My Game of Life

Remember this game? I loved it! Probably because I was a kid and kids love doing grown up stuff... I could go to college, get a job, get married, buy a house, have kids to fill my van, etc etc etc. I don't know if I ever played the game all the way through, which probably has some deep psychological significance that therapists would have a field day with but I'm going to say it's because it can take HOURS to play and kids just can't sit still that long.

Anyway, now that I'm older and actually living the game of life, I find myself reverting back to my childhood mentality: wanting to skip ahead to the interesting stuff. I went to college and I have a job, but I want a cooler job, a career. I got married and I want kids, but there's no way I'm ready for them right now. And I don't have a house for those one-day kids to grow up in. But there isn't a little plastic wheel for me to spin and skip ahead 4 spaces. Boooooooorrring.

Fortunately, I'm at a really interesting part in my life: the part where everyone around me is dating, getting married, having babies, graduating, finding jobs... all of that exciting stuff that requires lots and lots of gifts and celebratory dinners on my part (except dating... you don't get presents for dating someone). So far this year, I've seen 5 friends or family members graduate, had two friends get married (and probably seen about 4 other facebook friends get married through photos... I'm such a facebook creeper), and have another 4 friends getting married by the end of this year. I'm also the wedding director at my church, and I have 4 more weddings (as of right now) that I'll be directing this year.

Moving is also a big theme this year. Whether it's 20 minutes away, 2 hours away, or 2 states away, it seems like everyone is moving. Which I don't necessarily like because that means less people to hang out with. Dustin and I are DYING for some couples to hang out with. We were the first in our group of friends to get married, so it's been 2 years of me and the guys (really... I can only handle so much Halo and fart jokes) or Dustin and the girls, which usually turns into a girls night because Dustin will avoid those situations whenever possible and I can't say I really mind because I live for wine nights at Cheryl's. I think in order for us to find some new friends we'd have to look at other churches and we aren't thrilled with that idea because we really like our church. We've both been going there since around junior high, we met there in high school, we married there, our friends are there (they're all either unmarried or married with babies, though... sadly, no in-between), our families go there, and we really enjoy our pastor's sermons. It would be hard to leave all of that behind, or even just limit it to once or twice a month.

There have been so many changes in or around our lives lately. I feel like Dustin and I are at a turning point in our lives, but I'm not really sure which way to turn. This post has, for the most part, been a play by play on the lives of everyone around me but I think it's long enough so I'll save the updates about us for another post. It's kind of like a cliff hanger, except not really because there isn't a whole lot that's new with me. But I guess you'll have to re-visit to find out...