My life today, on all accounts, as of right now, is really wonderful. I have a very loving, hard-working, amazing, and supportive husband. I’ve never met anyone in my life who works harder than that man does. My husband provides me with the opportunity to work part time. I know that he knows that I only work part time. It’s not a secret when you’re only working 12 to 5.
Part of me wonders if my husband even knows this. Does Gary know that because of him I get to live such a beautiful, simple life? It’s not extravagant, but it’s comfortable, tranquil. I love
my life. Because of my husband, I am able to give myself more self-care. This is a luxury not very many people are afforded.What do I do with my time otherwise? I do various things. I play with my bird a lot. Oliver keeps me very entertained. I’m going to start going through things in my house that I just don’t need anymore. Do the happiness cleanse so to speak.  apparently you ask something if it brings you joy and if it doesn’t then you get rid of it. I think it’s brilliant! 
Self-care is going to be the focus of 2020. In more ways than one. Mainly mentally. But I would like to start incorporating some healthier eating and healthier thinking habits. However if I still wanna piece of cheesecake I’m going to eat that damn piece of cheesecake. Because seriously, it’s cheesecake.
I’d like to get one small task done a weekend that I don’t want to do. So, at the end of the day, taking care of something that you don’t want to take care of lifts a feeling of burden and that ends up being self care. For me at least.
I’m not gonna lie. I really do hope 2020 is kinder than 2019. I PRAY it. I came out stronger at the end of 2019. I have done battle scars. I know many other people who have battle scars from 2019 as well. I really, really PRAY that 2020 is kinder to all of us.
I guess now is the time to go do a little closet organizing! 

Tag Archive | our moments
Go Love Yourself
This morning one of my friends told me I inspired her. I think those were the words she used. My jaw about dropped to the floor since I don’t look at myself as inspiring in any way. However, as I sit here and write this, I think “why can’t I be inspiring?” I have confessed my mental illness, I most definitely have an eating disorder from years of being told I needed to lose weight. My weight has been in the forefront of my mind for pretty much the last 15 years. I want to be healthy, but it’s certainly not healthy to obsess either. INSTEAD, I am going to work on loving myself right now and taking off the conditions I have put on myself. Like “I’ll love myself more when I lose 10 pounds.” As I write this I realize how RIDICULOUS that even sounds. We want other people to love us unconditionally, but many of us, including myself, aren’t willing to love ourselves unconditionally.
Today is a pretty good day for me mentally. I have woken up all week with 10+ hours of sleep and feeling guilty for not going to the gym. You know what? FUCK IT…..I’m OK!!! The gym does not validate me. GOD validates me. If you don’t believe in God then find something higher than yourself, but also including yourself, and put your value in that. It’s 11:55am and I’m still in my bathrobe, drinking my coffee. I need to go put dinner in the crock pot and get ready to start my day. I work in 30 minutes and I could be telling myself what a loser I am for having done nothing of real importance yet this morning but you know what? Someone told me I inspire them, and that inspired me to write this blog. If it wasn’t for my friend Dawn’s small amount of validation this morning I never would have taken a few minutes to sit down and write this blog. I LOVE to blog. It’s my favorite hobby. I get to sit here and put my thoughts out into the world and hope that someone reads them. Maybe my words will resognate with soemone else. I also get to sit here and watch my cat be a spaz.
Go out and be a FUCKING dragon or a unicorn! Just don’t be an asshole. No one likes an asshole. Don’t be intimidated to love yourself. I’m still working on it.
Love,
~B
Suicide….I Will Never Be the Same…This Is A State Of Grace…
“Haunted”
You and I walk a fragile line
I have known it all this time
but I never thought I’d live to see it break
It’s getting dark and it’s all too quiet
And I can’t trust anything now
And it’s coming over you like it’s all a big mistake
Oh, I’m holding my breath
Won’t lose you again
something’s made your eyes go cold
Come on, don’t leave me like this
I thought I had you figured out
Something’s gone terribly wrong
You’re all I wanted
Come on, don’t leave me like this
I thought I had you figured out
Can’t breathe whenever you’re gone
Can’t turn back now, I’m haunted
Stood there and watched you walk away
From everything we had
But I still mean every word I said to you
He would try to take away my pain
And he just might make me smile
But the whole time I’m wishing he was you instead
Oh, I’m holding my breath
Won’t see you again
something keeps me holding on to nothing
Come on, come on, don’t leave me like this
I thought I had you figured out
Something’s gone terribly wrong
You’re all I wanted
Come on, come on, don’t leave me like this
I thought I had you figured out
Can’t breathe whenever you’re gone
Can’t turn back now, I’m haunted
I know, I know, I just know
You’re not gone. You can’t be gone. Noooooooo.
Come on, come on, don’t leave me like this
I thought I had you figured out
Something’s gone terribly wrong
Won’t finish what you started
Come on, come on, don’t leave me like this
I thought I had you figured out
Can’t breathe whenever you’re gone
Can’t go back, I’m haunted
You and I walked a fragile line
I have known it all this time
Never ever thought I’d see it break.
Never thought I’d see it…
*A Taylor Swift song that PERFECTLY describes my EXACT feelings for my husband who committed suicide…
Dear Craig….
“Dear Craig”
Long were the nights when
My days once revolved around you
Counting my footsteps
Praying the floor won’t fall through, again
And my mother accused me of losing my mind
But I swore I was fine
You paint me a blue sky
And go back and turn it to rain
And I lived in your chess game
But you changed the rules everyday
Wonderin’ which version of you I might get on the phone, tonight
Well I stopped pickin’ up and this song is to let you know why
Dear Craig, I see it all now that you’re gone.
Don’t you think I was too young
To be messed with?
The girl in the dress
Cried the whole way home, I should’ve known.
Well maybe it’s me
And my blind optimism to blame
Or maybe it’s you and your sick need
To give love then take it away
And you’ll add my name to your long list of traitors who don’t understand
And I’ll look back in regret how I ignored when they said,
“Run as fast as you can.”
Dear Craig, I see it all now that you’re gone.
Don’t you think I was too young
To be messed with?
The girl in the dress
Cried the whole way home
Dear Craig, I see it all now it was wrong
Don’t you think nineteen’s too young
To be played by your dark, twisted games?
When I loved you so, I should’ve known.
You are an expert at “Sorry”
And keeping lines blurry
Never impressed by me acing your tests
All the girls that you’ve run dry have tired lifeless eyes
Cause you’ve burned them out
But I took your matches
Before fire could catch me
So don’t look now
I’m shining like fireworks
Over your sad empty town
Dear Craig, I see it all now that you’re gone.
Don’t you think I was too young
To be messed with?
The girl in the dress
Cried the whole way home
I see it all now that you’re gone
Don’t you think I was too young
To be messed with?
*Taylor Swift song….I just changed a couple words to make it fit my feelings…
~B
Changed
Let me know it’s not all in my mind
I want to go there and have you to find…
Everything has changed
All I know is that I want to say hello…
You and I walk a fragile line
it’s so dark and I can’t trust anything now…
I’m holding my breath
But I lose you again
Don’t leave me like this…
I still mean everything I said
I’m holding my breath
Your all I wanted…
I feel so haunted…
I know….I know…
your no good, you can’t be good…
Something went terribly wrong
I can’t breathe now that your gone…
The pain from the suicide has me trapped and walking a fragile line….
The Church and It’s People…
This morning I am sitting here so quiet and so still
Wondering why God has brought me to this place in my life
A transition for sure as I examine my will…
So much pain, so much sorrow, happiness too…
In my world I’m content which seems so taboo
I’d like to think I’ve made a nice life for myself
Then a man points out I’ve put God on a shelf
I won’t deny that part of this statement is true
The church that I went to often made me feel blue
Church is supposed to be an uplifting place
I would leave most Sundays with a confused look on my face
He’d say; “Go out and love others as Jesus would do”
Then say, but But don’t hang with sinners for their a bad influence on you
I was constantly confused for I never knew my place
For many good reasons I stopped attending this place
For me it’s about what God does in your heart
A church is just a building as I see it for the most part
I do miss the fellowship with like-minded people
But I don’t need the building to find such people
I have many clients I have found who love God
Most all of us have been hurt and feel like we’re in some kind of fog
Don’t let one man stand in your way you say
He has no business pastoring in my opinion anyway
He is a self righteous, arrogant man
Who has no business being up on the stand
He is not a people person you say to me
Then why is he pastoring people to lead?
It confuses me as to why God has chosen this man to lead
But I suppose I should not question the one higher than me
I will find out my answers when he calls me home
Until then I’d like to be left alone
Alone meaning not badgered for what I feel or believe
For just because its right for you does not mean its right for me
I think that your view of me is not quite as it should be
But I also believe church has done this to keep you away from me
You made judgements that aren’t even remotely true
For friends don’t do that they come and listen to you
10 years of friendship and you don’t come ask me straight up
You just assume that you see me for what you think you should see
I will tell you my friend that yesterday was quite hurtful as you told me to give up things I don’t even frequently do
We have barely seen each other these last few years so don’t assume that you know me like you used to
Just because you can get past the hurt and the pain
Does not mean that I can do the same
I do not feel like my anger is all consuming
I just wont put myself in the same position to be hurt once again
You say, “She doesn’t know that she hurt you so bad”
Well yes she does because I told her my brother
She appologized for the way she behaved 11 months later
But 11 months is so long when you finally loathe her
She slowly turned everyone against me, I think even you, though you don’t seem to see
Which is a travesty because you are like a brother to me
You can not raise your voice thinking I will listen
It makes me shut down and lash out later as I’ve given myself some time to reason
Who do you think you are accusing me of such things?
You clearly don’t know me and the rest is history….
Maybe someday we can see eye to eye
But please don’t assume I sit around and just lie
I feel like I’m nothing but brutally honest
And for you to question me is what is the oddest
I will come to the funeral my brother
But it will be the last time I step foot in that place
For no one who matters cares enough to see the hurt in my face
I feel so happy you are in a peaceful place
But the hurt that I have was written all over my face
All you could do was tell me I was wrong
Feelings are feelings regardless of fault
Maybe I can say you are a better person than I
But I think many people like me for me
I don’t pretend to be someone I’m not
Not saying you do I just feel so caught
My silence is about to be no more
I will end this here as I say I love you once more….
Why I hate being a wife….
Simply put? Because I’m not good at it and I hate to fail….
OK, just so you know, I approach most hard-to-deal-with subjects with humor, because it makes me feel better about my short-comings as a human being, because quite frankly I SUCK at this human thing quite a bit…especially the wife part….
Let see…Me as a wife in a nutshell… I am controlling, stubborn, mean, always right, egotistical, self-centered, impulsive, narcissistic, and sometimes down-right cruel.
My husband? Completely the opposite of me….kind, loving, thoughtful, others-centered, patient, good-natured, WONDERFUL overall husband!
How we’re still together? It can ONLY be GOD! It is the ONLY explanation I have….
I won’t lie, I pride myself on the inside about being good at many things that I do. I feel I am good at raising well-balanced children, maintaining a decent small business, and being a good friend. The one thing I SUCK the most at? Being a wife. It’s the one area that I contradict myself the most on. I expect things out of marriage that I am not necessarily always willing to give in return. I am not good with compromise, and I’m not good with forgiveness. Now…don’t get me wrong, I expect all of these from my husband, BUT I am not always great about returning the grace. It’s a terrible quality to have, I am NOT bragging clearly. Being a mother did not come naturally to me either. It took me YEARS to figure it out. I won’t say I have mastered it, but I think I am pretty good. But being a wife? Not so much….
Ugh….I have been married (this time) for 5 1/2 years (I don’t count the first one since he passed away, and I wasn’t married to the kids dad). Now and I can tell you that it’s been pretty miserable for my husband. It hasn’t ALL been bad, and I absolutely do not take full responsibility for where things have gone wrong. I wish I put my foot down FASTER in some areas, would’ve been more assertive in other areas, BUT the one thing I WASN’T, was NICE and LOVING. I feel like I was generally nice at first (like in the beginning), but when the results weren’t what I thought they should be; I was a venomous snake. See, I believe that I am right about things like 90% of the time, and truly I do believe this. I have had a lot of life experience and I think I am very smart, and intuitive most of the time. I had a marriage counselor once tell me, “You can be 100% right and be dead WRONG at the same time.” I was very confused by this statement. What she meant was, you can be right about something but completely wrong in your delivery, making the other person not even wanting to hear you out. How true is that? I will agree with her that it is true, but I am hot-headed with a short temper. Ask anyone who’s ever dated me.
I am working on this and I have a VERY patient husband. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not like everyday of his life has been a living hell, CLOSE…(lol) but not everyday. I have done some things to make it better, and I will share these with you.
1. Kids, I learned early on that our kids are our kids SEPARATELY, meaning “You parent yours and I’ll parent mine.” We have very different parenting styles and I prefer mine. Clearly my kids have to do what they’re told by him, and be respectful to him, but for the most part I do the “parenting” portion with my children…I prefer it this way. It’s not the way I WANTED it when we got married but it is unfortunately the way it ended up. Step-families are very complicated and just because you think you have it all figured out BEFORE you get married, well I hate to say it my friends, but I bet you are sorely disappointed if you, yourself, are in a step-family situation. If you CAN parent together in this situation, my hats are off to you!
2. Money, You make yours and I will make mine. If it were up to me, we’d have separate accounts and just split all the bills evenly, but it’s working OK how it is jointly, we just don’t see eye to eye on how to handle our finances. I say that if this is the case, and you make a fairly equal amount of money or can split the bills evenly so that its overall fair, and everyone is happy…DO IT! Finances are NOT worth fighting about especially when it can be solved with separate checking accounts. I am completely for this. My husband is not, which is fine, we shall continue to see how this works out….
3. Sex, I have a TERRIBLE sex drive. There are 5 MILLION different reasons why this is and I will only list a couple…I think a lot of this is attributed to the fact that my estrogen was sky-high at 654 (it should be at 124, and is currently at 234). According to my doctor this is what has made me want to KILL anyone and everyone in my path (my whole life) about 2 weeks out of the month. She actually asked me how I wasn’t locked up in a loony bin with these numbers. (I asked her if she could admit me to the loony bin just so I could “go on vacation” for a few days. She got a good chuckle out of that. I also had like NO progesterone. Sky high estrogen – no progesterone = a VERY BITCHY woman! My doctor has me on progesterone, an estrogen blocker, and just before Thanksgiving I recently asked for an anti-depressant because the hormone control was not working solely as a problem solver like I thought it would. I LOVE my anti-depressant! I would eat that stuff like it was damn candy! If you’re wondering, so you can get yourself some happiness, and will-power to live, I am on Wellbutrin (300mg) BEST SHIT EVER!!! No weight gain side effects, and I think my sex drive has slightly improved.
I really am trying a harder to be a better wife but sometimes its just HARD! I don’t want to compromise and most of the time, lately, I just want to be alone, which isn’t fair to my husband obviously. It’s not like I don’t like him or love him, I totally do, but sometimes being married interferes with what I want to do, decisions I want to make without consulting another human being etc. I KNOW this is selfish so you don’t have to tell me. I am a MAJOR work in process and quite frankly I don’t know how he does it most weeks. Personally I don’t want to put up with me most days, so I really think God sent an angel because ONLY an angel could put up with me 99% of the time. Clearly I am very difficult….but hey, like I said, I am a work in progress…
So Husband, IF you read this, please know that I love you, I am completely aware of my shortcomings, and I am working on trying to be better…but I think it is going to take my whole life to really get it right….So for all the things I may do in the future that are shitty, I would like to take the time NOW to apologize…just to save time. lol
Love,
~B
I am NOT perfect…
It recently came to my attention that someone close to me in my life believes that I think I am “perfect.” While I strive hard to achieve certain goals in my life I do not by any means believe I am perfect. I think I am a well-balanced mother, I think I have developed a business I can be proud of. I am not a very good daughter and I am not a very good wife. I struggle with these two roles because of my past and things that are beyond my control. I would like to get better at these roles, and I do believe that I have made excellent strides in doing so over the last 7 months.
DO I wish that sometimes I didn’t drink so much, once in a while, causing me to be mean to my husband….absolutely. Maybe I just shouldn’t drink and maybe that is something that could be worth looking into. HOWEVER; I feel like I take on a very heavy load of activities all week-long such as work and raising my two kids. I will FREELY admit that my husband is fairly neglected because I am a mom FIRST. These kids didn’t ask to be brought into this world and it is my job to make sure that I raise the best humans possible. I have to succeed at my job or I will have no income to help provide for my family. I rarely do anything for myself any more because I am so wrapped up in what is going on with everyone else….I have become THAT person. Anyone who knows me personally know I am pretty selfish and putting anyone elses needs before my own is a travesty. I have also come to understand that being selfish just is not a good trait to have.
We live in a step-family situation. Did you know that due to our personal situation that our pastor told us before we got married that we have an 80% chance of getting divorced? I can totally see why now that I have been married for almost 6 years.
Why?
1. My kids come first…
2. I have a full-time job….and to me it’s not just ANY job. It’s a job that is mentally draining due to all the conversations I have all week with people. I LOVE my job. Plus, I am self-employed so if I don’t work, I don’t get PAID!
3. My kids came to live with us last May full-time. Their dad and I used to split them 50/50. This definitely leaves less time for my husband and I, and a lot less time just for me to get things done. Now I am cooking dinner EVERY night and making sure the kids have homework done, chores done, running around to different sporting events and practices. This is really exhausting, and new to me since I used to split this responsibility with their dad.
4. I rarely have time to even think about sex, or have a sex drive for that matter! My energy is zapped from all the other shit I’m doing which is clearly a problem. I will have to work on this…but not today. Honestly if ANYONE knows how I can magically make this better I would LOVE to know!
Apparently because I know how to parent and do a few other things well this equivalates to me believing I am perfect. Anyone who knows me well knows damn well that I have no problem pointing out my own flaws and inadequacies. I am the FIRST person to apologize SPECIFICALLY for what I have done wrong in a given situation. Does this mean I am NEVER going to screw up again in a like fashion and manner? Absolutely not! And why? Because I am HUMAN and NOT perfect. This really hurt my feelings. First of all I by no means believe that I am perfect, nor do I even remotely act like I am perfect. I protect the layers of myself from harmful surroundings. I can be mean, hurtful and demanding….but I know for a fact that I am NOT alone in this. If you are in a step-family you can probably relate to this especially if you got remarried when your kids were a little older.
It’s like “Hey, let’s blend these 4-5 people together who don’t really know each other that well and see how long they can keep it together without getting divorced. Maybe we set ourselves up for failure by getting remarried once we have brought children into the mix. But I will say this about MY children. They are ALWAYS respectful, they do as they are asked with no fuss, they get great grades and are involved in many positive activities.
I will say this one more time….I AM NOT PERFECT!!!!! I will say however, that I feel slightly like I’m going off the deep end…so if anyone has a rope and would like to throw it over for me to grab onto I would really appreciate the grace…..
Oh, did I mention that I struggle with severe anxiety and depression as well? No? Ok, well throw that into the mix as well…
~B
Talk around the shop….(Or is it therapy?)
Some of the topics I discussed this week with my beloved clients…I build STRONG bonds with people everyday. Sometimes we laugh and sometimes we cry. It’s more like 1 1/2 hours of therapy than clients coming to get their nails done. I love that they can open up so easily to me with such personal information…I have the BEST “job” ever!
1. I am going to court about my divorce this week…
2. I named my tumor “Bob”, so now I just blame everything on “Bob”
3. I had a baby that died at the hands of his father at 6 months old…
4. I am working to save my marriage because I know it’s what God wants
5. My granddaughter is getting her bone marrow tests done…she has leukemia
6. I woke up to my boyfriend slamming his elbow into my back when I was 4 months pregnant because he was drunk
7. My husband might have to go on deployment to Afganistan
8. I’m moving to Arizona…I will miss you Bridget and hope we can stay friends. (I am SOOO sad)….
9. I’m meeting Norman Reedus this weekend!
10. I have a step-daughter that thinks her father is dead….
11.My niece died from an accidental overdose on Tuesday…
12. I’m pretty sure I failed as a mother even though I loved them so much. I loved them to much by giving them whatever they want….
View from my shop…Perks of working from home.
Love….
I’m feeling so sad tonight. Love can be so tragic, so mind-blowing, so altering of our every existence. It is beautiful, heart warming, and phenomenal, and at the same time it can be draining and heartbreaking. Two of my most favorite people in the world are most likely breaking up. One of these people I am much closer to than the other, but he became a brother to me of sorts. He always made me stop and think about my actions when I was disgruntled in my own marriage….He always made me think about the ramifications of divorce and loss. I guess it’s hard to understand how two beautiful people can’t coexist due to difficulties that can’t be seen eye to eye on. How can we be so stubborn that we can’t just lie down what the other person needs from us and realize that healthy relationships are based on compromise? Now don’t get me wrong, I am NO expert on love. I am one of the most selfish people on the planet when it comes to getting my way. I really am trying to work on this, but in a blended family that can be hard. I wish I could have had a better model for what love should’ve been growing up, but I didn’t, and I suppose that’s ok. It is what it is. I’ve been through lots of years of counseling and love has been the sole topic of conversation more times than I can count. I’ve always been one of those people to have “One foot out the door” so to speak. I know that is not an awesome quality to portray so I am again, “working on it.” When it comes to “bad relationships” I am full of advice and wit, as I have been in lots of those. I listen to women all day long talk about how their husbands have cheated on them, how their boyfriends are mean and selfish, story after story about heartache and pain. Most of these girls are young and just have to learn by going through it and realizing nothing will probably ever change. My heart aches for each one of these young ladies because I have been in their exact same shoes before and, like them, I probably wouldn’t have listened to advice either. I just want to take each of these young ladies under my wing, play movie clips of my former marriage, so they can see what I have been through, because it parodies their life so incredibly much.
The problem? We all learn on our own and at our own rate. We all think that “our situation” will be different, that we will be the ones to show everyone that they were wrong and we CAN change the person we’re with. If we leave just ONE MORE TIME, then maybe the other person will turn their life around and quit being selfish. Sometimes it works, I know a girl about my age that it did work for, but he WANTED his family more than his alcoholic behavior; he’s a new man, a man that has allowed his testimony to be used for the good of others, she is one of the few and lucky ones.
It’s hard when you realize that you really love both people involved in a (potential) breakup and in this instance it’s even harder as my heart can only be loyal to one. I sit here and I cry, a deep cry, because I feel the loss and the pain. Maybe something can be done to save it…I will hold out hope because I never saw this coming….
I didn’t bother to edit this piece much, so it’s raw and not grammatically completely correct I’m sure. I’m trying to type through all the tears. Many of the pieces I have written I have cried during, but since they were so personal I took several days to edit. This is just raw….
~B
First Song My Husband Ever Played For Me….
