Farley update!!

ohhh, I have totally neglected this blog :( How sad! I have created 2 other blogs that I have been focused on and with nearly everyone on facebook, everyone has been watching Eli grow thru pictures on there.  If you do not have facebook, I apologize for not updating this with pics of Eli.  I will certainly try to update this better, and there are still more episodes of How I met Your Father to be posted ;)

Let me get you caught up on The Farleys.

Cory continues to work on his phd and will be graduating in May 2012.  So close!  He puts in long, long hours at the lab and they are paying off! He has a research facility in Kansas City, MO that is interested in him and just this past week, he recieved an email that the chairman of the engineering dept at Mizzou is interested in him and wants his resume!  Oh, that just makes my heart happy because that means there is real potential for us to get closer to my family!  He will be doing his defense sometime in March.  Pray for him as he gets down to the final parts of his dissertation.  It is more work than you can possibly imagine. I am so proud of his dedication and you should hear him talk about his research...I'm just in awe of his massive brainpower!

I am currently "working" as a stay at home mom.  I left my job in September to be home with Eli.  The hospital here was a horrible fit for me for many, many reasons.  I could write my own dissertation on that, but I will spare you ;)  I do intend to work when we move and I hope to work with hospice patients.  Although I really must say, I LOVE being a stay at home mom.  It is truely the best job EVER. I love playing with Eli, and watching him learn and grow and giving him new experiences.  It is so fun to watch his little mind work and try to figure things out.  He is a little miracle.  I just can't even begin to describe how much I love that little boy!

You can click HERE to see an album I have created on Facebook called The Daily Dood where I try to post a pic for everyday for Little E.

In other news, I have had an emotionally rough year. I have been battling negative body image, which has roots from my teenage years, but really reared its ugly head after having Eli.  It was so severe that I completely considered becoming anorexic, but don't worry, I didn't make that choice.  However, that is how bad it was.  I had postpartum depression and severe negative body image.  After nearly 10 months of emotional hell and a spiritual warfare, I have finally broke through and I am living with a positive body image now (most days).  I even spoke at our MOPS (mother of preschoolers) event on negative body image, my story and how to battle it. I started a blog that you can check out HERE that has not only been something I use to keep myself accountable, but also as a way to write about what I am going through.  Writing is therapeutic to me and I have put my whole heart out there for you and others to read.  Here is an example of me putting my heart out there, read THIS. There is alot more to the story than what I am sharing here on the family blog, and if you are curious,  you will have to go read the Faith and Fitness blog.  If you are on facebook, you can also follow me HERE. That should take you to the fb page of Faith & Fitness: Living Healthy For Him (thats my page).  My whole weight loss journey and battle with negative body image is there on that blog.  I will say that I have lost 58 lbs since having Eli, and I am currently 132.4 lbs...I was 145 lbs prepregnancy. And I did it all the RIGHT way. But its not only about the weight loss.  It's about winning the spiritual battle that goes with negative body image.  I will be starting a sort of "video blog" on my Faith and Fitness blog soon where I will tell my story to my followers of the blog/fb page.  I have recieved emails from my followers of my FB page and had friends from MOPS relate to me on this subject.  I have been told that my page inspires others to fight their own battle.  I ask the Lord to use me as a vessel to help others thru this blog and my experiences and I feel like that is exactly what he is doing!  Today, thanks be to God, I am living HEALTHY in mind, spirit and body!

I also have another blog (really, I know I have 3 blogs, but it doesn't consume that much time to blog!)  When I write, it just flows so it's not like I just sit around and blog all day ;)  One of my passions is crafting, and letting creativity flow, so I have another blog/fb page that I have started called "I did it on {re}purpose."  You can check out that blog HERE  and the fb page HERE .  It is SOOO fun and I love sharing my creativity with others.  It is a relatively new blog so it is a work in progress :)

I will leave you with the most recent picture of Eli.  We went out to play in the snow (for like 5 minutes! Cuz we didn't want Little E to freeze!) but those 5 minutes were SOOO fun :)

How I met your Father: Dahmli, a friend for life!

