Day #2 of my Trip West

Today went pretty well. Except for the fact that I only got about an hour and a half of sleep last night, and we were in the car leaving Holland at 3AM (Michigan time). As we were leaving Holland, and headed out of Michigan, the weather was a bit scary. Extremely windy and raining like crazy, thankfully it was still warm so none of it froze while we were still in Michigan. The raining stopped once we got through Indiana. Snow started appearing shortly after the rain stopped. We made it to Chicago around 5:30AM (Chicago time, so it took about 3 and a half hours to get there). Around 7AM (Chicago time), we stopped to get gas and have breakfast at McDonald's. That stop was very short. Somewhere between 8 and 8:30 (I ended up taking a nap), we made it to Wisconsin. At 9, we stopped in Wisconsin Dells at another McDonald's to get coffee, after that I called my mom and talked for a bit :) At noon, we stopped in Hudson for lunch, we got Taco Bell. After that we were headed to St. Paul, Minnesota to go see my little Miss Jaden and visit her for a bit in the hospital. We arrived there around 12:45, Jaden was still in PT so we had to wait a few minutes before she got back to her room. It was worth it! She is such a trooper and doing really well in her recovery! I just love seeing her smile. While we were at the hospital, I made up my mind that being a pediatric nurse instead of just an RN is really where my heart lies. Might take an extra year or two of schooling, but I'll figure it all out and it'll be worth it. After the visit with Jaden, we still had 2 hours left in the car until we arrived outside of Brainerd. Around 4 we arrived at the Bardolph's. We had a nice time chatting and catching up and had an amazing dinner. It was pretty hard at first being here without my grandma. The last time I was in this house, she was here too. I miss her like crazy.
After a long 13 hours in the car, a whirlwind of emotions, and next to no sleep, I'm finally sitting in my bed for the night and ready to fall asleep!
Starting our day tomorrow at 6am, have another LONG day in the car ahead of us. 12 hours! We'll be staying the night in Lewistown, Montana (I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure that's where).
I will write again tomorrow before going to bed!
Hope you enjoy reading about my journey across the country!
Love you all! :)

Day #1 of the Big Trip

Officially moved out of Ionia. Today was an extremely emotional day. Saying goodbye to family and the only life you've ever known can never be easy... can it?
Didn't do much traveling today, just from Ionia to Sparta to have dinner with my dad and siblings and get to say goodbye one last time, now we're in Holland for the night. Going to be leaving bright and early in the morning (3am, so, not too bright) so we're able to miss all the Chicago traffic.
Must try and sleep as much as possible tonight. 11 hours in the car tomorrow, not looking forward to it at all.
Love you all!

Days Like Today...

Really make me realize how few people are actually there for you when you truly need them. Everyone is so quick to be there for you when they need or want something, but they are the same people who are no where to be found when you really just need a shoulder to cry on.
I also realized that in a world like this, you can only trust a few people. Very few people. The others you may think you can trust, but they will just turn around and hurt you.
A good thing I realized is that in this crazy, messed up place we call Earth, there are still a few good people out there. Those are the people I'm very thankful to get to call my best friends. They mean the world to me and I know they'll always be here for me no matter what. Just as I will always be there for them. That's how friendships are supposed to work, and I do my best to make sure that is how they work. :)

As some (probably most) of you know, I'm moving to Canada for school and to start my life. I will be leaving Michigan in 5 days. On my adventure across the country, I'll be taking a lot of pictures and writing blogs every night for anyone who wants to read what happened each day. Once I arrive at my new home, I'll be blogging once a week about how my new life is unfolding. I will also have a goal every week to help better myself and slowly, but successfully mold my life into what I've always wanted it to be.
I really hope to get a few readers, the more the merrier, and to also get comments to let me know I have a support system and possibly suggestions on what I can do differently.

Last thing.
No matter where you and I stand. If we're friends, not friends, complete strangers, anything... I will always be here for you, the only thing I ask in return is that you're here for me. If you ever need someone to talk to, let me know! I'll help in any way possible!
Hope everyone is having an amazing weekend and will go on to have a great week.
Remember, life is a precious gift, don't waste it!
<3

Random thought

God puts everyone in our lives for a reason. That reason usually isn't clear right away, and sometimes never is. Even the people He knows will hurt us. He gives us those people to teach us and to strengthen us.

