If you love me, you'll lie to me.

The other night, my roomie and I decided to watch a movie. We decided on watching, He's Just Not That Into you, and I hadn't seen it in awhile, so I was excited! I also realized, I hadn't seen it since I was in a relationship, this could be interesting. I remember watching it as a single girl and feeling bitter. I only remember being reminded that I was "that girl."

After watching it again, I'm not really sure what I did that was "right" to attract the right guy! I also realized that I have many friends who say they are looking for Mr. Right, but their actions completely disagree with them. In the movie, all the friends continue to lie to each other, simply encouraging insane behavior. Why do we lie to each other? Because it makes us feel better! But it's insane! We lie to our friends and tell them what they want to hear rather than what they NEED to hear, the truth!

Since I have become the girl in a serious relationship, (again, not sure how I managed to do that!), friends have started coming to me for guy advice, assuming that since I have a Mr. Right, I must have some answers. Well, I like to think I am OK with advice, so I have been trying my best! I give different advice than other friends though, and I don't know how well it goes over with the people I'm giving it to. I give them the truth. The cold, hard, honest truth.

Let's look at this scenario. A friend of mine went out, met a cute guy, had one too many drinks and went home with home. Whoops. Of course, he said all the right things, acted interested in seeing her again, and even took her to class the next morning. Well, she was beaming as she told me how wonderful he was. Honestly, I couldn't help from laughing and shaking her to death. I learned something a long time ago: upon a first impression, guy will place you into one of two categories, girls they sleep with, and girls they take home to Mom. Once you are categorized, you don't really switch teams, your branded for life. Of course I wasn't surprised when she didn't hear from him the next day. I also wasn't surprised when she did hear from him a few days later. He said all the right things like, "I knew you were busy this weekend, so I didn't want to bother you by texting you." What a prince charming. Truth is, he didn't think about you all weekend and probably shacked up with another drunk girl. And of course, the playboy asked if she wanted to, "come over and watch a movie, or something." OK let's stop. Here's the kicker... OR SOMETHING. Girls tend to overlook this as they dance around their room because he wants to hang out. He doesn't want to hang out with you. He wants you to come over, start a movie and then end up in his bedroom. So of course, I said OK, redeem yourself, do not spend the night with him. Would any one be surprised if I told you she didn't stay at her own place that night? She's also convinced that they have something and he genuinely likes her for who she is, because he told her so.

Here is my new pet peeve, girls who go on and on about how they want to find Mr. Right, they want to be in a serious relationship with a good guy, but their actions tell a completely different story. They call me and wonder why they can't be in a relationship too. Well, I'll tell you. I decided I wanted to be serious. Going out was no longer a priority. I spent my time doing things that would help my career and just help me in general. I got involved in things that interested me. I met a boy at a conservative conference, we began talking and getting to know each other. We talked for weeks before our actual first date. We figured out that we liked the same things, had the same morals, and truly enjoyed talking to each other, and thus, a relationship was born.

If you are telling me you want to be serious, get serious. Stop going out, drinking like a Freshman and going home with guys. Guys won't take you seriously until you take yourself seriously. The right guy will come, but only when you're ready. To put it simply, nice guys want to date nice girls. The end.

Service without a smile

As a senior (ish), I'm starting to pay more attention to how people act at work. Whenever I go somewhere I'm constantly watching how people do things, simple and not so simple. Well, often times I get really irritated. It's the same rant we have all heard a million times, it's a bad economy, someone else would do your job better! Well, most of the time I don't get too irritated, but since I am in the PR world, I ALWAYS focus on how people treat others on the job. How you answer the phone is so much more important than people realize.

Since I am moving into a new apartment, I needed a new TV. After searching all the stores here, none of them had my desired one in stock. Well, I could have had it delivered to my apartment, but there's this thing called sorority recruitment (aka: hell week for girls) that wouldn't allow me to actually be home while the sun was shining. So, I opted for Walmart's really helpful site-to-store. You buy it online, they send it to the store and ta-da! Sounds easy enough, right? Wrong. My TV was to have been delivered last week/weekend, and I have yet to see it.

I ventured down to Wally World on Saturday, not to mention I am sick as a dog, hoping to pick up my TV. This lady was very nice, even thought I could tell she didn't want to search for my TV, she did. Devastated I returned home with no TV. So, the next day was the last day it was "guaranteed" to be in by, surely it will come, right? HA!

