It seems a little bit silly to be writing a post about the fact that my relationship has lasted as long as it has. In certain ways, it shouldn't really matter - if it isn't a year, or two, or six, it doesn't necessarily feel like a huge achievement. But it is definitely one of those milestone things... especially for a girl like me, who usually has a relationship timeline of around three or four months.
Things always happened and former relationships imploded on themselves in a matter of months. Once you start getting to know somebody, you naturally want to get more involve, and if the other person is not at the same place, you wind up at a standstill, and nothing good can come of it. You pick up, dust yourself off, and try again. Trial and error.
From day one, Mike has been incredibly patient. The week we started talking and decided to get into this whirlwind of a relationship was the week I found out about my melanoma... so needless to say, and not to take a page out of Fight Club, but he met me at a very strange time in my life... a la Marla Singer. He has taught me a lot of things, including that it really doesn't matter how much makeup I wear or how bad my breath smells in the morning.. he loves me the same either way. He has taught me that it is okay to just be me, unscripted and unrestrained... and he is okay with that. I love being able to love that way.
So, what I've learned, numbered for your convenience:
Love unconditionally. There are definitely some days when I want to punch a hole in Mike's face. I'm pretty sure that happens in every relationship. I just do the best that I can every day to show him how much I care.
The past is the past. For the longest time, I felt myself being compared to all of his exes thanks to constant conversations about them. It made me feel bad about myself. Eventually, I realized that those issues aren't mine, and isn't my concern.
Never go to bed angry. Getting back to my first point - getting in an argument is bad enough, but if you don't agree to disagree before going to bed, don't think for a second that it won't continue to haunt you. You won't sleep well, and the bad feelings will continue. It's better to apologize and get on with your life.
Don't lose yourself in the relationship. I still fight with this one to this day. I am still learning how to be Liz, and do all of the things I loved to do before meeting Mike, like knitting, writing, and my other hobbies.
Be best friends. If I don't hear from Mike throughout the day, it doesn't feel like it's going to be a good day. Each and every day, I hear from him several times, mostly to ask how my day is going. To ask what I want for dinner or tell me how he did on a test in school. It just makes me feel loved.
Be patient. Everything else is tied to this one, for sure. Learning to love, and forget about the past, and stay together with an open mind is difficult. Every day, it gets easier and easier.
Love is hard work. It's up to us to make the best of it.
I've always been a little slow on the uptake when it comes to being on time for things (in certain avenues of my life), so don't be surprised this list isn't showing up until now. I happened to read this list on my friend DJ's blog at http://martiandanceinvasion.blogspot.com, and thought it would be fun to re-count my last year - even though it's a little late.
01.What did you do in 2011 that you’d never done before?
Fell utterly, completely, head over heels in love.
Mike and I, at our crew Halloween party, where I dressed as Miss Argentina from Beetlejuice and he dressed as Mario.
02.Did you keep your new years’ resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
I don’t typically have new years’ resolutions, so I can’t say I kept or didn’t keep any. This year, I’d just like to maintain the life I’ve been working so hard to build over the past few, and just stay happy. That’s all I’d really like.
03.Did anyone close to you give birth?
Nope.
04.Did anyone close to you die?
Nope.
05.What countries did you visit?
None. The farthest I traveled for a trip was Green Bay, WI – my homeland, which is a drive of about two hours.
06.What would you like to have in 2012 that you lacked in 2011?
A bigger apartment! And as it turns out, I’m getting one on March 1.
07.What date from 2011 will remain etched in your memory, and why?
There are a few, for sure. For one, the date of the surgery I had in October (10/17/11), and my anniversary date (10/15/11).
08.What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Transferring out of a job I absolutely could not stand in order to start from scratch 100% in an area I knew nothing about, and being incredibly successful at it. I went from being a secretary to working in auto parts in a matter of months, and I’m having an absolute blast.
09.What was your biggest failure?
I don’t believe in failures. I can’t think of one thing I didn’t try my best at all year – and sometimes things just don’t go as planned. But I certainly don’t feel like I ‘failed’ anywhere.
10.Did you suffer illness or injury?
In October, I had surgery to remove a Stage 1 melanoma that I found inside of one of my tattoos. That was one of the scariest moments I’ve had in a long while, for sure.
11.What was the best thing you bought?
I can’t really pinpoint anything specific that I bought for myself. Once and awhile, I like to take extra money and spend a little bit on myself here and there for some new clothes, makeup, or something like that. I also paid a lot of debt back this year, and my credit score is definitely better off for it.
12.Whose behavior merited celebration?
The men and women responsible for the Alford plea that freed the West Memphis Three after nearly 20 years behind bars.
13.Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
Scott Walker. As a public employee, I’m living first hand with the changes he’s made, and let me tell you – it sucks.
14.Where did most of your money go?