Meet Dahmli Aka The Aardvark AKA Aaron, the funniest twilek in any cantina in the galaxy.

So its 2003. I am a freshman in college, majoring in pyschology and online gaming. I never thought I would be SUCH a nerd, but I was (and still am). I'm dancing away in the cantina and there happens to be this really comical twilek cracking the most corniest of jokes. He took his role as "entertainer" very seriously as he whipped out joke after joke as he flourished about on his mandoviol or his nalargon (ok, even the instrument names sound dorky!)

As I got to know this character named Dahmli, I discovered he was quite a cool guy, and he lived near Chicago. At the time, I was dating my high school sweetheart and was traveling up to Chicago a couple times each semester. Dahmli and I decided to meet up in Chicago and meet in real life. Now there is something you should know about Dahmli. He has the worst (and I mean WORST) sense of direction ever known to mankind. We went to lunch in Chicago and....got lost. We spent about 3 hours looking for the car. It was pretty exciting! I wasn't much help in finding the car, but it made for a very fun, full of laughter, exciting experience! I knew from the moment I met Dahmli, (and the moment we couldn't find the car) that we would be friends forever.

We continued to play the game together. Aaron was a store manager at a Blockbuster at the time, but on his off hours, he would webcam with me to keep me company while I did my schoolwork and studied. We met up each time I went to Chicago and a great friendship just kept growing!

Aaron was and is there in hard times for me and I for him. He's also been there for celebrations! He came all the way down to Texas for my graduation from nursing school! He is always there for me and Cory and us for him. And a fun side note, I have so many inside jokes with this crazy guy.... (BUGAWK!) <---dont ask...

When most people think of meeting other people online, the first thing that comes to mind is that the person on the other end is odd/strange/not someone to get to know in real life. Anyone that spends that much time playing a game must really not be mentally ok! Hey! I'm mentally ok! (mostly!) Aaron is truely one of my best friends, someone who I can tell anything and won't be judged. He holds a special place in my heart and I love that guy dearly!

But it doesn't stop there.

Meet Matwi (aka Matt aka Wicky Wicky Wickers).

"/flex" (a emote you can do in the game) is sorta our thing and its our way of saying "love ya pal!" So here we are /flexing :)

And lastly, meet Mynos (aka Aaron 1 aka Woj)

Yes he is snuggling with a stormtrooper. This shot was taken last summer when we all met up in Florida for Star Wars Celebration V!

Aaron, Matt and Aaron 1 are all buddies and since 2003, they have been OUR buddies. It was a "crazy random happenstance" that we met online, became in real life friends and have all been great friends for 8 years. I lovingly refer to them as our "chicago gang." And we all make an effort to see each other 1-2 times a year (technically, we take turns going to see each other, but I think we owe the guys a visit ----a couple times over because they have been doing most of the traveling here lately!)

Fast foward to 2011 and let me just say, I have found some of the best friendships from that Star Wars game. Who would have known it was possible? I found amazing friendships....and my soulmate, all from a silly computer game. To this day, I am so grateful for those endless hours I put into Star Wars Galaxies! I love my "chicago gang!"

It was because of Dahmli aka the Aardvark aka Aaron that I met Reeno aka Cory.

Stay tuned for the next episode: The Dantooine Cantina

A quick update

Time for another update. I know it seems as though "How I met your Father" has gone off air, but it will be back, I promise. I have been so busy!! I had no idea being a stay at home mom (mostly) could be this busy and tiring. But I love it!

Cory, Eli and I just got back from a wonderful trip to Port O Connor to hang out with friends. Eli was absolutely adorable at the beach.

To see more photos from our awesome trip, click HERE

In other news, Cory has been working feverishly on his dissertation. He has to be ready to present it and have it completed by October. October doesn't seem to far away! This fall will be interesting as Cory will be on the job hunt and we will be moving after his graduation in December. It's just a matter of when and where. We kindly ask for your prayers that God will guide us to where we are meant to be.

