My Name

Since Kianne and I both have unusually names, when it came time for me to pic my topic, I choose, "How I feel about my name."

To be honest, growing up, I HATED IT! I couldn't buy cool rainbow pencils with my named stamped in gold. I couldn't have the matching pencil case. It sucked. Now that I am older, I appreciate my name. For various reasons. It is uncommon. I like that. I like being the only Carma in the room. If someone says, "Carma," I'm the only one who responds. It makes me unique. What makes it even more special to me is that I was named after my grandmother. My mother's mother passed away before I was born. I think mom was pregnant with me. My parents had decided that my dad would name me. I don't know if always had Carma in mind, but I am grateful for that name. I know that it was hard for my mom to call me by my name for awhile. It made her think about her mother. I remember when my grandfather was ill and was close to dying. I went to see him in the nursing home and my mom told grandpa "Carma's here." I don't know if he thought I was me or his wife. Either way, seeing the smile on his face was wonderful. He had basically been unresponsive for awhile, but when you said the name "Carma" he found the strength to smile.

I got curious and tried to search for the meaning of my name on baby name websites. I couldn't find my name. I found Carman, Carmen, Carmellita (which is what my sister calls me), and other variations. So I really have no clue what my name means. If anyone knows, feel free to tell me!

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After I posted my blog, my aunt sent me an email with some more information that I didn't know. Here is what I found out.


"But, to clarify, yes, your mom was pregnant with you when Grandma Carma died on March 14th, -- while your dad was in Colombia, (the country) as it happens. Your mom would not call him, stating that she didn't want him to interrupt his trip and come home. So he did not know Mom had died and the funeral was all over and done until he got back from that church mission trip. (No matter to me one way or the other -- but at the time, we were concerned about Lynette having to deal with the death, the funeral, etc, w/o your dad, since she was pregnant. We honored her wishes and did not to try to secretly contact your dad ourselves.)"

You've Peed Where??

So it was Kianne's turn to pick our topic and she wanted to write about "the oddest place you've done your duty." I can honestly say that I have always used a toilet. I am not an outdoor type person, so therefore I've never squatted in the woods. Someone once told me that if you peed in a pool the water around you turned purple, so I was too scared to pee in a pool. Since I haven't gone to the restroom in any odd places, I'll simply post a picture of a toilet and ask you, "what is the oddest place you've used the restroom?"

I Believe In

I believe [in]...

love that conquers all.

a God that is bigger than we can imagine.

the power of prayer.

true friendships lasting through time and troubles.

that the sun should never set upon an argument.

the power of music lyrics.

we place our happiness in other people's hands.

myself.

that junk food tastes so good because it's bad for you.

that good people can do bad things.

that bad people can do good things.

your parents did the best job they knew how to do.

the rite to be upset at someone.

that beauty magazines promote low self esteem.

retail therapy (to an extent).

I'm loved when I'm completely by myself alone.

praying together.

Karma, what you give is what you get returned.

that IM chatting can be just as therapeutic as therapy.

you can't appreciate real love until you've been burned.

the power of a cat nap.

the grass is no more greener on the other side.

my past makes me strong.

you don't know what you've got until you say goodbye.

not having regrets, only learning opportunities.

that trust is more important than monogamy.

praying for strangers.

your most attractive features are your heart and soul.

that God should "mess us up" (thanks Adam).

that family is worth more than money or gold.

that adults are simply children masquerading.

the struggle for financial freedom is unfair.

the only ones who disagree are millionaires.

doing one random act of kindness a day.

forgiveness is the key to your happiness.

that wedded bliss negates the need to be undressed.

waiting.

that God does not endorse TV evangelists.

learning from others mistakes.

love surviving death into eternity.

that every person should have a loving home.

that sometimes a knowing look is more powerful than an hour of speech.

that CEO's make way too much money and should share.

Europeans have it figure out.

in the power of blogging.

expressing yourself, however you see fit.

taking a sick day just to stay home together.

tithing in nontraditional ways.

in the power of my mind.

*Some of these were borrowed from the song "Affirmation" by Savage Garden.

First Kiss

Kianne came up with this idea. I wasn't sure about it at first, but then we talked and refined it even further. We both decided that our first kiss wasn't exactly earth shattering, nor something we wanted to recall. Neither one of us are too proud about it. So we decided to post our first significant kiss.

Mine happens to be a funny story, well at least I think it is funny. Ayron and I had met on our own but also with some help from mutual friends. At the time, his best friend and my best friend were dating and if we hadn't set ourselves up, they would have.

Ayron and I had been "dating" for about two weeks. We planned a big night out with our co-workers. We all worked at Scott's and most of us were coupled up with other co-workers. Except Sadie and Tim. Ayron got stuck working for part of the night, so we all stopped in to say hi to him, then we went to Pizza Hut. Turns out Ayron had given Tim money to pay for my dinner since he felt bad he had to work. After we ate, we all went back to Scott's and goof around for half an hour still Ayron got off work. All 8 of us trooped back to my house and hung out for awhile. We decided we were going to go bowling. As we were bowling, Ayron reached over and took my hand. This was a first. Of course, all of the other girls noticed and insisted that they had to go to the bathroom and that since they had to go, so did I. We crammed in the nasty bathroom and they were freaking out about it. While Tascha was busy drilling me with questions, Sadie was amazed by the fact that the bathroom had a condom dispenser. Anyway, fast forwarding.

