How much is that doggie in the window?

Dog for Sale!! Who wants a dog?? She is great *wink**wink*. I'm not to happy with our "fine" furry friend. In the last week or two, She has pooped in the house probably once a day. BJ and I can't figure it out. In the last two weeks nothing has changed that would have made her upset. She has stopped eating in her crate and waits for us to force feed her before she will eat. She has been very distant from us the last few days. Any way I look at it... She is driving me up the wall. GRRR... Rescue we're going to sell you to the Gypsies next time they are in town.

Top down or bottom up?

Any SLP's out there the first thing you think about is the model of language learning. It has been the an never ending debate about how children and people learn and use language. However, since becoming a mother I am plagued with the same question but different situation. Here it goes:
Lately Elijah has been wearing pajamas that have snaps down them. When he was just a bitty baby he would wear night gowns with no snaps but elastic. Since Elijah has been able to roll changing his clothes and his diaper have become increasingly more difficult. So I struggle with the best way to dress him. This is where the question of my profession pops in my head... What is the best way to snap your snaps? Top down or bottom up? To this day I still don't know the best way but it makes me giggle every time I start the snaps. Sometimes, I make BJ do the snaps on the top while I do the snaps on the bottom and we meet in the middle, however, 50% of the time we end up where one of us (usually me) has miss snapped somewhere along the way and we have to restart. Yeah, I know I'm awesome!

8 months old!

Yup that's right 8 months ago this was me and Elijah...And baby Elijah all by himself...

Now this is Elijah...

Let me just tell you how Elijah has changed, most of which has been this past month.

-He is crawling better, more fluidly, and less worm like. In fact, last night I put him down in his room and had him follow me to the bathroom for his bath. It was so cute. Kinda like a little puppy dog.

-When you sneak up on him and go AHHH, he will respond in the same volume, and intonation with AHHHHH. As cute as this is, it has gotten to a point where when ever he sees me or BJ he just goes AHHH! to start the game. It is real funny. All except when he did it Sunday when he was sleeping with us because he wouldn't sleep. He woke up at 6:30 AM, kicked me, rolled over, climbed on top of me, and goes AHHHHHH.

-He as just started waving. He waves more when he sees you and not so much when you leave. That is okay with me though because a lot of times we don't wave goodbye to him. We typically dump and run so we don't get a sad baby. But we wave at him a lot when we see him. So he waves just about when ever he sees us.

-He has 4 teeth now. As much as I miss the gummy smile that he used to have, I am enjoying the little teeth he has.

-We have started Cheerios (or in SLP lingo-meltable solids). I have found that this is the best way to entertain him in the morning instead of trying to keep him out of the dogs water bowl. It actually is funny when the puff stars stick to him and he can't get them off. I am entertained for hours just watching him.

-He has started to self feed with a spoon, but minimally because I haven't yet covered the carpet and half the time don't have enough time to bathe him after all our meals.

-He is starting to show side preference in hand dominance (yes, I know this can still change for 3-4 more years but still). I think he might be a lefty! Thanks to BJ's mom! (Sorry Megan yours is from the wrong side of the family to have anything to do with it.)

-His butt looks all fixed. We have another follow up appointment on March 8th.

-He is trying more and more to pull himself up to stand. He gets his hands off the ground about to the height of his waist but won't go much further. So now he looks like a giant 90 Degree angle.

why I love my job

There are many moments in my life when I don't enjoy my job. However, to all those moments I have 10 or more moments that I love. Here are a couple of them:

• My friend who is so into sports has told me on multiple occasions that he wants to be a basketball, football playing chef.
• My friend who thought he got a day off of school because of Valentines day, and my other friend who thought he got a day off of school because of Groundhogs day.
• My friend who thought that the handicap signs were people sitting on to potties.
• The days I get hugs and kisses from my favorite friends.
• I played candyland 3 times today, and candyland bingo once.
• My ability to constantly lose at Hi-Ho-Cherry-O even if I try and cheat to win.
• I know how to cheat at almost all games so I can lose. (Some times I switch it around to win)
• Special rules to make all games completable in about 15-20 min. (except battleship, can't play that one fast)
• Mr. Potato head and all his parts.
• Sticky balls
• Bubbles when they want to work right.
• FisherPrice little people
• Talking with Friends over 10 about "real life" things.
• Singing Wheels-on-the Bus at the top of my lungs while doing all the motions while my little friends just sit and stare at me.

These are just a few...

