Let Them Walk

She was one of my best friends. Maid of honor in my wedding, one of the only people in the world that I felt understood me. She was there when I gave birth to my first child. I have so many memories of her. We were going to be friends forever.

Then one day something changed. She stood proudly next to me as I married the man of my dreams and a week later we were no longer speaking. There wasn't a fight, no falling out, to this day I still don't know what happened to our friendship.

After a year of silence, no communication, I ran into her, not once but twice. It was bound to happen,we live less than a mile away from each other. We shop at the same grocery stores, get gas at the same gas stations, and go to the same hair dresser. I wanted to talk to her but I couldn't bring myself to do it.  You see, for a year I've been asking myself why she stopped fighting for our friendship.

It almost made me wonder if something was wrong with me.  Who am I kidding, it definitely made me wonder if something was wrong with me.  But then I’d look at all my other healthy friendships and realize that they are drama free.  If we hurt each other, or if we have a problem with the other person, we talk about it.
We do this because we value each other that much.  We fight for our friendships.  We fight for each other and alongside each other.  Is that not what a friend is?  Do they not love at all times?

When sharing this story with my aunt (who is like my mom), she left me with a paraphrase from a quote by TD Jakes "If your friend  has chosen to walk away from you, let her walk. Let her walk."

So, to that friend, I valued our friendship but I'm letting you walk.

TD. Jakes- “Let Them Go”

There are people who can walk away from you.

And hear me when I tell you this! When people can walk away from you:

LET THEM WALK.

I don’t want you to try to talk another person into staying with you, loving you, calling you, caring about you, coming to see you, staying attached to you….

When people can walk away from you let them walk. Your destiny is never tied to anybody that left….

LET THEM GO.

…It doesn’t mean that they are a bad person it just means that their part in the story is over and you’ve got to know when people’s part in your story is over so that you don’t keep trying to raise the dead.

You’ve got to know when it’s dead.

 

Beginning a New Chapter

"Freedom is mine and y'all know how I feel."

LOL, that's the song that Jennifer Hudson sings on the Weight Watchers commercial. No, I am not joining Weight Watchers-yet. I decided to take back control of my life. I have several goals that I would like to meet in 2011 and it seems like they all revolve around weight loss. In May, I would like to run/jog the Susan G. Komen Atlanta Race for the Cure. We are headed to Myrtle Beach in June. I get to meet one of Ashish's good friends from Pharmacy school in July-at his wedding. In September, I am the matron of honor in my brother's wedding, and the best thing...we are planning a trip to Jamaica-just Ashish and I. Now I am not trying to look like Beyonce in a bikini (although that would be nice), I just want to look better in my clothes, more comfortable in my naked skin. So, I started another blog http://www.yesireallyambigboned.blogspot.com/, I need an outlet for myself. Check it out!

Around the House ABCs

Instead of redecorating Jordan's room, I've decided to make an "Around the House ABC Book."  Using my new camera I set out to find something in my house for every letter of the alphabet. Here is my work in progress!

Stay tuned for the finished product

Jordan Turns 2!!!

Wow, it's been two years. I really can't believe it. As cliche as it sounds; the time has gone by so fast. I remember when I had it like it was yesterday (especially the pain). In true Patel/Johnson style, Jordan had 3 birthday parties!

We started out at his preschool on Friday

On Saturday, February 5th (his actual birthday), we had a party at Jump for Joy

Patiently waiting on his friends

Ava

Jordan and his Kruti Foi

Cassie and Jonathen

Daddy helping blow out the candles

After the cake and candles, it was time to JUMP!!!

After an hour and a half of jumping, running, riding, and shooting(basketball), it was time to head home for party #2!

We had a great day!

My Need for Change

It's not in my personality to sit still. I've never been good at just doing nothing. I moved into a house with Ashish that he has already owned. To call it a bachelor pad would be putting it mildly. The living room was a couch, a coffee table (which his mom picked out), and a 52in (yes 52 INCHES) television. The dining area has a table (that matched the coffee table) and 4 chairs. If you looked into the kitchen you would find pots and pans, though rarely used. The master bedroom had a bed, a nightstand, and 32in tv, hanging from the wall. He kept his clothes in tupperware drawers. He had a "game room" that has a futon and, surprise, another tv (32 inches). As sparsely furnished as the house was, it was beautiful. For a man that is so simple (I mean that in a good way), this house wasn't simple. He bought the home of a woman's dreams-hard wood floors, tray ceilings, a kitchen with an island, 3 bedrooms and 3 1/2 bathrooms. I think one of the things that Ashish and I have in common is our motto of "go big or go home." To most women, transforming this house into a home would have been a huge chore but for me it was a challenge. I would have never considered myself a decorating diva. I am crafty and I have great ideas but often times I am not sure how to execute them. Who has the time to decorate a house anyway? As luck would have it, I did. I got pregnant and was lucky enough to be able to quit my job as a teacher and stay home.  A year after Jordan was born, I started operation "Patel Transformation."

I started with Jordan's room (long before he was born), making what was at the time, our only spare bedroom, a nursery. I started taking down all the cute baby stuff to make room for the big boy stuff in his room so there are no pics :(

From there I moved on to the 1/2 bath that is off of the second floor. The walls were builders eggshell...

The living room was next. We bought a sectional to fill up a big space, added, some pillows, a console table (which is really a bookshelf, it hides Jordan's knick knacks), a lamp, a plant, and a little bit of wall art. Oh...and I finally hung our wedding pictures.

The dining area and living room are attached so I tackled that task next. Adding curtains, pears, place mats, and some more decorative stuff gave it just the right touch.

Onto the kitchen! Because of an ever so generous mother in-law, we didn't need register for many things for the kitchen when we got married. All I had to do was say the words and magically, it would appear in my kitchen. The kitchen speaks for it's self. Just a couple little tweaks.

My favorite part was decorating my master bathroom. Aside from the kitchen, my bedroom is my favorite part of our house.

Online shopping for bedding was fun but a little stressful. Who knew that bedding could be so expensive? I found the perfect bedding and scored 2 lamps for $7 at a yard sale.

What was originally Ashish's "man cave" was transformed into a guest bedroom/office, complete with a wall (it was just one big room.)

Sorry that some of these are turned sideways.


It's been almost a year since I finished fully decorating my house and I have the "itch" again. I need a project, something to keep me busy. Yesterday, I spent 2 hours on the Internet just looking at stuff. I decided that it is time for Jordan to have a big boy room. It all started here...

Stay tuned...I'm starting a new project!