Embracing my Inner Mee-Maw

I know I haven't updated this blog in a very long time.  This is mostly due to the fact that I don't have anything too entirely exciting to post about.  And honestly, that is just fine with me.  I have come to some important life realizations these past few months, so I'm going to take this post to share a little about my self-discovery.

In August, my baby sister went to college, at my alma mater in fact!  Since she is just an hour away now, I got to help her move in, see her during recruitment, and go to her bid day when she joined her social club.

So of course, now I think that since Kate is only sixty miles away, she can come over whenever she wants, do laundry, have a home-cooked meal (by Justin, of course), and have her own room to sleep in.  I obviously have forgotten what it is like being a college freshman, because the only time she has had a chance to come see me was this past weekend, during her fall break.  On Saturday, I got up at 7:30, turned on a marathon of America's Next Top Model (my guilty pleasure), and hardcore house-cleaned.  Dishes were done, laundry was washed, dried, and folded, rooms were cleaned, and the puppies' toys were put up.  I even went to Hobby Lobby to get two small scarecrows (on clearance!) to finish my autumn centerpiece, and grocery shopped at Publix and picked up snacks for Kate and Sam, who was also coming to visit.  I got home, unloaded groceries, fixed a sandwich, and sat on the couch, and took a look around at my clean house, happy puppies, and Pinterest centerpiece.  I literally have never felt so content and at peace- alone on my couch and knowing that Kate was about to visit and that Justin would come home soon from his LSAT. 

I feel like if someone would have told me five years ago that I would be happiest washing dishes, grocery shopping, and hanging out at my house with my family, that I would have thought they were crazy.  I spent the majority of my college years NEVER slowing down.  I was involved in as many extra-curriculars as time would allow and was always thinking about different things I could do to add to my resume.  Once I got to the W, I was surrounded by people constantly, from 7:00 at breakfast with my sisters, til late at night when we would all pile up in the dorm and get homework done or watch movies.  On the weekends, I was going back and forth to Starkville or some other town.  After graduation as a recruiter, I was all over the state, usually leaving town on Sunday night and coming back on Friday afternoon.  I had gotten so used to being busy, that I literally did not know what to do by myself anymore. 

Maybe this happens to everyone at some point in their 20s, but I am learning to embrace my inner homebody, and becoming more comfortable with being alone.  I think about the things that made me happy at 20, which are not at all the things that I look forward to at 24.  My single most favorite thing to do is to come home after work, curl up with my pups, and watch tv with Justin.  That's it.  That is literally my favorite thing to do.  I value spending time with the people I love more than I ever have.  I also have never realized how much I miss my mom and wish she were closer. 

At 24, instead of online shopping at Target, I am looking at real estate sites to see what kind of houses Justin and I can afford.  I am staying in to watch Breaking Bad instead of going out every weekend.  I am attending and throwing bridal and baby showers and loving every minute of it. 

Its crazy how my priorities have changed in just four years.  I used to get panicked whenever I thought of committing myself to one person for the rest of my life.  How would I choose the right one?  I was a child of divorce, and I could not wrap my head around having a man who would be faithful to me and want to be with me until the end of my life.  I had never known a marriage like that.  Now, I have found the one I want to marry, and have never been so sure of the vows that we are about to take with one another.  To know that I have found him gives me so much peace.  I also never thought I wanted children.  I had no desire to raise kids in a world like this.  Now, I can't imagine not having or adopting children, and showing them a love in a world where there sometimes feels like there is none. 

To the world, I may be boring, but to me, I have never been more comfortable in my own skin.  I'm not 20 anymore, and that is MORE than fine by me.  I like being a mee-maw, and I won't apologize for it. 

And to end this post, a few things that have made me a happy girl lately: