A late Christmas wish.

"Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen."
Hebrews 11:1, ESV

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I read the following through Clever Girl Goes Blog.

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"My name is brandy. And I have a blog.

And a plea.

I use my blog to showcase the crazy I meet everyday, share the stories of the kids I teach and document my love for tequila, dairy products and the abdominal muscles of Ryan Reynolds. Rarely do I talk about personal issues on my blog- as personal as the dude that I adore (who I actually met through my blog- single ladies, let that be a very good reason to blog, the possibility of meeting someone as wonderful as my man), but I need your help. And it involves my dude.

He's a guy who made math comics for my class, so they would love learning about addition. He's the kinda guy who sends my friends gift cards when they are having hard times, who remembers every story I ever told him, who was the first person I celebrated with when I got a teaching job. He's the guy who sent flowers to me at school- dozens of my favourite pink roses just because he loves me. He's a guy who has spent a year patiently explaining (and re-explaining) everything there is to know about football during the important games when silence is preferred. He's made me word puzzles and comics and stayed up late playing Scrabble with me (even though I beat him almost every time). He's listened to me cry about school and family and jobs. He is everything I never knew I needed and everything I always knew I wanted.

The holidays have hit us hard. He's recently been told he may have something called multiple myeloma- an incurable cancer, that gives a person an average of five years of continued life. Though this news has came as a shock, he continues to be exactly who has always been- spending his time worrying about me, rather than worrying about himself. He's the most selfless individual I know- (he stayed late on Christmas Eve to work, so his co-workers could leave early) and a post like this would never be something that he would promote or encourage but when I'm overwhelmed and feeling helpless, the blogging community has always given me tremendous support and comfort, two things I desperately need at this time.

As I write this, the future is uncertain and we aren't sure what's happening. He'll need to see an oncologist soon, to verify what's going on in his body. My hope is that everyone who reads this think positive thoughts and if you are a person who prays, could you add him to your list? (You can refer to him as 'brandy's hot awesome dude'). If you don't pray, please keep him in your heart.This cancer is only a possibility and I believe that the prayers and positive thoughts of people can make sure it never becomes a reality.

I want to give a big thank you to the blog owner who scraped their original blog plans and graciously put this up. My goal is to get as many people as possible to see and read this post. If you are reading this and want to help, copy and paste my plea into your blog or send a link through twitter, so more people can keep him in their thoughts. I would be so very grateful (even more grateful than I am to my friend who first showed me the picture of Ryan Reynolds on the cover of Entertainment Weekly. If you haven't seen it, google it. You. Are. Welcome).

I realize this all sounds dramatic, a Lifetime movie in the making- but this is life. Right now. And I'm throwing away any hint of ego and am humbly asking for you to pray or think kind thoughts. If you are able to pass this on, thank you and if you know anything regarding MM- please email me (my email is on my blog). This isn't a call for sympathy or a plea for pity. It's just one girl hoping you can think positive thoughts for the person she adores. If my current heartache provides you with anything, let it be with the reminder that life is short, love is unbending and no one knows what could happen next. Maybe it is silly, but I really do believe that positive thoughts can make a huge difference. Thank you for reading this and if you haven't already? Please tell someone you love them today.

I did."

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To go, or not to go....

Recently I was invited to a New Year's Eve party through Facebook by an acquaintance from college, whom I will refer to as Double H. I was both surprised and flattered by the invitation, seeing as how I have not spoken to him in over six years (and before you ask, no, he did not merely invite everyone on his friend list). While it could be fun to go to the party, let's face it - I am not nor have I ever been socially savvy. I am more than a bit nervous about showing up to a party by myself where I know a single person that will be in attendance, and barely at that. To make matters slightly worse, I noticed today that one of the invitees is a guy I winked at on match.com, whose response was "thanks for the wink, but I don't think you are a good match for me." Thank goodness he is currently listed as not attending the party, as I can only imagine how awkward it would be to run into him should he recognize me! (I shudder at the thought.)

All possible and likely embarrassing catastrophes aside, attending the party could result in several positive scenarios. First and foremost, I would be venturing outside of my comfort zone, which I feel is important for me to do if I am going to continue to grow as an individual. I mean, I could actually have fun! Not only that, but it would provide the potential to cross off the following two items from my 30 Before 30 List:

27. Hold a conversation with a stranger.
30. Make a new friend (one not connected to someone I already know).

Knowing I will most certainly chicken out at the last minute if I plan to go by myself, I have thought about emailing Double H and simply being honest about my apprehensions, and asking if he or anyone else would like to meet up before the party and arrive together. Would this be completely and totally lame? Another option would be there is an Indiana Ice hockey game that evening, so I could ask Double H if he or anyone else would want to catch the game before heading to the party. What do ya'all think? What would you do if you were me?