So instead of driving the 15 minutes to Wally World just to be told they don't have my TV, I decided to call. Well, after being hung up on three times, I finally got a human being on the phone. I told the gentlemen what I was looking for and he proceeded to ask me if I had the tracking number, I replied no but gave him my name. He then puts me on "hold" but instead of actually pressing the hold button, he simply put the phone on the counter where I could heard every word in his little rant about how annoying it is when people call and ask him to do things. Right, it must stink working in retail and having people ask you to do things, hmm. (Note: it takes half a second to push a button and actually put someone on hold, it's so rude to allow someone to hear your awful conversation.) He then picks up the phone and says, "I'm gonna have to go into the system and look this up, it might take a few minutes..." Well, yes, I did call with the intention that you would look up my order and I knew it might take a few minutes... he then says, "I mean, like, it could take five minutes, I guess you could hold on-- or why don't you just call me back later." Umm, I'm sorry, but I just need to know if my TV is there or not before I drive 15 minutes to your store. At this point I was so blown away by his laziness and lack of work ethic that I really didn't want to be on the phone with him anymore. So after this I said fine, I will go into my mom's e-mail account, find the tracking number and track it myself.

One of my biggest pet peeves is when people act so annoyed that you have asked them to do their job. I believe this young man was being paid to work in the department I needed help from. I don't think I was asking him to do something outrageous either. Here's a helpful hint. If someone "bothers" you at work, and you really don't want to do what they have asked, there are better ways of getting out of it. For example:

"I'm so sorry Mr./Ms. so-and-so, we are really backed up right now and my hands seem to be tied, if you could give me your name and number I would be happy to get back with you as soon as possible"

I mean, you should never avoid doing your job, but if you must, be nice about it, please?

I'm sorry for the rant, but bad customer service is my ultimate pet peeve!

It has begun.

For months now, I have been doing a "long distance relationship," but not really. While at the beginning of summer, I thought I would never see my Prince Charming, but in fact we have managed to see each other almost once a week. Wow, I drove to SC entirely too much this summer, (but totally worth it!) So while we have had the joy of starting our relationship actually spending time together, I now realize summer is almost over and I won't be able to drive back and forth as I please, and neither will he. Sigh.

I cannot believe it is almost August, where did summer go?! In just a week I will be moving into a new apartment, most likely the last place I will live in Auburn. Talk about a reality check. After that, the chaos will begin. A week and a half of sorority recruitment, my last one ever, and I will officially start my senior year of college. OK, senior-ish year, so I'm doing an extra semester, I get an extra football season!

Needless to say, the upcoming fall is bittersweet. I will want to treasure every moment with my friends, doing the things I have taken for granted over the past four years. The most difficult part will be knowing that my best friend is 8 hours away. He will go back to school (prison) right after I do, and after that, who knows when we will be able to see each other. He will be busy playing toy soldier, and I'll be experience my senior year of college, two lives that don't exactly overlap.

I guess you can say that this reality has finally hit me. I realize that it will be a true LDR, more time spent apart than together. And my ever so logical father has already informed me that, "You can't be driving up every weekend to go see soldier boy." Yes, Dad, I realize. While it will be tempting to hop in my car and go visit, since he can't exactly come and go as he pleases, but I have to accept that's not logical.

I knew when I met him, my life is in Alabama, his is in South Carolina. So yesterday while I was bored and feeling a little sad over my recent revelation, I decided to Google, I was sure someone had some great LDR advice, or stories that would comfort me. Well, while I did find some helpful hints (but nothing I didn't really already know, use Skype, talk a lot, etc.) there was also really crummy advice!

1. Have a "movie date." Pick out the same movie, pop some popcorn, curl up on the couch, get on Skype and 1-2-3- PLAY! Ta-da, you're watching a movie together. Orrrr, you're feeling like an idiot.

2. Daily Report Cards. (Note: this would be a good idea if you were in separate countries and phone use was limited.) At the end of the day, type up a synopsis of what you did. Include as many pictures, videos, etc. of your day! Yeah, I pretty much do this on the phone already, minus the pic messages.

3. Spend 1-2 with no communication. Take a few days and completely cut off all communication with each other, no phone calls, texts, e-mails, nothing. Doing this will make you miss each other and remind you why your in it. Um, every time I hear my sweet toy soldier on the phone, I am reminding why I'm doing this, I'd rather not ignore each other, but thanks anyway!

