Blogging Hazards

Hazard #1: The-I-will-tell-you-everything-about-my-life-or-emotionally-vomit-into-cyberspace-sickness.

Nobody wants to read about EVERY detail of your life. And if you have to turn to cyberspace to feel heard, that's just depressing.

Hazard #2: Stranger Danger.

Putting up too much personal information about yourself can present a real safety issue.  I've experienced online stranger danger first-hand and it was creepy! I do NOT want to put myself in that situation again.

These two hazards are at the root of my dilemma about blogging. I want to share, but I don't want to share too much. Add on top of that the fact that my husband is in the military and so there are occasionally things I shouldn't really talk about... and I find myself hesitant to write anything at all.

And that's why I haven't written about our trip to Savannah, my birthday, or Patrick's graduation. At least I have good justification for being a terrible blogger, right?

Caution: Unsolicited opinion ahead!

I have decided that a blog is the PERFECT place to give your unsolicited opinion to the public, so here's is my unsolicited opinion on exclamation marks :)

I've known people who end every sentence they write with an exclamation point.  In fact, I used to be one of those people.  I used to think that using an extra exclamation point would show people that I was really enthusiastic about an idea or especially sincere, but I don't believe that anymore. Now I believe that people should use exclamation points with caution.

Here's why:  When you use exclamation points in excess the emphasis is lost. It's the same concept with highlighters. If you highlight everything nothing will stand out.

So the next time you're tempted to (SHIFT+1)... consider whether you should let your words speak for themselves.

No more little white lies

You know how there are those times in life where you tell a teeny-tiny little white lie to avoid offending someone or embarrassing yourself? Well I have a confession about that..

When someone announces their engagement you're supposed to say, "Congratulations!" or "I'm so happy for you!" (And if you're really feeling enthusiastic you might even say both.)  But for many engagements I didn't really mean it when I said those things. What I was really feeling was jealous.

Now for anyone else who admits to being human I think you can at least understand where I was coming from. I haven't known a single person who spent more time with their single friends after getting engaged, and you might as well forget you ever knew the person after they actually get married.  And on top of that every moment the two love birds are around is a pretty powerful reminder of the fact that you are still struggling through singledom. Some people can be legitimately happy for other people's happiness, but this particular situation was something I really struggled with.

And then I met Patrick. We fell in love. We got engaged. We got married. And pretty much everything in my entire life changed.

 

I was finally in a position to understand why engaged people acted so sappy all the time!  And it made sense to me why newly weds want to spend every waking moment with each other! Because I finally understood what was happening emotionally between the couple I was no longer jealous. I was just happy for them.

The Besties- Mike, Jenni, and Brendan

And now two of my best friends have found their special someone, and I can legitimately say, "Congratulations Mike and Taeler! Congratulations Alex and Jenni! I am SO excited for you. Being married to your special sweetheart is the most wonderful thing in the whole wide world! It'll be hard sometimes, but you'll have each other to hang on to- so hang on tight! You are my best friends, and I am so happy. May you enjoy every happiness in your upcoming marriages!"