My Hippie Boy!

My kiddo is pretty dang cool! I'd like to take all the credit, but I can't. He's most definitely his dad, through and through.

I took him to get some new specs this weekend and what does he pick? Old school Ray Bans. Be still, my beating heart! He's also been growing his hair out and it's looking pretty good. I have a feeling he will have a lady or two this year when he starts junior high. 

He's pretty diverse in his music tastes, too. He likes bands from Bush to Simon and Garfunkel. My grandma told me she found 7 Jimi Hendrix vinyls, 2 Van Halen albums, a Pink Floyd and Kansas album she's gonna give to me. Conlan was so jealous! He will give just about any kind of music a try. 

He was telling me this morning that last weekend, he went and rode carnival rides with his dad, his dads girlfriend and her kids. This is HUGE for him because he's never liked rides before. He even rode on one that goes upside-down. Way to go kid!!! I like that you're up for trying new things. That's what life is about! Experience it. I love you!!!

Dear 16 year old me

I don't know if any of you have ever heard of these YouTube videos
called Dear 16 year old me, but in a nutshell, these people record
videos of them saying what they wish they could tell themselves if
they had the knowledge they have now but at the age of 16. It's pretty
powerful stuff. I think I'm going to do a text version of it for my
blog tonight. I encourage all of you to do the same thing!

Here I go

Dear 16 year old me...

Don't hate people for what they've done to you. It only hurts yourself.

Allow others to help you. I know it hurts you and is scary to bring

your walls down, but they only want the best for you.

You will have many trials and tribulations but they will make you the

person you are when you breathe your last breath.

You are a good person. You truly are. Don't let anyone tell you or

make you think differently of yourself

Take risks. If you don't you will probably regret them.

Love wholeheartedly and don't care who sees.

Treat your child how you DID NOT want to be treated as a child.

Remember, it takes a village to raise a child, so accept help and

advice from others. One day you will have a really smart kid that is

too smart for his own good. He will challenge you daily and you need

to keep your mind sharp and open in order to guide him to be the best

person he can be.

If you think you've found "the one", don't be afraid to tell them. If

they don't think you're "the one", at least you put your walls down

and tried. That's all you can do - TRY!

Treat yourself to something every once in a while. You won't accept

things from others because you're too stubborn, so do it for yourself.

Appreciate all those things and people around you that make up your life.

You will get divorced one day and you will find out who your true

friends are. That's okay though - life is a learning process and we

all have to learn who we can rely on as a true friend and who we

can't.

Say Bless you to others who sneeze. I know this sounds silly, but

people nowadays don't say that very often and when the recepient hears

it, they usually are pleasantly surprised.

Don't dwell. Just don't do it. You can't dwell on the past. The past

is the past and all you can do is learn from the past, pick yourself

up, dust yourself off and move on.

LOVE YOURSELF! This is NUMBER ONE!!!!!! You've never done that and one

day when you're in your early 30's you will go thru a self exploratory

point in your life. Learn to love yourself because you can't give love

until you love yourself. You truly do deserve it. No matter what

you've been told in the past.

That was actually kind of therapeutic. Again, I encourage all of you
to do the same :)