What Love Means

To preface this post, if you’ve never heard of StumbleUpon, I definitely recommend checking it out. You can choose your interests and it directs you to all kinds of cool sites you wouldn’t have found otherwise. It helps me find lots of recipes, blogs, crafts and awesome quotes.

photo source

Anyway, I was “stumbling” away last night when I found this blog post and I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it. It’s a blog post on how 4-8 year-olds describe love. The answers were so cute and heartwarming...reading it kind of made my day.

You can read the post for yourself here, but here are some of my favorite responses:

“Love is what’s in the room with you at Christmas if you stop opening presents and listen.”

Bobby – age 7

“When you love somebody, your eyelashes go up and down and little stars come out of you.”

Karen – age 7

 “Love is when your puppy licks your face even after you left him alone all day.”

Mary Ann – age 4

“If you want to learn to love better, you should start with a friend who you hate,”

Nikka – age 6

This is great. It’s not often I stop and think about what love really is to me and these kids have the right idea. They probably know more about what love is than most adults for sure. I feel like with so many things in life, we have these completely unrealistic expectations of how it should be. We’re looking for signs and these big, extravagant moments to define life’s moments. But if you really think about it, it’s pretty simple. Love really is as simple as what is left in the room on Christmas if you stop opening presents and just listen.

Well I hope you all enjoy that post as much as I did…kind of makes me want to be 8-years-old again!

Why I Loved This Week

It has been quite a week. Between surgery to finally get rid of my kidney stone, preparing for The Umpire’s birthday and work, there has been a lot going on. While I’ve been in a ton of pain and a little overwhelmed, there are ALWAYS positives to focus on, so here is why I loved this week:

• You all might remember the kidney stone (which I named Stella) that kind of set my life into motion and inspired me to start this blog. Well I never really did get that taken care of, and with all the other health issues I had last year, I kinda just stopped worrying about it. Well, the pain came back in a big way a few weeks ago, so I went back to the doctor to get it taken care of for good. I had surgery on Tuesday, which basically consisted of the doctor using a laser to blast the stone into a ton of pieces. He also put a stent in to help drain my kidney and get rid of any excess stones. I get that removed in about 10 days. Overall, I am still in a ton of pain and really uncomfortable in general. I also have to pee like every 3 minutes, which isn’t convenient in the least bit. The upside and why I still loved this week: this will all be worth it because the stone will be gone and I will hopefully never have to go through this again!
• I baked for the first time in a while, which always makes me happy. Today was The Umpire’s birthday. I didn’t want to go overboard and get him anything extravagant since we just started dating, plus I love any excuse to do some baking. After finding out that he loves cheesecake, I decided to try making a strawberry cheesecake. It came out great and I think he really liked it!

• Speaking of The Umpire’s birthday, we went out last night to start celebrating and had a blast! We both had a long week and didn’t get to see each other much. I was busy working and recovering from surgery and he had a stressful week at work, so I couldn’t wait to get out and have some fun with him. We went to Cowboys, one of my favorite hangouts around here with my friend Sarah and a group of his guy friends. I got to wear my cowboy boots, line dance and we all had a great time. I always have such a fun time with The Umpire no matter what we’re doing…I love it!

So there you have it. Things could always be better and I’ve been a little bit of a hot mess lately, but it’s nice to look back at the simple things that made me a happy girl this week! 

Tucker Tale #5: Father's Day Edition

So, I’ve told you all about my momma. In honor of father’s day, I want to tell you all about my dad.

“Other things may change us, but we start and end with family.” Anthony Brandt

This quote always makes me think of my dad. He’s taught us one of the most important lessons, that family comes first and that we should always have each other’s backs and be there for each other. If you think I am obsessed with my family, you haven’t seen anything yet. My dad’s life dream is to build a compound for all five of us kids and our future families to live on. There is probably no one in the world that genuinely loves spending time with his family more.

 

When trying to figure out what we should get him for father’s day, I overheard him yelling in the background that he doesn’t want anything. I know that is true. My siblings and I all got to my parents’ house last night to spend the weekend together and I know without a doubt that makes him happier than anything we could have bought him.

For myself and all of my siblings, my dad has always been our biggest fan and unwaveringly supportive. Whether it was something simple like deciding to make a big purchase, making a big career decision or buying a house, we’ve always been able to count on him for sound advice and support. He has our best interest at heart always and he’s great at making sure we know how awesome we are.

Even though we don’t always see eye-to-eye, my dad taught me how important it is to speak my mind. He jokes about how he doesn’t “sugarcoat” anything and that is a huge understatement. He taught us that there are always going to be people who don’t like what you have to say, but that you might as well speak up for what you believe in.

There are so many reasons I feel completely blessed to have my dad. He didn’t have the best family life growing up and I respect him more than I could ever say for the man he is in spite of those things. He is a role model for us in so many ways and I feel so lucky to have him as a father and a friend.

Happy Father’s Day, Dad!

Happy as the Sun

I can't stop listening to this song. 

I love happy songs like this one, which is why my Colbie Caillat Pandora station is one of my faves. This song is called "Happy as the Sun," by Tyrone Wells. If it doesn't make you you smile, you are probably dead inside. Enjoy and have a happy Sunday!

I'm finally going to see Bridesmaids this afternoon...can't wait!

