"Love can be hard. Love requires you to be kind when you are angry, patient when you feel anxious, compassionate when you judge others, caring when you feel apathetic, trust when you've been wronged, let go when you want to hold on, know that the other person is you, take risks when you're scared, to always see the lesson and never look back once you've decided."

- Jackson Kiddard

Decisions

It's hard to make decisions... especially when there isn't a right or wrong answer. 

Sneak Peek to Summer

Today. I had my sneak peek of Summer.


Recently in Pittsburgh the weather has been a little bit crazy. It has gone from 80 degrees to low 50s very quickly. Today, I walked out of my house to that smell of West Virginia air. Anyone in my family knows what I'm talking about. It's a light, cool, mountain air. I love that smell. I would always yell through our screen door when I was little that, "IT SMELLS LIKE WEST VIRGINIA OUTSIDE, MOM". She would always nod her head and walk out to breathe it in.  That was our summers. The week long vacation at Aunt Marie's house. Camping outside with Lisa and Lori. Walking through Twin Falls, hoping that there would be water pouring off of the stones. I closed my eyes for a minute and smiled as I thought about those days.

As I was sitting next to Joel tonight coming home from the grocery store, I couldn't help but smile and stare out into the place I call home now. The sun was setting and the lights from all of the businesses on Penn Ave had that florescent glow. As we drove through the light I peered into the side mirror and watched the sun fade behind me. My arm resting outside of the car, reflecting in the mirror. It was in that moment when I caught my first glimpse of Summer in Pittsburgh. I don't know if it was the way the breeze was blowing, or the peaceful smirk that Joel had on his face, but I could picture Summer in that moment.

As much as I love Summer, the activities, the vacation, the people outside, I also love Spring. I am not wishing it away at all. The flowers, beautiful flowers, the image of growth and life. Who wouldn't love it??


So, for right now, I'll take my sneak peek to Summer and I'll smile every time I think of it. I'll store it away for a rainy day when I can bring it out to look forward too.

Here's to the West Virginia air and a glimpse of Summer.

ap

April 11

April 11th 2012 was a day I'll never forget.

It actually started off as a day that I never wanted to remember... but I'm getting ahead of myself.

I woke up on that Wednesday morning feeling incredibly rested. Anyone that knows me, probably can realize the issue with that statement immediately. My alarm didn't go off, so I have a very nice sleep, waking up around 9:30. I had planned to be in my office at 9 that morning, just to finish some preparations for the annual fundraiser that we were getting ready to have on Friday. I was already a tad bit stressed, but I took a breath and jumped into full "get ready" mode. As I ran downstairs to grab a lunch and brew some morning coffee, I started to put away the dishes. (The night before I noticed my favorite mug was dangling off the edge of the drying rack.) I immediately grabbed the mug and set it on the counter, apparently I didn't set it completely on the counter and I watched in slow motion my favorite mug fall to the ground. I had the coffee pot in one hand and spilled water everywhere trying to catch it, but the mug shattered.

To remind you, this all happened before 10 am.
Here are my Tweets from that morning...

It was not a good morning. Not at all.
That was actually just the beginning. With all of the stress piling up at work and an afternoon from Hell. I considered walking home, putting on my sweatpants and crawling back into bed. I really wanted to do that. REALLY!!

However, my evening was going to be filled with a date. I felt as though I was in not shape for a date with the boy, but we planned it a week or so before and I knew we were going to my favorite restaurant, so I was totally game. Restaurant's in Pittsburgh are a lot of BYOB, so as Joel stopped by to pick me up he had my favorite wine.  I thought he was being nice to me after my breakdown in the afternoon, but apparently he had other plans. We talked about our Easters over dinner, talked about the weather, made each other laugh and had one of the best dinners ever. I would have considered that a perfect date. He had other plans. We jumped in the car and he stopped at the house where I lived last year. The PULSE house on Stanton.  I was not in the mood for seeing people, and I knew the house was having dinner, so I was incredibly confused at what was happening. He grabbed his guitar and pulled me to the porch swing. The same swing where we started dating, the swing where I would sit and watch the world fly by me last year. I love that swing.  As we sit, he brings up a promise we made (that I hadn't lived up to yet) and said "I'm going to follow up with my end of the deal, but first...."






He went into all of the great things that have happened over the past 8 months and then pulled out a beautiful beautiful ring. After lots of giggling and smiles, I said Yes! :)

Soon after, everyone in the house ran out, and we ended the proposal with this song....




That's the story of my April 11th. It started off as a horrible day, but ended up pretty darn good.  :)