“The One”
No rush though I need your touch
I won’t rush your heart
Until you feel on solid ground
Until your strength is found, girl
I’ll fill those canyons in your soul
Like a river lead you home
And I’ll walk a step behind
In the shadows so you shine
Just ask it will be done
And I will prove my love
Until you’re sure that I’m “the one”
Somebody else was here before
He treated you unkind
And broken wings need time to heal
Before a heart can fly, girl
I’ll fill those canyons in your soul
Like a river lead you home
And I’ll walk a step behind
In the shadows so you shine
Just ask it will be done
And I will prove my love
Until you’re sure that I’m “the one”
Trust in me and you’ll find a heart so true
All I want to do is give the best of me to you
And stand beside you
Just ask it will be done
And I will prove my love
Until you’re sure that I’m “the one”
Lyrics ~ Gary Allan
Our first date….
Never Grow Up…..
Your little eyelids flutter cause you’re dreaming
So I tuck you in, turn on your favorite night light
To you everything’s funny, you got nothing to regret
I’d give all I have, honey
If you could stay like that
Oh darling, don’t you ever grow up
Don’t you ever grow up, just stay this little
Oh darling, don’t you ever grow up
Don’t you ever grow up, it could stay this simple
I won’t let nobody hurt you, won’t let no one break your heart
And no one will desert you
Just try to never grow up, never grow up
You’re in the car on the way to the movies
And you’re mortified your mom’s dropping you off
At 14 there’s just so much you can’t do
And you can’t wait to move out someday and call your own shots
But don’t make her drop you off around the block
Remember that she’s getting older too
And don’t lose the way that you dance around in your pj’s getting ready for school
Oh darling, don’t you ever grow up
Don’t you ever grow up, just stay this little
Oh darling, don’t you ever grow up
Don’t you ever grow up, it could stay this simple
No one’s ever burned you, nothing’s ever left you scarred
And even though you want to, just try to never grow up
Take pictures in your mind of your childhood room
Memorize what it sounded like when your dad gets home
Remember the footsteps, remember the words said
And all your little brother’s favorite songs
I just realized everything I have is someday gonna be gone
So here I am in my new apartment
In a big city, they just dropped me off
It’s so much colder that I thought it would be
So I tuck myself in and turn my night light on
Wish I’d never grown up
I wish I’d never grown up
Oh I don’t wanna grow up, wish I’d never grown up
I could still be little
Oh I don’t wanna grow up, wish I’d never grown up
It could still be simple
Oh darling, don’t you ever grow up
Don’t you ever grow up, just stay this little
Oh darling, don’t you ever grow up
Don’t you ever grow up, it could stay this simple
Won’t let nobody hurt you
Won’t let no one break your heart
And even though you want to, please try to never grow up
Oh, don’t you ever grow up
Oh, never grow up, just never grow up
Lyrics~ Taylor Swift
Love,
Mom
Hi, My Name is Victoria….
My mom is giving me permission to share my story with her followers in hopes maybe someone out there would like to help me….
Hi my name is Victoria, I am almost 13 years old and I am here to tell you my story… I’ve dreamt to do 4-H ever since I was about 8. I got this amazing offer to do 4-H and be in the fair this year by leasing a horse from my mom’s friend. My mom is making me raise $700 of it to teach me hard work and dedication… Here is my story, hope you enjoy.
My mom got my first horse when I was 8. When I rode her I just knew that my love was for horses. I remember my mom, my brother, and I we were at Costco and my mom told us that we got a horse. I literally jumped up from the table and hugged her so tight. That was the most exciting day for me. My horse’s name was Bella, but she didn’t really work out so we had to give her away. It was a very sad day for me…She was to stubborn and not the right horse for me.
When I was 9 my mom got us another horse named Tonka. She would always say “His name is Tonka, like a Tonka truck.” Tonka was the perfect horse. I loved him so much. I remember me and my mom use to go on trail rides with him. I used to ride him in an arena and I just kinda felt free when I was riding him. I felt like nothing could get in my path when I was riding Tonka. My mom and I would go to the barn every other day to clean out stalls to work off some of his board. I never once complained that we had to go out there and clean the stalls, even if it was night time. I was so determined that I would make the owner of the barn happy and pleased with who she picked to clean her stalls. I even made my mom come over and check if it was good enough to call it good and go on to the next stall. I was so determined to do a good job. But Tonka had a cribbing problem and my mom couldn’t find a new place to board him. So we had to sell him. I didn’t get to say goodbye to him (that’s not my moms fault though). The lady who came to get him could only come when I was in school. I cried so hard that night. Even to this day when I even talk about him, think about him, or even see a picture of him I still cry.
