2.27.12

2.3.12

It's that special time of year again when lovers gaze into each other's eyes, and singles start Googleing unique ways to kill themselves. That's right - Valentines Day. The single most volatile holiday on the American calendar.

It has been well over 5 years since I have celebrated Valentines Day, and have in the last year or two have come to dread the day all together. It is just too much pressure, and who needs that? I completely understand why guys tend to despise it so much. That one day brings a boatload of pressure to be Mr.Romantic, and the average guy tends to crack under the stress. Fear not guys, the truth is that the average girl doesn't expect, want, or need a Hollywood style over-the-top evening. A little thoughtfulness counts for a lot, and if she is important to you then it is important that you let her know that - even if you aren't "Mr.Romantic".

So swallow the anxiety guys, it is just one day and it will be over before you know it. And ladies: relax. This whole romantic season thing is difficult for the guys already, let's not make it even harder by loading on extra and unrealistic expectations. Truth is, Valentines Day - though cheezy and over-commercialized is a good time to let the people you care about know that you care about them. Everyone likes to be appreciated, so take the time to appreciate those that mean the most to you.

That's all for now!

-AM

Now is Better than all the Rest

As I thought back over the last year I started to compare Now to where I was a year or two ago, and quickly realized that the comparison was irrelevant.
I'm not who I was then, and looking to the past or future to figure out where I'm at now is completely futile.

I think it is important to have goals in life. I'm a very goal oriented person, and I do have certain goals for myself for the year. But if there is one thing that I learned from 2011 it was to be more open-ended with my "plans".

Screw plans. They're useless. A delusive tool to make us feel as though we're in control.
Goals, yes. Plans, no. Life is what happens when you're making "plans".

I have two real, tangible goals for myself for the year.
1 - Move to Denver.
If Austin, Tx and Burlington, VT had a baby it would be Denver. It is the home I have not yet had, and is the home I wish to spend my coming years in.

2 - Change this whole career thing. Can't really plan that part out. Nor am I going to worry about how/when it's going to make its metamorphosis. The best things in life aren't planned, and the whole career thing will work out on it's own. I have a great passion for design, textiles, and especially performance-apparel and I know the path will unfold itself as the year goes on.

I can't control much, but I can control how grateful I am for the things I am given. Two amazing little boys that, while trouble-makers, are the little lights of my life. I can't keep focusing on what I don't have, or what I have yet to attain - that will get me nowhere. Instead, I have set tangible yet flexible goals for myself and will let the rest fall into place.

Life without expectations yet filled with gratitude.

I am in 'transition' - and that sounds so lame. ("Everyone look out! She's in transition!") But how can things get better if they don't ever change? Let's not freak out people, change can be great, it doesn't mean that I don't have my shit together - it just means I'm brave enough to admit when things can be better.

I don't know where I'll be on 1.18.13. And it doesn't really matter. I'm happy, I'm blessed, and I'm doing everything I can to be the strong independent woman that I know that I am.

And as for my blogging duties - pardon my truancy. I promise to ramble incessantly about my experiences as the year goes on whether anyone reads it or not.

That's all for now - back to being Supermom.

-AM