June 3, 2009.

A year ago today, I lost a hero.


My Grandpa.

He was and still is an amazing man who continues to touch the lives of all who knew him and who hear of him.

He had this way to make all of his children and grandchildren feel special in their own way.

Any of the girls in my family will agree with me that he loved to tease us in the kindest way...

"Boy, you sure are beautiful, now make sure you don't miss out on any of your beauty sleep!"

So many phrases. So many hugs.
Just not enough.

My mom called him papason.
He loved that.

He had a knack for showing up on time 2 hours early for every family even we ever hosted. 99.99% of the time mom and I would not be even remotely ready and it would frustrate the hell out of us. But he was so helpful mashing our potatoes.

I think I mentioned how he made everyone feel special? right?
Well, he really did.
I heard stories at the funeral home from people I'd never even heard of that said that my Grandfather had a tremendous impact on their lives. He left HUGE shoes to fill, and I'm fairly certain is going to take my entire family to fill them. We will do it. It is in our blood, because of him.

I miss him dearly and wish I had spent more time with him and still could spend more time with him.

My head really isn't clear today. I haven't been able to shake this overwhelming sense of sadness. My heart aches with the loss of my hero.

He was a soldier.
That's how he met my Grandma.
They met on a train.
Wrote letters while he was over seas.
And married when he got home.
5 Children and 11 Grandchildren later he lead a beautiful existence with his wonderful wife.
He had a fairytale romance that stayed till the very end.
I was told all he was worrying about the night before was 'ma'.
It is enough to make anyone cry.
Especially me.

As I lay here typing this and carefully wiping away my tears of joy and sadness, I want to celebrate his life. I'm still trying to figure out how, but I will continue to do so every day until the day I get to see him again.

There are so many stories to tell. So many 'words to the wise' that I would love to share with you. I will someday. I have to compile my list first.


For now, I'm going to drift off into dreamland and hope I get to see him and take a walk with him in my dream. Those are really my favorite dreams.

I love you Grandpa T.
I'll miss you everyday until I see you again.

Celebrate good times, Come on!

Today is a celebratory day.

While my 20th birthday is a mere 14 days away, I was still accepted as one of the 20 something bloggers.

I couldn't be happier. :]

Now, I am completely new to how this whole blogging thing works and while I understand the concept of making posts and posting picture and heck, I even got as far giving myself a fancy new layout. I however lack the ability to make it much farther than that.

So, I am asking for advice, for site, for basically anything to help me get this blog into tip top shape for my new friends and followers.

I want to make this as special of an experience for you as it is for me.

I know, I'm real sweet like that.

On another note, I have found some fabulous blogs over the past few days. I'll be posting them soon, once I compile a list of more than 4 (which are the ones I've read, I still have some catching up here!) and credit will be given to those whom I think worthy of note via comment or email (if possible) ... I'm not sure how to alert those who are credited in the blog. Clearly, I need some help here.

I promise, my regular rants and crazy antics will resume tomorrow.

For now, thank you for reading! I so so so appreciate it. :]

Love you all.

He loves me, He loves me not, HE LOVES ME!

Today I went to my favorite store in the whole world.

Meijer.

This superstore is just beyond my wildest dreams. I am hopelessly in love with its wide variety and its low prices. My heart flutters from the very thought of it. All its different shapes and sizes, its vast selections of everything you could ever need. I swear, its like I die and go to heaven every time I put my car into park and march through those automatic doors only to gaze in on the glory that is this superstore.

Walmart?
NO THANK YOU.

A run of the mill grocery store?
I think not.

Yes, I would write the store love letters if I didn't think people would try to put me away..

Whenever I feel restless I take it out in Meijer. I live within ten miles of at least 3 Meijers, all of which are 100% different and only one is truly questionable, but still one of the objects of my desire.

If my Mac had paint, I would totally doodle little hearts all over this picture. But, I'm still working out the kinks. Hehe.


Here are my top 10 favorite things to get at Meijer:

10. Toothpaste; yes, I realize that you can get this any number of place but for some reason it is so much more appealing here with all the little tags underneath telling me how much I save.

9. Magazines; I swear I never look at magazines unless I am going through the self check out at meijer (self checkout is the best thing that has ever happened to the shopping industry btw). Then I am all about going over who is pregnant with who's baby, OHEMGEE SHE DID WHAT?, Ugh, her plastic surgery is awful.. etc..

8. Bobby Pins; I mean seriously, $0.70 for 60 bobby pins, and legit bobby pins at that. :]

7. Video Games; I more so long for than purchase these. But I have a DS and am trying to find games all the time, I had one in my cart today, but just couldn't talk myself into it.. someday though.

6. DVDs; Whether its a brand new movie or season dvd, I'm always wanting more.

5. Things I have like a million of; I find myself persistently shopping for the better version of whatever I have, just a little problem I have.

4. FOOD; Umm.. 'nuff said. Besides, they buy from local farmers. WHAT WHAT!

3. Books; Good reads come out of that place, plus, there is always a chance the book I'm pining for will drop under $20 (I am desperately hoping that day come soon)

2. Clothes; While it is hard for me to actually make a purchase, I do like perusing the clothes. :]

and the number 1 slot goes to....daadadaddadadadadadadad <--  clearly that is my drum roll.

1. PENS & NOTEBOOKS!!! But really, they have the coolest pens placed all around the store and cute neat little notebooks everywhere. Really, I should just say office supplies. But, Thats what like office max is for.


Here is my "Word to the Wise": Shop at Meijer and NOT Walmart. Walmart sucks. Don't be fooled by their low prices, the only reason they can be so low is because of their slaves in China.

... *Shifts eyes back and forth, clears throat* ...

Well..

I'm off to try out my new meijer pens and notebook.
Stay tuned.. I promise I'll have something better to write about tomorrow, today, my brain was all Writer's Block.

BTW: Glee was all sorts of FUNKY tonight, so sad its the season finale next week.

If only, if only. Stupid little black dress.

Today I will explore the wonderful world of GaGa.

Inspired, of course, by last nights Glee episode.

Anyways, I wanted to explore the style of Lady Gaga while baby blogger me explores using photos.

Personally, I love Lady Gaga and her fabulous sense of style. I idolize her fashion and courage in a way that many people would find just strange.

I wish I had the courage to dress a little girlier, let alone out of this world like she does. 

Her self confidence blows my mind. 

I mean just look at this. She might as well be naked and she looks unbelievable.

My favorite story of her is one I read in probably Cosmopolitan. 

She was at, I believe, Starbucks with a boyfriend when he broke up with her.

She says..

"Just you wait and see, someday you want be able to leave your home without seeing my face!"

(Now, I ad-libbed this story a bit, don't be offended if this isn't 100%)

 

Holy guacamole.

 

Poor sap, didn't even know what was coming.

You literally cannot wake up in the morning without hearing one of her songs blasting happily on the radio.

What a fabulous lady.

Whose style I envy.

I love it.

 

Guilty pleasure?

I think ABSOLUTELY.

Now for the real question.

Can I pull this off?