Old Saying?

I'm grateful that:

• I've learned to accept certain situations I can't change. A few years ago, friends who constantly stood me up and constantly made me upset still remained my best friends. I was ditched for significant others. I was put down and pulled around. I confided in people who didn't see the significance.. or had ulterior motives. It's sad, but I've learned to let those people go. They won't change and our situation won't change, and I'm proud of myself for being okay with moving on.
• I'm less afraid of conflict. Some how I've become more comfortable with conflict and confrontations. I'm more apt to being blunt and telling it how it is. I like the openness, and appreciate it when others are the same with me.

Maybe it's all a part of growing up?

Waiting for the toaster oven to "ding"

Today I am grateful for:

• My hobbies. A wise person once told me that to successfully survive a Michigan winter, you should have enough things to keep you busy so you don't go mad. I've snowboarded a lot this winter, and last weekend I had a hockey tournament during the 36th blizzard this season.
• My winter gear. Along with hobbies, I decided a few years ago that I could only survive winter if I was properly equipped. I now own four pairs of "weather" boots, at least 4 winter coats, and multiple pairs of hats, gloves, neck warmers, long underwear, and knee-high scocks. However, I only own like one pair of flip-flops, one pair of shorts, and one bathing suit.
  
• My Internship. After re-vamping my resume last night, I think my experience over the past year (including the experience I plan on gaining in the next couple months) may actually make me look good on paper.
  
• My "go-to texters." I'm sure some of you have these. These are the handful of people I will text when I need a smile. I always know that their response will either be really nice or really funny. You might know who you are. If you don't, you should probably strive to be on that list.
  
• Those lucky few, who, for some strange, unknown reason, I am completely comfortable with, and never feel the need to hold anything back from.
• A great book. I've been on a reading binge. I think it's because I'm trying to hide from the bitter cold outside. Actually, I'm sure of this because when I do read, it's usually accompanied by a massive amount of blankets.
  

One piece of gratitude

I'm grateful for:

• The people who see me calling on their Caller ID and say, "Hell yeah I want to pick that up."
  

I'm back!

Hello everybody.

Yesterday marked the last day of my month long adventure. Now I'm back in Detroit going all out to catch up with the life I left behind. All this hustle and bustle is good for me though. If there's one thing I've learned, it's really good for me to keep busy while living in the D.

My travels were fantastic. Being away in the Rocky Mountains for a week left me feeling fresh, revitalized, and ready to handle anything. I think mountain living was made for me.

Has anyone read "Travels with Charley" by John Steinbeck? After I accidentally left my book in Denver, I picked up this one at the airport and didn't put it down until Chicago. I think it might be my new favorite. I would recommend it to anyone interested in the subjects of travel and human nature.

Last night marked the start of my last semester at UDM (whoo!). My new class seems challenging, but interesting. Today I started my internship, which looks promising. Tonight I had a sit down with my prof about the feelings I, along with the rest of my cohort, have about the program. Right now I'm sitting in bed thinking that 9:30 sounds like a great time to fall asleep.

My friends are the best. The last week and a half provided me with many reasons to love and appreciate my friends even more:

• Jess and Katie time. These girls are amazing and I love us.
• Brian's SLC phone message telling me that he had found LBC at a bar in Park City. LBC is a band (stands for Long Beach County), which includes Eric Wilson on bass playing all the very best Sublime covers. The voicemail I recieved left me feeling 10% happy for him, 80% raging jealous, and 10% special that he thought to call me and share 15 seconds of heavenly music.
• Ramsey still coming to pick me up even though we had bad weather and an airport mix up.
• Dan and Dominic saving me from a flat tire in Chicago. Any bad night can turn good when it includes good friends, NHL Hitz, mashed potatoes, a warm bed, venison sausage, cinnamon rolls (thanks Leah!), and waiting around for AAA for over 12 hours.
• Alicia standing up for me everytime Katie thought I was going to let her down. This was both funny and endearing.
• Winning a free meal at Big T because Ryan likes to take bets with me that he will inevitably lose.

It looks as though I will without vacations for awhile. Which is good. My month away made me miss my Detroit friends a lot and I can't wait to catch up with them all.

Happy Birthday K Tap

All I can ask for is forgiveness over the lateness of this blog. Katie's birthday was 3 days ago! However, New Years day was spent sleeping until four and then hanging out at Katie's birthday celebration until Midnight. As for the other two days, I have no excuse.

Happy belated 24th Birthday Katie!

It seems silly to introduce Katie like I have with every one else. If you read my blog and you don't know that Katie Tapper is my oldest friend, then you probably don't know me very well.


A few reasons why I'm grateful for you Katie:

• You call me out and keep me real. There are only a handful of people who will put me in my place when I need it. I can always count on you to say, "Merry, are you kidding me? Make it better!" when I do something wrong. I appreciate that more than you'll ever know.
  
• You're full of life. I know a lot of the time you don't feel this way, but you're wrong. Your presence lights up a room, and creates energy for people that they didn't have before, especially me.
  
• You're one of the strongest people I know. Again, I know a lot of time you don't feel like this because you see others skating through life while you're not. However, if those people had to deal with the challenges you deal with every day, they wouldn't hold up quite as well. It's inspiring to think about during my own challenges.
  
• You make it comfortable for people to be who they are. I know all your closest friends will agree with me. Sometimes it's hard to be real, but you never give anyone any reason to feel uncomfortable in their own skin. You never judge your friends, and you're always there to listen.
• You have a huge heart. You make the relationships in your life numero uno. You put your whole heart into you family and friends. Some people don't get how important that is, but you seemed to figure it out quite early.

I could go on and on about why I'm grateful for Katie, and why I love you so much, but I wanted to take a different twist on your birthday blog.


Some of my favorite memories of you Katie, age 23 (I will not get into specifics because it would turn into a novel):

• Automatic Love Letter @ the Magic Stick in Detroit.
• The one and only Katie Tapper show in Hastings.
• Countless movie nights where we would battle over the genre and would end up watching some suspense thriller.
  
• South Haven week, August. Especially sitting out by the fire until 3am.
• Tegan and Sara Chicago weekend!! Best. concert. ever.
• Starting to play music together again... still haven't figured out a name (maybe in 2009?)
  
• Halloween weekend adventures, including Windsor, casino, and Uh Huh Her.
• Skiing at Holly and Timber Ridge, being there while you snowboarded.
  
• This entire winter break which included a lot of music, movies, talks, 90210, and sleepovers.
  

A few reasons why your 23rd year will make your 24th year better than the rest:

• You've grown up. You realized early on during 23 that it was time to stop treating your body like a freshman in college.
• You've stood up for yourself. You decided that you weren't going to let others walk all over your heart.
• You've accepted yourself a little more. It's tough to feel different, but I can tell you're starting to embrace it.
• You've made positive decisions about your lifestyle. Not many people can recognize what they don't like about their life and make strong efforts to change it.
• You're embracing what truly matters to you. You're family. You're friends. You're future. You're health.
• You've planned a cool future with a really cool chick (me). Hopefully our plans for this year work out and we have an awesome time.