These are a few of my fave-or-ite peeps!

Favorite- person or thing liked most: somebody or something that is liked most of all or preferred to all others.

I do not use the word favorite lightly. There are very few people who have earned the role of favorite in my life and in a world where we often encounter people who are less than favorable, I think my favorites deserve to be shown some love!

This small and wonderful group of people make my life brighter, help keep a smile on my face, and help maintain my sanity in moments when I need it most. Without them, it would be much easier to succumb to the negative and sadder aspects of this world, but luckily, I have them!

Travis AKA my Sunshine- You are just that. You literally light up my life. You are my best friend and the love of my life. My puzzle piece. You are so much a part of my life that that there are hardly any aspects of life that don't involve you, and that's how I like. Actually, scratch that, love it! What better way to spend life than with the one you love the muchiest! ;) So glad that despite our youth and immaturity, we both knew there was something more and never let each other go! I could write a novel about the amazing person you are and what you mean to me, but just know that I love you to the moon and back and that I know that you love me the same. I love the humor, joy and "completeness" that you bring to my life and that just being together is happiness to me. We can sit in silence and never say a word, yet compliment each other so well at the same time. Loving you is so easy, yet you know all the right ways to challenge me...thank you for being so wonderfully you and perfect for me at the same time! Love you!

Louise- My incredible and incredibly loved grandmother! My grandmother just means so much to me...she is incredibly selfless and has done things for me in times when I hardly deserved it, but she did it all the same because she loved me and that's just what great grandmothers do! She has been kind of like my other "parent" all my life and I have lived with her the majority of my life. I owe her in so many ways because she has been that rock when I needed her and I will do all that I can to show her just how much she means to me! I don't think she ever gives herself the kind of credit that she deserves, but she is more deserving than most anyone I know! It is an incredible person to do so much for others at the expense of herself, but she never even bats an eyelash. She is a queen and deserves to be treated like one to the max! I love you grandma more than you'll ever know!

Sheileen- my mother-in-law and more importantly, my friend. It is truly a wonderful thing to know that while most women complain about their mother-in-law, I truly and absolutely LOVE mine! It is a rare thing to have a soul mate in a partner, but to then find another soul mate in a totally different way in the same family, is saying something...perhaps my hubby and soul mate learned best from his mother because I love them both beyond words! Sheileen, you have filled so many emotional holes and enhanced my life in so many ways that I can't even begin to explain. I tell you more than I tell most of my friends and I do so because I know that you care and also that I know that you never judge me because you love me just the same! I trust your opinion and love listening to your wisdom, and know that you will always be there for me! I appreciate so much the bond that we have and will always have no matter where mine and Travis' relationship ends up! You are a friend, mother and true soul mate for life!

Tommy- my cousin and best friend. You know you have always been more like a brother to me because we were all raised together and spent so much time together. I love your "genuineness." You are genuine to the core. I love how good you are at just being you, and that I can be so ME with you at the same time! Besides my hubby, you are the only person I can ever TRULY be myself around because I know that you accept me for me and just know that I will ALWAYS accept you for you! You are beautiful both inside and out and I pity anyone who never has the pleasure and privilege of knowing you. I wish that I had your ability to be so like and lovable! Your energy is magnetic, you are hard to resist and my only wish is that I could see you more often...may be something we need to seriously work on cause I love every moment I spend with yo face! I just love, love, love you! Zombies and darkness and music and stuff ;)

Danielle- my most wonderfully feisty friend! Thank you for leading me to the doorway of women empowerment! Empowerment not only for myself, but for my fellow women! Thank you for being that friend who "gets it," and knows that true friendships and great friendships come from lifting each other up and being there for each other unselfishly! You are so good at being the positive light, yet still know how to incorporate your feisty roots in at the same time. And I love that you can be positive with me yet let me keep my feisty too!! Thank you for sharing your wisdom and for introducing people to your fellow women "empowerers" so that we can all benefit from the positive vibe (you know who they are)! Also, thank you for just being such a fun friend! You are always down for whatever shenanigans we all think of and make no excuses! You light up the room and make us all laugh, but can also have a serious heart to heart and give the most valuable, sincere advice at the same time! Thank you for being such a fresh breath of "great friend" air! Love ya like a feisty girl loves cupcakes! Ha ha ha

Jenny- my lifetime friend. Though we haven't known each other our whole lives, we've been friends for some of the most important moments. High school, boy drama, growing up, college and now full-on adulthood! Thank you for the sincere and genuine friendship that you always give. You are so loved by so many and it is for a reason! You have an amazing way of just being there for people and genuinely caring about them. This is something that I have always admired about you! You also have the same goofiness as I do and I can't complain about how out of control that means we can get! And it's AWESOME!! Thank you for always being there and for making such an effort out of all of your busyness to come to my little soirees! Love ya!

Kaitlyn- my lover you friend. Miss Kaitlyn, you and I have known each other for a couple years now, and sometimes it's been a roller coaster ride. But deep down, no matter what, we are friends to the core! I love how laid-back you are and yet you know when to let your hair down and act like a crazy with the rest of us! Because you are so laid-back, you also are always up for all of my shenanigans and you make every effort to be there for each and every one! Thank you for being there for me in times when I needed to vent and to always listen without judging! You have seen me at some of my rare and worst moments and you still like me somehow, lol. I love our girls nights whether it be all the girls or just us and I also enjoyed our BBQ with miss Maddie (we will have to do one of those again)! Cheers to many more years of our craziness! Lover you!

