I think they call this, growing up.

Who would’ve thunk it? Me saying I’m a grown up? I mean let’s be real – this is coming from the girl that still buys Lucky Charms because they come with little cute colorful marshmallows. But 2014 has opened my eyes to P.L.E.N.T.Y. I mean c’mon, I take my clothes to the Dry Cleaners ya’ll – that right there is legit grown up status. The owner guy, Mr. Nguyen (not cliché, I swear that’s his name!) knows my name and doesn’t even have to look it up (talk about VIP) And numero dos, I would much rather pay $60 a month for someone to kick my ass in boot camp - 3 days a week instead of using it on pointless shizz I would buy on a trip to Target! I find myself buying fruits and veggies instead of the 13 bags of assorted potato chips..like I actually care about my health or something. No seriously, WHO AM I?!

 

I mean I guess it was bound to happen right? My 10 year high school reunion is next year (oh snapp!!) and that “thirty” word is about to be used in my vocabulary pretty frequently in just 750ish days (I mean, not that I’m counting or anything..) I’ve heard the quote “Life is change. Growth is optional. Choose wisely” I don’t know about you, but I’ve chosen to grow. In past years, I have been secretly jealous about all the weddings I attended. Pouting my lip and crossing my arms thinking to myself when MY time was coming. Of course, I enjoyed the weddings I was honored to be a part of, but I can’t help and remember how bittersweet it was for me. Looking back, that sounds ridiculously selfish. I mean part of the fun of this so-called “growing up” phase is watching your closest friends (who actually have their shit together) say their “I do’s”. Carrie Bradshaw said it best – “If you don’t get married or pregnant and you spend countless dollars celebrating friends that do – why should you miss out on celebrating you?” So, I did. For every present I had to buy this year for someone, I bought one for myself. If my friend had a juicer on her registry, I had new running shoes on mine. Life got a little more interesting, and Jenni got a whole lot happier.

 

I've learned that as soon as the door is closing on something, I find another door opening just as fast. Like sticking its foot in between the door before it closes. It gives me zero time to sulk and think about what I'm missing out on, when something amazing is staring me right in the face. In fact, I've learned that I honestly started to care less what someone thinks about the way I'm living my life.

Yes, I'm 27 & single. Yes, I sort of love it. Yes, I drink high-calorie, gut-giving beer and don't have any regrets doing so. Yes, I love Jesus but I cuss a little. And yes, sometimes there's questionable decisions I make, but they make for good stories at brunch with my best friends.

 

 I don't pretend to be someone I'm not because I think I am pretty damn good at being me.

Pretend that's me dancing to "Go Jenni...Go Jenni Gooo"

Paulo Coelho said it best, “Solitude is not the absence of company, but the moment when our soul is free to speak to us and help us decide what to do with our life.” What I'm doing now is not what I thought I'd be doing 10 years ago. Hell, it's not what I thought I'd be doing 10 minutes ago. And I don't really know if anyone knows what the hell they’re actually doing.  At 27, I may not know what direction my life is heading or what I’m even wearing tomorrow, but I do know that right this second, I’m happy. Like really happy. For reasons I honestly don’t even know. But what I do know is that this feeling is so incredible I want to bottle it up, stick it in the freezer and let it sit there for a rainy day.

Don't worry though, I still don’t have ALL my shit together, so there’s no need to start saving up for my wedding any time soon. I still don’t brush my hair before work, I still accidentally let my milk spoil and have to throw it away, I sometimes even shave one leg and forget to shave the other and I definitely still have the days where I’m too lazy to cook dinner that eating a bowl of Lucky Charms while watching The Bachelorette will suffice.

I like this adult thing and just recently, I have figured out it kinda likes me too.

 

The Road Rage Diaries

I am to the point where I am ready to break my silence friends. 

My name is Jenni...and I have ROAD RAGE.

A drive to work should be a time of relaxation, where you are either chuckling at the nonsense the radio personalities are talking about or catching up with friends on your way home.

But after spending 10 hours of my week or 40 hours of my month sitting in the comfort of my 2010 V-Dub (VW) driving to el trabajo...I've learned most people must've bribed the driving class teacher in order to have a legit driver's license.

With that being said, I will say that I hate every driver - beside, behind, and in front of me..on my every day drive. 

This, is exactly how I feel about the dreadful drive with Houstonians: 

Before I say this, please find the closest wooden surface and give it a nice little knock for me. I'm not tooting my own horn here friends, but having been behind the wheel for the last 11 years without ANY accidents or tickets, I would like to think I am not the problem here.