PS. Stay tuned tomorrow for pictures of my 8 month old child. Yes tomorrow he will be 8 months old. CRAZY.

When two worlds meet

We all have different lives as we go through life. However, most people have several lives that are all intertwined, I never felt that way with mine. I specifically remember 3 as I grew up: my life in Naperville, which included my high school life, and my mom, and my brother; my life in Warrenville, which included my dad, step-mom, brother and sister; and my church life, which included BJ. Even though all my lives were continually changing, very rarely did they actually over lap. And when they did overlap it was kinda like guest appearances on your favorite TV show. Every once in a while my Naperville life would get a peak at my Warrenville life, Sometimes my Naperville life would get a peak into my church life. My church life got to peak at both sides because BJ gradually became part of both of my lives but in high school we still had our own lives that occasionally crossed. However, very rarely did my Warrenville life ever get to see either of my other lives. Reason being, my Warrenville life was really about my brother and sister because we hung out with the families of their friends. This never bugged me, It was just how my life was. I was used to my separate lives. I was real happy with them. And since I was older than all of my siblings by several years my Naperville/high school life was really the one that if I had to pick one would be "typical."

Although I have different lives now than I did in high school, I had all three lives in the same spot this weekend and it was weird, but fun. Here's how it went: This weekend my best friend asked me to go to a chili cook off for her boyfriends church. I said sure, I knew where the church was and it was just minutes from my dad's house. However, when I told my dad where we were going, he informed me that everyone that we hung out with "back in the day" go to that church. Well okay, guess I should get ready to see everyone that I really haven't seen in AGES. Well sure enough just about everyone was there! And of course there I was, without my family, and never there before. Several people took a couple of minutes to place me then we did a whole bunch of catching up. This was all followed by, "why are you here?" Well my answer was my best friend from high school is dating someone at this church and they entered the cook off. They then of course wanted to know who my friend was dating. Umm... "Dan" was all I could answer. After several of these questions I decided it would be a good idea to figure out his last name. I was also told just tell them, "Kim's son." Right, got it. Then as I told all of the Warrnville people, I found out most of them knew his family. In fact, many of them had helped in making their chili. How weird. Which made me think, "my family probably knows his family." Sure enough get home and let them know who the family was, yup they knew his family. Who knew that if I would have lived in Warrnville my whole life, and never had my Naperville life, I would have probably met up with my high school best friend because her current boyfriend and I would have been the same age and everyone in Warrenville knows everyone else. Freaky!!

Olympic Fever

I'm trying to make it as contagious as possible. I have been missing sleep, dreaming about the Olympics, and checking the medal count almost religiously. Because of this, and it is fun to have something to talk about with my kids, I have been asking all kids if they have been watching the Olympics. Some say no but then when asked if they have been watching ice skating, they say yes. Some say no but their parents are. And others say yes and they proceed to tell you all about what they are learning or what they have seen. One little boy today told me all about the speed skaters, "Did you know they have longer skates?" Another kid told me she like to watch the skiers who go like this... and proceeded to walk down the hallway like she was going over moguls. So because of this I have been creating homework that the kids can do while they are watching the Olympics. My most recent, most creative... Olympic Bingo!! That's right. All my articulation kids (working on speech sounds) are getting lists of words that have something, anything, and sometimes a stretch, that are about the Olympics. Then they take the list home with their mini-bingo board and sit in front of the TV calling out their words until they have a cover all. My favorite are the kids working on the /s/ blends (sk, st, sn, sm, sw, sp) My most creative stretch... Swimsuit, that's what the figure skaters wear. HA... Poor kids, I'm screwing them up. I think the parents are more excited about the homework than the little kids. That is great because then it will actually get done, I hope. Others... "sh" words, Shawn White, shovel, show, shake, share. I enjoy when I get into the homework. I enjoy it even more when I actually think it will get done.

On another note, I can't wait to get back to a regular sleep cycle. They stay on way past my bed time!

Fat Tuesday!!

I'm not Cathlic but every year I try to "give up" something that I enjoy. I do this for several reasons, one: I think it is good to understand sacrafice, and two: it is a good way to change habits with support of God.

This year I have decided that I will be giving up eating out. Yes, that will be hard for me seeing as I typically stop for breakfast 1 or 2 days a week, got out to lunch 1 or 2 days, and our weekends we typically spend going out to eat with our neighbors or ordering in. But if it was an easy change then it wouldn't be a sacrafice would it? When I told BJ this he then decided to join me in my quest to go from tomarrow until Easter without eating out. I just think that we were using the convience of it and it wasn't helping my weight loss or our financial situation at all.

