Oh Hey Blue Eyes

Hello you. So, it's come to my attention that you may be here soon. And to put it quite simply: I can hardly wait. And while this is a little embarrasing to say, I'm just going to throw it out there. I'm smitten with you. And I have been for a few months now. I realize that may sound ridiculous, but it's true.

You see, I'm one of those "wear my heart on my sleeve" type of girls, and when it comes to you it's out there. And it's saying a few things. Things along the lines of I think you're adorable, sweet and funny. Not to mention I'm quite fond of your stellar dance moves, killer blue eyes and personality.

So, with that I say (as sweetly as possible of course): hurry up and get here.

PS-Just for the record, I'm not banking on a "you + me = us" type of turnout. Although I wouldn't mind it one bit. xoxo

Halloween: Work It

So this year, our work decided to have a "Halloween Costume Competition" where all the departments were pitted against one another. Because there's only two of us in PR, we combined with our lone media gal and became three. As we were thinking of famous "threes", we thought, "Who's hotter than The Jonas Brothers right now?" The answer: No one. Thus, we are The Jonas Brothers.

My Grandpa—Don Allen

I've been meaning to write about my grandpa, but I wanted to make sure that when I did I would have time to think about him and not just throw a quick post up. With that said...It's been two months since he passed away. And I miss him like crazy. Especially today. The first session of today's General Conference wrapped up with President Monson speaking about happiness, joy and love. His words brought my thoughts to grandpa.

There are things that I don't ever want to forget. Things he said, things he did, the way he loved and even his handwriting. My grandpa was known far and wide as a generous man and a kind man. No matter what, he would always make sure that if a belly needed to be fed, it went away full. And he would consistently leave people better than he found them. If there was one thing he was good at, it was loving. And if I had to name a second, it would be cooking and preparing meat that melted in your mouth.

He had many things that he would say—things I hope I will never forget. Here are a few favorites:
"Tia darlin'."
"Oh ya?!" (this was used after we were razzing him about something)
"Want to taste something good?"
"That's a pretty blouse." (he never called a top I was wearing a shirt or sweater, always a blouse)
"You want to know something, I sure love you." (he always wrapped his arms around me and pulled me close to say this—often times on a stool behind the counter at the store, one of his favorite places to sit)

He also loved to tell blond jokes. And stories. He was probably one of the best story-tellers and joke tellers around. I have heard the same jokes for the past few years and every time I had to laugh and tell him that was a good one. And now that he's gone, playing around in heaven and telling jokes up there, I'm glad that I heard those jokes over and over and over because they remind me of him. And I'll be able to tell them to my kids and pass along a part of their great-grandpa to them.

My grandpa had a twinkle in his eyes—one that when he was playing a joke on you or telling you a story, would come alive and dance in his blue eyes. You could always tell if he was up to something by looking at those eyes and seeing them sparkle.

One of the things I am going to miss the most is not having grandpa at my wedding. And the fact that he is not going to meet the man I love enough to marry. That was one thing I always wanted. For my grandpa to meet my husband. I was always curious about how he would take to him and if he would deem him as a keeper enough to marry one of his granddaughters. And while now I will not have that, I'm sure that when it comes to that time in life, I will weigh whole-heartedly the type of man he is and make sure his a good one. One my grandpa would love.

Excuse Me, Officer

Alright most of you know that I live in downtown Missoula. Which is actually quite a lovely place, very convenient for life, work, activities, etc. However, the location that I live in also has a lot of crazies that pass by it on a regular basis. Which is usually fine, because most of them do not mean any harm. But sometimes I get a little weirded out. Take right now for example. I'm sitting at home on my couch and have my shades open a crack and I can hear a crazy lady talking to someone outside. Except that no one is there. She just said "Hurry, look at what they've done to us." Followed by, "Please please please don't let that happen to him. You're all going to die. Go on the bus quickly." And while I'm sure she is not harmful to anyone, at the same time it freaks me out. Especially when she starts yelling.

Too Bad

Seriously?

So there's something I need to get off my chest. It's about a boy and relationships (please, keep the shock to yourselves.) It's something I've been thinking about for a while, but that has recently been brought to my attention in full force.

Have you noticed how many people are "scared" of having a relationship or getting hurt? Well I have. And it's a lot.

And it seems to me that people are usually scared of something new because of an experience they have had in the past where they have been hurt, burned or had their heart stomped on. To which I say fair enough. However, I don't think it's fair to "punish" other people because you've been hurt in the past. (Now I'll switch to first person because let's face it—obviously this is something happening in my life right now and we might as well admit it than pretend like I'm talking about someone else.) First of all, I'm not the one who hurt you, so how about if you quit taking someone else's actions on me? I had nothing to do with it. Trust me, I know how if feels to have your heart hurt by someone (I've got a few battle scars.) But I'm not willing to let myself miss out on you and something that could be really great because I'm afraid to get hurt again. You think about that.

Today

A coworker sent this to me today. I love it.

"Life is short. Break the rules. Forgive quickly. Kiss slowly. Love truly. Laugh uncontrollably. Never regret anything that made you smile."

My Closet Threw Up

Right now it's raining in Missoula. I've got candles burning and Josh Groban singing. Which is pretty much the perfect way to end the day. A few random thoughts for the night...

1. Josh Groban is one of those artists that you cannot call by just his first name. You know how you can call Dierks Bentley just by "Dierks?" (yep, you can.) Well that kind of casual attitude is not going to fly for Mr. Groban. Just an FYI. Let's show a little respect here people.

2. I turned 26 last week. Kind of hard to believe that I am actually in my mid- to late-20s. Still not sure how this is all going to go down, but I think it's going to be a good year.

3. My closet has officially thrown up all over my aparment. I't actually quite ridiculous. (Want me to tell you a secret? It's been that way for a week!) My coat rack busted, probably due to the weight of all my stinkin' jackets, but instead of picking it up, I just thought I'd let it work itself out for the past few days. When it was apparent that no one was going to pick it up and sort this mess out, I had to do it myself. Story of my life these days.

4. The sentence, "You need to get a husband" was said to me several days ago. Oh by who, you may ask? My dad. He's real sweet. I was having some issues with the whole "lefty loosy, righty tighty" concept when it came to hooking up the hose. I worked at connecting the hose to the pump for a good five minutes before I had to sweetly yell to my dad to PLEASE come help me. Don't worry, he came out and turned it the correct way and it went on like a dream. Then he followed it up with the husband comment.

5. Flowers make me happy. My best friend sent me roses last week and they are still absolutely beautiful! Looking at them makes me smile. I have a pretty awesome BFF. :)

That's it for now. Hope your random thoughts are running wild on this perfect rainy Sunday. xoxo

A Many Splendid Thing

The last few days have brought a ton of emotions and feeling (more about that later) that have got me thinking. Love is an awesome thing. And the ability to love is a gift. And while loving can be a risk, it's worth it. Sure, it may not always turn out how you wanted and the likelihood of ending up with a bruise or fracture is probably high, in the end it's all worth it.

Because to love and to give love is really what it's all about.

Pathetic

Usually I'm pretty fine with being single. But there are a few instances when I feel a little pathetic. The main one is when I'm sick. I'm a pretty sad sick person who is not tough at all when it comes to not feeling good. When I'm under the weather, all I really want is to have someone beside me. And no one's here. And that sucks.