Que Sera, Sarah

It's no coincidence that my name fits in so nicely with this well-known phrase sung by the glorious Doris Day. It happens to be my personal motto. Que sera, sera. Whatever will be, will be. Or as I like to say, "toast is toast." It's a relaxed but confident, optimistic yet objective, tolerant and open-to-possibilities mindset that I tend towards. This is not to say that I don't make plans, have goals, try my best to reach them, or occasionally get stressed out. I just don't feel the need to know all the answers or hold grudges, and I generally feel like everything will eventually shake out the way it's supposed to. Not everyone can understand or agree with such a laissez faire attitude, but it works for me--in my approach to friendships and day-to-day problems, to religion and my relationship with God, and even when someone cuts me off on the highway. My family likes to tell this story about how, as a child, if someone made me angry I would booby trap my room out of spite so they couldn't come in. I'm all for funny and embarrassing stories from youth, but every time this one is told it really bothers me because the point of telling it is to demonstrate that I hang on to ill feelings with vindictiveness, and this is so contrary to who I actually am.

I've been thinking a lot about this lately, becoming reflective and self-assessing as my birthday came and went. And I can honestly say, with no egotism, that I really like who I am. When I think about how I treat people, how I treat myself, and how I spend my time, I realize that I am the person who I want to be. This was kind of a surprising realization, since that was definitely not always the case. I know that I needed to spend many years floundering and making mistakes in order to get here, and I know that I'm not done evolving. But for now, it's nice to have wonderful friends and family, a fabulous husband, adorable and goofy pets to pour love into, good health, and to know that I've finally found what I really want to do career wise. As I roll into my 27th year on this planet, I am filled an attitude of gratitude, and a sense of infinite possibilities.

Cheers,

Sarah

Miles to Go Before I Sleep

Monday afternoon, I sent off my last assignment of the semester (woot!) and hit the open road with one of my furry children. 450 miles, one outrageous gas tank fill up at a kooky country store, one human/canine potty stop, and about eight hours later, I arrived at my parent's house in Virginia. This semester has been so jam packed that I hadn't seen my family since Christmas, which is just way too long. The next morning, I went with my mom to her bowling league, out to lunch, ran some errands (and did some shopping for honeymoon clothes, in case The Hubs is wondering what that big charge was), and decided to drive back down south another 175 miles to my little sister's house. She had a baby this past October and I sorely needed to catch up on all the growth and development I've missed over the last five months.

After lots of baby snuggling, picture taking, the first margarita of the Cinco de Mayo festivities, and an...interesting night sleeping in a recliner, my mom and I headed the 175 miles back north (after adding quite a few extra miles searching for an IHOP; I was on a pancake mission). After a glorious nap to undo some of the restless recliner hours, we went to see my other nephews' chorus and strings concert. Afterwards, we went out to dinner and I thoroughly enjoyed margarita number two. Who cares if I'm not Mexican? I'm on vacation! And, dammit, I'm celebrating Cinco de Mayo all week. Ole'!

I got to sleep in this morning, and am going to see my two best friends tonight to catch up over some beers and live music (and margarita #3, if I have anything to say about it). Tomorrow is my nephew's baseball game, and hopefully spending some time with another great friend. Then Sunday is Mother's Day and a family barbecue, and Monday Ollie and I make our way 450 miles back to South Carolina, thus ending my whirlwind tour. Whew!

But right now it's time to add a couple more miles to my trip, by foot. My troublesome infected poison ivy is finally healed to the point that I can wear running shoes, and I need some way to justify my margarita habit :)

Cheers,
Sarah