In honor of my impending vacation, I've decided to bring in special guest, List Format, to help me share with you why I am SOOO excited about the next 7 days. Mr. Format, you may begin...
TOP 10 REASONS WHY BETHANY IS EXCITED ABOUT VACATION
1. BYE BYE
I am LEAVING PARIS! As much as I have grown to love this town, it gets old seeing the same old things, day after day.
2. FRIEND
I am vacationing with my bestie, Ash. We ALWAYS have fun together and there will definitely be many good memories made on this trip! Plus, I can't wait to see how many people ask us if we're twins or sisters. This will be fun!
3. MEMORIES
Ash has never flown before so this will definitely be a learning experience for her. I can't wait to hear what she has to say about all the proceedings of the flight. Especially since I've researched the TSA website and provided her with as much information as possible to make her first flight enjoyable including "What are you wearing on the plane?" and "What is it exactly that I can't have in my purse?". I'm loving it!
4. Z
This evening, I'll get to spend some time with Z as I'm staying with him and his family tonight and he'll be taking me to the airport in the morning. He was sweet enough to offer to do this for me so that we could avoid parking fees and is even getting up before God does on Saturdays to deliver me to my flight. (It really works well for him to live so close to the airport-now I have every reason to go down the night before a flight to see him and we can do the whole mushy airport goodbye thing. Just kidding. Kinda.)
~As a side note, have I mentioned that he and I are "in a relationship" (to use Facebook/MySpace terms)? I spent Friday night and Saturday with him last weekend and we had the DTR (define the relationship) talk and decided that we want to try to pursue this. The distance situation is not ideal but it is what it is and we're making the best of it. The best way I know how to explain it is this: When in a relationship, there are multiple levels on which there is potential for one to connect with another person. For me these levels include physical, emotional, mental, spiritual, and humorful-even though that's not the word, I can't find the one I'm looking for. (I know there are more but these are the most prominent and important to me.) In the past, I have connected with the guys I've dated on varying levels. All of them shared a connection with me on the physical level as there is usually a visual trait that originally attracts me to them and vice versa. However, I may connect with one physically and emotionally and another may strike me physically and with his sense of humor. Until Z, I had yet to meet a man whom I connected with on every level. But I do with him. He just "gets" me-for lack of a better term. He can almost read my mind at times which is scary or we'll jointly say the exact same thing. And the way he fills silences in conversations with "yeah", "well", and "aaanywaaay" is absolutely adorable. He is by far the best guy I've ever dated and not to sound conceited but I'm glad I've waited. He treats me the way I feel I deserve to be treated and we have a mutual respect and concern for each other. The only drawback is that I don't see him more but we discussed it and that may actually be better for the both of us since we both stay fairly busy. I still wish that we could be busy seeing each other but it makes the time we do get to spend together more special. And I think we cherish each other more than if we had the luxury of being together every day. Anyway, we're off to a great start and seeing him is an added bonus to my vacation!
Sorry for interrupting, List. Please continue...
5. FAMILY REUNIONS!
Need I say more? Seeing kin folk (and seeing a baby cousin I haven't had the pleasure of meeting yet) and eating more food than you can imagine all at the same time is pure bliss to me. I think I'm more excited to see Mom and Dad than anybody else though. I never dreamed that I would have stuck around Paris for so long so I'm still getting used to only seeing my parents every few months. Although I am blessed enough that they still pay for me to fly home whenever I can make time and I am so thankful for that. It will be a year to the day Sunday that I first came to visit Paris and now, a year later, here I am. My, how time changes things!?!
6. BROTHERS
Getting to spend time with my brothers is always a blast for me. From the time I see them, I'll be laughing. I've already been laughing with my little bro, JP this week. He's been calling me a bit more often and his latest call included the following:
JP: Why don't we talk more? You're fun to talk to.
Me: Because you're busy working and going to school all the time.
JP: Well, I usually have a break around 11:30 every night.
Me: So call me, it'll only be 10:30 here. I'm still up then.
JP: I'll have to do that.
You have no idea how much that warmed my heart y'all. And check out our conversation via the Facebook wall (begin reading at the bottom of the insert which is the last picture of me-the postings are listed in order of most recent date):
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See, growing up, I've not really had the best relationships with my brothers. Being a perfectionist, OCD girl and being viewed as a fanatic to them (How else do Baptists describe Pentecostals?) has alienated me from them and I think they've felt I'm just too hard core to talk to. But I really feel that he and I are beginning to restore that sibling relationship now. He's even mentioned pursuing pharmaceutical sales and us living together in Dallas after he graduates and although that thought was a bit sketchy to me at first, I think we'd have a good time together. Of course, in 6 months when he actually does graduate, he'll have changed his mind and be moving to Seattle to sell coffee or something. Anyway, I am so thankful to have brothers who know how to laugh and enjoy family company as it has provided the best post-Sunday lunch entertainment I know and I look forward to what this weekend will bring. Family reunions always bring a whole new repertoire of laughable material to the table and I can't wait!
7. FOOD
Courtesy of my father's precious family, I get to enjoy not 1 but 2, count 'em, TWO wonderful, home-cooked meals. Now, I know I've been dieting and exercising some (and last week, I think I'd lost somewhere around 30 lbs.) but family reunion weekend-I'M FREE! I refuse to deny myself the treat of eating what I want and however much of it and as detrimental as that may sound for my weight loss, I actually tend to eat less when I go into it openly. So I am VERY excited about all the good food I will be enjoying at the reunions and even moreso the meals Mama will make after we return home. She knows what I like and is SUCH a good cook. I really should take some lessons from her. And on top of all that, I'll be in Zaxby's country! Woo hoo! And I can't tell you how excited I am to get to eat a Zaxby's club or the Chicken Fingers meal with that Texas toast and cole slaw! MMM...I can taste it now! So yeah, my love affair with food continues!
8. NC
I don't know if you've gathered this
9. SLEEP
As selfish or lazy as it sounds, I am so ready to sleep. Per my previous post, you should understand why I'm not resting well. Yesterday I noticed that I'm only comfortable when I'm standing as sitting or laying puts pressure directly on the area and sends blinding pain to my mid-back. So the prospect of sleeping in a comfy bed-perhaps even sleeping as long as my body desires-is a HUGE point of relief for me! (Don't worry, purchasing a new one is on the top of my priority list when I return next week so there is an end in sight to all my complaining.)
10. LOVE
Ridiculous as it may sound, this trip is going to be full of love. Love from family, friends, Z and I need a little of that right now. At the risk of sounding whiny, I have felt a bit "alone" here lately, like I've poured out myself on others so much lately that I'm empty and I'm excited about the time I'll get to be poured into. I don't want a parade or crown to wear, I just want to be loved. I know there are lots of people here who do (ok, that sounded egotistical but you know what I mean) but sometimes, I just need to be reminded that I'm loved for all of me-my past, present and future included-and only people who know my past can love me in that way. I also like to feel that love and unfortunately, I am so busy so often that I don't take the time to feel that love or effectively pour it out on others. The point of this paragraph? I'm excited about LOVE!
Ok, now I seriously MUST get busy at work or I may not have a job to come back to. I guess this long post has been a while in the making. There's so much more to share but that will have to be done from Z's house this evening or the plane/car rides tomorrow. Pictures and fun stories are sure to follow!
Much love & many blessings to
~B
Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.
1 John 4:7-12
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