Bills and paying back old debt. It’s difficult to not have a lot of extra, but when I think about the fact that I’m improving my life, making up for old mistakes, and carving out a future for myself, not having extra money seems pretty alright.
15.What did you get really, really, really excited about?
My new work opportunity, my new relationship… all of the above. I’m finally becoming the person that I’ve always wanted to be, and it’s a wonderful feeling.
16.What song will always remind you of 2011?
I hate questions like this, because I can never think of a single song that encompasses a whole year. This time, though, I can say that The Loved Ones’ “Distracted” got enough listens to merit reminding me of this year.
17.Compared to this time last year, you are:
a.Hotter or colder? Prettymuch the same.
b.Fatter or thinner? See above.
c.More active or lazier? See above.
18.What do you wish you’d done more of?
Being active.
19.What do you wish you’d done less of?
Toward the beginning of the year, drinking – once I curbed that and changed things for the better, I haven’t looked back.
20.How will you be spending/did you spend Christmas?
Mike and I spent Christmas Eve in Green Bay with my family for dinner, and Christmas Day in the morning with my extended family and evening with his. It made for a very long day, but it was good to be able to make the time to see everyone.
21.Did you fall in love in 2011?
That I did.
22.How many one-night stands?
Zero.
23.What was your favorite TV program?
Sons of Anarchy, bar none. I started watching it via renting season 1 from the library early in the year, got hooked, and wound up watching all three existing seasons before season 4 started this past year.
24.Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?
Not that I can think of.
25.What was the best book you read?
Currently reading “My Horizontal Life” by Chelsea Handler via Kindle.
26.What was your greatest musical discovery?
In late summer/early fall I really re-discovered punk music, so I’d say that counts. I’ve been staying pretty close to the music I know lately, since new music (especially music on the radio) is absolutely awful. I’ve also taken to unabashedly falling back in love with ridiculous music from the 90’s.
27.What did you want and get?
I’ve wanted a Nintendo Wii for years, but never had the extra money laying around to actually buy one. I told Mike this while we were shopping on Black Friday and opened one up for Christmas!
28.What did you want and not get?
I try not to want for much.
29.What was your favorite film of this year?
Pretty sure it doesn’t count, but The Other Guys was pretty great. I haven’t been to the movies in a long time.
30.What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
Since my birthday was on a Saturday this year, I had a Friday night dinner and bowling with friends in Milwaukee, and spent Saturday night drinking my face off in Green Bay. I turned 26 – or rather it was my 5th annual 21st birthday.
31.What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
Thinking about it, I’d say I had a pretty successful, satisfying year.
32.How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2011?
Jeans, t-shirts, shades of gray and black. I’d say that about covers it.
33.What kept you sane?
Knitting, new friends, and new opportunities. Oh yeah, and my cats.
34.Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
I try not to get too wrapped up in the celebrity world.
35.What was your favorite video game of the year?
It has been such a long time since I’ve played any new video games, I really couldn’t say – after I got my Wii, though, I started playing Cooking Mama again, which is pretty ridiculous in and of itself.
36.Who has made the most cameos in your dreams this year?
To be honest, I don’t dream all that often, and none of them stick out.
37.Who did you miss?
In quitting drinking for the most part, I’m not up in Green Bay as often as I once was, so I miss my friends there and my family, for sure.
38.Who was the best new person you met?
My boyfriend, Mike. By a landslide.
39.Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2011:
Drinking isn’t everything, and finding friends to rely on has helped me more than I can explain.
So, I originally posted this two months ago, but it has been stuck in draft hell since. Yes, I'm working on coming back. But until then - here goes!
For a couple of weeks, I'd been having an issue with a program I use at work to do one of my weekly duties. I e-mailed my contact who had no information, e-mailed the department that should have been able to help, and finally e-mailed the IT people in my department in the hopes I could get my issue solved. It had to do with a login and pings and other random nerdy verbiage that doesn't hold much weight in the real world. But IN ANY CASE.
One member of our IT department, Jason, went above and beyond to try and get my issue taken care of. Sure, I came back from breaks a few days with my computer completely restarted (and sometimes, multiple times a day), but since my issue was taken care of, it was all I cared about. So, since it had taken about a week, I just sent him an e-mail to thank him:
Hey, Jason:
Just in case I didn't get a chance to (I was pretty frazzled most of last week), thanks for going prettymuch above and beyond to make sure my problem got solved. Even if it did mean I came back from breaks to a restarted computer, it works great and without you, it probably never would have happened!
So thank you. Happy Monday!
I wasn't expecting a response (just wanted to send a simple thank you), but he sent me a response that actually made my day last Wednesday, and a few days after that as well!
Hi Liz,
I was out of the office Monday and Tuesday. I just read your e-mail-You are very welcome! Thank you so much for your appreciation.
More people should have your type of work attitude(and positive energy). Thank you again for your kind words.
