Love and Life

     I have been neglecting my blog nearly as much as I neglect my own journal. I guess every post doesn't have to start out that way, but I suppose I'm just trying to emphasize that I don't have as much time on my hands to post things in an intellectual setting.
     The past few months, and by few I mean about 9 months, a lot of changes have happened to my faith, my views on the world and politics, my life in general, my finances, and pretty much everything else in my life. I am not going to say that I have been naive my entire life, even if I have, but I feel like I don't give as much credit to people as I might have before. I suppose this is me becoming an adult, and not just a young adult getting use to the world, but an actual adult. I've come to realize that when before I would have accepted something at face value, because I trusted the person giving me said information, when now I question everything. And when I say everything, I mean just about everything that is said to me. Not that I find people to be liars and untrustworthy, but people are liars and untrustworthy. Especially the people who you hold dear and love very much. They may not realize that they are untrustworthy or uneducated, but they are and I have to be cautious around them, when it comes to information. I've also found that I just need to keep my life to myself, because the more people who are in my life (business) the more people there are to run my life and tell me what I should and should not be doing. This is particularly annoying, especially because I am extremely independent, and I don't want to share my life with a million people. I am just learning how to share my thoughts and actions with one person, much less tens and hundreds of people. And might I just add on how difficult it is to integrate yourself into someone else's life and incorporating them into yours. There is now not only one opinion on a major issue, but two, and not one work schedule, family life, or interests, but two sets of each of these. I may have been in relationships before and even known him for over a year now on a romantic level, but I guess I always assumed that my schedule, family, interests, and time was more prevalent, because it was me, but I'm learning how to compromise and how to be a part of a working relationship and not a power struggle. I think that, and oddly enough, the presidential election brought some of this out of me. I have seen so many strong couples fall during this time of the year because of differentiating opinions and I don't want to fit into that category  I feel that if you are a couple, you should have a strong front to the world and to others, especially in times of chaos and struggle. Politics, religion, major issues should not be things that couples should be separated on. Common ground, understanding, compromise .. this is what a relationship should be based on. I think I've always known this, but I never implemented it into my own relationships. Mostly because I am prideful, but recently I've realized how much I want this to work and I've really had a heart to heart with myself about what has to happen for it to work. Things had to change, communication most of all needed to be better. And lowering my pride and the fact that I am not perfect, and don't know everything and that it is okay to be that way has made my life so much better. Not necessarily easier, but it's becoming part of how I try to be on a daily basis. Not just thinking about myself and how what I do affects me, but about my love and how it affects him and us together. I guess time will be the only thing to tell how this works out.
     Well that is what has been going on in my head. On a separate note, Thanksgiving is less than two weeks away, and that means Black Friday is on it's way too. I get to see my Elizabeth Ann and shop all in one week! Maybe I'll remember to take some pictures of the crazy shopping going on and post them.

Ashley C.