Archived! #3

I haven’t been very active with my eHarmony account lately thanks to The Umpire, but I still log in every now and then for entertainment purposes. The “archive-worthy” matches are still rolling in…

Just to give you a little background on this one, when you’re talking to someone on eHarmony, the normal process is to go through what is called “Guided Communication.” Basically it is a series of questions and information in steps you send to each other before you start e-mailing back and forth. There is an option to skip that and go straight into what is called “eHarmony Mail,” which I’ve never really done. I tend to prefer going through the steps first. I find choosing from the questions on there, you get to know each other a little bit and have something to base your e-mail conversations off of. Well, the other day I logged into my account to find an eHarmony mail request from one of my matches. This is what he wrote to me:

“I wanted to be upfront about something before going through the gauntlet of questions on here. I have a few friends (couples) that are swingers and as I've gotten older I've changed my outlook on relationships and sex and what I want out of life. Please do not take this as I am easy, sleeping with anyone or take sex lightly. I'm just saying I want someone who is open to things but also wants the old fashioned kids, white picket fence, cuddling on the couch with a movie type of relationship as well. I hope this doesn’t freak you out but I figured I should be honest and upfront.”


Seriously? Nothing says happily ever after like sleeping with other married couples. Yuck.

Archive!

Adventures in Aerial Fitness

I was reminded once again this week how much fun it is to try new things! For my birthday a few weeks ago, my good friend, Sarah got me two things: an aerial fitness class and a pole dancing class. She is the friend that I signed up for kickball without telling her and we always end up doing random things together and having a blast.

Last night, we attended our first aerial fitness class. If you don’t know what this is, check out the place we went here.

You all know by now that I don’t exactly consider myself athletic or coordinated in any way and when I walked into the class and saw girls flipping and spinning on the silks, I pretty much decided I was going to fall on my face at some point.

Since we were beginners, they taught the basic climbs and poses, which looked challenging on their own. I don’t have much upper body strength and this type of exercise really relies on that. When it was our turn to try, we all surprised ourselves by how quickly we caught on. It definitely wasn’t easy, but we got better every time we tried, which is really encouraging.

The last thing we learned was how to wrap our arms in the silk and hang upside down. I might have done gymnastics for about a week when I was a kid and I had no idea how I was going to flip my body upside down. Sarah went first and after a few tries, she had it! I tried next and to my amazement, I did it on the first try! We were unstoppable after that, cheering each other on and helping each other perfect the pose. It was an absolute blast and one of the best arm workouts I’ve had in my life. We are definitely going to make it a regular thing so we can learn more.

There was a time not too long ago when I never would have tried this. I would’ve been too scared of not being good at it, afraid of making a fool out of myself. I’m so glad I got over that. I love trying new things like this and the feeling of doing something I was scared of doesn’t compare to anything else. 

Last night was a good reminder that I really can do anything I put my mind to. I walked into that class thinking I would fall on my face and there was no way I was flipping upside down, but I walked out feeling like a rock star because I did it all because I tried! It’s amazing what you accomplish when you jump in and try.

Today, my arms are sore but it feels great! If you’ve never tried this, I highly recommend it. Next week is pole dancing….oh boy! 

May: A Birthday, a Boy, a Beach and a Bride

It’s Friday night and I’m staying in. For the first time in a while, I am not rushing out the door to go on a date, to meet the girls, to kickball, to work or away for the weekend. I finally have some alone time. I’m catching up on the DVR and being super lazy on the couch. So it’s time to fill you in all the fun stuff I’ve been up. Between my birthday, a trip to the beach with my girlfriends, meeting The Umpire and traveling to Minnesota for my cousin’s wedding, it’s hard to believe so much fun could happen in one month!

My 25^th Birthday

I turned 25 on May 12. Some of my friends were telling me that turning 25 was going to freak me out, but I felt nothing but excitement over celebrating another birthday! I am exactly where I want to be right now, happier than I ever could’ve imagined being at 25. Who could feel anything but happiness over that?

Me and the girls celebrating downtown.

Girls’ Weekend at the Beach

I’ve had this beach weekend planned with Taryn and Sam since the beginning of the year so I’m really glad we made it happen. We spent three days at St. Petersburg beach and had an absolute blast! With how stressful work has been over the last few months, it was so nice to get out of town and relax.

We might have started a bar crawl at 3 p.m. and actually crawled to the last stop. Such classy ladies. 

After a few stops on the bar crawl. 

We had a picnic at sunset with strawberries and mimosas. We laughed and danced around. It was heaven.

Most relaxing part of the weekend.

Minnesota for my Cousin’s Wedding

When I say I was excited about my cousin’s wedding, I don’t think that quite gets the point across. If you know me at all, you know that I have been dying for someone to get married so I can go to a wedding. My cousin was an absolutely beautiful bride, the wedding was lovely and I was so touched when she asked me to do a reading at the ceremony. Me? Of all people? It really meant a lot to me. Needless to say, the wedding and whole weekend was amazing! Oh yeah, also spent 7 hours at The Mall of America that weekend. Wow.

Best part of the weekend? My whole family was together. 

What a beauty.

The cake was amazing!

In between all these celebrations, I’ve been seeing a whole lot of The Umpire and enjoying every minute, work has been busy and stressful (but going well overall) and our kickball team has managed to make it into the championship, which is next week! Life is busy, exciting, silly and chaotic…I wouldn’t want it any other way though! But sometimes…I need to remind myself of this:

"Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving." Albert Einstein

I apologize...

I have been a very bad blogger.
Between my girls weekend away at the beach, the new man in my life, work and most recently, my trip to Minnesota for my cousin's wedding, I haven't had a minute to write! I'm back and things are hopefully going to slow down a bit now. I can't wait to share all the fun I've been having with you guys and promise a fun-filled post soon!

Until then, enjoy this pretty little quote :)

photo source

xoxoxo