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 ).

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:

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.

We left late after I woke up for the day and Eric showed me my surprise, we headed out for Dylan’s 2nd Birthday Party. We got there for the tail-end of the food and to watch him open his presents – I think he had a pretty good time!

After the party, we went to Rebecca’s house to deliver her present and see how much Gus had grown. He’s soooo leggy now! He’s extremely energetic and has a bit of a biting problem – and his puppy teeth are crazy sharp…

Rebecca’s Birthday was last week and Father’s Day was today, so Eric and made a trip earlier in the week to Hobby Lobby for our latest present projects.

We made a little photo book of Gus from birth to 8 weeks old for her to be able to show people in a small, easy-to-carry form. I also wanted to do some kind of framed art for her new place, but then Eric had the best idea for the photos and this is what we ended up with:

For Dad, Mom had what photos she wanted to use and a vague idea of the sizes, Eric and I filled in the mat-board, the frames and put them all together. I think they turned out quite nicely:

Everyone seemed quite please with their gifts

Well today was the big kick-off for B93’s Birthday Bash 17. We bought our tickets months and months ago and were ready for a day out in the great weather with some live music. I was especially excited for today with several people I was really looking forward to seeing. The torrential rain from the night before had disappeared and it was a beautiful and sunny morning. We headed out a little late since I worked last night, got out at 7:15 this morning. Eric picked me up (late as he slept until past the time he was supposed to be at the hospital to get me) and we headed home to catch 2 hours of sleep before getting on the road.

It was a sloppy, muddy mess at the fairgrounds:

We missed Frankie Ballard and the first special guest, Bomshel. I was ok with that. Last minute, Eric decided to park in town and walk in, paying $5 extra rather than wait in a line at least an hour before getting in. That enabled us to be in our pretty excellent seats for The Lost Trailers. I was excited to see them and was not disappointed, they put on a great show!

Next up was Julianne Hough, I had no idea what to expect but she was pretty entertaining as well. Tiny little thing, definitely could tell the men in the crowd liked her lol .

Next up was Zac Brown Band. I was really excited to see these guys since we had only saw part of their show at the Intersection last time and what we had seen was really good. Their flight from Denver got canceled and Kenny Chesney sent his jet to get them to GR. They had to stop to buy new guitars and other instruments and then at Wal-Mart – attire was Dickie’s all black and white bandanas…pretty freakin’ cool!

Next was supposed to be a Special Guest, Craig Morgan and Blake Shelton. We went out for a break and some water, saw some friends:

When we got back, we discovered that they were clearing out the grounds due to mass flooding from the river into several different parking areas, leaving many people stranded…

They announced the Special Guest as Michelle Branch and put Craig Morgan and Blake Shelton up on stage with her all together. They each played about 2 songs and then they closed the place down .

Craig Morgan is one of my all-time favorites and I was beyond disappointed that he wouldn’t be performing an entire set.

I was also excited to see Blake Shelton, Eric says he’s a great show and I’ve never seen him but enjoy his music…another bummer…

We left very disappointed to hear on the way home that they were cancelling the second day of Bash and refunding for the tickets. Then we realized how burnt we were and that was the cap to the evening.

Eric’s Croc got caught in the mud at one point and sprayed mud all over his back…resulting in a very interesting burn…

Remember Jude? Well, he needs a new home. His “new owner” is dropping him back off at the Humane Society. He doesn’t want to put the time and effort into owning a dog . Apparently, I was right to feel nervous…and wrong to assume he was mature and responsible enough to handle a pet. I’m a little embarrassed and ashamed to have been involved with this poor dog’s fourth rejection from a home – this will make his odds of being adopted even less. Eric is as upset as I am and said he wishes we could afford to adopt him ourselves, but we can’t, not with our pup on the way . Poor Jude!!!!!

Plus, I let this guy list me as a reference, that does not make me look too good. Added to that, we shelled out $75 for Eric and Kya to join Jude in his obedience class for moral support – of which Eric and Kya are going to continue on alone. I’m almost ill with being a part of this .