Mike could get real work done and b) ALL of them were relatable to our office environment...I couldn't just pick one! Why can't I find something so simple yet hilarious to invent. Sigh.
I'll be LOL'ing over this one all day tomorrow. Yup.
It's been a tough week in the Atkinson household, but this is a time when I am so thankful that, no matter how much muck there is, I have my boyfriend for life to work through it all with.
And lastly, I'm not sure why its taken me so long to visit the someecard website...I CANNOT get ENOUGH. Impossible. I wanted to send a workplace card to my gal pal Mel Mel, but a) I was LOL'ing so hard that I had to leave the room so Mike could get real work done and b) ALL of them were relatable to our office environment...I couldn't just pick one! Why can't I find something so simple yet hilarious to invent. Sigh.
I'll be LOL'ing over this one all day tomorrow. Yup.
Sunday, June 17, 2012
Nostalgia-lover
Anyone else wayyyyy into nostalgia? I am, for sure. I'm not sure if its because I like to have little things to celebrate, or if its because I have a good memory (for silly things....not for important things like quadratic equations and such), but nonetheless, I love to remember things and celebrate them.
I left on September 23, 2006 for a semester in Wales. Now every year on September 23, I get a little emo and think about how long its been since I was there and how I wish I kept in better touch with my old flatmates.
I remember on July 25, 2009, my sister and Adam telling me over lunch that Britt was pregnant again. Of course I cried like a baby in the restaurant, and just as I started to cry the waitress spilled a glass of water on me and then thought I was crying because of her. I will always think about our sweet little Brynnie in July.
This past year has been so fun for me and my nostalgia, as it was the year I met and fell in love with my sweet friend Mike. We are (I am) constantly saying, "Today was the day we first met!" ... "Today was the day of our first kiss!" ... "Last year on this day, you told me you loved me!" ... And even though it may get a teensy bit annoying, I don't ever ever ever want to forget all of the fun milestones along the way. We celebrate a few anniversaries and I hope we continue to foreva!
I spent this past week delivering ballots to nursing home residents and at one point we had to pass through a 'memory care' unit to get to another section of the nursing home (these places are HUGE!!). We happened to walk by a room as a nurse was leading a resident out to a table. The nurse said, "Here he is! Here is your husband, Marvin!" That absolutely broke my heart. Will there ever come a day when my mind is lost and I can't even remember that Mike and I shared a life together? I brought that sadness back to the office and had a quick chat with a co-worker, who gave me great perspective when she spoke of a family friend who had lost all functionality of her body, but her mind was all there and felt trapped in her mind, and that she wishes it was the other way around. I suppose that it is just probably harder for us the observers, to see these sweet folks not remembering the special people in their lives, than it is for them.
So if by chance, I happen to lose my memory someday, I guess this is why I have my blog! Better start writing more frequently!!
I left on September 23, 2006 for a semester in Wales. Now every year on September 23, I get a little emo and think about how long its been since I was there and how I wish I kept in better touch with my old flatmates.
I remember on July 25, 2009, my sister and Adam telling me over lunch that Britt was pregnant again. Of course I cried like a baby in the restaurant, and just as I started to cry the waitress spilled a glass of water on me and then thought I was crying because of her. I will always think about our sweet little Brynnie in July.
This past year has been so fun for me and my nostalgia, as it was the year I met and fell in love with my sweet friend Mike. We are (I am) constantly saying, "Today was the day we first met!" ... "Today was the day of our first kiss!" ... "Last year on this day, you told me you loved me!" ... And even though it may get a teensy bit annoying, I don't ever ever ever want to forget all of the fun milestones along the way. We celebrate a few anniversaries and I hope we continue to foreva!
I spent this past week delivering ballots to nursing home residents and at one point we had to pass through a 'memory care' unit to get to another section of the nursing home (these places are HUGE!!). We happened to walk by a room as a nurse was leading a resident out to a table. The nurse said, "Here he is! Here is your husband, Marvin!" That absolutely broke my heart. Will there ever come a day when my mind is lost and I can't even remember that Mike and I shared a life together? I brought that sadness back to the office and had a quick chat with a co-worker, who gave me great perspective when she spoke of a family friend who had lost all functionality of her body, but her mind was all there and felt trapped in her mind, and that she wishes it was the other way around. I suppose that it is just probably harder for us the observers, to see these sweet folks not remembering the special people in their lives, than it is for them.
So if by chance, I happen to lose my memory someday, I guess this is why I have my blog! Better start writing more frequently!!
Monday, June 11, 2012
Sunny Saturday, Olive Oil Sunday
Some weekends are just ho-hum, not much to write home about. Other weekends have high expectations and fall short...but this weekend was just terrific!
My brother-in-law turned 30 this past weekend and we had been planning his celebration for what seemed like months! My sister had bought him a kegerator as a surprise gift, and after buying one online, receiving it and finding out it was a piece of crap, selling it on Craigslist, then thinking we accidentally gave the Craigslist buyers the custom tap handles but then later found them in our basement, buying a new kegerator, spending a couple afternoons getting it set up, we finallllllly got to the fun part where he got to receive it. It was perfect! We drank delicious Sunshine and Fat Tire all afternoon. We ate crab/shrimp boil, played with Mike's new cornhole boards, and soaked up the sun with family and friends. Cheers to a new decade, Adam!
On Sunday, after a full morning of lounging, I got motivated to do some domestic things in the kitchen while Mike was working...after reading a blog on kale chips, I knew I needed to try it out myself. And while I was at it, I figured I might as well make some hummus too. A quick trip to King Soopers and I was all set up in the kitchen to get cracking. The kale chips were incredibly easy and even more delicious. Crunchy salt that is also good for you? Yes please! The hummus is a tad bit weird, but I bought the most adorable mini bell peppers to dip in it, so its hard to care what I'm dipping into when the veggie is so darn cute.
