One Day at a Time

"The only way to live happily ever after is to do it one day at a time."
 -- Unknown


As of tomorrow, I will have lived 9,125 days here on this earth. 

Over 9,000 days.

That's a whole ton of sunrises and sunsets, of breakfasts and lunches, of ice cream cones and barefoot miles.

That's more tears than I can count, more hugs that have warmed my body and kisses that have made my soul soar.

In that amount of time, I have lived in four different states six different times (seems like I can't get away from the southwest).  I have cycled countless miles along the beach and up in the mountains.  My face has gotten sunburned and windburned and eaten by mosquitoes (don't ask).  

Looking back over more than 9,000 days is mind boggling.  So much has happened in those days.  So much has changed, whether it is my hair style, my shoe size or the boy who is holding my hand.  And yet, so much has stayed the course. My parents have loved me every single day, regardless of what I did in the 24 hours before or the 24 hours after.  I know that just like the sun will come up, they will love me.  That is a gift that not everyone can say they have.

I met my favorite person around day 824.  Even today, at the 9,124th day, and again in another 9,000 days, she will be the bestest sister a girl could ever wish for, or even have the gall to ask for.

Around day 8,245, I was a graduate for the third time in my life.  Wait, do I count kindergarten and 8th grade graduation in that?  Hmmmm...probably not.  Three times I have gotten up on a stage when my name was read, reveling in the feeling of accomplishment and satisfaction, finality and beginnings, while also being scared out of my ever-loving mind.  I have become an educated woman who is constantly wondering, asking and learning.  I don't know exactly when babies become curious beings, but I am still as curious now as I was that day.







I lost my grandpa around the 6,390th day.  That was one of a handful of truly, deeply, heart-wrenchingly sad days of my time here. I have been blessed to have lived, so far, an extremely happy life, one that hasn't been hidden under rain clouds or despair.

Between days 8,925 and today, I fell in love and have given my heart, fully, to another human being.  Hopefully there are more days that feel like these in my future.






 

I became responsible for a life somewhere in the 8,000's.  Every day has been a learning experience: Dogs like to chew carpet.  Dogs like to pee on carpet.  Carpet starts to smell after being peed on too many times.  Dogs like to lick you.  Dogs eat a lot of food.  Dogs need a ton of exercise.  Dogs are truly wo(man)'s best friend. 





People always say, "Man, am I old," in reference to themselves.  And in some cases, it's justified...if you're 89 years old and have lived a full life.  But don't tell me that at the age of 28 or 34, you can truly call yourself old.  Sure, you might be 10,220 days into life, or even 12,410 days.  But what is that compared to 32,485 days.

32,485 days.  89 years. 

That's what I'm striving for (and more).  I want each and every one of those days to combine together to make a happily ever after.  I'm already a third of the way there, and think of all I have experienced up 'til now.  

Here's to tomorrow...and the next day...and the next...

Fight On You Stalwart Ram Team

It's college football season, peeps!

And, this upcoming weekend is the Rocky Mountain Showdown, which pits in-state rivals against each other.  My beloved Colorado State University Rams take on the University of Colorado Buffaloes on Saturday.  This is a long-standing rivalry between the two schools and gives the winning team bragging rights within the state.  CU won last year (boo) and CSU won two years ago (yay!).  So, to get everyone pumped for the big game, here's our fight song.

Man, that's a great fight song!

I remember going to my first CSU football game as a freshman.  They were giving out free t-shirts to the first 500 or so students, so of course, we had to be there early.  Because we were newbies, we showed up WAY too early and ended up hanging out in the empty stadium while everyone else tailgated. Wow, we were nerds.  But hey, we got our free shirts!

Another staple of CSU football games is the singing of Fum's Song.  Thuman "Fum" McGraw played was a great football player for CSU and became one of its athletic directors after an illustrious football career for the Detroit Lions.  His song goes like this:

"I'll sing you a song of college days, and tell you where to go.
Aggies, where your knowledge is, and Boulder to spend your dough.
C.C. for your sissy boys, and Utah for your times, 
D.U. for your ministers, and drunkards School of Mines.
Don't send my boy to Wyoming U. a dying mother said. 
Don't send him to old Brigham Young, I'd rather see him dead.
But send him to our Aggies, it's better than Cornell.
Before I'd see him in Boulder, I'd see my son in hell!"

