Writer's Block

I haven't posted in quite awhile because really and truly, I'm having trouble coming up with post ideas lately. That's not true, I have plenty of ideas but I don't like any of them. It's like that feeling where you know you're craving something to eat but you can't figure out what it is and everything that's suggested to you sounds like doo doo. That's how I feel about my post ideas right now. So I've heard that the best way to cure the dreaded writer's block is just to make yourself write and eventually you'll get past it. Hence this stream-of-consciousness I'm treating you fine people to right now. You're welcome.

The Cloud: Also Known as the Inside of my Head

Since I'm just not in the mood for a traditional and possibly too-wordy post (sorry about that readers, I'm working on it), here are just a few random musings I've been having:

 
*It's listed on the sidebar of my blog, but I want to talk about it more because it's that great. HelloGiggles.com is such a triumph for female voices (but there are awesome men who write for it too!) This website's articles make me think, laugh and, twice so far, cry. I feel empowered to put more of myself out there because of this wonderful forum and it's my goal one day to submit a post and get it published on this site.

*They're remaking Footloose. My current position on this is somewhere between indifferent and disgusted. However, it inspired me to watch the original last night. ZOMG I love this movie. I danced along with about 5 scenes. Also, Kevin Bacon is a pretty tiny guy in this movie and still SUCH a stud. Good work KB.

*Don't you hate when something about a person annoys you and then you're alerted to that annoyance so that they annoy you at an intensity that increases with each interaction? I need to do some kind of voodoo mind trick on my own brain so I desensitize myself to these tics.


*Why do I own so many fancy (aka purchased at Sephora) lip glosses when I primarily use Cherry Chapstick? Seriously, do I need 3 different kinds of Lip Venom?

*Sports fan is never really a phrase used to describe me, but lately I've been getting interested in football. Not just in the final score either. I'm paying attention to actual plays and you know what? I'm kind of riveted. Running football plays is not unlike executing a well-blocked scene in a theatrical production and that warms my Theater-major heart.

*I appreciate my husband for lots of reasons, but one that's been cropping up a lot lately is that he makes me want to cook for him. Now that he's gone, I don't have that inspiration. Cooking for one is really difficult to get motivated for, especially because I'm kind of a leftover snob. One more reason he needs to come home soon.

*My latest DVD purchase was Season 3 of Parks and Recreation. I told my husband we had to get it for the betterment of our marriage because Ron Swanson brings out the best in each of us.

Not from Season 3, but come on guys, BREAKFAST BUFFET.

*Do you have those things you wish you liked but no matter how many times you try them, you just can't? For me, those things are running with no other purpose (i.e. not soccer or basketball or something with a goal other than getting to another place), coconut, American Idol and any type of shorts on myself, even if they're considered "flattering for my body type." I have changed over on some former items in this category however, so who knows, maybe in 10 years I'll be a marathoner. HA! I seriously just laughed out loud at the thought.


*Finally, I titled this post The Cloud because I still don't have a very accurate understanding of what the Cloud is. In my head it's just a bunch of Internet thoughts floating around out there somewhere in a pretty blob that in my version includes glitter and/or sparkles (See below for a loose approximation). This post (and really, my blog in general) would be a good example of my idea of the Cloud: stuff I like out in the land of Internets.

 

In Appreciation of Marriage

That handsome man you see above is my husband, watching me walk down the aisle to begin our life together. We've been married just over a year now and it has been the best, most challenging, most rewarding and most surprising adventure of my life. I find myself reflecting on how much I enjoy marriage to Danny especially lately because he has to be away from me for two away rotations. 1 week down, 7 to go. With him gone, I am living the life of a pseudo-single girl again and I can't say I enjoy the change. It feels like a crucial part of my support system is gone, even though I get to talk to him every day. It's like when you hang a big poster on the wall and you only put a small amount of tape in the four corners and it's all billowy and not really stuck to the wall and then you realize "Oh! I should put some tape right in the middle!" Well I feel like I'm missing my middle piece of tape. I'm still stuck to the wall, I'm just not stuck to it all that well. Does that make sense? If not, try hanging a big poster and you'll get what I mean.