I would also like to let yall know about a new blog I have created! Cory and I have decided to commit to a healthy lifestyle and I have created a blog about our journey. On this blog, you will find goals, victories, struggles, inspiration, recipes, etc....pretty much anything that we find helpful along our journey to becoming fit. I have lost a total of 45 lbs since the birth of Eli and I am trying to lose another 20 lbs. Cory hopped on board this train about a month ago and he has already lost 15 lbs! It seems to just melt off him! He has drastically decreased his soda consumption, and we have both given up fast food and fried foods. We are eating healthier and are training for a 5k that will be held in September!

Please go check out the blog at www.Rn4fitness.blogspot.com

I also have a facebook page at www.facebook.com/rn4fitness

I will blog again soon!!! Have a great week!

Surprise!!!!!

It took 2 months of planning and alot of improvisation (lies), but we pulled it off! A surprise 50th birthday party for my mom!! 1 month ago, I purchased plane tickets for the 4th of July weekend (moms bday is July 5), but told mom I wasn't going to be able to come to StL until early August. She would have to wait for 6 weeks to see Eli again. That made her so sad! But little did she know when I left last time, that she would be seeing us again in about 3 weeks.

So here is how it all went down. On Friday, I told her I was going to Lubbock with Cory for a date (even texted her a picture of Eli in "kohls" when we were really in the Dallas airport). I had told her all my 4th of July plans for the weekend: going to Quitaque, Red white and Moo...). On Friday, I hopped on a plane and of course got delayed in Dallas. I arrived in STL around 1130. My dad has an app on his phone called "fake phonecall" and he left his phone in the living room with my mom while he went to work in his office. The fake phonecall was set to go off (like an alarm) and my mom had to bring the phone to my dad. On the screen it said "answering service" which is the night-time emergency people at my dads work. He told her he had to go down to work to meet one of the on call guys due to an emergency and since she had seen the phone call "from work," she believed him. Off he went to work, or rather, the airport. When we got home, Dad walked in and put Eli's carseat in the kitchen. I was hiding behind the corner. He acted like he couldn't find one of thier dogs and asked mom if she left the pup outside. Mom got up to go to the back door and as she walked into the kitchen, I heard her say "oooooooh, baby!!!!!!! YAY!!! did you fly up here all by yourself?!?!" I peeked around the corner and my mom was just so dang happy!!!

Saturday came around and I was "going to hang out with my best friend for the afternoon" while in reality, I was frantically running to Hobby Lobby, Sams and picking up the cake! I got back and shared some of the stories I was "supposedly told" and just sounded completely natural. I told her details as if everything that came out of my mouth was the truth. It was awesome!Sunday. Its the day of the party and I leave church to "go meet another friend for lunch." Dad gets mom out of church (finally!) and people start to arrive to help get it together.The theme was "Fun, Foxy and fifty!" The colors were black, pink and white. SOOOOO CUTE! It was originally going to be outside but it was deathly hot so we moved it inside the church. It was so great because everyone helped and got it all set up just in time! One of our pastors, Owen, had reserved the pavillion for a Lifeline Group party weeks ago through my mom (She is the church administrator). Owen invited her and dad to come by. So she thought she was going to his Lifeline group bbq! Bwhahaa! Thank you Owen for your sneakiness! Here she is coming in...Surprise! There were some tears. It was awesome!

Here is the cake, which I must add, I designed! It turned out perfect and I love Sarah's bakery in Chesterfield!!!!!!!!!! When I was calling various bakerys, the first question I asked "can you make Cake Boss worthy cakes?" Sarah's Bakery can!!!

Here is her adorable table :) The box is for birthday cards with a few presents in front. The wine glass from her mom says "50-ish" which she really appreciated! The zebra scrapbook is for photos from the party and her birthday cards, a 50's birthday memory book. The opened book is a smaller scrapbook. It is her "50 reasons we love you" book and all the guests wrote a few reasons that they love her. I decorated each page with scrapbook stickers to match the theme and it turned out adorable!! She gets to read these on her actual birthday, July 5th.

Here is my precious momma with her 50 tiara, which she had to wear the entire time!