So since my search left me with nothing, I came to this conclusion. Jump in head first. Just figure it out as you go along. I may be biased, but we have a great relationship, we will be able to figure this LDR out. I didn't say it was going to be easy, but I know it will definitely be worth it.

My senior year is supposed to be the best, and I'm going to make sure it is. I want to enjoy every piece of Auburn before I leave and return home to my beloved SC.

21 going on 12

In high school, I did some baby-sitting just like most girls do. I remember one particular horror story that I will never forget. I was at the beach and a family friend asked me to watch her children at the pool for a few hours. No problem. Well, it was a 9 year-old-girl, a 7 year-old-boy and a 2 year-old-girl. Sounds like a handful, right? Well, to make it even better, the 2 year old (who obviously can't swim) didn't have any floaties with her, so I literally had to hold her the entire time. She was absolutely convinced that she could swim and she didn't WANT me to hold her. She kicked, screamed, hit, yelled, anything she could do to get me to let her swim. Well, as the person in charge, I knew if I put her down, she would drown. Needless to say, it was a very long afternoon. She thought I was being mean by not letting her swim on her own, but I was simply protecting her! That was my job, to watch the children, make sure they didn't drown!

Lately I've been realizing that we never grow out of that. A 2 year old thinks they can swim, a 16 year old thinks they rule the world, and a 21 year old thinks they are an adult. I have two brothers and we are all at different and interesting ages. My older bro is 22 and my younger bro is 17, leaving me in the middle at 21. Even though my oldest bro is only a year and a half older than me, I always thought he was sooo cool and mature (yeah, right.) I always thought, in a year when I am that age, I will be grown up too! But the older I've gotten, I've yet to feel "cool" and "mature". My younger brother provides a lot of entertainment because as a 17 year old between high school and college he obviously thinks he's grown up and invincible. I know that I know better than he does, but he thinks he knows everything, and there's no telling him otherwise!

You know how it goes, you think you know everything, and your parents laugh at you. The older you get, the more you realize that your parents, in fact, aren't crazy and that they actually DO know what they are talking about. (I hate that I'm admitting this.) I think the older you get, the more you realize you know nothing and have nothing figured out.

I thought at 21 I'd be all grown up and have it all figure out. HA! Nothing could be further from the truth. I don't have all the answers, I'm still making mistakes, I'm still figuring things out. But I keep having to remind myself that it is OK to not know everything, and it's always OK to ask for help along the way. No one can get through life alone, that's why God gave us a family. No matter what you do, they will always be there for you, and even when you don't think so, they might be able to help you along the way.

I don't think I'll ever have all the answers, I'll always be a 2 year old girl trying to swim when I can't, but I know that I have people in my life to stop me from drowning. So I'd say I'm doing just fine.

Sticks and Stones

I am almost positive that we were all told a little rhyme in our childhood that went something like, "Sticks and stones can break my bones, but words will never hurt me." Yeah, that's crap. It might have been a cute poem, and may have worked in convincing yourself words don't matter, but here's a newsflash, words matter.

I'd argue that words can sometimes hurt more than sticks and stones. Maybe it's because I'm a girl and we are sensitive, or maybe it's because I'm human and I have feelings. The words you say stay with someone forever. Sure, you can apologize and ask for forgiveness, but you can never take it back. It is easy to say things you don't mean while fighting with someone, but once the fight is over, you've left a scar with your words than can never be healed. 

I don't know if you have ever seen the horrible "reality" show Super Nanny, (If you haven't, you're not missing anything.) I happened to come across an episode while channel surfing the other day and was appalled at what I saw. A little boy, I think around 3, had the epitome of a potty mouth. He would yell and cruse at his mother or any one else for that matter. I sat there in horror watching him call his mother a  "stupid b*tch" and an "a**hole." It broke my heart to hear him talk to his mother that way. I realize he is just a baby, but words are words. No one should ever be called those things, especially by their own child.

It's inevitable to have fights with people you love, that's life, but it isn't normal to say things that are completely unacceptable. You'll eventually forget what you fought about, but you'll never forget the horrible things someone said to you. 

Happy Birthday to... ME!

