Happy Thanksgiving and Welcome to Wisconsin

Happy Thanksgiving!!! Today I am in Milwaukee with Caleb about to meet his family. We drove from Englewood and it took a little over 6 hours due to some traffic, rainfall, the quick stop and the fact that everyone was out on the road trying to go somewhere. But we made it safe and sound and were able to get some sleep.

Last night on the drive here I actually got to speak to his mom. It was kinda cool, it makes meeting her today less anxiety provoking. I am bummed that I will not be spending this holiday with my mom. I think this is the first time ever that I was not with her for Thanksgiving. But I will give her a call and check in on her.

Besides this being Thanksgiving this is also another state crossed off my list. Granted it is not official until I eat a meal here, but that will not be a problem. We will be here for four days and three nights and I am super pumped to spend it with Caleb and to go exploring. I will write more about this trip to this wonderful city and my interactions with his family upon my return.

Virginia & Washington DC

Caleb and I made it to Virginia and back and we still like each other so bonus :P It was a wonderful trip. I felt so rested, I met a portion of his family and I really liked them. Caleb told me that they liked me also which is awesome. It is so hard meeting new people for me because it takes me a while to warm up, but when I do it is hard to get me to shut up. Granted I don't babble all the time nonstop but once I am comfortable being around people I feel more like myself.

The drive back and forth was not that bad at all. My Honda made it with no issues, even though I left the interior light on overnight (gotta love my new battery). I ended up putting roughly 1200 miles on the car and now I have the confidence that my car can survive and make a road trip.

His family was so warm and friendly just like Caleb. The interaction and outcome of this trip greatly lessens my anxiety over meeting his mother, brother and sister in law next week. Granted I am still nervous because it is new, but I am thinking positive thoughts and know that things will be okay.

So I took on two states this trip Virginia and DC. I am so happy that we got to go to DC. It was so wonderful and beautiful. Being there stirred so many emotions in me, happiness, awe, anger, sadness, hope, I can go on. It was wonderful being there with Caleb. I am happy to say that we traveled well together. It is great that we are both so low maintenance and easy going (which can be difficult at times when making decisions since we are both up for anything).

While in Washington we walked around National Mall and we saw the following:
The Capital Building

War World II Memorial

Jefferson Memorial

FDR Memorial Park

Vietnam Memorial

Lincoln Memorial

The White House aka Obama's Crib

Washington at Night, beautiful end to a wonderful day :)


We went shopping, sight seeing and just had low key fun with his family. It makes me a little sad that at this point in time my mom is being angry and not wanting to talk to me but I continue to have hope that she will come around. Until she does I am going to enjoy getting to know his family and spending time with my guy. Hopefully next year he and I can drive to meet Traleathea in Texas. We spoke about that while driving back to Kentucky so depending on his time off it may happen. He gets 3 or 4 weeks off a year, but since 2 of those weeks are already determined it is really a week off.

We are also planning on going to Seattle for a vacation in July hopefully. He gets a mandatory week off roughly around the time of his birthday so my hope is that we can go there to celebrate his birthday (turning the big 30) and this will be another state for me to visit that I haven't so far.

Well I guess that is all for my update. It was so wonderful that I am sad to be back. The only thing making it worthwhile to come back is being back with my little Bud Bud (oh and my awesome friends too :)

Next week I will give you an update on how Wisconsin and meeting the family goes. I am sure it will be fine, like Caleb told me once, just be myself and they will like me. Well, until I write in you again....

One month to go....

Oh snap where did the time go?!?! I have one month to go and I will be 30. For the first time in my life I am not worried, sad, or feeling blah about my birthday. This year has truly been one of the best years I have had and I can only thank God for that. Last year as I laid down sick on New Year's Eve I made myself a promise and I vowed that 2010 would be a great year and so far it has been.

I have actually grown up in my relationship with my family. Instead of being the passive one who got walked on, I have been standing up for myself. The costs of standing up for myself has been harsh but I told myself that it had to happen. I don't know what the future will hold but I can say that I took a stand and I love the freedom that it has given me.

Another thing that made this year great is that I devised a 30 by 30 list. Thirty activities that I wanted to do before I hit the big 30 and I can say that there is a high chance that I will not complete the list in the remaining time I have left. I think that my list will be short of 2 or 3 completed items, but I have done so much with my time that if I don't complete this, I will have no regrets and I will eventually do it. Maybe I will devise a list of things to do my first year of being 30 and the items that I don't do will be on it. (See I am always thinking).

My friends are still amazing and gifts that I am so blessed to have. I can truly be myself with them and tell them anything and still feel loved and accepted. It has taken me so long to feel that way. I felt like if my friends knew the true me that they would not love or accept me. It is so wonderful being proven wrong.

Caleb is the new addition to my life this year. I met someone who is similar yet different from me and I love that. He is the calm to my mania. I like to think that we pull something new out of each other that makes us that much more awesome (lol). I feel that I can be myself with him and not feel judged. I enjoy the time we spend together and that he makes me laugh, think about life, and cherish the moments I have. He has helped me with so many items on this list and has been there with a hug, kiss and smile.

There are so many things that I love about this year and some regrets that I have. I have completed a total of 17 activities, 8 are in progress and 5 I have not even started. The 8 that are in progress will be complete by the time of my birthday, of the five that I have not even started I am thinking that 2 won't be done (changing my plates from OH to KY and the full spa day. I have been racking my brain to see when I can do that but I can't. Before my birthday I don't have any free time to do all of the activities in one sitting. But if I can schedule this before my birthday then I will count it as in progress which will be better than not even started.

The beauty is that I am living my life and enjoying my time. This list has enabled me to find myself, my interests and share it with the people in my life who mean so much. One more month to go .....

Another state to visit :)

Well, I am about to go out of town tomorrow with Caleb to Virginia. I have not been to this state and before meeting him, I did not think Virginia would be one of the states I will visit this year. No, we are not going for a vacation, I am going to visit his sister, brother-in-law and nephew. Well, I guess I can consider it a vacation, we will be there Thursday to Sunday so it will be a vacation but also a meet and greet. I am kinda nervous but excited at the same time. We are driving so it will be a 9 hour drive which will be made better due to us both driving my car. I am praying that my car will make the drive. I am sad that I can not bring Buddy so he will be boarded, but I am thinking this will be a great trip. Well this is all for now, I will give an update once I return.