Mom turned to me and said "I hope thats it! No more surprises!" Well, we had one more surprise up our sleeves...her

bestest-bestest- soulmate -bestest friend, whom she talks to often, but hadn't seen for a couple years. I have never heard my mom squeal, squeak and scream all at the same time! It was a precious moment as they embraced and cried! It was a magical moment!

It was such a special day for my mom! I want to thank all of you who helped and made it possible! Thanks to Grandma and Dad for helping host it! Thanks to Aunt Shell for keeping tabs on Eli! Thanks Uncle Dan and Uncle Tim for grilling out in that horrible horrible heat! Thanks to all those that helped set up!

Happy 50th birthday Mom! You are so special to us and you mean the world to me! Love you sooo much!

God is good on a travel day from Hell!

Still taking a short break from How I met your Father...

I was reminded yesterday that God is good despite horrible circumstances, ie: travel day from hell. But God is still Good!

Yesterday Eli and I traveled from Lubbock Texas to St Louis, Missouri, flying, in about the same time it would have taken us to drive. That’s about 14 hours, *sigh*.Here is that story and its a long one.

All was well on the morning of April 25th.We woke up. Eli had oatmeal cereal for the first time and LOVED it.He was in a good mood and I thought to myself, “this is gonna be a good traveling day.”We get ready, leave home and arrive to the airport around 10 am.Eli is in his carseat, in the stroller and is still just as pleasant as can be.The airport allowed Cory to help me through security, which is great considering I couldn’t have held Eli while folding up the stroller to put on the conveyer belt, along with the carseat and diaper bag. I was just about to walk through when I was stopped and told Eli had to take his shoes off. Really? Interesting. No big deal.I get through but now they have to put my diaper bag through like 4 more times. So I wait.I finally get my diaper bag and we are off to the gate with daddy. Cory stayed at the gate until it was time to get on the plane and I was so grateful for that . Once on the plane, I was blessed to sit next to another mom, with a 14 month old, who happened to be a nurse, and we chatted the entire way to Dallas. It was really great to be sitting next to an understanding mom for Eli’s first flight. Eli did surprisingly well. I gave him a bottle of pumped breastmilk on the way up and it did the job on his ears, thankfully. He also loved sitting next to another baby girl, which he smiled at and flirted with half the time! He took a short nap and we arrived in Dallas. I thought, Wow that was easy! Little did I know how the rest of the afternoon was going to play out.

Once in Dallas, I take off to find out which gate I need for my connecting flight and it is now 1230.Gate 7.ok. Get to gate 7.Delay. Well, crap. Suppose to leave at 130, delayed til at least 310 due to “equipment.” I have time to grab lunch. I grab a chicken wrap and 2 bottles of water. One for me and one to make Eli a formula bottle for the next flight, which happened to be around the time he is due to eat. Despite the delay, I thought, “good timing.”310 comes around, and on the wall is a tv with CNN on it, reporting tornado warnings and showing video of a “black sky” in St Louis. The entire gate starts freaking out and lo and behold they announce “Obviously we cannot leave yet due to storms and tornado warnings, hang tight and we will let you know something when we can.”I feed Eli, An hour goes by and no news. Eli is hanging out in the stroller now, playing with toys, being a blessing to his mommy. Praise God for a good baby. Its now 5 pm and the customer service rep says “We have a flight to albequerque leaving this gate, so those of you going to STL, go to gate 7.” Another gate change, alright, I can handle this. I take off for Gate 7 and I go sit on the ground in line.530 and we board the plane!! YES! Finally getting to go home! Eli is getting a little cranky at this time, but thankfully, due to Eli’s“aggie binkie,” the customer service guys says to us “I always let aggies board first!” So we are the first on the plane, and I get Eli to sleep around 545.The plane is full and the captain announces “we have at least another 30 minute delay. The storms in Stl have caused hail damage to the planes there and they are performing maintenance on the planes at this time at the gates. As soon as the gates clear, we can go. I promise I’ll get you to St louis.” The plane cheers! Its now 615. Suddenly, the same service rep that got me on the plane first, comes to me and says “maam, I need you to get off the plane.” My heart sinks, my stomach drops and I am freaking out on the inside. With no explanation, Eli and I are pulled off the plane. I am completely convinced that someone has reported that I am a terrorist and about to blow up the plane with the carseat. I am about to cry! I get off and the rep tells me “the airport in STL is closed now. I wanted you off before I pulled the rest of the people off so you can have a headstart.” OHHH! PHEW! WOW!I was grateful, but holy crap, did that scare me! I am instructed to now go to Gate 2. Oh geez, another gate change.