So to all those of you out there that we spend going out to eat with... I am sorry, no coffee or tea runs, no lunch runs, no grabbing a bite to eat. This does mean, planning ahead. I already know days when this will be hard for us, like in the begining of March, I have 2 or 3 days off and when I'm out running errands I won't be able to just grab a quick bite to eat. I will actually have to pack a lunch. Also this means, I have to get my butt out of bed 10 minutes earlier every day so I can eat breakfast and make a lunch while still getting Elijah ready for school.

And you don't have to worry about me cheating. Cuz I'm being watched all the time.

Facebook $$$ What??

The other day I was poking around on Facebook and found something that implied that in July it will cost money to be a "member" on facebook. Let me just say that I think they are making a huge mistake.
1. The largest population of people of people joining every year has to be high school and college kids. At least those are the ones that have the most time on their hands and can use all of facebook for all that it is worth.
2. I know just about everyone I know will stop using facebook once I have to pay for it. I mean really? That is money I don't have right now. And I don't see myself making that payment a priority in my life.
3. If the reason you have facebook is so you can stay in touch with people, but all the people you are in touch with are no longer there, you probably won't stay much longer either.

I also think that if Facebook goes about going this route, twitter will be come the big thing and Facebook will become the next MySpace.

To Be or Not To Be...

A soccer mom that is. It is getting to be that time in our lives when we need to start talking about getting a new car. However, I am one of those people who likes to think practical and for the future. I know there have been posts about this in the past so this isn't like it is something new since I have become a mom. But still I can't help but think of the future and how spending money now will benefit me in the future. One of the reasons we went to the Auto show was to check out different cars that would possibly become our next car. Well going to the show we were looking for a car that gives us more room so we can take our GIANT stroller with us to places and still be able to bring luggage and stuff. That was the main reason. Then we started talking about getting an SUV. But I am having trouble going for an SUV when the 3rd row of seats is always SOOOO uncomfortable. And of course, since I am little I typically end up sitting in the back row. But then again, people keep saying but it's you, BJ and Elijah. Yes, I know this but... I like to be effective and when our little family and another family go places it would be nice to car pool. Plus, let me just tell you that the new car seat we have is not that little. The thought of having to put that thing in the middle seat and 2 full grown adults in the back is a very crowded thought. Plus, BJ and I are really the first people we know to have kids but that means that in the next few years more people we know will be having kids. So it would be nice to have a vehicle that can hold 4 adults, and 2 children in car seats. Yes, this means we are back to the van. But then I have to think, but it's just me, BJ, and Elijah, and trust me a fourth little Okel is not going to be in the cards for the next couple of years. But some day I would like a fourth, maybe even a fifth Okel so do I buy the car that will live with our family for the next um... um... lets see, my car is a '98 and it is now '10 making it 12 years old. So if I buy a new car it would live with us for 12+ years I would hope. A used car probably not that long. Depends on the car. I could go for cars like a Mazda 6 with seats that fold down or a car like the Subaru Outback that has lots of storage room that will fit our great stroller and luggage. But still I keep coming back to the # of seats. Any help out there??? Thoughts??? I also don't want a car that will cost so much money that we can't go on vacation for the next 12 years. AHHHHHH!

Day at the Auto Show!

Last year on Valentines Day BJ and I headed to the Auto show. Last year I was preggers and in a a lot of pain with all that walking and standing and everything. This year different story. This year there was not a baby on the inside of me but a giant child on the outside fo me. This year we also had our neighbors come with us. Here are some pictures of us enjoying all the shinny cars and cool things. We child tested many vehicles and I took every captain's seat in and out of every "van" there. Those things are heavy, but, if I will be the one doing it, then I have to do it all by myself. I have to say the easiest of all of them were the Town and Country and the Dodge Van which is basically the same thing. BJ is now sound asleep on the neighbors couch while Elijah is up stairs in his pack-n-play sleeping. Overall it was a great day, good friends, good food, and good entertainment.First we tried out a motorcycle. This is the only place mommy will let me ride one. Especially without a helmet!

Then I found a car that met it's match with a circular saw. I thought the big round thing in my face was a really big teething ring. It tasted kinda funny and mommy wouldn't let me eat it Then we headed over so I could flirt with the Blackhawks Ice Crew!

Here is my little Mini man in a Mini Cooper. How cute.

