When Life Gives You Lemons... Blog About Them

My title today comes from a seriously messed-up turn of events that happened at about 9PM last night. Of course, I handled them as any normal person would handle adversity.

People handle adversity by:
1. Freaking out
2. Crying
3. Yelling
4. Facing it head on.

... I tend to do all four.

At about 9PM last night I realized that I had been having weird cravings lately, that I had a serious case of pizza-face acne, that I was being emotional about insignificant things, and that I had strange neck pain.

Yep, before I took 3 negative (PHEW!) pregnancy tests, I thought that those random array of symptoms meant that I had some 'splaining to do to lots of people. However, the only explanation I'd need after finding three, surprisingly cheerful little minus signs, was that stress has been causing my weird symptoms.

The heart of my stress comes from dealing with planning a philanthropy event for my sorority. Or rather, two events. One event in the immediate future, and one event in the far future. Not only is there stress involved in planning on this scale - with the emails, and the phone calls, and the text messages, and the endless supply of questions - but there is also stress involved when your plan hits roadblocks.

While I'm not going to discuss what those roadblocks are specifically, I will tell you that the blocks came up when my grand ideas hit opposition. From more than one side. Pile that on top of an approaching internship application deadline, a pregnancy scare, little sleep, and falling behind in schoolwork, and you've got a freaking out, crying, yelling mess of a college girl. Of course, after realizing that crying wasn't helping, I decided to take a short break from thinking about everything, drink some coffee, and face the problem head on.

So currently, I'm staying busy, not freaking out, and dealing with all the problems that come with all my responsibilities. 

From all this, and from dealing with all this, I have come to one conclusion:

When your life takes on more meaning, it also takes on more problems. The real test of your worth is how you deal with all those problems.

Keep it Classy. Keep it Country,
Gretta Patrick <3

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and as always, Keep it Classy, Keep it Country.
Gretta Patrick <3

Vlog 1: Coffee Time With Gretta.

Hey everyone! I'm starting my new "vlog" project! Called "Coffee Time with Gretta" and I'm really excited about it! As you all know, I've recently decided to try broadcast journalism, and I thought that doing vlogs would help! So Hope you enjoy my first Coffee Time! Leave me a comment!

And the Countdown Is On!

Today marks a few different things. One of the most significant, is a birthday - er, two birthdays. Julia Child's birthday is today, and my Dog, Bacchus, who just went through a very unpleasant surgery, turned 10 today. Happy birthday to a fabulous late TV personality chef, and a dog with the best personality ever. 

Today also marks my last day of one of my summer jobs. Not that it was a bad job, but hopefully, with some luck this school year, it was my last day ever working that job! 

Also, there's only six more days until I move back to Chicago. I can't wait to get back to my life there. I'm going to miss my friends here like crazy, but I'm almost packed, I'm counting down days, I'm really ready to go back. It's not enough that my room looks like a war zone with all the clothes and shoes and miscellaneous junk that will soon be packed into boxes and packed into my new apartment, but I also have unfinished business in the craft room to finish before I move into the new place. I've already gone above and beyond for my roommates, what with supplying furniture, kitchen supplies, etc. I've also been doing some crafting for our room. Pictures will come. 

This exciting transition back into school gets me on the subject of change. I've changed so much from last year. If anyone who really knows me thinks back to a year ago today, they would see a much different person than the one typing at this computer right now. They'd see a girl who was head over heels for the biggest mistake of her life. They'd see a girl who had no idea what she wanted, but knew it was nothing that her parents said they wanted for her. They'd see a recovering rebel, a girl with a few different crossroads ahead. 

Now, a year later, things have changed. I'm no longer the same recovering rebel who couldn't see the train-wreck she was heading for. I no longer want the same things I did a year ago. I may still be Gretta, but my outlook on life has completely changed. I'm now just a little bit more grown up than last year. I wouldn't change that for the world, and I'm happy for all the changes that came. 

Some people don't like change, but I say, after careful reflection: bring it on. 

Keep it Classy. Keep it Country. 

Gretta Patrick <3

Hello Love! Here's to Six More... and So On...

Well, I was going to write about something useful, like the benefits of finding a hobby, or the wonderful world of packing for college, but instead I'm writing about something much more exciting on this particular evening.

In earlier blog posts, I've written about letting love find you, about how exciting new relationships feel, about the fear that comes with new relationships, and about the many different aspects of falling for someone. Well, I'm happy to say that to this day, I'm infinitely happy that I conquered my fear of falling all those months ago. I'm happy to say that the exciting new relationship I wrote about hasn't been dull for one second since then, and it's all because I took my own advice, and let love find me.

This past November, I found my incredible boyfriend, Kyle. Since I "bumped into him," he's been my best friend, my unending source of laughter, my confidante, and last but certainly not least, the best boyfriend in the world, and after a very interesting game of truth or dare six months ago, my life hasn't been the same, it's been so much better!

Half a year since I answered "yes" to his "two-part truth." Half a year since I've been able to call him all mine, and I wouldn't have it any other way. I still love talking to him, I love laughing at all his silliness, I love making him laugh that laugh I love so much, and I love being able to know he's always going to be there for me.