So I've come up with a list of things Houston drivers do, that make me want to show them my middle finger...and then some.

Blinkers:

God (and the engineers behind building cars) invented blinkers for one specific reason. It's a simple task to just let the drivers around you know that you are making a turn in that direction. How swell is that? Well, my fellow Houstonians have a real problem with this ridiculously simple task. They are either Paul the Punk who cuts in front of a car without a blinker making the person behind them brake...or they're Careless Carl who leave their blinker on until they arrive at their destination. Either of these, are unacceptable ya'll. Follow these simple steps : "oh I need to turn left" (left blinker on..move lanes...blinker off) Doesn't that feel good? Make sure to repeat this step tomorrow to refresh you memory!

Fast & Furious Drivers: 

Unless your name is Vin Diesel and you're in the set of a movie, there is no need for your out of control driving on the Beltway. I know we are all on a time crunch to get to our destinations, but these Vin Diesel wanna be's think that just because their vehicle has a spoiler and they're jamming Jay Z at 7:15 in the morning, smoking a cig, that it gives them the right to cut in and out bumper to bumper traffic...only to get them 2 cars in front of you. You're such a cool guy, Vin...

Multi-taskers:

We've all been guilty of this. But when it comes to traffic..."aint nobody got time for this!" We have the Busy Bob & Betties...Who couldn't wake up early enough to put on their make up or finish shaving their face. Being behind a Busy Bee is the worst. I would be okay with this BUT because of their distractions, they don't realize 3 cars have just cut in front of them and me, leaving me to honk my horn and hating them for the remainder of my very annoyed drive. 

18 wheeler lane:

If I was an important part of government in Houston, I would make a lane specifically for these vehicles we like to call 18 wheelers. I am am grateful for the materials they deliver which, I am sure I use on a daily basis...BUT that does not give Tom the Trucker the right to get on the fast lane!! Your vehicle has EIGHTEEN WHEELS fool - why on God's green earth do you think your car can go faster than mine?  If there was a lane just for Toms then the rest of the non-Tom world would have less accidents and less middle finger raised in the wee hours of the morning. 

Ahhhhhh now that, it's off my chest & you think I need to be signed up for the next opening in the  anger management class, I hope you realize if you see a gray Jetta...to follow the wise words from my buddy Ludacris and...

So if we could all just work together and follow these simple little rules...we could all get to work at an appropriate time and even Mondays would be worthy of happy dances....

I'm just a simple 20 something year old trying to fix people's grammar and now driving skills....one blog at a time...

Me & my boyfriend, Life

  

As some of my best friends celebrate their first few years of marriage, I celebrate close to three decades with my mate, Life...(whoa.. writing the words "three decades" just gave me the heebie jeebies) Just like any relationship, we have our ups and our downs.  And just when I think I have it all figured out, Life brings me down to the "not so quick there Jenni" & then comes Doubt & Uncertainty following me around like those popular girls in "Mean Girls"

Doubt & Uncertainty are my nemesis. Most people would be surprised to learn this about “Jenni the optimist” but… it’s true. I definitely suffer from the usual sweaty palms, racing heart and the occasional semi-anxiety attack when me & my closest girlfriends discuss getting older. Life just sits there and laughs in our face. So recently, I decided to “challenge” Life. I quit my comfortable job, moved to a new city & started a new job. After all, Life always told me to be adventurous. I guess you could say the new job was fun, but after a few months, I realized it just was not for me. I hated realizing that Life might've been right. Dang it. 

You know when your parents used to tell you the good ole “You win some, you lose some” rule? Which usually followed with you rolling your eyes, half listening to them, wiping the tears from your teenage face & telling yourself “ughh I shouldn’t have told them we broke up…”

Well….. who woulda thunk it? Mom was right once again. (Mom – 836 Jenni – 0)  I admit it….Fine, I was wrong this time. But as a prideful woman in a relationship, I refuse to let Life know I was wrong.  So I sit here plotting how to make something out of this “loss” – and I ask myself :  “What is your DREAM JOB? Like realistically Jenni….none of this..you want to find a cure for cancer (which I totes do) or become the next Guiliana Rancic (which I totes do) “

I mean do I even have a “dream job”? Everyone has one of those right?  Well when I was in 3^rd grade my teacher asked me what I wanted to be when I was a “grown up” being the go-to snacker in my class, I said I want to be a chef. Ummm…I can’t even cook Ramen Noodles without overcooking the .25 cent delicacy. Seems I’ve even crushed poor little Mexican 3^rd grade Jenni’s dream.

