My New Main Man

Over the past month, I've seen Herschel approximately 12 days. Granted, that's better than we expected, but it's still not a lot. During this time, I've had a chance to spend a lot more time with the other leading man in my life - our puppy, Oscar.

I have to say, I'm not quite sure what I'd be doing without him. For those of you who know me, you probably already know that Oscar is like my child. In his short eight months on this earth, he's completely stolen both mine and Herschel's hearts. This is probably how he's become unbelievably spoiled as well, but that's a different story.

One of the only faults I could find in Oscar from early on was that he preferred Herschel over me. This really irritated me, especially because Herschel didn't even want a dog when we got Oscar; he was only giving in to my begging and pleading. I tried explaining this to Oscar, but he didn't seem to care. He still proceeded to follow Herschel everywhere he went, cry incessantly when Herschel had to leave, cuddle with Herschel on the couch, run to Herschel first when he was let out of his kennel, the list goes on and on. Frankly, I was offended.

Now, you can probably see where this is going. Herschel's not here. But I am. It's just me and Oscar these days. The first day that Herschel was gone, Oscar spent most of the day snuggled up next to me on the couch. I'm not joking when I say that I really think that he was depressed. Anyone who has ever been around our sweet Oscar, knows that long periods of calm are not part of his DNA. He's a bit rambunctious. But that day, I believe he was sad. He knew his daddy was gone, and he was left with me.

Since then, I'd like to think we've bonded. We've gotten into our own little routine. Although, he's had to adjust to eating breakfast a little bit later than he's used to since I'm not exactly and early-riser, I think he likes it. With the cold weather, he's had no choice but to cuddle with me on the couch - and I think he likes that, too. When Herschel was home a few weekends ago, when it came time for Oscar to begin his nightly regimen of pre-kennel snuggling, he chose my lap to curl up on, not Herschel's. And believe me, it was noted.

Again, this weekend, when Herschel was home, we were sitting around and Oscar came over and sat down by me. Herschel sat quietly for a moment before saying, "He comes and sits down next to you now." Only one word went through my mind at that moment - "Success!"

I'd be the first to tell you that I'm competitive, and it drove me crazy to think that this dog that I fought so hard for to get would just automatically prefer Herschel over me. But times are a changin'. And these days, I'm winning that battle - even on the rare weekend when Oscar has a second choice.

Now, I'm sure that once we all get to Florida and get settled in things could change. Just as a part of our daily routine, Herschel gets up earlier than I do, thus being able to feed Oscar his breakfast. He usually also gets home from work earlier than I do, thus being able to feed Oscar his dinner. He also usually takes him for a walk while I'm making dinner (even though I repeatedly ask him to wait until after dinner so that we can all go together!). So, you can see where Oscar would favor Herschel, as he seems to be his primary caretaker.

But personally, I'm hoping he will remember this month we spent together. A month of freedom - rarely being left in his kennel for long periods of time, long afternoons of playing ball in the backyard, treats abundantly - what's not to love?

Come what may, I'm relishing in these moments with my new main man - Oscar.

Changes

I don't deal well with change. I'm convinced that this is one of the main reasons that I was probably overly attached to my pacifier until around age two. That was when my family took a trip to Dallas, and while we were out of the hotel room one day, my parents told me that the maid had "accidentally" thrown my pacifier away while we were gone. They conveniently never got me a new one. The sad part of this whole story is that I really believed it until only a couple of years ago, when my mom fessed up that they had in fact thrown my pacifier out. While I was heartbroken, it was probably for the best, or else it's very possible that I could still be walking around with a pacifier today.

Today, however, the changes that I am up against are bigger. Herschel and I are in the process of moving from Little Rock, Arkansas to just outside of Fort Pierce, Florida. He is actually already working in Florida, and I am here in Arkansas trying to get things ready for our permanent move.

At first there was so much going on in preparation for the move, cleaning the house, touching up paint, cleaning out closets, dusting everywhere, making sure the lighting was right for showing the house, etc. The list seemed endless. Until, it suddenly ended. Yes, I still have to keep the house clean, but it's primarily just maintenance. All of my big projects are finished. Now, comes the hardest part of all - having time to think, trying to process everything that's happening and about to happen in the coming weeks and months.

In theory, moving to Florida is exciting. It's an adventure. It's new. It's the beach! What's not to love, right? What I'm beginning to realize is that it's not so much about where we're going that's hard, as much as what we're leaving behind.

Not only is this our home, and where Herschel and I first met and got married, but this is where I grew up. Almost everything (and everyone) I've ever known is here. In addition, one of the things I think Herschel and I will miss the most is our church. We have come to fall in love with our church and our church family, and for that I think that we are exceedingly fortunate. We've been blessed with strong, approachable leadership, an abundance of unbelievable friends, and mentored by some of the strongest prayer warriors that I believe we'll ever know.

