Important People. Part two.

Tonight's friend post is about Courtney Dawn House. 

This young woman is one of my favorite people in the world, hands down. She makes me smile. She makes me laugh. She's there if I need a serious conversation or there to listen if I need to rant. 

How did we meet, you ask? Well, she will tell you that she sat next to me at bible study many moons ago, and I promptly got up and walked the other direction, completely ignoring her intentions of being friendly.  I honestly don't remember this happening, but I don't really remember how we became friends. Haha. I just know she's been around for a long time!

She's been there with me through it all. 

Boys. 

My first apartment. (She lived in the one next door)

Family drama.

Boys. 

The revamping of this very blog. 

Money woes. 

Drama. 

Road trips. 

Boys. 

And much more!

But through it all, she's remained true and loyal, and we have made it through without any drama or other issues. 

I am thankful that God brought this amazing woman into my life. I can't imagine what it would be like without her. 

Important People. Part One.

So, for the next five days, I'm doing a mini-series about my friends.

If you've been reading my blog for any amount of time, you'll know that I don't trust people easily. Everyone has their issues from their past, mine just happen to leave me a little afraid of putting myself out there. The next five days' worth of reading will be filled the "how we mets", inside jokes and random stories of the five people that make me the happiest.

Tonight's post is about Clinton.

Let's start by saying that when I met Clint, I hated him! Ha! I know that sounds rude, but let me explain. I walked up to the bible study on a Sunday morning, and see Jason (our pastor) talking to these two random guys. One was Michael Stoica, and one was Mr. Clinton Christopher Jones. Jason had to leave, so he left me in charge of getting these new guys all settled in with the folks at Shadow Hills. Michael was super quiet. But the other of the pair had a southern accent and was loud, cocky and looking back on it now... obnoxious. Haha!

Little did I know that this outgoing man standing before me would turn out to be one of my two best friends. I honestly thought that day that I would introduce him to a couple of the guys, and I probably would never have to talk to him again.

Then I started actually listening to what he had to say. He knew about football and hockey. I don't know what it is... maybe it's the friends I've chosen in the past, but no one I would hang out with knew about the sports I liked. Growing up with the dad I did, and the friends we had, knowing about sports as a whole was a must. Clint knew about them. He appreciated Elvis and knew about the good older movies that I liked. 

I decided after hanging out with him a time or two more, that we'd be friends. He started to tell stories of Georgia and all of his friends and family there. I learned more and more about Mr. and Mrs. Jones, Courtney and Matt and Evan and A-Con and so many others... Looking back, when I went there this past September, I felt like I already knew them! Ha!

I know what you're thinking... Whitney, when was the moment that ya'll became best friends?

Well, I don't think it was one set moment. Between 3 am phone calls, inside jokes, swapping well-meaning insults, and an unforgettable night playing Qwelf... I don't know... we just became best friends.

I know it's easy to call someone your best friend, but I know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that I can tell him anything, and he won't judge me. He may make fun of me for a few mintues! Haha! But in the end, he'll offer some insight, and compare whatever stupid thing I've done to something even crazier that he's done.

In the end, I'm glad God brought Clinton Christopher Jones into my life. He may drive me crazy, and I may want to kill him half the time, but I wouldn't have it any other way.

                            

Unappreciated.

Do you ever feel unappreciated?

I have the type of personality where I want everyone to be happy all the time. It's a people-pleaser attitude, but really it's more than that. I don't want people to just like me... I want everyone to be happy. I want their lives to be as happy as possible at all time.

Well, in this spirit of taking care of people, sometimes it tends to back fire, and lately it seems like I'm just wasting my time. It feels like my patience is being tested for sure.

Bah.

It's time for a change.

Do you ever wake up in the morning and feel like life is changing around you?

I've had a couple days FILLED with enough time to reflect on who I am and what I'm doing with my life. Ever since I was a little kid, I knew what I wanted to do with my life. I knew where I wanted to live. I knew what my husband would be like. I knew what kind of job I'd have, and I knew exactly how my life would turn out.

Or so I thought.

As I said, the past couple of days left me some time to think...

I've got ideas, plans, dreams, and it's finally time that they come to fruition. It's time to stop being scared. I've been afraid, for so long, of failing or even worse... the unknown. If I do everything I want to do, or even attempt it, there is a great possibility that I could fail. I could be "just not good enough" or "not quite up to the challenge".

But you know what, dear reader? 

It's time to stop being afraid. I was put on this earth on purpose for a purpose, and it's time to get it started. It's time to not let the fear of the unknown hinder what I want for my life.

There is so much at stake...

But it's time for a change.

Forgive and forget?

Well,  Powder Palooza is drawing to a close, and instead of devoting another post to how lousy I feel, let's talk about something else.

Can I just say that I LOVE doing this blog-a-day thing?! It's sometimes stressful. As you can see, I sometimes end up posting at 11:40 at night, barely in the knick of time! But overall, a great experience thus far.

Last night's Powder Palooza lesson was on forgiveness. Anthony had us write down on a card who in our lives that we need to forgive, and those in our lives that we need to go to and ask forgiveness from.

This was an interesting lesson for me, because I, Whitney Elizabeth, am a grudgeholder. If someone says something that bothers me, even in the slightest, I will never forget it. And every time I see that person thereafter, I think of it. Every single time. 

The worst part is... I KNOW that holding on to things like that isn't healthy. I KNOW that we are called to forgive. And I KNOW that I tend to sabotage relationships with people simply because I can't let myself let things go.

This is something I am constantly working on. 

It's something that I definitely recognize in myself.

But it's a process. Pure and simple.

Update

So I spent the better part of today in bed.  Altitude sickness got the better of me once again, so my day was spent throwing up and sleeping. 

So far, some minor progress. I'm hoping tomorrow will be better than today. 

Short post tonight. Sorry readers. 

I just want to go home

Well, we made it to Brian Head without any severe problems, but you know what? I wish I wasn't here. 

This sounds like I'm being a Debbie downer, but literally, I just want to go home.

My altitude sickness has me throwing up all day. I slipped and fell on ice and injured both knees and my hands pretty decently. 

I just want to go home.