I’m in 7th grade and it’s a really hard year for me. But I’m getting the hang of it. I have a 3.8 GPA, I’m on the honor role, I made the basketball team and I haven’t played basketball a day in my life, but I was determined that I really wanted to play. I worked really hard, and practiced and I made the team. I am hoping I can do the same thing with 4-H. I’m strong, determined, and passionate. Last year I really wanted to go to this Summer camp but I needed about $150 to pay for it. So I decided to make scarves and charge $12 for each one. I earned a little bit over $200. That is how determined I was. When I want something I go after it no matter how much work it takes or how much time it takes. I plan on doing this with 4-H. I’m making scarves for $15, I’m babysitting, doing more house/yard work around my house. I will do whatever people want me to do. I will do whatever it takes to earn the $700 I need.
I feel that I am going to learn a lot doing 4-H because it takes time and patience. If i don’t get it right the first time I’ll just keep practicing till I do. I realize that all these hours at the barn everyday, all the riding lessons I take, all the work I do outside the barn is going to pay off. In the end I will be in 4-H, I will be in the fair and all of the work I did will definitely pay off in the end. I feel like doing this will make me feel like I can achieve anything that life throws at me. I also heard that 4-H gives out scholarships for college, maybe I can apply for one since I will be going to college after high school.
Since I have to earn part of the money to pay for this and my mom is paying for a lot to, I am willing to give up my big 13th Birthday party I was planning and my Summer. I am totally fine with doing this. In the Summer it is going to be hot and I’m going to be in pants, shirt, and helmet. I am going to be spending about 7-10 hours at the barn 5 days a week, but if I’m with a horse I am perfectly fine. I don’t care if it is hot. I am so dedicated to this I will do whatever it takes to have my dream come true.
I hope you can see my passion and determination, I will work whatever I have to do in order to earn the money. I know there are a lot of people who ask for donations. I will do whatever you want me to do to earn the money, I don’t expect it to be handed to me.
My mom has set me up a gofundme.com account for people who might want to donated money to me who see my story and want to help me but are not local people. I want you to know that I wrote this letter by myself, my mom only edited my misspelled words.
Sincerely,
Victoria D.
Here is the link to my donation account….
http://www.gofundme.com/66u5cc
Me and my first horse, Bella….
This is Tonka….I miss him…
Me leading my older brother around on Bella when I was 7…
In My Daughter’s Eyes….
One of the pictures from the fall photo shoot I took
OH MY GOODNESS!!!!! This little angel with blonde hair and brown eyes was LISTENING and IMPLEMENTING things I was teaching her. She was quickly becoming a confident little girl who accepted nothing less than to be treated with fairness. Soon enough she was telling her friends at school, “If that’s a choice your going to make than I can’t hang out with you.” One of my favorite memories was when my daughter was in 6th grade, she actually TEXTED her friend’s MOM and told the mom that her friend wasn’t wearing her helmet while skateboarding to school. She said to me, “Mom I warned her that I was going to text her mom, I told her that all it takes is ONE time for her to fall off her skateboard and she could get SERIOUSLY INJURED!” I thought I was going to pee my pants from laughing so hard and being so proud of her at the same time! Victoria was quickly becoming a young adult I could respect.
I’ve always desired to be close to my daughter; she will be 13 in March. She has always been more of my stoic child,; not showing as much emotion as my son. She rarely cries except when she’s truly hurt physically or emotionally. However, I would like that to change about her, I would like to see her be more vulnerable…not just to anyone, just to me. While we are very close, I desire to have a closer relationship with her. While I know I can’t be her best friend quite yet, I do desire to find a friendship with her that is more than just being her mom. We have a BLAST together. We are always, laughing and playing around. This year has been our toughest year by far but I also think it’s whats helped draw us closer. Victoria started 7th grade this year…yes I know….middle school nightmares. I will tell you this, I am not sure who was more of a basket case the first 12 weeks of school her or me. Victoria has always struggled academically compared to her brother, but I have never compared them. Victoria just requires studying harder. The first nine weeks of school I thought were going to kill me emotionally. New friends, new grading system, new clothes style, but the newest development???….BOYS (this is new, and its SCARY), and I’m pretty sure that there were a few time I thought I was going to go over the edge of insanity.
She met this boy, we will call him “Jon.” This kids started pursuing my daughter in August before school started. I finally allowed her to have him over when we were having a giant pool party. He was a nice enough kid, but I kept my eye on him. As the story goes he broke her little heart by taking another girl to the movies when she was grounded, and she cried. Then of course, like the douche bag most 13-year-old boys are he declared “I made a mistake, please take me back!” and unbeknownst to me….she did. We sat down and had a real heart to heart talk about boys. I told her, if your willing to accept that this young man took some girl that you can’t stand to the movies then what will you be willing to allow boyfriends in the future to do? I proposed several scenarios in regards to her later years:
Me: “What will you do when your boyfriend of one year tells you that he expects you to have sex with him on the night of your junior prom when you are 16, or 17 years old?