Hey cool, this truck has a playpen in the back of it. Awesome!

Here is Elijah getting plowed while eating his bottle.

There were cars there made by Ford that you could customize for your business. Well we found one that I think the logo should have been placed differently on the car. Here is the full logo:

Here is what it said when you open the door. I thought it was funny.

EARTHQUAKE!!!! RUN FOR THE ROAD

For those of you who didn't know, Illinois had an earthquake of 3.6 or 4.3 whoever you want to believe, about 3:45 am. Well this is the third earthquake that I have lived through since, well... um... since being alive. However, it was the first I actually felt.

The first quake was either when I was in High School or in Collage around 12:30am and I was heading to bed. I heard the house shake but i didn't actually feel anything. The second was a couple of years ago at about 3:00am, the whole family slept right through it. And here is how the third one played out.

I had awoken around 2 or so from some noise, or wind or something and I went back to sleep. Then at about 3:45 I woke up and heard a very strange sound. It is hard to to describe it because I was coming out of a very deep sleep. And during those moments I am not very clear with details. But I can tell you enough that between the shaking and the noise I was really convinced a snow plow had just ran into the side of our house. However, I wasn't worried enough to actually get out of bed to go check it out. I guess I figured if the wall was still okay and we were not falling out of our house, it could wait until morning. The noise then stopped and it was just shaking. Again, due to my sleep induced haze, I then convinced myself that it was just the wind, even if the wind had never done that to our house before. Now that I actually sit down and think about it I see more of my rational for the whole thing. I remember all the weather reports the night before staying that there were going to be large gusts of wind and lots of blowing and drifting snow. And since we live in a wind tunnel as it is, it was probably just the wind.

Things that I am now thinking about:

1. This is the second earthquake we have had since living in this house maybe we should see if we have earthquake coverage on our homeowners insurance. If we don't, we should probably add that on. So while we wait for the big one that will separate Illinois from the rest of the USA and throw it into the ocean we won't look like the house from life (split level).

2. Thanks a ton Elijah for sleeping through the night for the last 6 days or so. If you weren't doing that then we would have been awake and huddling together in your bedroom. "Gosh I always miss the fun stuff."

3. Elijah must have felt it because about an hour later he was crying and wide awake. He tends to chill in his crib for about an hour before he gets board and needs to be picked up. So at 4:45 am we had a screaming, hungry, wide awake child. Fantastic!!!

What did you think was happening when you were in the earthquake??

Life

UPDATE #1: No new car yet, need to make time to call Mazda. When?? Not real sure since I work during the time I need to call them.
UPDATE #2: Elijah's butt is doing good. However, he screams bloody murder anytime we need to change his diaper. That's real fun.
UPDATE#3: Elijah is up to 4 teeth. 2 top, and 2 bottom.
The other night I ended up watching the made for TV movie about the high school girls that all got pregnant together because they thought it would be really fun to all have babies together. One of the big things that I couldn't get over (being a person who just had a baby) is how much people really "forgot" to tell me about babies. So this started me thinking about what else people tend to make sound so much easier or better than they really are. Don't get me wrong, I love my little baby and i wouldn't return him right now, but there were things that would have been nice to know before I felt like the only person in the whole wide world that felt them. This made me start thinking though what else is like that and with Valentines Day coming up I thought there were somethings that needed to be discussed.
During one or two of our showers or in cards that we received at our wedding we got some stupid/bad advice. Let's talk about it... Never go to bed angry at each other. Really?? I can't even begin to talk about how many times BJ and I have gone to bed angry with each other since we were married. And in all actuality some times sleep is better than "talking it out." I mean when it is 10:00 and I am heading to bed and realize that BJ didn't put the garbage out like he promised, I will just have to suck it up and sleep on it and deal with it in the morning. Or when there really are times that you really are angry at the other person that you need the night to cool off before you address the problem. I honestly think it, no matter how much you love someone, that getting angry or upset at the other person is healthy because then you can appreciate more.

What's some stupid advice you got?? Let me know, I'll find some fun examples for you if you just give me the advice.

I lost in Monopoly... TO THE DOG!!

