ADDICTED

this has gotta be a quick one because it's finals week and i'm a busy kid. but over the past week and a half after i drove to sacramento for my brother's wedding i have become obsessed with This American Life. if you haven't heard of it it's brought to you by pri, public radio international, and based in chicago (station wbze, i believe. they say it every program and i've been listening to A LOT lately.) i think you can listen to it on npr, although i wouldn't know because i don't listen to the radio or know what station npr is. for some reason i feel like it's on satellite radio but i'm also sure that it isn't, but rather it's on some elusive radio station i have no idea how to access. 

i'm writing this because i reallllllllly want to finish listening to my episode that i'm on right now. or any episode really. but i can't because i have mass work to do for finals. so instead of listening to this american life i'm telling you how much i want to listen to it. some of my favorite ones that are just captivating and fascinating are #76- mob, #65-who's canadian? and #86- how to take money from strangers

they're just so good. if you've never listened to it go to their website NOW!! and listen to one! it's free to stream! and you can download the weekly one for free, which i have of course been doing. i also hesitate to keep listening because i really like to listen to them as i get ready in the morning and as i walk to school. i don't want to run out!

this is the host, ira glass. he needs to be in your life. 

in all its glory. this american life. and if its really a show it absolutely needs to be in my life. 

ALSO! i got a .55 raise at work today instead of the usual .20! lots of happiness.

OBSESSED

More than anything else in my life right now I am absolutely obsessed with this blog. I've been reading it for the last 2-3 hours instead of doing the hours and hours of work that I actually need to do. 

Forty Days of Dating

Go here now!! It's fascinating. Its just made me think about myself, my marriage, my insecurities, my short comings, my quirks, and my strengths. It's been making me completely examine my life, which I think is incredibly worth while. It also reminds me of just how hard dating is. How sometimes no matter how hard you try, things just don't work out. After reading this blog I'm reminded of how impossible dating sometimes seems. We all have baggage, were raised differently, and have so many things we love/hate/want/need/are. How can two people ever match up when we're all so different? But sometimes they do. Sometimes it all works. You have to work at it, but it just makes sense. 

The artwork is from the blog!

Reading this blog I really want these two to be a couple. I really want it to "work out." But that's just because I've been raised on American romantic comedies and Jane Austen novels. You always want to believe that people can be in love, and that it can (and will) last. You want to believe that people can work it out, and be happy forever. I don't think I'll ever stop wanting to believe and see that. Because I think it gives me hope in my own relationship; that my relationship is and will always be something worth working for. No matter what. 

Perhaps the best advice my dad (or anyone) ever gave me came about a year ago. He said, do you want to know what the hardest thing will be to do once you get married? And I said, I don't know. Not get divorced? (My parents are divorced and my dad has been married 4 times, so it's sort of a greatest fear of mine. Besides drowning, or my breaks cutting out on the freeway.) And he sort of laughed and said, no. Just don't get divorced. 

Just don't get divorced. 

It all reminds me of one of my all time favorite quotes. This sounds stupid but it's from Ben Affleck's Oscar acceptance speech this year. He said about his marriage with Jennifer Garner:

"It's good, it is work, but it's the best kind of work, and there's no one I'd rather work with." 

He got a lot of flack for this quote after calling their marriage "work," but he was just being honest! Relationships are work! For me, the very best things in life (and the things I'm most proud of) come from hard work. I find it so gratifying and satisfying. It proves that I care enough about something to give it all I have. My husband and I have worked very, very hard on our relationship over the past 3 and a half years and I'm so proud of where we are today. And to me there's no greater compliment than to say: It's the best kind of work. And there's no one I'd rather work with.