Words of Wisdom: Wait for it.

"Good things come to those who wait," my mom always said to me, throughout my life.

I had just graduated college the spring before and started my full-time job a few weeks before, and I was (unofficially) engaged to my sweetheart. Things were looking up.

I was just engaged. Literally. Said sweetheart, I'll call him Y, had just asked me while driving down a quiet country road that evening. It wasn't exactly the stereotypical romantic storybook proposal, but it was unexpected. And awesome. I had spent the evening floating on Cloud 9 (which, by the way, is awesome transportation) through Downtown, and landed on my doorstep, kissing Y goodbye for the night. However, the high of good news came crashing down with news of a death in the family (whose funeral we could not make, due to financial reasons).

Some weeks later, we made the way to our fave restaurant and had the family meeting, i.e. Y asked my family for his hand. We wanted to marry that next fall. It went well, for the most part, except one thing, which was made clear over time... my mom was not pleased about my choice. We had many a discussion, and I'll not-so-proudly admit that some were more like catfights. After all, she had a point. I had just graduated from college and found a job in the real world. I hadn't really... LIVED yet.

But I was determined that Y was The One. Undeterred, we looked at homes together (albeit totally on our own, homes that were under construction). We discussed how we'd raise our kids. Still, my mom pressed. She felt that Y wasn't The One. He wasn't right for me. It got under my skin. It irked me.

Finally, I caved. I sat down, shut up and did some soul searching. I hadn't even had my own place yet. Heck, I hadn't even had my first real review yet at my job (you know, the one that doesn't scream "We are going to throw you under that DART bus if you don't do XYZ!"). I hadn't even experienced what it was like to... have my own place. My own space. Breathe. I hadn't even really stopped to... you know, smell the new roses that had bloomed right in front of me.

That night, I swallowed my pride and conceded. I admitted that my own gut had even hinted that Y wasn't the right man for me, and that mom's advice to not marry him had affected me as well. I made the difficult decision to call everything off (fortunately, no dress or rings were bought yet, so that made it a *tiny* bit easier). After all, good things come to those who wait, right? Shoot, had I been more prayerful about it, it probably wouldn't have taken so long.

Fast forward about a year. I was settled in my own place and my job was going well. I loved it. Newly single from another relationship that I knew wasn't compatible, I had vowed to take it easy, no dating for a while. That lasted all but a couple of months. I met the man who later became my husband and we hit it off.

And here I sit, now, with two young tornadoes girls, watching Lalaloopsy Land as I type this and talk to them. My husband is out and about and we are sitting in our home, living the American Dream. Thanks to heeding what was probably the best advice my mom gave to me, I am so blessed right now. Good things do come to those who wait!


~~CrazyMom

10 Years Later...

...here I am. Exactly 10 years ago I graduated from James W. Martin High School in Arlington, TX. I had an awesome summer working at Six Flags and basically racking in the $$. Only to have it drained that next fall by a monstrosity known as college. It was a definite culture shock.

In high school we had get-togethers known as pep rallies. We even got together after school to decorate our little section of hallway for homecoming. The band even trotted through our hallways on Fridays when there was a football game that night. Even if I wasn't going to the game (which was pretty rare) I was pumped. I was in student council, orchestra (for a while), and on the yearbook staff for my senior year. I loved every minute of it. This plus going to the games nearly every Friday night, doing my homework with the TV on (yup!), working a part-time job and much, much more... I still made straight-A's. I was very active both physically and mentally and loved every minute of being at that place.

Then, enter fall 1999. I started college. I was on student government and in a couple of other activities. However, this college didn't even have a football team, let alone any spirit. I had a few buddies, but not alot of close friends from college. In fact, if you look at my Facebook, I have tons and tons of buddies from high school, message-boarding, my current job and Six Flags, but absolutely none solely from college. I had to earn every penny so I had to work, constantly, to make my ends meet- and that was with a portion of the tuition and living at home (better than no help, though.. living at home helped A BUNCH. I'm not bashing that one bit)! At least I enjoyed my job at Six Flags and my extracurricular activities- that helped keep me sane. As for college itself, I have no desire to repeat it. I wasn't happy there, and my grades showed it.

Finally, in 2004 I graduated with a BA in Public Relations. Miraculously. With the way I cried on the night of my high school graduation, both mom and I thought I would need a canoe for my college graduation. Boy were we wrong! LOL It was more like, "halle-freakin'-lujah it's about time (in my head)!" I was never more glad to leave a place. Awful professors (a few, not all). Ugly buildings. No environment (it's been referred to as a commuter school for a reason...).

I found my job with the auto finance company and just short of a year later (right after Hurricane Katrina), I met my awesome, wonderful, gorgeous, handsome husband, Keith. A true match made in Heaven.

We went through the next few years getting to know each other, getting engaged, then married and went on our honeymoon. Then I had my knee surgery. Blech. It was over quickly, though and I was back to myself within a few months. Thank goodness! We hit a few speedbumps along the way to where we are now, but we are making it. Recently, in January, we learned of an upcoming layoff in June. All the jobs and agencies keep saying, "call us when it's two weeks out..." basically too late! ARGH!

We don't know where this crazy road (crazy life, crazy world!) is going to take us next, but we do know one thing- we will get through our tough times together. There's a reason God has put us together and given us the speed bumps he has, we just have yet to figure it out.

Hopefully, the next 10 years will be a little smoother, or at least more fun for us. While I have sadly become more cynical and type-a now than I was in high school, life is too short to bemoan every little detail and wallow in self-pity and worry about every little thing. One lesson I have learned is to trust God every step of the way, and He will guide you.