Loyalty

Loyalty is defined by Webster as "faithful to one's allegiance, as to a government or friends". Loyalty is the single most important trait to have in yourself and your friends. It is more important than anything else. Loyalty is being able to trust your friend to have your back when you aren't around, or even if you are. Loyalty is knowing that when you vent to them about your frustrations they will either agree or keep their mouths shut; a good friend will not go and tell everyone. Loyalty is knowing that even if you are totally wrong and stupid that person is going to be by your side defending you to the end. That is what is important in a friend and when you find that rare quality you are truly lucky; when you lose that quality you thought you had, it is a very sad day.

50 Things to be happy about...

I found this when I was cleaning the other day and decided I still like it. Some things are a little outdated but most still apply:

50 things to be happy about

1. Falling in love

2. Laughing so hard your face hurts

3. A hot shower

4. No lines at the Super Wal-Mart

5. A special glance

6. Getting mail

7. Taking a drive on a pretty road

8. Hearing your favorite song on the radio

9. Lying in bed listening to the rain outside

10. Hot towels out of the dryer

11. Finding the sweater you want is on sale for half price

12. Chocolate milkshake (or vanilla)

13. A long distance phone call

14. A bubble bath

15. Giggling

16. A good conversation

17. The beach

18. Finding a $20 bill in your coat from last winter

19. Laughing at yourself

20. Midnight phone calls that last for hours

21. Running through sprinklers

22. Laughing for absolutely no reason at all

23. Having someone tell you that you're beautiful

24. Laughing at an inside joke

25. Friends

26. Accidentally overhearing someone say something nice about you

27. Waking up and realizing you still have a few hours to sleep

28. Your first kiss

29. Making new friends or spending time with old ones

30. Playing with a new puppy

31. Having someone play with your hair

32. Sweet dreams

33. Hot Chocolate

34. Road trips with friends

35. Swinging on swings

36. Wrapping presents under the Christmas tree while eating cookies and drinking eggnog

37. Song lyrics printed on the inside of your new CD so you can sing along and not feel stupid

38. Going to a really good concert

39. Making eye contact with a cute stranger

40. Winning a really competitive game

41. Making chocolate chip cookies

42. Having your friends send you homemade cookies

43. Spending time with close friends

44. Seeing smiles and hearing laughter from your friends

45. Holding hands with someone you care about

46. Running into an old friend and realizing that some thing (good or bad) never change

47. Riding the best roller coasters over and over

48. Watching the expression on someone's face as they open a much desired present from you

49. Watching the sunrise

50. Getting out of bed every morning and thanking God for another beautiful day

That magical time of the year.

It is that magical time of the year again...election time. The ads hit you from every angle, everywhere you turn. The calls come into the house daily, the brochures are dropped in the mailbox. What an annoyance. Worse this year because we are voting on the governor and several congress and senator positions. All the harrassment got old about 2 months ago. The Republicans think the Democrats do everything wrong and the Democrats think the same about the Republicans. Millions and millions of dollars are pumped into the election race without a second thought; I bet there is a much more useful way to spend all that money and help a lot more people. All the election comes down to is who can lie the best and who has the most money, isn't our government great? Who will it be? The Democrats or the Republicans?

I first saw the movie St. Elmo's Fire about 2 year ago; much later than when it first came out. I saw this movie and a light went off in my head...who really does want to grow-up? Why can't everything stay the same? Why do we have to develop into adults with responsibility and knowledge? I have to believe that everyone goes through this. Suddenly you wake up one day and say, "How did I get here, at this place in my life?". Those little wake-up calls get more painful and difficult the older you get. Wouldn't it be great to always have the same friends, people you can trust, people you love and who love you back. Wouldn't it be great to be surrounded with so much happiness you want to explode. To have no responsibility outside of getting yourself out of bed at some point during the day. No bills, no job you hate, nothing unpleasant that you and your friends can't deal with. Of course the sun would always shine in a beautiful Carolina-blue sky too.

Everyone sets goals for their life when they graduate high school; college, big-time job, big house, BMW, early retirement spent traveling...or something like that. Suddenly you wake up and you are in your 30's or 40's. Maybe some of the choices you made are different than you thought they would be, maybe you still haven't made big choices that you really need to make. The realization that time is ticking away quickly is a scary thought, especially when you have a job that allows you to see death with every shift. Contentment is so hard sometimes but life really is good, even if it isn't exactly what you had in mind. Boy is it hard to see that cloudless sky sometimes.