Oh Life. Your weird turn of events kind of give me butterflies...in the most unusual way...I take your challenges and raise you triumphs. I sit down with my glass of  Merlot right now & realize I do not have to have a plan, a dream job or even a relationship. 

Yep, that's right. My time to "figure it all out" will come soon. I’ve always treated everyone the way I wanted to be treated. I’ve gone up to the “outcasts” at school and had conversations with them about their day when nobody would give them the time of day just as I would expect someone to do to me if I was an “outcast”. I’ve driven to friends houses with wine and ice cream at 2 AM after they had a bad break up & sat there till 6 agreeing that the guy was to blame because he didn't say "I love you" back. As my sweet boy John Mayer once said, “I believe, that my Life’s gonna see, the love I give..return to me” So as long as my faith is strong, & realize it really is all in God’s plan & all I can do is sit back, drink my wine & enjoy this crazy love/hate relationship with Life. 

(PS- if you’re reading this God….can you uhh.. help a sister out?)

So remember:

-       Have faith

-       Keep trying

-       Keep it simple

-       Laugh at problems….unless its your health…then you should probably get that checked out...

xoxo jenni

The Dating Diaries - PART 1

Dating

Oh…what a word. 

pretty self explanatory - thanks Urban Dictionary 

It comes with a little bit of nervousness and a whole lot of red flags. But somehow…right in between…there’s always those little butterflies lingering around in your belly that make it all worth it!

Why is it one of the most talked about words in our vocab nowadays? Simply, because it’s that one step we are willing to take in finding “the one”, our “prince charming” & “our soulmate” I mean didn’t your parents teach you “You can’t diss it, ‘till you try it”?

Now, don’t get me wrong… I am not even close to being an expert in this field. After dating someone for almost 5 years…you could say I’m a definite amateur in this dating game.

But, I’ve come to the conclusion that if you don’t meet your wife/husband in college….You’re pretty much stuck meeting someone at a bar, on an online dating website, or through friends.

And this is where some people just get frustrated and start thinking they’re going to end up alone for the rest of their lives with 6 or 7 cats in an apartment in the city…..or so they think….. ;)

In the last month or so…. 4 of my very close girlfriends have gone on several dates with:

a) someone a friend set them up with

b) someone they met from a dating website or

c) an old friend who is now in "the picture"

and I can’t help but share their experiences with you all. They make me laugh so very hard and it’s opened my eyes to the fun and not-so-fun parts of dating.

**All of their names have been changed to protect their dating lives**

WARNING : these are real people's lives.....NO JUDGING BEYOND THIS POINT!

Once upon a time there was "Jasmine"

After a recent heart break with her  ex she finally was ready to be put out there again. So Jasmine has recently joined a dating website. She was a bit skeptical about the process but decided "ehh what's there to lose?" Here are some texts from Jasmine so you too can experience this with us:

truth #1 - always have that "feel good" confidence

 truth # 2 -  don't double guess yourself

truth #3 -  always keep it "classy" ;)

truth #4 - remember the rules haha

In a land not so far away we have Pocahontas...or Poca as we shall call her..(see where I'm getting at here?) ;)

A recent break up has Poca  singing to the tune of "girls just want to have fun" &  with not a care (well... maybe a few cares) in the world and lots of caution....she has decided to venture out and give this whole dating thing a try ... one more time...this is her story:

truth #5 - safety first

truth #6 - at least TRY to play hard to get..

truth #6 - dont judge a guy by his ride..

truth #7 - if he's a reader he must be a keeper?

I want to tell you now the story of "Cinderella"

-After taking a year long hiatus from dating to focus on her career (yes, this Cinderella is a working woman!) Cinderella decided to take her friends advice and go on a few dates herself...

truth #8 always remember that scary episode of Special Victims Unit..

truth #9 always rely on your friends for the perfect "don't want to hang out" excuse..

truth #10 the real test is to see if he last at least an hour on the phone...

truth #11 always remember "two can play the same game"

And then there was one.. her name is Belle 

Like the rest of the ladies, Belle has had her fair share of class-less men in her life. After a big eye opener from her fellow friends...she also - jumped on the YOLO bandwagon and decided to give this dating deal a try.....

truth #12 her mom probably knows it's 4 - a mother always knows..

truth #13 yolo is not just a word....it's real life..

truth #14 the lose-lose situations we put ourselves in...

truth #15 -take it like a champ...all day... every day 

Well there you have it!! I've laughed crying reading these texts so I thought...why not share it with ya'll?? Oh and don't worry...this is only part 1... as soon as I can compile more dating diaries from these ladies....I'll be sure to share them with ya'll....until then....

xoxo Jenni