This is Real Love [Novella]

Suitcase of Memories...


So I am currently in the process of gutting my closet, which is a rather large task. You see, when I went to OSU for two years, I worked at Camp War Eagle in Rogers, AR from May until August both summers proceeding the school year. So the two weeks I had before and after the summer included me unpacking my camp stuff, doing laundry and shoving all the extra decorations, mementos, and crafts I made at camp in my closet. So, after doing this two years in a row, I've accumulated a lot of various school and art supplies, clothes, and other random crap that I haven't known what to do with until now.
Years ago, my friend's mum gave me an idea of what to do with all of my little trinkets and toys that have sentimental value. She said, in order to preserve the sweet memories of each little object, take a picture and make a photo album, describing each memory out to the side. So instead of collecting the clutter of all these random objects, you collect little pictures of the memories that you can whip out any time you're feeling sentimental. Fabulous idea, huh? Anywho, I've been wanting to do this for quite sometime, but my digital camera doesn't do justice to my fancy little trinkets. But, now that I have my Diana Mini, each picture will turn out as unique and charming as each little belonging of mine! I'm trying to get rid of as many things as possible so it shan't be difficult for me to pack up and move once it's time for me to settle down somewhere... be it on the other side of America or Earth. I'm hoping to get it down to two suitcases worth of memories, so I can travel lightly. A wardrobe can always be replaced, but memories cannot.

Toilet Talk...


My brother clogged the toilet earlier this evening but did not realize he had done so. Two hours later, as I was sitting at my computer a few metres down the hall from the WC, I heard a sudden rush of water (okay, more like an enthusiastic trickle). So I ran to the bathroom to find that the toilet was overflowing and there was a glacier-sized wad of toilet paper clogging the S-bend. I hollered to my Dad to grab the plunger, asked my step mum to grab some towels, and called Michael to tell him I was about to clean up his poop water and that he owed me another present (namely, the brown knit boots that I pointed out at Target this afternoon, size 6 1/2) because it wasn't a labor of love. He agreed, and I proceeded to clean it. Nadda big deal. However, the water that leaked through the floor down to the laundry room might be... One of the many reasons I'm glad I don't own this house. "Not my chair, not my problem."


This is Real Love... Part Un


As you may recall, Thanksgiving was a joyous holiday for me because I found out that my boyfriend of four weeks (HA) had sex with a nasty girl the weekend before, and she told a few people who cared enough to make sure that I found out the truth. Well, the weekend prior to me finding out about his cheating ways (and literally the day before he cheated on me) was the premiere of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. If you've ever seen my left bicep, it would make more sense if I explained 1. how much I love Harry Potter, and 2. that I got my owl tattoo because of that passion. So (hypothetically speaking) if you were my boyfriend, it would be totally obvious to you that taking me to the Harry Potter midnight showing would be an automatic win for you, as well as for our relationship. Well, the dim young man I was dating at the time didn't use his brains to put two and two together. I kept quiet about it until two days later, when he text me, informing me that he was going to see the new HP movie without me. He even had the audacity to ask if I was jealous.
 I wasn't sure how upset I should be, so I text my brother and asked him, in a hypothetical situation, if he would do the same thing and not understand why Abbie would be upset. He assured me that James was simply an ass, and that I had every right to be upset, so I let James have it.
 I was planning on breaking up with him the next evening, but chickened out because I would rather be hurt than make someone else suffer. Well, the motivation I needed to call things off for good came on Thanksgiving night when I found out what happened six days before. He straight up lied to me about it, denying that it ever happened, and insisted that I had a faulty source. When I talked to the girl that it happened with the next morning, I knew that it was time to sever the ties. Doing so put me at a disadvantage though because he and I had plans to finally go see the new Harry Potter movie together that day. But it never happened because I had to get away from that (insert cuss word of choice here). 
                                                                      ...
Michael, my brother, woke me up bright and early this morning at 10:30 am and told me to put on pants because he was taking me somewhere. Where we were going was a surprise but I had to hurry up and get ready to find out what it was. I wasn't sure what he had in mind but I figured it'd be fun no matter what because we (almost) always have a good time together. I got ready, and we headed out and went to breakfast at Waffle House. Surprise! I was kind of expecting food so it met my expectations quite nicely. It was better than the Moose Lodge that he told me we were going to. 
After we ate, we went shopping at Target, and stopped in the new movie section. Michael started talking about his favorites and asked if I'd gone to see the new Harry Potter movie yet, and I answered 'no'. "Are you serious, Kristen? What time is it? We're gonna go catch a matinée. Come on." I was a tad taken aback, but still really grateful. I didn't know he liked me enough to give a crap, honestly. But when we went and saw the movie, and I cried at the end, he patted my leg and told me it was gonna be okay. Afterward, he said he was watching me and waiting to see my reaction at the end. Of course, I cried. I love little Dobby. 
The day James screwed up with the Harry Potter thing I told him "It's the little things that count, James." And almost a month later I'm saying "It's the little things that count, Michael." The smallest acts of kindness can mean the most to people. So thanks for showing me what real love is... in a not-romantic kinda way.

This is Real Love... Part Due


I made the greatest love song playlist of all time yesterday, which I named "This is Real Love" because none of the songs are sad or depressing. Unfortunately I left out a few of the best songs ever because I lost my Stevie Wonder's greatest hits album two years ago. But my playlist is 130 songs long (that's 8.4 hours). Some of these songs were written for moms and some for Jesus, but most of them are for significant others. Seeing how I don't have a significant other anymore, you'd think it makes me sad. But I don't mind it. I prefer not feeling obligated to spend every day of every weekend with just one person. I like being alone and spending time with a bunch of different people, which normally wasn't possible with the douchers that I've dated in the past.
I am so glad to be in a place where I can obligate myself to stay single, and have an outside motive for doing so. I am leaving for Basic in April, and there is no romantic relationship that could stop that from happening. I don't know if I'll ever get married, but there is no point in stressing about it now because there's no chance that it will happen any time soon. It's not that I despise the idea of marriage. In fact, I think it's quite lovely and I know that it is a very holy covenant that is not to be taken lightly. But I know Jesus loves me enough to be waiting all these years to marry me, His Bride. The least I can do is patiently await whoever He decides to bring into my life as my Beloved. God's tangible love shows me over and over that whoever I marry one of these days is worth waiting for. And he'll know how important Harry Potter is to me. And he'll respect it because he'll love it too. (See November's entry "Quality Control Check List" #46)