Sunday night we were off to the Taste of Fort Collins. The air was eerie from the High Park Fire, but the good people of Fort Collins were still out enjoying the town. We ate a shmorgisboard of food and then found a nice patch of grass to listen to Mat Kearney. He put on a great show and then we were home in time to get ice cream and watch a creepy movie (We Need To Talk About Kevin). Luckily I was administering Mike's weekly pedicure so I was able to dodge some of the horrifying moments of the movie but not all.
Welp, see ya!
My brother-in-law turned 30 this past weekend and we had been planning his celebration for what seemed like months! My sister had bought him a kegerator as a surprise gift, and after buying one online, receiving it and finding out it was a piece of crap, selling it on Craigslist, then thinking we accidentally gave the Craigslist buyers the custom tap handles but then later found them in our basement, buying a new kegerator, spending a couple afternoons getting it set up, we finallllllly got to the fun part where he got to receive it. It was perfect! We drank delicious Sunshine and Fat Tire all afternoon. We ate crab/shrimp boil, played with Mike's new cornhole boards, and soaked up the sun with family and friends. Cheers to a new decade, Adam!
On Sunday, after a full morning of lounging, I got motivated to do some domestic things in the kitchen while Mike was working...after reading a blog on kale chips, I knew I needed to try it out myself. And while I was at it, I figured I might as well make some hummus too. A quick trip to King Soopers and I was all set up in the kitchen to get cracking. The kale chips were incredibly easy and even more delicious. Crunchy salt that is also good for you? Yes please! The hummus is a tad bit weird, but I bought the most adorable mini bell peppers to dip in it, so its hard to care what I'm dipping into when the veggie is so darn cute.
Welp, see ya!
Monday, June 4, 2012
Old hot dog buns
I will blame my cranky mood on the simple fact that its Monday, but we all know I can be cranky any and every other day of the week.
I started this day thinking, how do we EVER make it through 5 whole work days in a ROW?? How do we do it?? Then I reminded myself to not anticipate annoying or bad things, but to anticipate good...like, I know I will have a good cup of coffee when I get to work, and it will be a beautiful summer day. I bee-bopped into work with this sing-song attitude, but man...I just couldn't sustain it. I will save you the deets, but I can only be second-guessed so many times, and I can only take the same phone call so many times, and I can only hear people talking about work instead of doing work for so long...at some point, I think that you just have to accept that today is not going to be the best day. And thats okay...right?!
So I guess I can blame my crank on work. I shouldn't bring it home with me. But I do. Then my attitude makes me pissed that I even have to go to an office for 8+ hours a day, and other people have the freedom to set their own schedule or to work part-time. I feel like my entire day is spent on either prepping for work, working, unwinding from work, or prepping for the next day. When is the time of the day where work is not involved?? Work taps me on the shoulder when I start to order my 3rd Moscow Mule..."no no, Ashley...don't forget, you have to work tomorrow! Under fluorescent lighting!" Work taps me on the shoulder when I have just found a new blog that I can't stop reading..."Ashleyyyyy...better stop staring at that screen! In just a few hours, you will be staring at a screen, and the text is way smaller and wayyyy less interesting!"
I know I am being dramatic and I am extremely thankful for my job. But I am just frustrated when I feel like my life/work balance is way outta wack. Mostly I wanted to write this post to complain that my husband threw away my hot dogs buns. He says they were "old". Um I'm sorry, hot dogs buns do not have a chance to get old in my kitchen. I think a small part of me thought that if I could just have a hot dog and some Hulu (Best Friends Forever, anyone??), I'd be a-okay.
Hopefully tomorrow is my day. Wah wah wah.
I started this day thinking, how do we EVER make it through 5 whole work days in a ROW?? How do we do it?? Then I reminded myself to not anticipate annoying or bad things, but to anticipate good...like, I know I will have a good cup of coffee when I get to work, and it will be a beautiful summer day. I bee-bopped into work with this sing-song attitude, but man...I just couldn't sustain it. I will save you the deets, but I can only be second-guessed so many times, and I can only take the same phone call so many times, and I can only hear people talking about work instead of doing work for so long...at some point, I think that you just have to accept that today is not going to be the best day. And thats okay...right?!
So I guess I can blame my crank on work. I shouldn't bring it home with me. But I do. Then my attitude makes me pissed that I even have to go to an office for 8+ hours a day, and other people have the freedom to set their own schedule or to work part-time. I feel like my entire day is spent on either prepping for work, working, unwinding from work, or prepping for the next day. When is the time of the day where work is not involved?? Work taps me on the shoulder when I start to order my 3rd Moscow Mule..."no no, Ashley...don't forget, you have to work tomorrow! Under fluorescent lighting!" Work taps me on the shoulder when I have just found a new blog that I can't stop reading..."Ashleyyyyy...better stop staring at that screen! In just a few hours, you will be staring at a screen, and the text is way smaller and wayyyy less interesting!"
I know I am being dramatic and I am extremely thankful for my job. But I am just frustrated when I feel like my life/work balance is way outta wack. Mostly I wanted to write this post to complain that my husband threw away my hot dogs buns. He says they were "old". Um I'm sorry, hot dogs buns do not have a chance to get old in my kitchen. I think a small part of me thought that if I could just have a hot dog and some Hulu (Best Friends Forever, anyone??), I'd be a-okay.
Hopefully tomorrow is my day. Wah wah wah.
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