One month anniversary

Saturday will mark one whole month of blogging here at Secret Life of a Bride-to-Be. Oh, how time flies!

Since I intend on spending my weekend between summer session 1 and summer session 2 doing absolutely nothing but laying out and reading smut novels, I thought I would get my monthly update out of the way now.

Every month (on the 27th), I will provide you, dear readers, with an update about where I stand in this adventure, what I have left, what I'm planning, how many days till the wedding, and any pearls of wisdom I've learned, or how/if these items have changed me. Here is our first installment:

Items completed: 4
Items to go: 51
Items started: 2
Days till the wedding: 352 (Good God, that seems like a lot. I guess it is.)

The items I've completed are #16, buy something completely frivolous, #18, make a discovery, #21, actually keep in touch with people far away from me, and #48 kick my caffeine habit (don't forget, you can keep up with the whole list here).

Of these four items, kicking the caffeine habit has been the hardest by a long shot. I miss my caramel macchiatos at Starbucks! I miss doing crossword puzzles with a cup of joe. Tea just isn't the same. I've realized that it wasn't so much the caffeine I was addicted to as it was the gentle routine of indulging in these items everyday. I associate my mornings with the taste of an Americano. My afternoons were caramel macchiatos. My weekends were regular coffee with milk and sugar at home. It's a sad state of affairs in my world, folks. Yes, I do feel better without all the caffeine in my system, but I miss it's smooth, creamy texture and the comfort I always got from drinking it. Everyday has been a test of my will power with this one. Some days are better than others. I do consider the habit kicked, but I don't think I'll ever get over losing coffee.

(In the interest of full disclosure, I highly suspect a relapse will occur after the wedding. Just saying.)

So far, I've learned a few things about myself. The biggest realization being about my athletic ability (or lack there of). Also of note, my re-found love for phone convos with the BFFS.

I've had a lot of fun this past month. It's going to continue, too, because the circus is comin' to Plymouth soon, and guess who's gonna go? Also, I ordered origami paper (would you believe no craft stores around here carried it? Unfreakingbelievable) on Amazon, so I'm sure some excellent pictures of my attempt to fold cranes will be forthcoming. At last count, I have almost 40 cranes to make up for since I was supposed to start this on June 11. Oops.

I just want to say thanks for reading thus far, and I hope you've all enjoyed this as much as I have been. I can't wait to see where else this takes me.

#18

#18 Make a Discovery

This really should have read "make a personal discovery" because that's what I intended it to be. I wanted to do this because I think it's important to constantly "rediscover" who you are and who you want to be. I know, for me, it's easy to grow complacent and forget that I am a multifaceted individual, capable of extraordinary things, I just have to discover them.

Yesterday, I did something extraordinary. I played wiffle ball.

For those of you who know me personally, the idea that I willingly played a sport is at best comical and at worst downright incredulous and hysterical. I am not an athletic person. In fact, I often claim to be the most nonathletic person in the world. Because of this non-talent, I feel embarrassed when I play sports, and since I hate to be made fun of, I take all the jabs made when you participate in an activity such as a sport personally.

But, yesterday, at a family cookout, I was somehow persuaded to play wiffle ball. I wasn't very excited at first, but once I got into it, I had fun. I was even able to take all the jabbing of, "Oh, Katy is at bat, everyone move in!" in jest. And you know what? I wasn't even half bad at it. I even made a couple runs.

I've always thought since I'm not good at sports, playing them would be unbearable (I blame years of P.E. in school). But, yesterday, I learned it's okay to make a fool out of myself and play a game, even if I'm not athletically inclined. It can be fun, and dare I say, enjoyable enough to do again in the future, name-calling and personal insults included.

(When I told John this, he basically said, "Yeah? That's what I've been trying to tell you!" File this under "Things I need to learn on my own, which is why I didn't listen to you in the first place, sorry.")