I get to Gate 2, only to find that, I am at the end of the line to the desk, of a full flight of a different cancelled St Louis flight.And here comes the people that I was on the previous plane with. There is more than 100 people ahead of me in this line to rebook. I am convinced I am stuck in Dallas now, and my eyes start to tear up. I call my dad and Cory, only to see that my phone has about 20% battery life, after all the texts and phonecalls to update them during the day. My heart sinks yet again. I do not have a charger. I am standing in line, about to burst into tears, when a couple behind me says, “You have a baby. Go to the front of the line” I felt bad and was afraid to do it, but the couple said they would hold my place if the people ahead of me didn’t want to let me go ahead of them. So I nervously go to the front of the line and say “would you mind terribly if I jump ahead of you? Only because I have a baby and I need to figure something out soon.” Blessed by a girl about my age, she lets me in front of her. The line doesn’t move for about 30 mins, even though I am next in line. There is 2 planes worth of cancelled, pissed off, people behind me.I finally get help and I ask what my options are. Most of the tickets for other STL flights have been booked online or by phone, by the people in line. Ok, well what about getting back to Lubbock? Delayed til at least 9pm. UGH!I decide to go on Standby for any STL flight. So I go thru the large group of people and find a place to sit, I am on the standby list. I call dad and Cory to update them and my phone is now about 18%. AHHH! At this point, I am starving, low blood sugar I am sure, need to pee, need to find a charger and Eli is starting to fuss. I barge my way thru the 80 million people still in line and quickly hurry to see if I can find a charger. I can’t be away from the gate to long, as there is a flight I may be able to get on, that is leaving in about 20 mins. I find a “tech on the go” store and purchase a charger for $40 bucks! GEEZ! Cha,ching! Lesson learned, pack phone charger in diaper bag. Eli is due to eat and is starting to get really mad. Its at that point, I realize that I left my bottle on the plane I was taken off of. Seriously? I had packed about 6 bottles worth of formula, in case I was put in a situation like this and was unable to breastfeed. I head off to the bathroom to cry. And that’s just what I did. After a good 5 minute cry, I head back to the gate. It is JAM packed full of people, I fight my way thru the 80 million people, and there are 0 seats available. Ok there is NO where for me to breastfeed at the gate, and I really need to be close to the gate. I have no choice but to see if there is somewhere that sells a bottle. I barge thru the people once again and some guy comments to me “you sure are brave to keep coming thru all these people.” Oh, cry!I go to the store to find a bottle. Praise God they have one!A woman comes up to me and says “I have seen you all over this airport, where are you going and how long have you been here?” I tell her that I have been trying to get to STL for about 7 hours now. She can tell I am upset and she asks me if there is anything she can do to help me. She says to me “I really want to help you. What can I do for you?” I told her if I can just find somewhere to feed my baby and get one a plane, that’s all I need.” She replies “I am going to pray for you.” THANK YOU! Another blessing. Back to the gate, through the people one more time. Despite Eli’s screaming, I am trying to find an outlet to set up camp by so I can charge my phone. I find one but I have to ask a girl that was sitting on the floor beside it, if I can put my phone there. She kindly moves and lets me have that spot. I plug in my phone. Ok, one thing is accomplished here, now I need to feed Eli. I then realize that I was out of water. I needed to purchase a few water bottles, which meant, I was going to have to leave the gate, and lose my outlet. Here comes the waterworks again. I decide I am going to just sit down on the ground and breastfeed him. I do not mind breastfeeding in public with my cover, but an extremely overcrowded gate is not exactly my ideal place to breastfeed. The guy sitting beside the outlet on a chair asks me if I would like to sit there. I thank him immensely. He stands up and I ask the guy beside me “will it bother you if I breastfeed next to you?” He states he has 2 young daughters with babies and that it is