....and much hilarity ensued.

I just finished reading one of the most hilarious blog posts of all time, written by one of my favorite authors, Jen Lancaster. Whether or not you are a fan of Twilight and are anticipating the upcoming release of the movie New Moon, I daresay you will find it as hilarious and gut busting as I did. All you need do is click the link below.

New Moon... the Jennsylvania edition

Go on.... Do it. (You know you want to.)

You can thank me later.

Only in my dreams....

The new 2010 Lotus Evora.


Yes please.

Honest Scrap Award.

A few weeks ago now, I was given the Honest Scrap Award by Steph at The Adventures of Jon and Steph. The rules for this award are as follows:

• List ten honest things about yourself that your blogging friends do not know about you.
• Give the award away to seven bloggers.
• Let the seven bloggers know they have received the award.

Without further ado, here is my list! :-)

1. Whenever I am driving by myself, I almost always sing along with the music to which I am listening. I can just imagine the things people must have thought when passing me or pulling up next to me at a stoplight. :-D However, I rarely sing when there are other passengers in the car. Despite being in choir for several years while I was growing up, there are few people around whom I am comfortable singing.
2. One of the things I am complimented on most often is my handwriting. Believe it or not, I have also been told that my handwriting is so neat it is hard to read. Go figure.
3. I often think I should have chosen a career in editing. No matter what I read, I am extremely aware of misspellings and grammatical errors. I have been known to correct such mistakes, even when I am reading a book for pleasure.
4. For my 29th birthday this past July 4th, I asked for My Little Ponies. That's right - I said My Little Ponies. (Don't judge.)
5. It is no secret I loathe Britney Spears and think she is a complete trainwreck. Therefore, it pains me greatly to admit I own her most current CD, Circus - and LOVE it.
6. I readily admit my biggest fear is losing a loved one. However, I rarely reveal a second fear that weighs just as heavily on my heart - the fear that I will never meet someone with whom to spend the rest of my life.
7. Since moving out on my own, I have lived in three different apartments. Not once have I fully unpacked and made my apartment into a home. Currently, my lease is up in less than two months.
8. At several different jobs I have been referred to by bosses and coworkers as a machine, not only for the sheer number of hours that I work, but because of the speed with which I am able to get things done. I go back and forth between being proud of this fact and being saddened by it.
9. I own an inordinate amount of lipgloss - more than any one girl should own in her lifetime.
10. If I had the money to spend on one purely selfish desire, I would get a complete set of veneers. My teeth have always been my least favorite physical trait.

There you have it! I am giving this award away to the following bloggers:

• Nicole at Sleepyjane
• Amber at Girl With The Red Hair
• Suz at 30 Before 30 List
• Liam at Liam's alternate reality
• Sarah at Stories of a Phoenix
• Nici at Ryan and Nici
• Tudor City Girl at Tudor City Girl

I look forward to reading everyone's responses!

Happy Fourth of July!

I just wanted to wish everyone a safe and wonderful Fourth of July holiday! I am in Washington, D.C. celebrating my birthday with my best friend Tory and her husband Warren. Today we are going to do as much sightseeing as possible, and then we are going to end the day by watching the Fourth of July fireworks! Least to say, I am super excited. I will post pictures as soon as I get the chance!

Playtime.

In light of my recent plunge into singlehood, I have found myself taking more pictures of my cat Gabriel than I care to admit. (I am as of yet unsure whether I find this hilarious or pathetic.) However, I recently purchased two cat toys that made for some extremely amusing pictures.

Meet Gabriel. He's a Maine Coon/Tabby mix.

The first toy I bought is called a Playser. It has multiple images
for endless hours of playtime entertainment.

In this picture, you can just make out the red dot by Gabriel's paw.

My favorite is when Gabriel chases the laser image up the wall.

The second toy I bought is a classic doorknob toy.

I think I am going to have to eventually get one of these toys
for each of the doorknobs in my apartment.

Within minutes, Gabriel had already managed to tear one
of the feathers off of the toy.

It certainly is the simple things in life that make me the most happy and bring a smile to my face.