I'm so sick of everyone saying they care, but doing absolutely nothing to show it. They all expect me to feel good about myself, and be happy. But they are never here for me when I need them. I'm always here for everyone all the damn time, and I don't have anyone here for me. No one keeps the promises they make me, no one does the things they say they will... no one cares unless they want something from me.

Just Smile!

Sometimes when you meet someone, you instantly fall in love with them. You firmly believe that they are the one that you will spend the rest of your life with. When you start dating them, you fall more in love with them each and every day. You give them your all, your entire heart. You would give your life for them, would do anything just to see them happy. In rare cases, they will do the same exact things for you, and will love you unconditionally and love you for all of your faults. They will give you the world, and never leave you no matter how hard things get. However, there are more times when they will make you think that they are like that. Make you believe that they will give you the world and love you forever no matter what happens. And one day they change their mind. With no warning signs, without talking to you about it, they decide they can not stay with you. Not necessarily that they do not love you anymore, but that it is just in their best interests to no longer be with you, and to let you go and travel down their own path. You can not make them stay nor change their mind. As much as you want to, you just can not. It kills like no other, and makes you feel like your life is over, and like you will never find anyone who makes you as happy as they once did. But that is not true. 

The guy I have been dating just broke up with me yesterday. I did not really get a straight reason as to why, but I have a feeling it has something to do with the fact that I am going to be moving 2,000 miles away in a little under a month. It kills me to know that I am no longer with him, he really is an amazing guy and I was so very happy with him. But, everything happens for a reason and I just have to keep telling myself that it will all end up alright in the end. Sometimes relationships just do not work out, it is not fun, it is not easy, but it happens. A lot. If you find yourself in this situation, and feel like you no longer have any hope in the world to be happy, do not worry, you are not alone. The best thing to do is to surround yourself with friends and keep your mind busy and off of the things that make you sad. I have my closest friends (actually my only friends) on speed dial, they all know what is going on, and have all told me that I can call, text, Facebook, or Skype them whenever I need to. I have also been keeping myself busy. I am in the middle of making a baby quilt for my baby sister that is on the way, and I decided to make a bowl today, just because I did not want to think about the break up. 

Keep your head up! Things seem tough now, but they will not stay this tough forever. 

As my "fat kid" (what he calls himself) told me earlier, "I can't tell you why you hurt, but I can tell you that hurt doesn't last forever". I will leave you on that note, and let you think about that and keep it in mind when you feel as low as I did earlier. 

And... 

Boys vs Men

How to tell if you have a man in your life, or just a boy. 

Men...

And boys.

'Nuff said. 

Just kidding... well, sort of. 

The difference between boys and men has nothing to do with their physical age, and everything to do with their mental age and their state of mind. It also has a lot to do with the way they were raised. 

Here is just a comparison chart that I came up with:

Now, a few of these may have exceptions, and there are a TON more differences, but these are just some of them. I don't know about you, but I would MUCH rather have a man in my life than a boy.

My original Facebook status that sort of inspired this:

"A boy tells lies, makes you fall for him 

then doesn't catch you, leaves you when things get tough, 

doesn't have a job, car, or his own place, 

(there are exceptions to that), 

talks badly about his mother, is overly guarded about having feelings, is focused on sex. 

A man, has a full time job, a reliable vehicle, 

has his own place, takes care of his mom just 

because he can, not because he has to, 

loves his family to no end, does random cute/romantic 

things just to let you know he's thinking 

about you, sticks around no matter what 

(even if you're moving 2,000 miles away from him), 

will do anything to make things work, 

loves you to no end, and isn't afraid to show it, 

and would rather just spend time with you 

and be silly and make you happy than focus on sex.

I would soooo much rather have a MAN!"

Well, whoever is reading this, I hope you like it :) I'm going to really try to start doing this once a week!