Awhile back BJ and I were in Meijer and were checking out the clearance section and we came across Monopoly Tycoon. It looked different, a new twist on the old game. So we took a chance and bought it. Then maybe 3-4 months later we finally got around to playing it. We sat down got everything out... and realized that you needed 3-5 players. Bummer. We really wanted to play so we started making a compromise... "How about we both play the third person? How about Rescue be the third person?" We liked that one. We then made the decision that she had to buy anything she landed on and any trade offered presented to her. The interesting part about this game is that there is a DVD to give out the chance, and community chest, as well as some different things. Then all of a sudden, Rescue started to take off. She had a ton of properties, and a ton of money. Great. Then we started making bogus trades with her, "Rescue, if you give me X, I will give you treat. Do you accept?" Of course she did. We continued to make bogus trades and deals that would benefit ourselves. At the end of the game you tally up your money and things to get points. The one with the most points wins! Rescue had 84 points, I had 85 and BJ had 73. How sad is that. Even cheating and taking advantage of the non-human, she still almost beat us. That sucks! HA!

Problem with movie deal

I get distracted A LOT. When I get distracted I think of many, many, many different things. Since posting last night I have been thinking about my made for TV movie. I have realized a flaw...I don't have guts to complain about things at work or people that may be annoying me that particular day or week, or month. Now don't get me wrong, most of the things that happen to me I am not really annoyed by. But there are times. I can always post about crazy dog, and some crazy kids but other than that, I need to be careful not to make people mad at me. However, sometimes I think the dog might be able to read cuz she acts weird sometimes. Oh well, so life will go on, and if my life story ever gets made into a movie, depending on the $$ that they offer me, their might be a bunch "additions" to my blog. Don't worry though if you never make me mad then you won't have to be worried about looking bad on TV. HA... maybe the people I don't like will be played by people who can't act. HA... So far people that have claimed actors: My mom wants Meg Ryan or ?? I forgot, one of my co-workers wants Julia Roberts. I am still pushing BJ to pick someone.

Wish me luck. Tomorrow I will be off to Mazda with my Father to push for reimbursement on my car. Yes, I'm taking my dad because BJ will be at work and I really didn't think the Suits at Mazda would take a 5'1'' girl who looks like she is 12 carrying a baby that is half her size seriously. So Elijah will stay with Grandma and my dad, my automotive pinata bag, and I will go for a ride to Mazda. In a perfect, and completely unrealistic world, Mazda would look at everything and say, "We are sorry for your inconvenience, here's a new car." Um, Okay! We will see what goes down. There is going to be a rumble!

Time to wake up my hubby so he can go to bed.

Once upon a time..

First of all I will fill you in about the car then get to something happier.

Cost of tow to car place: Free thanks to AAA

Cost of Rental car for 1.5 days while car is being fixed: $70.00 after 5% discount from AAA (hopefully we will be reimbursed for this from our insurace company)

Cost of missing 2 hours of work: 0 dollars-all my kids reschedualed

Cost of a broken spring in your drive belt that won't let your car run: $1022.86 **OUCH** Trust me Mazda will be hearing from me and I will be working in all my free time to get as much of it reimbursed as possible.

HAPPIER NOTE begins now-->

Since my mom opened my eyes to the number of blogs out on the Internet and the number of people reading other peoples blogs I have begun thinking...

Now that I know people will read my blog they get a window into my world. Some times, things that happen in real life are better than things someone can create (i.e. my dog). If you get a real interesting life and the right person reading your blog you could get a movie deal out of it. I mean come on, look at some of the movies that have made it big recently. The Blindside: true story on the life of an ordinary man who had an extra ordinary event in his life. Example number 2: Marley and Me: a true story about the life of a dog and how it impacted a family. Example number 3: My Big Fat Greek Wedding: alright I know this one was a little over the top and exaggerated but still taken from life experiences.

Therefore in the future, I see movie/TV producers looking to the blogs of everyday people to make the next big movie or TV show. I mean how cool would it be if one day your just sitting in your living room, writing the day's events on the computer to share with the world, and save your life on the Internet for the rest of history, and the next you are answering the phone to a producer wanting to buy the rights to your life. For that matter everyone I mention in my blog needs to start thinking about what famous person you want to play you in my made for TV movie. Let me know in case I get the call tomorrow.

I would like Sandra Bullock to play me. I think she is clumsy, and she acts the way my brain works.

Oh and by the way this would be awesome!!

Bagheera-The car

BJ and I have names for our cars. BJ's car's name is Miki as in Miki Moto the pearl guy, mine's name is Bagheera from the Jungle Book. Well today, Bagheera decided to threaten to die today. Let's just say, not a good time. Well here is how it all went down.