However, God promises good to us, although we might not always understand it. For example, we've been included in a group of friends from our church that has only seemed to grow and become stronger since we announced that we are moving. But I have to believe that there are even more friends waiting for us in Florida. And God knows every one of their names, where they live, their dog's name and the number of hairs on their head. He has many, many good things in store for us there, I am convinced of it, but that doesn't mean it will be easy.

Right now, as I already said, Herschel is working in Florida and I am here. We're in the midst of one of the many "not easy" parts of this transition. The being apart, the waiting, the uncertainty - it's all maddening. It's also easy for discouragement to sneak in. Friends and family help. Staying busy helps, too. Even spending time with our crazy little puppy, Oscar, helps.

But the truth is, it's not easy, and it's not going to be. There's really no way around that. But, in a lot of ways, I think I need this time to process everything that's going on. I've finally convinced myself that it's not worth not hanging out with people or not being a part of things just so that it might be easier when we say goodbye. What sort of an existence is that?

What I'm trying to focus on now is the fact, that we don't have to be overwhelmed by all of the details. There is Someone who already knows all of the answers and has all of the details worked out. God's timing is perfect, and we will get all of the answers we need exactly when we need them. So, while I might be going crazy that we got an offer on the house only to have the negotiation process take much longer than I would like, there's not enough kicking and screaming in the world that will make any difference. These are just little things I'm learning (and re-learning) while I wait.

So, whether it's saying good-bye to a pacifier, or to a lifetime of memories and friendships, it's not easy. But some things just have to be done in order to move on to better things and to grow and mature.

Two Years Ago

It's amazing how quickly two years can pass, but exactly two years ago today, Herschel asked me to marry him. I was completely submerged in my new job, my first "real" job out of college. January 22, 2007 marked the date of my very first special event which was actually two events in one that took place at the state Capitol. Needless to say, I was way more focused on perfecting all of the details of those events, than worrying about whether or not my boyfriend might propose.

When he suggested a celebratory dinner the night after my big event, and the night before he was to leave town for several days, I thought nothing of it. Afterall, who is going to propose and then leave town, right? Apparently, he had other plans.

He wouldn't tell me where we were going to dinner, which some of you might think should've been a big sign. But let me explain, that in our dating life, Herschel did things like this quite frequently, so I honestly didn't think anything of it at all.

We ended up at a restaurant downtown that we had never eaten at called Lulav. As we walked in the door, I was immediately annoyed because he had told me to dress up and I saw people in jeans, so thinking that I knew best, I told him that we were completely overdressed. He took it all in stride. In fact, just seconds later we were led past all of the jean-clad people, into a larger lounge-type room and then into another private room. Suddenly, it didn't matter how dressed up or down we were. The room was beautiful, decorated with candles and beautiful fabrics drapped on the table. It wasn't long before I realized that Herschel had already arranged the entire menu with the chef. Don't ask me for a list of everything we ate, because this is where things start to become a little bit fuzzy. What I do know is that somewhere between one of the most delicious steaks I've ever eaten and some sort of dessert, Herschel told me that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with me. He then quitely slipped to one knee and asked me to marry him.

I was so excited that I completely forgot to look at the ring. After a moment, he said, "Do you want to see the ring now?" That only caused a whole other round of excitement. Waiters and other diners were coming in by now congratulating us. I know I'm not doing any of it justice, but quite simply it was perfect.

In our excitement, we forgot to take any pictures at the restaurant. But my mom took a couple when we got back home.

We got married a quick 5 and a half months later in July of 2007 in a beautiful ceremony at our church, which is also where we met. We went on a honeymoon to Maui, and it was by far the best vacation I've ever been on. We snorkled, surfed, parasailed, biked down a volcano, explored a national park, and relaxed by the pool.

Just outside of our hotel, overlooking one of the pools where we spent a lot of time.

On our way back to the island from snorkling (please note: this was a rough outting for Herschel - he got seasick and cut himself on a piece of coral).

View from the top: mid-way down from our bike ride down the volcano. It was beautiful!

The past two years have flown by, and I'm anxious to see what the next two, or 10, or 60 will bring!

Welcome!

I'm so glad you've found us on my blog. I'm really excited to begin dabbling in this, as it's something that I've been toying with for a while. I've enjoyed keeping up with my friends who blog, and not that we have anything all that interesting going on most of the time, but I figured it would give one or two people something to do while they're bored at work.

You may wonder about the title of the blog, and I wanted to take a brief moment to explain it. This phrase has always struck me as a little bit funny. Mainly, because it's something that's most often said when someone is in fact telling a very long story, but it in no way shortens the actual story, rather it's usually more of a bridge people use to transition from a whole lot of details into the actual point of the story. You might think that it's an odd observaion, but I've just always found it a little bit ironic. To add to the irony, I ended up marrying a man who uses this phrase quite frequently - most often when he's bored with the details of a story and wants to get to the point.

And so, I thought this phrase was an appropriate title for this blog because you'll be able to keep up with the long story that is our lives through quick, bite-sized snippets known as blog entries. In effect, I'll be keeping the long story short.