Dating

So I've been on a few dates, and a couple of days ago I had the pleasure of third-wheeling on my friend's date.

I want to go over with you guys what I know from experience.

The first rule of dating is that you are NOT in a (you can define the term) committed relationship with the person you go on a date with. In middle/high school the trend seems to be that you have to ask the person to be your boy/girlfriend first, and THEN you go on dates. To me, that seems really restricting and involuntary, and I'm a Mormon. That kind of relationship may make you feel obligated to call/text/reach that person every day of your life, which can lead to redundancy and a quicker loss of interest. You'll probably come off as annoying and clingy, which is something I'd assume is undesirable. Anyways, I'm here to say that relationships like that don't work, and that I think you'd be better off to get to know the person by fun and quality one-on-one time. Or in other words, a date.

Dating has unlimited possibilities. You and the person you're with can do whatever you want, from eating to exercising. If you want to work on that fitness, OK. If you want to stay in and watch a movie, OK. If you don't want to spend money, OK. go to the park. If you want to spend all of your money as a romantic gesture, make sure that your date knows that. If you want other people (probably other couples) to be there, that's OK too.

Double dating comes with other philosophies. You shouldn't double date if you know that you will compare your date to the other couples you're with. It will most likely end in disappointment, because you're focusing your attention on something that doesn't matter. You go on dates for yourself, not for the other couple(s) that are with you. If you're having a bad date, the couples around you shouldn't feel dragged down by what you're doing. If you're having an amazing date, the couples around you shouldn't feel inferior. No one can stop you from having a good time.

It's a general rule that the more dates you go on, the more likely you are to marry someone that you like. A lot. I'm not saying that you can't find the right guy on your first go, but I'm saying that you'll be more convinced that he is the right one for you if you have a general idea of what you want/don't want. For some people, manners don't matter. For others, intelligence doesn't matter. No one can give you an exact format, because it probably won't be specific to your personality. We're all different, and a part of that means that you're going to have to do some digging if you want to make yourself happy. It's a good time for you to be selfish.

The next rule is that you shouldn't feel like you need to hold hands/kiss/touch the person that you're on a date with. If you and your date decide that that is what you want, awesome. Go ahead. But if you're like me, you won't be comfortable with it until about the third date or so.

Another rule is that it's OK to say no. Saying no means that either
1. You're busy
2. You don't have the means
3. You aren't in the mood
4. You can't find something about that person that makes you want to date them.
For number four, I HIGHLY suggest that you think hard. Because that person probably thought about it quite a bit. Because they don't want to be rejected. Unless they do, which makes them a terrible person and you should get away from them.

The last rule is that it is 100% totally inarguably OK to date your best friend. Hopefully you are thinking long-term with your dates, and are choosing people that you might want to marry. Dates with your best friend don't have to be romantic. Dates with your best friend will probably be some of the best dates you go on. Dates with your best friend will probably be the times when your relationship grows the most.

OK GO!

Apologies

Remember when this was supposed to be a daily thing?

Don't laugh too hard; you might end up looking like my favorite Dance Mom, Kelly, when she found a sketch of /the/ Abby Lee Miller from her teenage years.

Phonetics

Today's top LOL goes to Ms. Lael Ceriani, as she called Ms. Jenni Farley by what she thought was Jenni's nickname, JWOWW. But she didn't pronounce it the way you are probably thinking she did. She uttered (phonetically) Juh-Wow.

If you didn't know, it's pronounced JAY-Wow.

Some of the questions/statements (made in my mind) that followed the immediate laughter were:

- Juh-what are you thinking?
- Juh-are you serious?
- Juh-even I've watched a few episodes.
- Juh-*wow* (the asterisks are there to specify that I said it in a special voice, some of you have heard either me or Taylor use "the voice")

Well that's enough for making fun of Lael's pop culture oblivion. Because I'd rather talk about the way that I laughed after Lael's cute slip-up.

It is no secret that I have a loud laugh. MANY teachers/leaders/authority figures have singled me out for being disruptive because I was laughing too loud. I reach levels of high-pitched noise that even dolphins admire. If you don't believe me, you can ask Susanne Morris for a personal take on how annoying it is.

I'm sad to admit that the laugh that some people compliment is not natural. It's gone through many changes. I think it's because I often cackle like a witch if I don't make any effort to control my laughter. It probably should enter a new phase, for Susanne's sake.

Well, I'm out of things to say, I just wanted to electronically remember that everyone makes mistakes, even when they're referring to one of pop culture's larger icons.

LEGGO

For those of you who didn't pick up on what font I'm using, I'll let Cody Martin tell you.

You and I have a lot in common, Cody. Anyways, I'm going to start this blog by making promises I don't intend on keeping, which is strangely similar to my 2nd and 5th marriages. 

1. I promise to avoid over-sharing (I actually take pride in how much I sound like Mrs. Francisco right now). I don't want to mentally scar you with how much you know about me, some of my friends are already like that, and now they know who I really am. I think Kendra put it best when she said that I'm "the Devil". 

2. I promise to make jokes that make sense. This post is probably already riddled with things that don't make sense, but whatever. I'm new. Like the tattoo on the back of the neck of the girl that sits in front of me in history says, "Don't Judge." (except imagine that in a flowery, cursive script)

3. I promise that I won't make any spelling or grammatical errors. They annoy me way more than they should, and I know that I'm a bad person for being as picky as I am. Especially because I probably make mistakes just like everyone else.

4. I promise not to get religious. No one likes a person that connects everything back to Jesus Christ, I'm living proof of that.

5. I promise to publish a post daily. This promise is already making my inner self laugh too hard.

Well, five is good enough for now. Hopefully this blog won't waste your homework time.