It all started Monday, when I got home from work BJ opened the garage door with the baby and said, "your car sounds funny." I thought well I haven't heard anything so it must not be that bad, and if it does sound bad, I have no clue how long it's been going on cuz I haven't been hearing it.

On Tuesday, as I was walking out to my car after work I listened to the car a bit and realized, yes it does sound a bit off. But just a tad off. Not enough for me to drop everything and rush it into the shop.

On Wednesday (today), I dropped Elijah off at daycare and on the way back to the house I thought, "this weekend I will have BJ look into the car thing and see if he can figure it out." I also realized that BJ left his phone at home today and I really hoped I didn't need him for anything today. I then jumped in the car, started it up, and backed out of the garage. On the way out my car stutters and I assume it got stuck on the newspaper, so I tapped the gas, off I went. I got down the drive way, onto the street and PTHHH. Car dead! Yeah this sucks. After throwing a mini tantrum beating the steering wheel, swearing under my breath and clenching my fists while pulling out my hair, I tried the car again. No luck. As I sat there looking at all the lights on the dash lit up like a Christmas tree I called my boss to let her know I was going to be a bit late.

Part two of sucky day: I call up AAA- which by the way is the BEST investment you can have if you are a driver. Tangent: for about $125 a year you get tows up to 100 miles, an unlimited number and then you get discounts on things, plus those free travel books if you travel. Back on topic: I spent about 45 min on the phone with them getting a tow truck and looking into a renta car. I was then transferred to Hertz to help me get a car...however, they ran out of cars. How do you run out of cars, your a rental car company. Anyway, I wait around and get a phone call thinking it was the tow guy saying he was here. No, No it was the tow guy saying he was lost. Fantastic, now I will be even later for work. I finally get to the car place and drop off my car. They call Enterprise and "They pick you up." On the way to Enterprise the guy asks, "what are you looking for." Me knowing perfectly well that anything that causes you to be towed into the repair shop will not be cheap says, "something small, and cheap." We get there and the next thing he says is I have an SUV you can drive for 70 bucks a day. Really what part of small and Cheap do you not understand? Anyway I drove off with a Kia Rio. It's small and it definitely is cheapish. I finally get to work about 10:00 and am completely disorganized. I was completely unprepared and I couldn't settle down.

Part three of bad day: The car place called to let me know what was going on with my car and to keep me up to speed with everything. He had checked the spark plugs, they worked, but old so he changed them. Still didn't work, then he checked the cylinders, no problems there, then he had an idea, a hunch. He did some research and found out the symptoms sounded just like some thing he read. Did more research found out Mazda 626's year 1998 had a recall on this part. The mechanic called Mazda and found out that this issue that was recalled, that happened to my car, did not cover my car. He followed this up with it will be costly to fix this do you want me to fix it?? Let me see, YES, my car isn't even driving, what will I do with it not working? He then wanted to know if he should call me with the final estimate. I said, "NO" because I would have to pay it somewhere, and it will be cheaper than buying a new car. By the time I got home I realize, I don't have my house keys, they are with my car, so was my garage door opener. I jump out of the car to use the key pad for the garage door, and nothing. The garage door refused to open. AWESOME!!!!!!!! After 10 minutes of pushing garage door buttons it finally opens I park and am done for the night.

I'm done, I'm tired, I had to do it all by myself like a grown up, and I'm dreading the cost of this wonderful day. All I have to say...thank goodness I didn't have to pay the towing fee. The rest of it... I have to laugh because there is nothing else I can do. However, I may be putting a collection together to cover the cost of the repair.

Final note: Bagheera, you're not aloud to die! Not yet, Not this way!

Personal Image

BJ came home from youth group last night and they had been talking about body image and how we put so much of our lives into making sure everyone else likes us. Every one reaches their ability to accept themselves they way we were made at different times in our lives. But BJ pointed out that he became comfortable in his own skin when he was in middle school. That made me start thinking. BJ was comfortable with who he was before we started dating by I definitely was not. I started trying to figure out when I became comfortable with me. I think it was some where when I was in college, before grad school. But I really have to say BJ's model really helped me get to where I was comfortable with me. I think many people in the world would be much happier about life in general if they were able to enjoy who they are. I know that I am not the tallest, athletic, most gorgeous (or even wanting to put the time into making me that way), but I do know that I can just about make everyone laugh, I can be smart but I don't like to, I enjoy my inner child.

I wish I could help others figure out how to get to that level of confidence and be comfortable in their own skin. Because once you accept your faults for things you can't change, you will be happy!