Caitlin- my sister-in-law and friend. I love that you truly embrace and cherish the moments with the family like I do, and that you make such an effort to spend time with all of us! I can't even begin to imagine what having 2 kids is like, not to mention having 2 kids while working and having a hubby with crazy hours like mine, so I think you deserve a lot of credit for balancing all that you do and still making the time to fit us all in! You are a superwoman! You and I are so alike in that we came from much smaller families, so I think we truly understand the connection of the large family we married into! I believe that the word "family" does not always apply just to the people you are blood-related to and that some of the most important people in your life are those that come from different nuclear families, who you allow and accept into your heart as family. Sometimes you choose your "blood" and you all are blood to me! Love ya!

Granted there are so many more special people in my life, these just happen to be the ones that I talk to and spend the most time with! I love and appreciate all of the people in my life, that's why you are in my life, but just felt the need to take a moment to let a few who have gone the extra, extra mile, know just how much they mean to me!

Choices...

A recent local news story really stroked a chord in me, and mostly because of the reaction people had to it. First and foremost, I do not say this to argue, debate or "talk shit" to anyone who may disagree with me, but because I feel that people may not always know what happens in "real" life behind the news lens.

I happen to be someone who studied journalism in college and actually lives criminal justice in real life. I know how the news media can impact a situation whether it be positive or negative, and that this is what people see, sensationalized or not.

The news story I am speaking of is a DUI related case where the driver hit a tow truck driver who was already on scene with officers on an unrelated emergency accident. My high school peeps have mostly already seen this and know what I am talking about and anyone else can either ask or Google that ish. The suspect and previous high school classmate of mine was recently sentenced for hitting and killing someone as a result of a DUI. He was sentenced to 48 years. Some people argue this is too little of time, some that this is too much. Some that this is a choice and some that this was related to an illness.

Me? I don't think that we can place a value on life and what this case really comes down to is a choice and how a choice impacted a life. Does the manner in which a life is taken warrant time served? Perhaps, but I learned in college that I am not much of a negotiator, therefore most likely a horrible attorney/judge as I could not accurately place a value on such a thing as life or forgive someone for taking one so selfishly. All I ever knew was that I could never defend someone who I thought may be guilty...

I am a straight up HATER with a capital H-A-T-E-R of DUI's. There is NO excuse. If ya don't have a ride then you don't have a reason to drink and then drive. Get a DD, get a cab, call a friend. They may want to punch you in the face for calling them drunk at whatever in the AM, but do they want to see you kill yourself or someone else?!? NOT LIKELY.

I work in a field of overwhelming negativeness. Very rarely do I see a happy ending, but more upsetting than anything is that sadness, anger and tragedy is usually a CHOICE. People choose to do these things. To drink, to drink and drive, to assault, fight, hate, hurt, cause drama and any other horrible, sad and despicable situation you can ever wildly dream of. There is so much possible joy in this world and you choose to kill it?!? All I can ask is why? I know I will never receive the answer, but oh how I feel the need to ask!

So with this DUI case I hear a lot of people saying, " how sad for him" or when I call him selfish, I have people trying to tell me not to confuse selfishness with alcoholism. Trust me, I don't. Alcoholism is selfish. You choose to drink, and this sometimes leads to alcoholism, but the choice to drink in the first place is your's. I have known many an alcoholic, but especially in this case where this person had many DUI's before they eventually hit and killed someone...well, all I have to say is...NO EXCUSES. This person begged a judge to give them a second chance because they realized that they "act irresponsibly" when drunk. They were granted a second chance and then drove drunk, while their license was revoked unless with an interlock device. They chose to take their parent's vehicle, knowing they would not be responsible to an interlock and ultimately killed someone. Choices.

I have no pity, no sympathy and no sorrow for this person. I feel sorry for the person and their family who lost their life and that of a loved one for someone else's selfish choice. I hope the drinks you had that night were worth someone's light. You snubbed out someone's light...for booze. Justify that. Oh wait. You can't.

48 years...too much? Too little? I don't have an answer because I cannot place a time limit or value on that person's life. I don't know when their "time" was or if this incident makes this being their time fair. Just sorry to hear that someone else's poor choice had something to do with it.

Maybe I am a little "butt hurt" about it?!? Maybe, but this happens to be the one week of the year where people in my line of work can be recognized for what we do. This is National Public Safety Telecommunications week. A time to recognize 911 dispatchers for the hard work that we do and the "unsung heroes" that we are. I would love for anyone to have to take an emergency call and do so without showing emotion, even when your heart is breaking for someone. In this particular case, imagine being the officer who watched the tow truck driver who was helping you, get run over. Or imagine someone like me being on the other end of the radio, hearing that someone was just run over and is possibly dead and for what?!? Someone's typical Friday night out?!? Not excusable.  We take that shit home with us and it's hard. We have to be strong when someone else's world may be falling apart. We know what it is to appreciate life and to shun someone who violates it. Enough said.

I urge you to educate yourself, put yourself in someone else's shoes and to never take anything for granted, most importantly someone's life.