Victoria: Of course I will tell him NO! I won’t be ready for that!”
Me: (playing the boy) “Well if you decide that you’re not going to give it up then we are going to break up, because we’ve been together for over a year and all my friends are having sex and I’m tired of waiting!”…..(as I proceed to look my daughter dead in the eye and say to her with the most absolute seriousness….”THIS-HAPPENS-ALL-THE-TIME.” She looked and me and said, “Seriously?” And I said, “absolutely!” The look in her eyes told me that what I was telling her was CLICKING!
I went on to tell her that she has to learn how to completely ground herself in her morals and values so that she will not be shaken to waver. I told her that if she starts accepting small douche baggy things from boys NOW, that she will eventually start accepting even bigger jack-ass moves as she gets older and it starts running into her adult life…(I wish I would’ve had someone to tell me these things when I was a young adult). She said to me “I never thought about it that way, but that totally makes sense!” I let him stomp all over my heart and then I TOOK HIM BACK!? WHAT WAS I THINKING??? My only response was; “Sweetie, you were thinking with your heart, and not with your head, and this is very common. However, if you condition yourself NOW as to what you will put up with and what you won’t then hopefully you will have less heartache and make better choices when it comes to guys.” (Mind you she isn’t allowed to GO anywhere with a boy at all! This is just what they call it at school…(you remember right)?
I want to teach my daughter to NOT accept what society is telling her is OK, but to accept what she knows to be true and right when it comes to her morals, and integrity. My daughter continues to make me proud, but when she messes up she knows it. Victoria is pretty aware that she is spoiled with “stuff”, but as fast as that “stuff” was given to her, it can be taken away just as fast! I take absolutely no crap from my kids’ I also try to be fair and just. I believe in giving them JUST ENOUGH rope to hang themselves with. My kids also know that if they DO hang themselves the consequences are not remotely worth whatever poor choice they have made. So far, I am very proud of both my kids. I am so proud of Victoria for removing herself from a few girls that didn’t have her best interest in mind and realizing that if a guys breaks your heart he’s out of luck….there is no room to be a douche bag to anyone.
In my daughter’s eyes, I want to be her hero, I want to be her voice of reason, the person she can go to when she needs truth and honesty, because no one else will give it to her….
Enough said….I hope my story can help other parents of young girls….
~B
Victoria sitting with Kay, Victoria made the scarf Kay is wearing….
Learning how to water plants and take care of the water feature in our backyard….
Another pic from the fall photo shoot I did….
Not always…..
I want to make something really clear. I LOVE to write! I love to hear what people have to say in regards to my writings. What I need you to understand is that I will NOT always be inspirational. Sometimes I will be off colored, and possibly a little crude. Inspirational is who I genuinely am, but I am also light-hearted with wit and humor. I sometimes like to go for “shock effect” so to speak. This is also part of who I am. I do NOT want to be thought of as some stuffy, uptight Christian girl who thinks life is all about rainbows and unicorns, because this would NOT be an accurate picture of me as a full person. Sometimes I feel like I have turrets syndrome and say the most RANDOM things like, “You face looks like a giant vagina, you should wax your lip and chin!” (just an example, I have never actually said this…BUT I have thought it!) It’s because I seriously have a weird sense of humor. I’m also very open about my life which is cause for LOTS of feedback, which is fine. If you have the need to tell me that you feel like I and “going to hell” then you are certainly welcome to do that, but know that I will strike back so hot that you will wish that you kept your mouth shut….This is MY blog, and MY life, so I am going to run the show, not my readers. Would I LOVE to have a giant group of followers someday? Absolutely! But that takes time. I am NOT looking for instant fame, or for fame at all. I am looking for people to follow me who are REAL. People who have everyday, shitty problems, that sometimes need a laugh. I want to provide humor, wit AND inspiration. There can be balance. So I will say this now, I am SORRY if I offend you in any way as that is not my intention. However, I am a human being with real thoughts and feelings and I plan to show it off from time to time. Life is short, and I plan to be whoever I want to be without dictation from anyone. As long as I am not hurting anyone than I don’t remotely see a problem. If you start to read a piece I’ve written and decide “This post isn’t for me” then I encourage you to immediately click out of it. BUT….DO NOT JUDGE ME….some of you know me and some of you don’t. I wear many hats and like I said, while I like to be inspirational, I also like to be a bit off colored; its part of what makes me….ME…..
~B
This random psychedelic bus I saw parked at the beach last summer. I was enamored that someone DROVE this! AWESOME!
My friend Cristy and I at a reggae concert last summer! OMG!!! One of the most fun nights ever! (I am on the left).
My children…they TOTALLY take after their mother!
My motto in life…..
Confessions of a Nail Tech 