Week Thirty-Five

This week Kiira and I went to Atlanta for the second annual Maiedae Mixer. A minor crisis happened earlier in the week when the dress I ordered for the mixer turned out to be two sizes too big. Luckily I was able to get it altered by a seamstress that performed no less than a miracle. This year’s Maiedae Mixer theme was “You’re Golden”. Everyone wore something that had gold in it. Thanks to an amazing seamstress my shabby black/gold dress was transformed into something that hugged in all the right places. I had a fantastic night and I couldn’t wait to get home and tell you about it.

The next day we went to my Mom and Greg’s wedding. I am so glad that my mother has found someone that makes her so happy. You and I both love Greg. He’s awesome. I’m so happy they’ve got each other. It was so amazing to get to be there when they got married. It may sound corny but every time we go to a wedding to celebrate someone else’s happiness it reminds me of our own. Every day I get to start my day and end my day with you. Whatever happens in between is always made better by those two moments.

Things to remember from this week: Celebrating other people’s happiness is good for our own.

Week Thirty-Four

This week has been one of those weeks where we’re getting ready for awesome things to happen. This coming weekend Kiira and I will be heading down to Atlanta for the Maiedae Mixer. Kiira and I have both been getting ready for the golden theme. We’re super excited! My Mom and Greg’s wedding is also this weekend and we’re looking forward to that.

During a random conversation that we had you decided to tell me what you would wish for if a genie gave you three wishes. They are as follows: 1. To never get hit in the balls again  2. To have an unlimited supply of cereal & milk--- specifically Honeycomb 3. You would wish the genie free. I told you that your wishes were ridiculous and that you cannot be trusted with wishes of any kind if given the chance. I laughed so hard I cried during this conversation.

We hung out with a few of my fellow AmeriCorps members which was awesome. It was great to hang out with them since we really only see each other once a month for our leadership development days.

AmeriCorps members all swore-in on September 12^th. We watched a live broadcast with President Obama and former President Clinton. I felt incredibly proud to be taking the pledge that day. I’m proud of the work that we do and the people we serve.

I’m so glad that you’re the person that I get to share all of my goals, dreams, and everyday stories with.

Things to remember for this week: You should not be the wisher of wishes for our family.

Week Thirty-Three

We’ve been working a lot and watching a lot of things on Netflix lately. This week I’ve learned to be happy just being married to you. We both worked hard and were pretty tired the whole week. We went to bed early just about every night. I’m learning to be thankful for these times too. 

These are the times where there is a lot going on but nothing at all. There isn’t anything “exciting” happening. It’s just everyday life. It’s times like these that I remember why I married you. You’re the person that I want to spend all of my life-changing, amazing, excited moments with and you’re also the person that I want to spend the everyday moments with. 

Sometimes I think that we may actually grow more as a couple during the everyday moments than we do in the ones where an event or something took place. These are the times that we become a better team and develop our own routine for helping each other’s week run smoothly. This is when we have good conversations and laugh about random things. This is when we play with our cats and snuggle on the couch. I am happy with you every day. I love you.

Thing to remember for this week: The everyday moments mean just as much as the “major” ones.

Week Thirty-Two

We went to a picnic that my Mom and Greg’s church had. They smoked a whole pig. That was probably 99.9% of the reason that you agreed to go. I asked if you could half a cheek from the pig and you were overjoyed about it. We watched “Hannibal Rising” a few weeks ago and they mentioned something about the cheeks being a delicacy. For that reason you had to try it. You were not impressed.

We also FINALLY got to go bowling which was something that we’ve been meaning to do since we first got together. We both predicted that you’d kick my ass…. and you certainly did. It’s always nice to have a spontaneous date night!

Week Thirty-One

We celebrated Tommy’s birthday at his house with game night. We played “Minute to Win It” games. It was SO much fun! The funny thing was that a few weeks before that you and I were talking about how we needed to do a “Minute to Win It” game night. Great minds think alike. We’ve all decided that we have to do game nights like that more often.

 My two weeks of AmeriCorps orientation at the United Way has wrapped up and I’m finishing my first week at my site (Urban League of the Upstate). It feels amazing being back in the nonprofit community. I’ve been doing a lot of networking. There are so many awesome organizations out there that do so many things to help people. There are so many people that aren’t taking advantage of different programs, etc. because they simply don’t know about them. I’m working on educating myself with everything available so that I can educate others.

Things to remember: Knowledge is power!

Week Thirty

I am so thankful to have you as my husband. You support me in everything I do and support me even more by doing things beside me. I signed us up for volunteering events for both Saturday and Sunday (after our five-day work-week). The first thing we did was help with School Tools. We handed out over 3,000 backpacks with supplies for children in need. 

The next day we helped with the take-down of Greenville Literacy Association’s annual book sale. This was the third year that I’ve been a team leader for the event. I’m pretty sure that we set a new record for how quickly we finished. That event is special to me because I interned at Greenville Literacy and first fell in love with the nonprofit field there. 

This year was special because last year’s take-down was the first time that we volunteered together. It was then that I first really saw your work ethic, your giving spirit, and your sweet interactions with strangers. I fell deeper in love with you then. I think I fall more in love with you each time that I get to see you giving back to the community. It is one of the times that I think you are your best self.

Things to remember: "I can assure you, public service is a stimulating, proud and lively enterprise. It is not just a way of life; it is a way to live fully." -Lee H. Hamilton

Week Twenty-Nine

We got to hang out with Kiira and Jason earlier this week. It was great being around other newlyweds. You could feel the love in the room. We had fondue night! The cheese fondue was out of this world. The chocolate fondue was good, too. Fruit dipped in chocolate is still good for you because it’s fruit…. right? Right! That’s how Kiira and I looked at it anyway. Fondue night will hopefully become a tradition. It’s so awesome having them in our lives.

I started serving with AmeriCorps on Monday! A few of us were originally going to start the Saturday before to help with a community event but it was canceled (rain :/). Orientation has been great so far. I keep finding out about more and more things that just make it all even more worth it. One of those things is that some colleges will actually match the education award that we get after our year of service. Two colleges that I’ve wanted to go to for years are on that list! After I wrap up my bachelor’s I just may take advantage of the match program at one of these schools for my master’s.

This year with AmeriCorps will probably challenge me and help me grow so much personally and professionally. I’m so glad to finally be on this journey.

Things to remember: I am an AmeriCorps member and I will get things done.