The Girl Who Sniffs Her Hair

I have recently felt out of place. I have spent most of my life feeling this way. I have always felt like the weird girl that no one wants to have on the team. I relate to the movie Superstar a lot. Now while I'm not exactly like her, she doesn't fit in very well. Just when I feel as if I'm fitting in, something occurs and I feel like a sore thumb just sticking out.

Elementary school: I was just coming into my oddness. My buck teeth were just coming in good which really accentuated the purple glasses and the teacher style haircut I rocked. During these years my parents decided to move us to a small town. Great! Now I really how a chance to fit in. I was not popular. I will eternally be grateful to Amy Dyer who said hi to me on the first day of school and invited me to my first Dyersburg sleep over. I didn't have a good friend until I met Erika Decker. We were both the oddballs and I loved her dearly.

Middle through High School: I actually had a boyfriend. Several actually. I am even marrying my high school sweetheart. I don't define myself by having boyfriend though. I felt like an odd ball. I was made fun of and bullied at church and I always felt like I was the ugly ducking with my friends.

College: Here it is, my time to shine. Wait, the same girls that were at high school with me are at college. They might have different names, but their priorities are the same. I've never been the party girl. I enjoy being a homebody and watching a movie. I hate being around people that demand attention. I would prefer to sit in a corner and observe the craziness.

Career: Now, I'm an adult. I'm getting married in a month. I have my own house, bills, and office. Everything is going swell for me. I still don't fit in. It seems that once you become an adult you need to begin smoking and inserting a cuss word for every second. Even my best friend has picked up the habit. My boss has gotten used to me and now lets the words fly. Do I need to pick up a cigarette and let some choice words fly out of my mouth to finally fit in with the world?

2Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
-Romans 12:2

That's one of my favorite verses. I try to remember it at times when I feel that I am flawed and don't fit in. Maybe that's why I'm different. What kind of person would I be if I accidentally let cuss words fly out of my mouth when I had children in my car. I got into this field to make a difference. What kind of difference would I make if I was just like everyone else. I think that through this blog I have made myself feel better. Maybe I should change the title from "The Girl who sniffs her hair" to "The Girl who does not conform." HHmmmm....

Dana be smart.

I love to read. There's nothing more satisfying than curling up with a good book that completely takes over your life for a few hours. The word that most accurately describes how I read is "devour." You know when I love a book because I either do two things.
1.) I read it in one sitting.
2.) I will postpone reading it so that I can live in the moments even longer.

It took me forever to read the last Harry Potter book. Not because I didn't enjoy it, but because I knew it was the end of an old friend. I knew someone had to die and I just couldn't deal with it. I owned the book for maybe a month before I even picked it up. I would walk around with the book, read a few chapters and then I couldn't handle the pressure so I put it down. I also repeated the pattern while reading the latest Twilight novel. I wanted the story to last as long as possible.

The problem with loving to read so much is that I can't write. I would love to write an eloquent sounding blog that caused people laugh or possibly cry. I'm not a writer. I'm jealous of people like Jennifer who could make a recipe sound like the "I Have a Dream" speech. When I have a lot of thoughts going through my head, I leave out words or even repeat a phrase repeat a phrase. Andrew has a lot of examples if this because he has kept every note I wrote him in high school. My writing is pretty much straight forward. I don't use any high falutin words that make me sound smarter than I really am. I think how I write describes the type of person I am. Simple. Not simple minded, just able to get my point across on a basic level. I love reading blogs of people who have a gift for words.

Going to the Chapel...

According to the countdown on Facebook, Andrew and I have officially 52 days and 3 hours and 10 minutes until our wedding begins. I allow myself a short period of time everyday to marvel on how close Our Day is, because if I didn't have a limit then I would be absolutely useless to anyone at work. It is such a strange thought that after 6 years of being together, we will finally be husband and wife. I told Andrew the other day, that I would like to be introduced to any stranger that we meet along the way on our honeymoon as, "My wife, Mrs. Dana Hampton," until I get used to that. I hope that I never do become jaded about being Andrew's wife. After six years of being together we have a certain rhythm of life that we dance to. I know when to call and when not to call. I can tell where he is at his house by if he has cell phone service or not. There are so many things about how he lives, that I can't wait to find out. It will be amazing to discover if I will be a good wife to him or not.

Seven Things

My bff has tagged me to list Seven random things about myself. This is very difficult for me because I am a very random person, but I would like to list things that people might now know about me.

1. As a child I had tubes put in my ears twice. It was supposed to help with the draining in my middle ear and reduce my ear infections. I believe that it's because of this that I have serious ear wax problems and a horrible sense of balance. This balance problem causes me to run into doors, trip over myself, and I will never be a professional skier. My ear problem also makes me a horrible person to travel with up the mountains and in an airplane. I also have a lot of pictures of myself in the bathtub with a blue foam thing around my head so that I don't get water in my ears. Imagine a cone around a dog's head and that's what I looked like.

2. I believe that I am almost kind of psychic. I can imagine myself doing something like going on a trip or getting a job, it normally always happens. If I can't imagine myself going on a trip, even if it's in the process of being planned, it never happens, something always falls through. Luckily, I can imagine myself getting married in December.

3. I have a thing for twins. Here is my track record for those who don't believe me. 1. I have 2 sets of twins in my family. 2. My first best friend, Saphia Jaffries, was a twin. 3. My first boyfriend, Gaylon, was a twin. 3. My best friends from middle school til some of college, Heather and Lindsey, are twins. 4. My best friend, Stephanie, is a twin. I'm worried that I might have twins when I get pregnant.

4. If I was ever on MTV Made, I would be Made into a Broadway star. I would want to sing and dance in a musical. My favorites would be Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, Hairspray, and The Sound of Music.

5. When I broke my foot my freshman year of college, all the nurses at the hospital were convinced that I had broken it during a wild drunken night. They didn't believe me when I told them that I had fallen down the stairs at a friend's house. I am permanently bitter about that conversation.

6. I firmly believe that I am an average person. What I mean by that is that I am not extremely talented in any area of my life. I am surrounded by people who are extremely talented in certain areas. I live vicariously through them.

7. I can roll my tongue in a way that looks like it's doing the wave.

Portia

Andrew and I have a new member of the family. We named her Portia for several reasons.

1. Andrew is totally uncreative with names and I had showed him a picture of another dog a week ago who's name was Portia.

2. Portia also sounds like the car Porsche, which was a big plus for Andrew.

Living with a dog is excited and stressful at the same time. You might wonder why I decided to add a puppy in my already busy life. I have always had a dog and been around dogs. I'm a dog lover. With Portia, I have something to occupy my time when I'm not working. We have goals. Portia and I want her to be house trained. We would like for her to be crate trained and not cry so much every time I walk out of the room. The puppy training has been going pretty good. She's in her chewing phase right now. She'll be really sweet and give "kisses" and then all of a sudden try to take a chunk out of my finger. She has a definite appetite for toes as well. She is precious!