Update!

I have lived in my home for over six years now, minus a year and a half in the miserably humid city of Houston, TX. Although we bought it brand new, I feel like it's time for a bit of an update, or actually, a major overhaul. Contractors tend to make everything pretty plain jane in the many condos and town homes that fill this small town I call home. Builder's beige in the rule of thumb! I prefer a more contemporary look, as anyone who knows me or my family would surely agree. I have enjoyed living here over the years, and obviously my pets have done the same...but of course you would never know that by the looks of the carpet (note major sarcasm here).

I had a carpet cleaning company do some estimates a few months back. What I saw through the eye-opening and jaw-dropping black light was enough to make my skin crawl. But we won't get into that for the sake of any future visitors I may have :). He recommended that I skip the cleaning and get new carpet all together. I'm not really a fan of carpet anyways, so I thought it would be great to put hard wood or laminate flooring in. This way spills and "such" are easily cleaned up, and I know exactly what is contained in and on my floors. We decided to to go with a dark walnut laminate floor with plush modern carpet in the bedrooms. I cannot express to you how excited I am to have my talented and loving father install this for me!

Other changes in store include painting all of the oak cabinetry in a modern Chicago Black. I'm going to change out any lingering gold hardware, including all the door knobs, replace the faucets with modern ones, install a new ceiling fan. Finally, we are going to paint the oak doors and closets to match the walls, a lovely shade of osyter white. Doesn't seem like too much work, but I know I'll be singing a different tune when we start this super fun little project. Thank God for my mom, she's a pro in the decor world and also one hell of a painter!

I'm excited to give my place a face lift, not only because it will look a lot more chic, but because I have been through a lot in this space and would truly enjoy a totally different look. After all, I am in such a drastically different place in life, why not make my home to match? Watch out world, one sweet bachelorette pad is in the works!

The ultimate bliss

Since my divorce a year ago, I have been thrown back into the single world after taking a 5 year hiatus. And the single world? Yah, it's a bit scary, and definitely like being thrown onto another planet without a map. I have had so much advice thrown at me, it's enough to make my head spin. From magazine articles, to dating shows, to my been-there-done-that friends, to books, to talk radio, to my younger, incredibly naive friends (no offense if you know who you are), to horoscopes, to wise parents, to guys themselves, I have heard it all. And what is the outcome of all of this advice to a single divorcee who has thrown herself back into the dating world? It all comes back to me, and what I believe, and what I will never change. That's right, I believe in the term that a lot of people seemed to have forgot about. I believe that all those rules, games, and hoopla that we're made to believe will find us "the one" is a bunch of unnecessary, stressful, confusing, and flat out BS. I believe in soul mates. I have experienced it first hand, and when it happens to you, there are absolutely no games to play, no rules to follow, no hoopla to jump through to get what you want. It's only pure passion, love, and an unexplainable energy that shakes you to your core.

I can only hope that everyone meets their soul mate someday. I don't think any life could be truly complete without experiencing and living out this blissful connection. I get frustrated when I see couples that are merely together because they say they love each other, but really aren't soul mates. Meanwhile they could be missing out on meeting their soul mate because they are so afraid of being alone if they leave their current partner. The universe will bring you to your soul mate, but it's up to you to take a leap of faith with that person and give into your true feelings. Finding your soul mate is like discovering an entirely new aspect on life. To me, it's the ultimate find that leads to true, blissful happiness. Call me a hopeless romantic, unrealistic, or just plain crazy, but once you experience it, you believe in it! I trust in God that the path he has me on must be the right one, but it's definitely questionable to me at times! I can't go into detail about my personal situation about soul mates right now, but all I have to say is love will find it's way. I'm being taught patience, which has got to be one of the most difficult lessons to learn. I believe in destiny, I believe in love, and I believe in soul mates.

Winter, spring, summer, or fall? Which is the best of them all?

Born and raised in the good 'ol Midwest, I have always enjoyed each and every season. I love the crisp Autumn air that whirls around during my favorite time of year, fall. This kind of 50-60 degree weather is enough to make me love doing any activity outside, but I also happen to have a fondness for college football, Halloween, gorgeous leaves changing by the day, and pumpkin pie. What a lot of Midwesterners don't like about fall, however, is the season that happens to follow it...WINTER. I happen to like winter, at least for a month or two. I have always been a fan of cooler weather, and really don't enjoy being the least bit hot.

Winter is a calm season to me, people tend to nest and stay inside to avoid the frigid wind chill and blustering snow. Winter is what makes Christmas, well, CHRISTMAS! I spent one Christmas in the South, sans snow, and I felt completely cheated of one of my favorite holidays! A green, or more like brown with flooded spots, isn't anything like a white Christmas. I don't feel obligated to be outside in the winter, much like I do in the summer, or even fall and spring. I can cozy up with a snugly blanket, flip the fireplace on (yah, I don't use real wood, come on), pop a movie in, and then feel so incredibly safe and sound. Safe from the outside world, safe from life and it's many ups and downs, safe from the Arctic blast of air outside my door.