Now, I've also written about the difficulties that come along with distance. Spending this summer away from my boyfriend has been far from easy. I've had my share of sadness, of frustration, of heartache. I'm not going to say that the distance thing gets any easier, because in reality, it doesn't. You just get used to it, and you find ways to deal with it. That being said, if I can spend three of our six months together, upwards of 200 miles away from him, and still love him more every day,  then I know we can spend many more months together. Even if we're apart for part of that... if that makes any sense at all.
So, here's to six more. And six more after that, and so on, etc...

Keep it classy. Keep it country.
Gretta Patrick <3

P.S. I'm still as in love with you, and more, as I was when I first told you I love you! And I still miss you you silly Pengin! So... Here's some Penguins!

Put Your Big Girl Pants On...

Less than a month until I go back to school in my wonderful city of Chicago! I've already started getting things together, for instance, I bought a bunch of mason jars to use as water glasses (you can take the girl out of the country...), and I have finally passed the biggest milestone of the summer, getting my wisdom teeth out. This wisdom teeth surgery has had me canceling plans right and left, most - no - all of these plans involved seeing Kyle. This did not make Gretta a happy camper. Now that those incredibly stupid-not-wise-at-all teeth are out of my mouth, I may be a little sore, but I'm a much happier camper!

Anyway, the topic of todays blog is something at which a lot of girls nowadays are not good: dealing. I'm not talking about dealing out cards, I'm talking about dealing with bumps in the road. Take my wisdom teeth surgery for example, I had to cancel going to not one, but two cubs games for these un-wise teeth. I had to cancel one game (and visit to Kyle) to have my consultation, and I had to cancel a second game/visit to have adequate time to heal from the surgery. Plus I had to go home a day early from a 4-day concert (That I had already paid for) in order to even have the surgery. All summer I've been thinking, "If this dumb surgery didn't have to happen then none of this would have been a problem. Why did God even give us wisdom teeth huh? They're pointless!"

After my rage, my temper tantrums, yelling at my daddy, and a whole lot of tears, I finally realized that there was nothing I could do about the situation. I had 2 extra teeth in the bottom of my mouth that were going to mess up my smile if they stayed in there, and they had to come out whether the cubs and Toby Keith played or not. So, I had to learn to deal.

I'd like to say that I put my big girl pants on and dealt with it, but I wouldn't call screaming and crying putting my big girl pants on exactly. I'd call it melting down, and melting down has always been how I've dealt with things. Not the most effective or pleasant method, but my method nonetheless. What I have failed, until now, to realize is, none of that melting down helped. What did help was a family friend giving me 4 extra tickets to the cubs/diamondbacks game. What helped was my boyfriend picking me up from my concert when I desperately needed a shower and a bed and a ride to the train station. What helped was calmly setting a date for him to visit Paris since I can't leave town while I'm recovering from my surgery. What helped was making alternative plans.

Sure, melting down may seem like a quick fix, and believe me, getting your feelings out can definitely blow off a lot of steam, but it doesn't accomplish anything. However, girls like me have to melt down sometimes, so if you must, just make sure nobody else suffers from your tantrums. Go in your room and lock the door, have a good scream and cry, knock some chairs down, kick the wall, then come out of your room a calmer person and come up with a plan B. Works for me every time.

Keep it classy, Keep it country!
Gretta Patrick <3

Absence Makes The Heart Grow Fonder

Okay everyone! It's almost the third month of summer vacation and it is AWESOME down here in little old Paris. A bit hot, but daddy's grapes are loving the heat. We are about to go on our annual North Carolina beach vacation, and guess who's going with me? You remember the guy I blogged about in the past? The one I was scared to reveal my feelings to? Well we've been dating for about 5 months now, and he's coming with us to North Carolina! When I found out he was going, I was so excited I could've wet myself! I haven't seen him in almost a month and now he's coming on a week-long vacation to the beach. Yay! But the real nature of this post has to do with that month-long absence. Shakespeare once said, "Absence makes the heart grow fonder." I feel like he was - painfully - right. Although I haven't seen Kyle (yes, mystery man has a name) in so long, I still love him just as much as if I'd seen him every day. He is still my everything, and now since I haven't gotten to see, hold, smell, kiss, or anything to him, I appreeciate our relationship, and our time together much more. That being said, hollywood shows a VERY unrealistic picture of long-distance-relationships. To hollywood, they're wildly romantic, and the women sit on their porches talking to their girlfriends about it while reading his letters and sipping sweet tea. Oh no honey! Have they gotten that picture wrong! First of all, you don't even want to talk to your girlfriends about it at the risk of sounding whiney or dramatic. And while love letters and such aren't unheard of, reading them with a calm smile me a sip of that southern sweet tea is. It's impossible to read a sweet letter, email, or even a sweet text without bawling your eyes out! Don't get me wrong, long distance relationships are totally worth it. Every tear, sleepless night, hug from mom is all worth it when you can actually see his face, and be with him. Yes, they're worth it, but that doesn't make them any easier. Keep it classy. Keep it country. Gretta Patrick <3