What 2013 has taught me...

2012 was not a good year for me.  At all.  I lost a few people I love, a job, my youthful naivety, loved ones got sick and I learned, the hard way, to cherish every moment.

2013 was a complete mixture.  I began a new career.  I turned thirty and celebrated in my favorite city with some of my favorite people.  We bought our first house.  We decided to try and start a family (with no luck so far). We accomplished some goals that the two of us had as a couple.  We got a new niece.  My father is cancer free this year.  But...my sister was diagnosed with cancer.  My grandmother fell ill.  Another family member is fighting for their life against cancer.  Life things, hard life things, happened.

Through it all I have learned to feel fortunate.  I now know that I am fortunate every day that I wake up.  For breath.  For life.  I am fortunate to have a partner beside me who I trust in every way.  I am fortunate to have a supportive family and I am fortunate to have my health.  Nothing is guaranteed.  I have learned to try and squeeze every drop from the moments we are given. I have learned that life is as big and as happy of an adventure as you allow.

The older I get, the more I will lose.  People, youth, time, etc.  But the older I get, the more I will gain.  Appreciation, perspective, love, friendship, self-reliance and confidence.  All of these things gained make everything else much more special, making life sweeter and grander than ever. 

I hope the New Year is a happy one for everyone, myself included.  I pray that I will gain patience and will improve on myself and inspire others to do the same.  I want to take better physical care of myself, learn to sew, become even more of an asset at work, see the adventure in the everyday, fix my hair more often, cook some and laugh a lot. Oh....and make a baby.

Here's hoping!

Adventure on,

tbg

Weather Advisory: A serious HEATwave is headed our way!

(Disclaimer: This post is photo HEAVY!!!!)

Today I am giddy.

Giddy with excitement.

The kind of excitement that makes you squirm in your chair all day and makes everything roll off your back because you know what the future holds.

The kind of future event that only happens once in a blue moon but that totally nourishes your soul.

The type of nourishment that grounds you and reminds you of what is important in life.

That nourishment happens tonight my friends!

Tonight, I get to see these wankers.

 

No these aren’t super models, silly, these are two of my very, very  besties.

You can call them Slash and Heat, because that is what the Fella calls them, so why not you?

 

There will be laughter.  There will be tears.  There will most likely be fajitas and margs, as per usual.

Heat is in town, which only happens a couple times a year and Slash just moved home after completing her Ph.D.  It is a true rarity these days to get to see them at the same time. It is going to EPIC!

The kind of epic where 30 year olds get together over drinks for three hours on a weeknight.  I will take what I can get because the kind of EPIC nights pictured below just don’t happen much after 27…….




Hot babe on the far left is another love of my life that is to be introduced at another time, and yes, I am doing the Friends thing

You know, the kind of nights where you steal the mic from the band and take over with your own rendition of “Don’t Stop Believing”?

 

Oh….my dears…..I won’t ever stop believing.  In friendships that is.  But I did stop believing in the pants I was wearing after I saw these pictures.

Pure, unadulterated bosom buddieness in all its glory.  And classy to boot.

And because words could never do these broads justice, I will leave you with a little photo diary of our love and the nourishment we provide one another.....

In Paris 2008:

 

 

 Welcoming my new nephew 2008:

Christmas 2011:

 Halloween and my bachelorette party, in New Orleans 2009:

 

 New York 2011:

Heat's Texas themed going away party 2010:

A Yellow Rose of Texas, a Bluebonnet and a Trophy Wife

 

Now if only the classy hooker on the bottom, in the green, was going to be joining us tonight, all would be right in my world. 

 

You can call her Karles.  And she isn't really a hooker.

 

And then some of this might happen:

The night Slash won a big award, Halloween 2011:

 

Christmas 2011:

The day my niece was born 2013:



 





The night I found out I passed the bar 2009:

 



New York 2011:

 

 

 

Karles' Bday 2012:

 

 

Karles' going away party 2012:

 

Heat's 30th bday ski trip, Breckinridge, CO 2012:

 

What do these pictures have in common? Friends sharing important moments with one another, being there for the things that matter, creating memories and building relationships.  Relationships that are like Vitmain C for the soul.  Make the effort, it is so worth it.

 

Now that's the stuff,

tbg

 

 

Yes!