great that I am doing that for my baby. So now I am breastfeeding, RIGHT next to the desk at the gate where the 80 million people are trying to rebook. I felt like everyone in the airport was watching me breastfeed. Of course, I was covered, but still, it was slightly awkward to have that many people know what I was doing. The young guy that gave me his seat asked if there was anything he could do for me. I told him about my travel day from Hell and about the nice people that had let me in front of them and I said to him “thank you for offering your seat to me so I can feed him. I brought formula as well but I just realized I hadn’t purchased any waters the last time I strayed away from the gate and I didn’t want to fight thru the crowd for the millionth time. Its so sweet of you to offer me your seat. I can now feed him and charge my phone. Thank you thank you thank you.” He then disappears. A few minutes later, he comes back and hands me 2 bottles of water. “these are for you and the baby. I have a wife with kids and I know how hard this must be for you.” Oh my gosh, another person has just blessed me. I start to cry because I am so thankful and he is giggling at me and says “I would want someone to do the same for my wife. Good luck” and he gets on the plane. The plane is now boarded and they are starting to call the standby folks. Its now 8 pm. Eli is content in the stroller again, playing with toys. I am praying I am one of those standby folks that is lucky enough to get on the plane. “That’s it folks, this plane is full. If you are on standby, go to gate 7. That is the next flight for STL and it leaves at 850.” I ask the rep if he thinks there is anyway I can get on that flight or should I just go find a hotel. And he does the nicest thing for me. He books me on that flight. The entire huge line had just moved to gate 7 to see if they will be lucky to get on the plane. There were 70 people on that plane and it holds 140.A lot of standby folks were getting on this plane. But he wanted to be sure I was on it, so after waiting 40 mins, he gives me a plane ticket and says “you are on this plane.” BLESSED! Thank you!!! He informs me that I must go to the gate 7 counter to get my stickers for my stroller and carseat though. I have 10 mins before this plane leaves! I make like a mad man to Gate 7. HUGE line. I have no choice but to ask a soldier if he minds if I cut in front of him because I am getting on this flight. Praise God for soldiers! He allows me to be next in line and I get my stickers. I am getting on this plane! YES!I am waiting in line at family boarding. I guess I stuck out or something, but about 8 people came up to me while waiting and said to me “you got a flight! So happy for you! Its been a hard day for you I know!” Several people complimented me on how good my baby was. I agreed, I was very blessed that Eli was good all day. He had one major crying freakout and that was it. As I am standing in line, an older guy that I recognized from a different gate earlier, comes up and tosses a 5 dollar bill into the carseat on to Eli and says “here kid, buy your mom a drink. She’s had a rough day!” WHAT!? He tosses another $5, “here, buy her 2 drinks! She deserves it!” I try to give his money back but he smiles and takes off into the crowd. That was totally random but made me laugh! What a blessing people were to me today!I board the plane. We are of course delayed at least another 20 mins, but we are finally cleared to take off and I am just thankful to be on a plane that is actually leaving. Eli slept, played and had a bottle on this flight and was good the entire time. When we landed, he woke up and got fussy as we had to sit in the plane for another 30 mins before we could get off due to hail damaged planes. Before getting off the plane, Eli wanted to end this trip with a giant burp/spew of milk all over me. I love being a mom. Really, even despite getting spit up on after my long day. I am thankful to have a good happy baby! I get off the plane, run and change a diaper, and take off to find my poor dad who has been waiting for an hour at the airport for me. I have never been so thankful to see my dad!!! I made it!!! I find my luggage, which made it here from a different flight and we head home. And to add humor to the night, once home, Eli explodes in his diaper and he has the biggest poopy diaper blowout ever. My mom are laughing hysterically while we bathe Eli at 130 am. Man, I love being a mom!