Well, it's not exactly my birthday, yet! 12 days from today I will be turning 21 years old. I will be a legal beagle! No more fake ID (not that I do that..) and no more having to ask someone else to buy you alcohol, I will be a legal big girl! Every year, I start my birthday countdown in June, and for an entire month count the days until my personal national holiday actually happens. If there's one thing I believe in its birthdays. You get one day out of the year to celebrate you, what's more fabulous than that? A lot of people dread birthdays because it means your getting older, well all I know is I'm not getting older, I'm getting better! My love of birthdays, particularly mine, isn't a secret to those around me. By the time my birthday actually happens, my family and friends are going to be so sick of hearing about my birthday they will celebrate with me simply because it's over!

Since I was little, I've always imagine where I would be in life at certain ages. Where I would go to college, what I would be doing at 18, 21, 25, etc. As the monumental age of 21 approaches, I've started to examine my life, where I've been and where I'm going. Each year around my birthday, I always take a self-examination, to look at the person I've become. This year, being a year I've looked forward to my entire life, is different. For me, I always thought at 21 I would be preparing to graduate from a fabulous southern university and either engaged or close to it. Well, I'm reminded that 21 seemed a whole lot older when I was 13.

Now that I am almost 21, it feels so young, correction, it is so young! I still feel like a kid, I don't have all the answers and I sure as heck don't think I will any time soon. So I've slightly (majorly) readjusted where I thought I'd be at each age.

While it is true I will be a senior at a fabulous SEC school, I am no where near an adult. I don't know what I want to do with my life, but I like it that way. I still have a lot left to figure out, but I feel like I'm on a good path. As far as the engagement goes, not a chance of that happening any time soon, I am finally in a relationship that has potential. I've realized that I have the rest of my life to be married, why rush it? We know we love each other and want to be together, but we also know that doesn't mean we have to get married before we're ready. I know that I need to be on my own for a little bit, I need to learn how to support myself. I don't want to marry PC and become completely dependent on him, I want to know that I can stand on my own two feet.

This birthday is special to me for many reasons, the main one being that at 21 years old, I am exactly where I want to be. I have been nothing but blessed my entire life, and it is evident in my life. I have an amazing family, great friends, an amazing boyfriend and I go to an amazing school. I truly couldn't ask for anything more than what I have now. So when blowing out candles 12 days from now, instead of wishing for a boyfriend (like I've done for the past few years) or wishing for a new car/purse/whatever, I'll simply wish for my life to stay the way it is now.

The impossible dream

When I was a single girl, I remember loving being single whenever a friend was having relationship problems or went through a breakup. It reminded me that I was lucky to not have to deal with that. Well, up until now I've been living in my little honey moon period of our relationship, I have forgotten that relationships aren't all butterflies and roses. 

This weekend a friend of mine was broken up with, after four years. While listening to her sob, I had a hard reality check. Here was a great girl crying her eyes out over a boy. A boy she thought loved her and wanted to spend forever with her. I was quickly reminded that sometimes, relationships do end.

My prince charming and I have come to a point where we have found our flaw. The thing that causes the problems in our relationship. While I love PC's job and all the it entails, I do not love how it consumes him 100% and I never hear from him. Last night was election night, a huge night for him. My Dad vetoed me driving the five hours to be with him, so naturally I pouted all day long. I was extremely disappointed that I couldn't spend this important night with him, so he reassured me that he would keep me updated as if I were there. Well, that didn't happen. As of now, I haven't gotten more than a two minute conversation in two days. Now, before you go accusing me of being needy and overbearing, hear me out. I don't need a call every minute of the day, I'm not that dumb. But what I would like is to know that on a very important night in your life, you wanted me to be there and since I wasn't, you can take the time to do what you say you're going to do and call. Hey, I'm not picky, a text will suffice.

Now that I've vented, this brings me to the point that no relationship is perfect. People fight and break up every day. Often times I see girls who are in search for the perfect guy, the perfect relationship, I have to admit I've been that girl. But frankly, it doesn't exist. Perfection isn't possible, and you can't hold your guy up to impossible standards, but where do you draw the line? I always tell myself to pick my battles, meaning, before I get worked up over something, how important is it really? The question is, how to you know when to fight and when to let it go?

I feel like that's the thing about relationships I'll never figure out. A lot of the times, something important to me, isn't important to him. What's worth fighting over? The best I can figure out if its something that will continue to upset me, its worth talking about. I realize no relationship is perfect, and even though I call him Prince Charming, I still realize that he isn't perfect either.