If you are my friend on Facebook, please spare me from pictures of your kid doing the following:

Crying
Eating
Playing in food
Being ill
In a diaper
Sitting on the toilet
Having a tantrum
Picking his/her nose

Thanks in advance!

So many tweets and status updates about people losing faith in the country, "stupid idiots" on both sides, and all the other political garbage out there. If you are this upset, and have put all of your reliance, time and energy on/in the government or political leaders in charge, you should take a good hard look at what you are putting your high expectations in in the first place. Imperfect policies and people will always let you down and never satisfy you. God is literally the only one who can do that for you. So before you feel depressed or like the world is falling down around you, look to God, because I unlike politicians, governments and fellow Americans, He will not let you down.

Alone time...yeah, that never happens.

In the last year, I've transitioned from living with one roommate, to living by myself, to living with my parents & brother, to living with my husband and two other guys. The shortest of those arrangements was me living alone. During that time, I really enjoyed having time to write, relax & just generally be by myself. Now, I feel like I am on someone else's schedule all the time. For example, I'm being summoned to bed as I type...so much for blogging!

What is God's plan for my life?

I have spent a lot of time lately trying to figure that out. I have been paying attention more lately. I have talents, most of which it has taken my the whole 25 years of my life to realize. I am learning that I love people so much. I have a really soft spot in my heart for struggling people. By struggling people, I really mean people who look just like me. People who live an average American life, yet are going through changes and challenges like life transitions, addictions, love life problems, etc. my heart goes out to these people because I can see myself in them. I can feel their pain, even if I don't personally share the same struggles. I just want so badly to provide love, help and understanding to these people. My heart aches for them, and I feel called to help them in some way.

I am by no means perfect. I know this, and so does God. I also know that it doesn't matter. That doesn't stop me from trying to live life according to God's plan for me. It also doesn't stop me from reaching out to other and lending a helping hand. Actually, I feel like my imperfections and past troubles have given me the tools to help others.

Thank you God for showing me that I do have a purpose. I aiterating to live it every day.

My official excuse? My laptop broke.

Really though? I just haven't committed. And I miss it. Reading about my life from even six months ago makes me sad that I haven't journaled or blogged in so long. And there have been so many things to write about. Oh so many,

The big news? Matt and I got married! Seriously, wow. It's been a month now, and it is honestly incredible. The months leading up to our wedding for fun, stressful, exciting and infuriating at times. I won't lie and say it was smooth sailing the whole way through. We made it tot he other side though, and today, on our one month anniversary, I have to say that I am overjoyed with our relationship. God has blessed me with finding another person to share my life with. I'm so happy I found him so early in life. I'm absolutely thrilled to spend the rest of my life with this man.

Marriage has brought a lot of challenges. Heck, life has brought a lot of challenges this year. A whirlwhind of change has occurred in my life, and I think it s for the better. I'm in love, I'm happy, I'm making really great friends, and i know my relationship with God is getting stronger every day. I feel that my future looks pretty bright.

I still haven't found a professional career yet, but I'm okay with it. Of course, I want to make more money and feel more satisfied at work, but I know that the right opportunity will come along. Right now, I am enjoying the ride. Life is such a beautiful journey, and I'm doing my best to enjoy it.

I have so much more to write about, but I think my husband just got home and I want to go wish him a happy one month anniversary. I promise I will try to write more soon.

I miss having a core group of friends. I miss having a wonderful group of girls to go to for everything, from parties to problems. Now, in a new city, I'm struggling to gain the friendships I once had. New people. New relationships. New rules. I've met so many awesome people in Phoenix. I've truly come to like almost everyone I've met here. But....it's not like home. Ha, it's funny I still call Ohio home. And now I feel a sad realization that it isn't anymore. I think this how I felt when I first graduated from Ohio State. I wanted so badly to go back there. I wanted all the things I had there and the experiences that went along with being a student at that amazing place. What I was truly longing for was the place I felt at home. At school, I was a student. I was a part of a huge organization, a group who bonded based solely on our shared institution. I still miss that, being a part of OSU. Time though, time has softened the blow, the desperation to get back to Ohio State. A lot of that came from new experiences. I found new interests and even a few new friends. And the old friends, they didn't go anywhere. They stilled loved me after college. They were there for me. And still are. Just because something in life changes, it doesn't mean life is going to get worse. I honestly miss my friends so much, but they haven't gone anywhere. I still talk to them. I still need them, and I hope they still need me from time to time too. I know eventually I will have close friends here, but I will never not be friends with my Ohio girls. I think Carmen Ohio says it best, "time and change will surely show, how firm thy friendship, OHIO."

Haveeeeee Fun

There are some really important things in a successful relationship. I don't profess to know even half of them. But there are at least two things I've realized about relationship success. The first is having fun together. To me, this is so, so, so important. I love going out and having a good time with Matt. We go to dinner, get drinks with friends, hike, explore, or watch a movie on TV. The activity doesn't matter as much as just genuinely having a good time. Of course there are boring times too. No one's life is pure fun all the time. I just think that when you get stuck in a rut or a pattern of boringness, that's when it takes a toll on the relationship. No one wants to be stuck forever in the same blasé pattern. Why would anyone? So I really think that having fun together is part of what makes a relationship worth having. The other really important thing--have fun apart. At first that almost seems to contradict my first point, but it doesn't. While your relationship should be fun for you as a couple, I don't think you should become so attached to each other that you are unable to have fun apart. Today I saw someone tweet that she had separation anxiety from her husband. Is that not a little weird? Of course I love Matt and miss him when I don't see him, but if he's gone I don't mope around like it's the end of the world. There ARE other people outside of your couple. There should be! If you don't think you could function as a whole person if your significant other wasn't in your life, then you should reevaluate the way your relationship is running! I believe there is a wonderful love between two people, but I don't think it is the only thing that matters. So, go. Have a night out by yourself. Visit your parents by yourself. Go hiking with friends. You're dating/engaged/married, but that doesn't mean you are sewn together. And at the end of the day, you still really love and care for each other. There's no reason to feel like you can't do things on your own. So there is a brief overview of a few important things. Obviously there is more to a relationship than pure fun, but hey, it's not a bad place to start!