Ayron and I went back to my house and before we got out of the car, he asked if I wanted to "Make it official." To this day, I will not let him live that one down! We ended up going inside and sitting in the living room and watching Ferris Bueler's Day Off till close to 3 in the morning. He made plans to meet me at church in the morning. As I was walking him to the door (I'm laughing in my head right now as I think about this) he leaned in and gave me a hug. As he pulled away, we kissed. Nothing fancy, nothing earth shattering, but it was wonderful.

The next morning as I was getting around for church mom asked me what time I got home and how late Ayron had stayed. When I told her that he left around 3:30 in the morning, she got this worried look on her face, but went back into the bathroom and continued to curl her hair. She stuck her head back out into the hallway, curling iron still stuck in her hair, and said "Well, I think it's time we had a talk." As I was grabbing my shoes and flying out the door (I had to get to church before Ayron so I could fill Leah in on all the details) I shouted, "You're a little late Mom."

I didn't realize that my mom took that the wrong way. She panicked. After church I explained that I was 17 years old and she didn't have to worry about that.

100 Things That Make Me Happy

* These are in no particular order

1. Ayron
2. Friends
3. Cheese popcorn with a cherry Coke
4. My "boys" Scooter and Charlie
5. scrap booking
6. taking walks
7. flying kites
8. memories
9. purses
10. shoes
11. family
12. pudding
13. roses
14. sunshine
15. sleeping
16. a good laugh
17. McKenna
18. Madison
19. Marisa
20. surviving a rough week
21. picnic in the park
22. quiet moments alone
23. Hot chocolate; anything chocolate for that matter
24. long afternoon naps in my hammock
25. golfing - but only when Phil and I have cart races(FYI: Ayron is way to big to ride on the
back of the cart where the bags go)
26. Unexpected flower deliveries
27. blogging
28. Getting a refund instead of paying the IRS
29. Lazy Sunday afternoons
30. Napping with my nieces
31. Mudding
32. Sunday afternoon flying kites with friends
33. Left over stuffed crust pizza
34. Being able to see the bottom of the laundry hamper
35. Cool shower after getting a sunburn
36. Listening to music at work
37. Colored pens
38. An afternoon in Borders
39. Used books from Amazon.com
40. Chatting with Kianne during work hours
41. Sleeping in till 7
42. A freshly made bed
43. Being organized
44. Giving Scooter a belly rub
45. Working on the house
46. Watching Charlie try to hop/run on tile floors
47. A phone call from my nieces
48. Flipping through an LTD magazine
49. Imagining the future
50. Sechler's dill pickles
51. Mt. Dew
52. Longer lunch breaks with the kids on Friday
53. My new addiction: Crystal Light Energy (Wild Strawberry)
54. Pay Day Friday's
55. QUEST Friday's
56. Remembering
57. Sleep overs
58. Grey's Anatomy
59. George (my body pillow and yes, he is named after George from Grey's Anatomy)
60. Long afternoon walks with Scooter
61. Smelling the lilacs in my yard
62. Friday's chocolate break
63. My cow mailbox: even though it is broken and leaks and will soon be replaced
64. Working Algebra problems with students (If anyone tells my old Algebra teacher this.....)
65. Any day when a kid doesn't vomit at work
66. Macaroni and Cheese
67. Brand new box of Crayola crayons
68. Midnight jumping parties in the moonwalk
69. "Uhh..you dropped this." "No I didn't."
70. STOMP
71. Ayron singing me my night time song.
72. Monday morning "catch up" chats with friends
73. Afternoon jump sessions with my nieces (playing crack the egg with Madison)
74. Watching a student experience a "ah ha" moment during Algebra time
75. Afternoon chit chats with Nikki
76. Music
77. Driving with the windows down and the radio up.
78. Goldfish crackers
79. Our rotating dinner party group
80. Watching the rain
81. Live radio over the Internet (makes the work day much better)
82. Gardening (although you couldn't tell if you look at my yard now)
83. Bob Evans Cobb Salad (minus the bleu cheese)
84. The Fraggle Rock theme song (cast your cares away, worries for another day)
85. Kroger brand kettle corn
86. Watching bad 80's movies with Ayron
87. Mowing the yard
88. Fuzzy Bunnies (the marshmallow game)
89. Finding the toilet seat has been put down and the toilet paper has been refilled
90. Foaming hand soap sale at Bath and Body Works
91. Giraffes
92. Zebras (If you don't know why, then how well do you really know me?)
93. When everyone else is happy
94. Growing older (age wise) but staying young (at heart)
95. Sales
96. Learning something new
97. When I realize that I have become an adult and it is not that bad
98. Christmas get togethers with the family
99. Playing UNO with grandma (haven't been able to do that in years)
100. Two lines, eventually