It should be noted that when CSU was first founded back in 1870, it was known as the Agricultural College of Colorado (hence the Aggies reference).  The name of the university has since been changed to Colorado State University, but in reference to it's agricultural heritage, we've been known to say, "Go Aggies!"  The school has also started a big push to remembering the history of CSU and every year, for the Ag Day football game, people wear the old school colors: pumpkin orange and alfalfa gold.

And then, how could anyone forget the famed CSU trombone suicide routine?!  The crowd goes absolutely CRAZY when the band busts this out in the middle of their marching routine.

Being part of something bigger and feeling like you are a part of a great community is awesome.  CSU taught me this and this week is big for us.  The Rams are going into the Showdown 2-0 and the Buffs...well, they're 0-2!!  I don't want to jinx anything, so all I'll say is, "Here we go Rams, here we go!"

Being Left in the Dust

In high school, your friends are everything.  Sneaking out of class isn't fun if you do it by yourself.  Having sleepovers aren't the same if you're just sleeping over with your sister at your own house.  Passing periods are boring if you go straight from you locker to class.  Friends are your lifeblood and you swear up and down (and on every yearbook) that you will always be friends.  How could you ever make new friends and leave these ones behind?  The new friends won't know your history...they won't know you.

Of course, we all know that life happens.  You head to different colleges and while you try your darndest to stay in touch, there are just too many new things to experience at school that your daily calls get cut down to once a week.  Sure, you might see each other at home when you go back for Christmas.  But in spending time together during the holidays, you realize that somehow, even though you promised, something has changed.  It could be you.  It could be her.  In fact, it's probably a combination of both, even though you might think that you are still the same down-to-earth person you were when you left.  Don't kid yourself.  You are nothing like you were when you graduated from high school.

It's interesting how your friends become acquaintances and then how those acquaintances become people who your mom gives you updates on periodically because she sees her mom at the grocery store and politely asks what's new with the family.  Suddenly, you have no idea who that girl is that you were BFFs with.  She's married or still searching for love, but doing so without telling you every tidbit of her life, every secret that she can't tell anyone else.

The sad part?  You still want a remnant of what you used to have.  You seriously try your hardest to maintain a relationship - at the very basic level, a phone call every few months would suffice.  But suddenly, all you remember of her voice is what you hear on her voice mail message when you inevitably get it for the fifth time.  And suddenly, the sixth time doesn't come as easily, and you hesitate when you hear her voice...maybe this time, you won't say hello.

I don't know whether you were the one kicking up the dust or the one choking on it's gritty taste.  But maybe, just maybe, you remember that friend who helped you get dressed for prom or hugged you when you got a bad test score.  And maybe, just maybe, you'll want to pick up your smartphone during lunch and give her a buzz.  Or send her a text.  Or just let her know you're thinking of her.  And you remember what you used to have.  Because that's all she's looking for...some recognition that what you used to have wasn't just in her imagination.

If I Just Lay Here, Will You Lie With Me?

(Quick note: I am thinking about making my Monday posts about music.  Music Mondays...very cliche, I know.  But I kind of like the idea of easing into Monday with some tunes.)

There are some songs that, regardless of where or when you hear them, whether it's a snippet or the whole song, you are immediately transported back to a specific point in your life.  That is the magic of music.  Here are two songs that teleport me back to 2005....Fort Collins, CO...to a simpler time in life.

In the fall of 2005, I ventured out into the wide world of college at Colorado State University.  I was about as green as they come, but was lucky enough to have met my very best friend the first day I was there.  Meaghan and I were inseparable after that.


These songs became semi-anthems that year.  We watched (and fell in love with Grey's Anatomy).  We went to see The Fray perform in our arena way before they became the national sensation that they are today.  We spent late nights talking & watching movies.  We went to basketball games, football games, volleyball games.  We went to dorm craft nights & cookie-decorating nights.  You name it, we probably did it.

We were so carefree then.  We didn't have to worry about bills or rent.  We could go to class if we wanted to, but with that, the realization that if we didn't want to, we didn't have to.  We learned about ourselves and about others and that relationships are hard, but definitely worth fighting for and cultivating if they are good.

I can't believe that this week, classes are starting at CSU.  Another year of freshman are moving into the dorms, hanging up movie posters & figuring out where their classes are.  Six years ago, that was me.  My, how times have changed.  CSU is still there, but there are more buildings.  Grey's Anatomy is still on, but it doesn't have the same draw as it used to (we never missed an episode back then).  I'm living and working in L.A., while Meaghan is living and working in Denver.  We're grown-ups now.

One thing, though, that remains a constant...Meaghan's friendship.  And the memories that flood my mind when I hear those two songs.