Long story huh? It was a rough day, full of tears, overwhelming stress, anxiety, low blood sugar, crying babies, and angry people. But it was also a day of gratefulness, kindness, and blessings. God pulled through, even despite the not so good circumstance. I am happy to walk away from yesterday feeling blessed and I thank God for the experience, no matter how tough and stressful it may have been. He got Eli and I to St louis safely and for this, I am thankful!!

Commercial Break Update!

Time for a commercial break update :)

We returned from St Louis a week ago and had a great time visiting family. Eli changes so quickly! We have made it a goal to get up there every 4-6 weeks. I just got back and I already bought plane tickets for the next trip! Eli and I will be going up May 25th-June 8th...and we are flying. I am so nervous to fly with a baby but I am sure we will survive.

It was such a blessing to celebrate Easter with my family. Eli was quite spoiled with toys and stuffed animals. We went to the Easter Village at Purina Farms and that was a blast as well. Cory and I went out with a few friends to the Adult Easter Egg hunt at Queeny Park and that was sooooo fun! Please check out our pictures by clicking HERE. There are some pretty adorable Eli pics, just like this one ;)

and this one...

and this...

So dont miss it!

In other news, Eli joined us and his Grandpa for a 501st troop in Lubbock and he debuted as Darth Vader! Check it out HERE!

Stay tuned for the next episode of How I met your Father. It will "air" next week!

How I met your Father: MMORPG: Say what?!?!

MMORPG- some of you are probably wondering what the heck that means. Let me tell you. It means Massive multi-online role playing games. And for those that have played MMORPGs, this picture will speak to you…

When I was 18 and going off to Mizzou, I thought it would be a great idea to join my little brother in the world of gaming. He loves it and its one of his passions. I figured I would get a game that would keep us close despite the distance, something we could do together that he enjoys. That is where Star Wars Galaxies (SWG) comes into the story, an online world devoted to Star Wars.

Anyone who has played an online game knows that it can quickly become addicting. And boy was it. I seriously spent my first year of college on the computer. My friends thought I was the biggest nerd; I shudder to think of what my roommate thought of me. I would go to class, come home, play SWG til 4 am, take a 2 hour nap, go to class, come home and sleep a little bit and then hop right back on the computer. It was seriously all I wanted to do. I spent my first year of college majoring in MMORPG and I am amazed that I was still able to pull off good grades. My character, a twilek, named Lelu, became quite famous as she danced in the cantinas in her hotpants, buffing other players for battle. It wasn’t just her job, it was her destiny !

This so called destiny led me to my rebound in-game boyfriend Snooze, aka in real life boyfriend Nick. He was living near Houston at the time and we decided after playing the game with each other for a year, and after a 6 month post previous boyfriend breakup, that we would do a long distance relationship. I don’t cuss normally but looking back on that, I can honestly say that when I dated this guy, what the (h e double hockey sticks?) was I thinking? I have honestly no idea where he is and what he is doing these days as we only lasted about 6 months. He was super sweet, but he was OVERLY sweet. I was a princess, a queen, the ruler of all and he would do absolutely anything for me and never tell me no. Sounds perfect right? Wrong. A girl needs someone to balance her out and he couldn’t do that. We saw each other every other month or so taking turns to see each other. He was an introvert and very wrong for me. He was one person with me and a complete clam when we were around anyone else. He did not know the Lord before we dated and I wouldn’t date a non-christian. He seemed to honestly be interested and gave his life to the Lord before we started dating. After we broke up, he seemed to become disinterested. I will never know if the Lord really changed his heart or if it was just to get me. i would be embarrassed if he ever read this, and hopefully he doesn't. But he also plays an integral part of this story. We will get to that later.

950 miles away at College Station, an aggie that I would become particularly fond of, had just built a new computer from scratch, because his friends had persuaded him to buy this game and his computer had to be able to run it perfectly ;) 6 months into playing this game, Reeno and Lelu would meet, but it took yet another person to make that happen.

Next Episode: Dahmli, a friend for life.