Winter does get a little old, I must admit. After January has come and gone, and I've had my fix of snow days and nights nestled in my house, it gets a little depressing! This is usually the time of year I hit the tanning bed a time or two, in seek of a little color and Vitamin D to cure the blues. We must, as winter-laden residents, trudge through (literally) the span of the winter months.

Just as people are becoming volatile and fed up, most upon the return of a fabulous warm weather get-away, spring appears much like a gift from Mother Nature. The temperature gauge hits 60, and just like that, people are as happy and joyous as ever while sporting their shorts and t-shirts freshly removed from storage. And rightly so, because spring does bring many things joyous to the four season land. Washing all the salt and sand residue from vehicles, cracking open the now thawed out sunroof, seeing green for the first time in 6 months, oh, and baby chicks.

Now we get to the good stuff, the reason some people say they reside in the Midwest...SUMMER! This short-lived but lived-up time of year brings out the most activities and festivals of the whole year. I truly think we try and enjoy each and every moment of the beautiful weather in fear of the seasons lurking around the corner. I, however, prefer fall and the cooler weather it brings us. When I was a kid, I was always encouraged to spend every waking moment of summer outside and "enjoying the weather". But once it hits 80 degrees, and if I'm not laying in some kind of body of water, there is no enjoyment involved! To this day, if I don't spend every hot, sunny day outside, I feel a sense of guilt (thanks, Mom! Ha! JK). I usually have very high expectations of summer, every year it comes around it must be the best one ever. I think I was finally able to let that go this past summer. There are plenty of fun things to do all year round, and there are no expectations or guilt trips involved!

I love having four seasons and the change that each one brings. I like to sense the change coming and always get excited for what it will hold in store for me. So, as I write this, we are fast approaching a new season, and it just happens to be my favorite! Here's to every football-loving, Halloween-crazed, leaf-changing admirer, and pumpkin pie-savoring person, I write to you, ENJOY!

this little piggie went to market, this little piggie turned vegetarian.

I was raised eating meat, which usually meant dinner made with a pound of ground beef, pork chops, or chicken breasts used in the many meals my mom made for us. In college, I ate at the cafeteria and found many meat-molded shapes of "nuggets " or "strips" to my liking. I had many late night runs-ins after partying at Taco Bell, (or "Taco Hell" as we called it) Burger King and McDonald's. Then, when I became a wife, I tried my best at cooking dinner every night to feed my ex-husband some kind of meat-laden concoction. Yes, for 27 years I was a meat-eating girl who never thought twice about what I was putting in my mouth. I even met my bestie over a year ago, who has been a vegetarian, or "veggie" as I like to refer to, for many years now. Her non-meat-eating ways only made me think twice as to whether or not the restaurant or house we were going to would have options for her to choose from. I knew her reasons for becoming a veggie, but never considered becoming one myself. I have always been known to my friends and family as the biggest animal lover on the planet. I cherish each and every kind of animal on our planet. I feel so extremely passionate about animal abuse, I almost make myself sick even thinking it. I think that animal abusers should be in prison for the rest of their sorry-ass lives, and that's to say the least.

So why, do you ask, have I all of a sudden, out of the blue decided to become a veggie myself??? That's a great question, and the answer is very simple...I read a book. A book called Skinny Bitch. I had no idea what I was wrapping my eyes around when I started that cute, raunchy, and real-as-it-gets book! They spill the beans on how skinny people are healthy people in a way that would have never crossed my mind. They are VEGANS. They tell you how the animals are raised in absolutely horrific conditions, and then proceed to detail their miserable lives on the route to their death, and finally describe how these animals are tortured and killed in the most inhumane way at slaughter houses. There are many confessions from the slaughter house workers noted in the book. Reading all of these tragic and heart-wrenching stories made me want to know more, and also to find out what I could do to help stop this kind of treatment to animals. In this book, (which I highly recommend!) they mention the website for vegans, which is http://www.goveg.com/ (please check it out for yourself!!!!!). I was immediately drawn to the videos shown on the website. I was a bawling, sobbing mess by the end of the first 30 seconds. This kind of treatment is enough to make any compassionate human being (which I hope there are still some out there) want to make it STOP.

I immediately decided to put my meat-eating ways to an end. I even considered becoming a vegan, but living in the Midwest, I really felt that my options would be so limited I would have a hard time with that. So no meat it is for me. I'm into my first week and let me tell you, I do not have a fondness for vegetarian food, but I have not given up yet! I think it's going to take time for my taste buds to adjust, after all, they have been used to the taste of rotting carcus for the last 27 years. barf. As you read this, I hope you consider reading the book, or at least checking out the website. For every vegetarian there is, 100 animals are saved from the slaughterhouse each year. There are so many issues behind all of this, but I can't possibly begin to detail them like the book and website do. So, wish this newly veggie good luck, and somebody pass the tofu!