Falon’s World

Before I met Eric I was a cynical, pessimistic and rather bitchy individual. LOL I can imagine people thinking “oh yeah, and what’s changed?” but things have changed!   I’ve worked really hard to be content with the things that I have – “It is better to want what you have than to strive to have what you want” – Ok, that’s not the exact quote but I like my way better. Anyway, I’ve been trying really hard to live that. I’ve been working on being more optimistic, giving people the benefit of the doubt and overall choosing to shrug off the little things and be happy with my lot in life. I think I’ve made a lot of progress and those that are close to me have noticed the difference and commented on it – which makes me feel good.

It’s especially noticeable now that I’m out of school and Eric and I have more “down time” to spend together – aka time where I can actually hang out and not do homework. He’s always been the laid back “nice” one and now I can see him grappling with the changes that I’ve made in myself. Not that they’re bad, but that they’re different. He’ll be braced for a certain comment and already be responding to it before he realizes that is not the way that I am actually reacting. It’s taking some time for us to work on this new balance – but I’m enjoying the journey because ultimately it’s leaving me less stressed and feeling pretty good about myself – something I seemed to always be against before…not sure why but I am sure it’s healthier this way.

These changes have led to me being truly happy for the first time in a long time. I don’t mean the fleeting happiness that comes with a surprise, or a job well done, but the kind of contentment that carries through even crappy days. I have finally achieved that…sometimes it still takes some thought to carry through, it is becoming easier with the practice, although I have by no means perfected it and still have my pessimistic moments (hopefully not as frequent as time goes on…).

It makes problem solving a hell of a lot easier – a side-effect I did not expect. Overall, life is good…and I have several people to thank for it – which I think is also important, letting those that are effecting you in such monumental ways know that it’s appreciated:

My Parents – for standing by me no matter what and for letting me grow the way I needed to.

Eric – for adapting and loving me for who I am, no matter how much that has changed or how difficult the process. For all of the support and for the optimism that I modeled off of.

Rebecca – for being my first true friend in a very long time and helping me find that line between happy and…dumb? lol.

My dogs – for being there through the ups and downs as I made these changes, happy to see me no matter what mood I was in and for always being willing to work for me, even when they thought it was stupid.

ETA: I’m also getting a decent handle on my temper – trying to not hang onto a mad without a good reason and to tamp it down to a reasonable level regardless – this is harder than it may seem because I have a wicked temper…

Tonight Eric and I met Rebecca, Collen and Matt and headed to Forest Hills Public Schools for their Footloose play. Rebecca’s boyfriend, CJ, was playing the drums for it and CJ’s younger brother was actually in it. It was very entertaining and afterward we all went out to Applebees for half-off appetizers and some drinks – a great night for sure!

There were no cameras allowed so Eric only got this one shot with his camera phone:

This afternoon, I woke up early from sleeping to get ready and head to downtown GR to meet Eric and a myriad of his friends and coworkers for dinner at HopCat. They have an awesome burger, crack fries and beer special for $5 – the service sucks but the food is excellent. Afterwards, Kelly and I headed to the movie theater to see My Sister’s Keeper based on the book.

We were both very, very, very disappointed in the movie. They changed the ending and that kind of ruined the whole thing for us. I was pretty impressed with the character development and thought that the actors chosen did a good job but ultimately, the ending was a flop. Lesson learned. I had a great time out and about with Kelly though . Maybe next time Eric will deign to join us (this time he chose to take more photos of downtown – which won’t be posted…everyone has priorities ).

Every night when Eric drops me off at work, he wanders around downtown and takes photos. He definitely got some good shots – just wish the result wasn’t me getting left at work.

I miss sleeping in during thunderstorms or just being holed up all warm and dry at home…listening to it pour, but they seem to mostly happen when I’m at work…

Somehow, Mason held still long enough for Eric to get these nifty shots (taken at 2 am):

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I like to write to my Grandparent’s on my Dad’s side and have mostly been settling for cute cards for my words. I stopped at Meijer and asked if they had any stationary…and was led to the notebooks…like school notebooks. No thanks, been there, done that…in elementary school. Upon further searching it turned out that they didn’t have anything suitable so I settled for yet another card. Later though, I perused the options on Snapfish and decided to order a simple personalized notepad that would be nice enough for writing on. It came today and I’m very pleased (the photo on the pad is mine).

The last week, without fail, I called Eric every morning, in the middle of our morning rush of specimens, to make sure he was awake and getting ready to come and pick me up before he went into work. Every morning, I had to call numerous times before getting any response. It was taking longer and longer to get through until one morning, I didn’t. This morning, I called Eric for an hour. Granted, it is a weekend morning, but that made me not want to stay indefinitely at work even more. After realizing he was not going to be on his way any time soon, I ended up calling Rebecca, and waking her up, and sleeping at her house until 4 hours later when Eric finally woke up, realized he had neglected to get me and called…

Well, this is usually one of my very favorite holidays. With my birthday, beautiful beach days and fireworks – what’s not to like. Unfortunately, this year my birthday was mediocre, the weather was mildly chilly and rainy and I had to work, therefore missing the fireworks.

Before all of that though, we went to Rebecca’s place for some hot dogs, burger, fruit and rice krispie treats. Gus has grown so much!

She calls him her crocodile – he’s growing so incredibly fast though!

Afterwords, I went home to nap for awhile before going to work. I met everyone downtown before work to hang out for a bit and then headed in. Eric got some pretty cool fireworks photos though:

Well, the breeder got back to me today and we now have a for-sure puppy. Previously to this, we were waiting between two, a large male with a black-and-white collar and a smaller male with a green collar. She chose the green male for us! She said that he’s very adventurous, happy and friendly and well-balanced with great toy drive. We think he’s adorable!

He’s 6 weeks old already. Our amazing breeder also found a friend, who happens to be getting a female from this same litter and coming to MI in a couple of weeks – so she’s bringing our little guy with her!!

We’re hoping his ears don’t come the rest of the way up until after we get him. We’re still debating names and the final probably won’t be picked until we meet him. But, isn’t he adorable??

I had been dreading this birthday for the last couple of months. No specific reason besides a vague feeling that I am not as…far as I had hoped to be by the time I turned 24…and one step closer to 25. Added to the fact that I also had to work the night before and the night of my birthday when previously I have always gotten it off. Eric managed to arrive to pick me up on time with a beautiful vase of gorgeous flowers and a cute card.

I got some really nice cards, several checks and a sweet gift card to Barnes and Noble from Eric’s mom (my parents got me a Dresser don’t forget).

Today, Rebecca, Eric and I went out to dinner at Uccello’s, which was delicious and then out to a movie, to see the Night at the Museum two. It was pretty good although I don’t care for the fact that he falls for a different woman in each of the two movies…what happened to the first one?? It was lovely having a friend that could go out with just the two of us without acting like or feeling like a third wheel – really, really nice. CJ was supposed to come with but ended up having to work. When we got home, Eric was so tired he went right to bed so I soon followed suit.