My Beautiful Days

Recently on Facebook my friend, Yolonda, posted this picture: After reading through this list, it stirred up a lot of thoughts within me.  You see, I am an extrovert - and quite an extreme extrovert at that!  I have always thought of my extroversion as a great thing, almost as if I was given a gift, but it wasn't until I married Monte that I realized my extroverted personality can also be the very thing that made me a bully. A bully.  Wow, it hurts just to type that. It's true, though.  The more I learned about Monte and his introverted personality, the more I realized that I have not at all been accommodating or understanding of the introverts in my life.  One of the things I realized I have always  done, but maybe never saw that I was doing it, was that I misinterpreted an introvert's need for down-time and quiet as them being sad or sullen.  I was bound and determined to cheer them up, when in reality the very thing they needed from me was ...

As of late, this is a theme that has been replaying in my life over and over and over and over, and I don't understand the reason.  It seems that 28 is the new 15 when it comes to receiving advice from me.  Granted, this isn't the case in all situations, but in many it truly is.  I can't help but wonder why.  It seems that it is the same few people who continue to talk down to me in the "you have no idea what this is like" stance. Really?  Would I be offering up my opinion or ANY amount of advice if I didn't understand where you were coming from? No.  I truly would not. I find myself feeling frustrated at the fact that people look at me as being younger.  Let's be honest - there are not many women who are near my own age who are in the place of life where I am.  A few, yes, but not many.  A majority of my friends are about 10 years older than I am, and when I am with them, they don't point out my age difference or make me feel any less ...

That: - I absolutely LOVE office products.  I get really excited when I get to go to Office Max and shop! - I love to host anything!  Having people in my home makes me happy. - I make the best  chocolate chip oatmeal cookies EVER, but I hardly ever make them due to the ever increasing waistline that happens when there are a lot of chocolate chip oatmeal cookies around! - When I buy a gift for someone that I know they are going to love, I can not wait until the actual occasion for them to open it.  I'm always too excited to see their reaction, and thus it usually gets opened early (this is why Monte and I have " (insert day of the week here)  gifts" (i.e. Monday gift, Thursday gift).  I can't ever wait until the actual Valentine's Day, Birthday or Christmas to give the present! - I have an ex boyfriend with whom I am no longer friends.  However, I am very close friends with his sister, his cousins, his aunt and his mom! - I love being a part of mi...

I've been asked several times to share the story of how Monte and I met and eventually married.  I've always been hesitant about sharing this story on my blog, as it really opens me up for judgement.  However, I recently met a new blog friend who asked me about it and I went out on a limb and emailed the story to her.  Her encouraging words that I received in response gave me enough motivation to post the story - so here it is!  Enjoy ... [This is copied directly from my email to Laura] I am slightly hesitant to tell the story of how Monte and I met, just because the timing of it all is something that super opens me up for judgement, which is why the story hasn't been put on my blog quite yet!  I'm happy to share it with you, yet somehow it's still hard to tell!  It's so weird because I am proud of my husband, proud to be his wife and everything worked out perfectly for us regarding our relationship, engagement and marriage -- yet the hurriedness of it...

There's this woman who you may have heard of.  She sits on the other side of the computer and posts the things that show up on this blog.  She's the one who may walk around for days with a blog post brewing in her mind, only to turn around and put it on your screen in 10 minutes.  She's the 25 year old who is married to a 43 year old.  She's the one with four stepchildren.  Who is she?  She is Kami.  Who is Kami? I am Kami. There are many things in my life that define who I am.  First and foremost, I am a child of God.  I would not be where I am today if it weren't for His mercy, grace and love. I am a wife to an absolutely amazing man.  I am a stepmom to four completely phenomenal children. I am a daughter, a sister, a niece and a friend.  I am the woman who will take fashion over function any day of the week.  I am an extreme extrovert.  I love to try new things.  I love meeting new people.  I love to...

Here I go - copying Katie's blog, sheerly because it was so enjoyable to read her 100 things! If you have a blog of your own, I hereby tag you to share your 100 with me! :) So, without further adieu, I bring you my 100 ......... 1. I am incredibly random and off-the-wall. 2. 90% of the time I am an extreme extrovert. 3. My relationship with God is the number one priority in my life. 4. My family means the entire world to me and I don't know how I would function or survive without them. 5. I tend to hate and love the exact same thing a lot (i.e. I hate to work out, but I love to work out). 6. My heart's true desire is to be a wife and a mom. This will happen someday, of that I am certain. 7. Ice cream has the ability to make everything bad in my life go away for awhile! 8. I take my 4-year-old niece, Lexie, on a "girls day" date at least twice every month and always anticipate the arrival of our next date. 9. My 10 nieces and nephews are the joy of my lif...