Tender Mercies

Lately I have been having a hard time remaining positive because Stephen has been gone so much. The baseball season started and honestly being alone sucks. Esteban is my best friend. I love beating him at games and seeing how angry he gets. We used to play Speed and I of course was great at Speed and would always win. Stephen would get this look on his face and say "Again!" like that psycho coach in the hockey movie the Miracle. We also discovered this new game called Monopoly deal. Well my sister Marcela introduced us to it. And boy are we obsessed. We would play for hours till either it was time to go to bed or our backs hurt. I gotta admit Stephen is pretty decent at that game. I've been the one saying "Again!" lately. We do weird  stuff married people usually don't do. Let me explain. at nights the hallway to the parking lot is covered in fog coming out of the laundry room, we pretend we are soldiers running from vampires that live on the sketchy apartments 1, 2, 3, 4. Have you ever seen apartments that are located at the basement of the parking lot with about 20 motorcycles parked in front of them? I didn't think so. (I love sci-fi, Stephen plays along. you see he loves me)  Let's just say I'm having a hard time coping with his trips. I find myself talking to the house or laying on the couch for 5 hours straight reading vampire novels (Evernight series wrote for 16 year old twilight lovers). Proof of my laziness and depression was last night when I went to play soccer and after 15 minutes felt like I was having a heart attack. The last 20 minutes of that game was just a battle for survival. Seriously things need to change. Stephen needs my support and in order to do that I have to shape up (physically and spiritually) So step number one was showering (just kidding. or am I...) Step number two is listing some tender mercies that I have experienced in my life lately:

1. The other day I was starving. I work from 11-2 right around lunch time and as usual skip breakfast cause I woke up late. So I run downstairs to get a bagel from the vending machine and what is my surprise, I only have a dollar and the bagel is 1.50! So I start walking back with a sad stomach when this lady stops me and says "oh don't worry I will get you the bagel" I refused but she insisted and you know as a starving college student who can refuse? I left for work thinking you know one day I want do something nice for a stranger without thinking what is in it for me.

2.Humans are used to routines. We say "How are you?" and expect nothing more than "Good. How are you?"  We go to a restaurant pick a meal from the menu and then leave a nice tip for the waiter. We wake up, go to school, got to work, get home and live our lives as we know it. So when you take the bus to school on a snowy thursday morning you expect the bus driver to promptly say how are you? and drive you to school. Well let's just say that was not how my bus drive went on March 3,2011. As I set in my seat ready for the 10 minute drive to school. The bus drive cleared his throat and said in a loud, clear voice, "Good morning ladies and gentleman. I hope you are having a splendid morning. Today is a special day..." and he went off listing special events that had occurred on that day. Birthdays, discoveries, ect...  At first everyone was weirded out and didn't know how to respond. We had never had a bus driver actually talk to us. But as the ride went on we all relaxed and listened. By the time I climbed out of that bus I was happy and excited and ready to start the day.

3. I think the biggest tender mercy that has happened in my life is Stephen Wells. We met in a sunny afternoon at king henry apartments. He was shy, I never shut up. Didn't work out at first. We became great friends. Made cookies together, went camping to Squaw Peak, played trackball and well spent the most magical summer making new friends and doing crazy stuff. No drama, or gossip or scandal. Smalls would say, "every summer was great. But none of them ever came close to that first one." And then cupid struck us both. Stephen would say he swallowed his pride and asked me out. But anyone who knows Stephen knows that he has no pride to swallow. It was actually me who finally got sick of just hanging out and told him I liked him and if he could please ask me out. From then on it's been uphill. Stephen is the most selfless person I know. He does anything to please me. He watches the cooking chanel with me, he'll seat next to the old people in the basketball games cause I hate the yelling in the student section, He will drive me to school and then miss his first class cause he couldn't find parking, he'll do Zumba (crazy latin work out that consists of moving your hips as much as you can) with me, he will patiently teach me Stats even though I am barely understanding what a mean is. Well let's just say he is short from perfect. I love my husband and am so grateful for him and am so excited to live the rest of my life at his side cause I know that no matter what he will always be there for me and will never make me feel like a burden.

Tender mercies are everywhere, we just need to open our eyes, search outside ourselves, and smile.