The thing is, although it wasn't 100% jelly beans and rainbows the entire time (because nothing worth doing is, even though jelly beans are delicious), Danny and I have become a team during our first year of marriage. We tackle things together and we can trust each other to hold one another up when we find ourselves struggling. That's not to say we weren't there for each other before but there's a gravity to our support for each other that wasn't there before we got married. Now I'm all about being an independent lady and girls are just as good if not better than boys and all that awesome girl-power empowerment. But here's where you're going to get a slightly hot button opinion from me for the first time. Anyone who is in a relationship and doesn't want to get married (which is a totally fine and valid life choice) that says "It's not like anything is going to change, it's just a piece of paper!" Well, they're wrong. Because even though Danny and I were the same people we'd always been, things changed the day we got married and I'm not just talking about giving up closet space. When you stand up in front of everyone you know or even just a justice of the peace and make solemn promises to each other and become husband and wife, there's a shift in your reality. You become part of a "we" in way that you were not before. As a direct result of this shift, marriage has changed me for the better. I'd like to think I'm less self-centered now because when I think about big decisions or even small ones, I think about them now in terms of "how will this affect US?" rather than "how will this affect ME?" Being married has also given me a sense of calm and security that I never had before even though I knew Danny loved me and was committed to me. It's not just a security in being loved, it's a security in having someone next to you on your life's path.

I don't mean to make you gag, and I know that this is a lot of "us" and "we" talk for an only child, but that's what marriage has changed for me. I hope it continues to do this because honestly, I love it. I love that when I'm looking through our DVR trying to decide what to watch I save the new episode of The Office to watch with him. See how selfless I've become? It's crazytown. So thank you marriage (and Danny) for making this only child a team player. I promise I'll be back to talking about myself tomorrow. And just to lighten up this mushy love talk:

Doesn't Ron look almost as content as Danny above? I think so. And I'm very happy that the sight of me walking down the aisle made Danny as happy as a bacon-wrapped turkey leg made Ron. That's seriously high flattery folks.

Inspired by my Blog Title

So in honor of my blog's title, I thought I'd write a post about how my marriage is aided by my husband's and my use of our iPhones. Danny, my husband, is a med student and he's doing 2 away rotations for the next 7 and 1/2 weeks (8 weeks in total), which, in my melodramatic way of looking at these things, is the worst thing ever. Thus, we are forced to expand our media of communication since we do not have that easy access to each other that I took woefully for granted. Thank. God. For. iPhones. Because of these magical devices, we have communicated via the following means today:

*Facebook - Just commenting on a few posts, some comforting witty banter about our cat and Ron Swanson, two of my favorite things I promise you will hear more about as this blog continues.

*Texting - I still resist this so-hip-it's-not-hip-anymore way to get in touch because I am a disaster with texting. I am slow and hate auto correct and get super frustrated, but it's still convenient when you just want to say "hope you're having a good day babe."

*Words with Friends - I consider this communication because we occasionally trash talk each other on the app and I like knowing that he's thinking of me at some point during the day, even if it's just to curse on that SWEET triple letter triple word score I just dropped on him.

*E-mail - My husband sent me an article on the orthopedic benefits of yoga with a little note attached. He's hoping to do his residency in orthopedic surgery and my mom's a yoga teacher, so it's not as random as it seems. Very thoughtful of him.

*Real-live phone conversation - He was on call last night so we didn't get to talk for more than 30 seconds yesterday and it was SO good to hear his voice this afternoon. Um, did I mention he's been gone only 5 days so far? Obviously I am not handling this well, thank god for my new blogging/internet collaging (see previous 2 posts) pasttimes.  

*Instagram picture message - So he could see this (see below) picture of our cat meowing at the door to be let out. That's let out into our hallway which is in no way exciting and I cannot explain Zac's obsession with it. Oh yes, if you have not read my little "about me" blurb, my cat's name is Zac Morris, without the K so he could be unique. 

*Video chat - Now this isn't actually on our iPhones since I don't have Facetime b/c I have the original iPhone 3G, yes that's right, the one they don't even make anymore. [Aside prayer to the Apple gods: Please let the iPhone 5 get released as soon as possible, thanks!] Plus, let's be honest, it's way better to video chat on the much larger computer screen, but STILL, we are so good at keeping in touch via Apple products! Thank you technology for keeping our marriage going despite being 700 miles away from each other! 

One final note: you could obviously do pretty much all of these things with other smart phones but I am an Apple snob, sorry. You will see more lauding of their products by me on this blog I can assure you, but please don't think I'm an actual snob. I don't think I'm better than you in any way other than my taste in electronics. Oh, and in my Words With Friends skills. Seriously, I'm goooooood.