When I was a kid, I used to automatically think of a food item when I heard a day of the week. Hearing "Thursday" still makes me think of fried chicken in my elementary school lunch room; Monday meant small square sausage (or some other unidentifiable meat) pizza; and Fridays were long, triangular, pepperoni pizza (which meant "party time!"). Tuesday was chicken nuggets and Wednesday ordained "whatever it is, it's nothing to get excited about." Those connections are still made in my mind because they were repeated constantly for six years of my life. For the most part, I looked forward to my … [Read more...]

Whether you are an extravert, introvert, thinker, or feeler, almost everyone can enjoy a good game night with friends! Nothing seems to bring me out of my introverted shell like playing games with some friends. Some of my silliest and most brilliant statements have been declared during a game of Phase 10. Seldom do I laugh as hard as I do during a rousing game of Cranium. And originally, I hated the idea of game nights! So, what changed? I didn't grow up playing very many board games and I figured playing games with friends, or even worse, with people I didn't know very well, would simply … [Read more...]

When I was in high school and college, I received many “getting to know you” quizzes by e-mail. Some of them are very similar to others, and some are off the wall; but, most of us enjoy filling them out because, well, we like to talk about ourselves and share our lives with others. It is fun being asked all kinds of ridiculous questions all revolving around our likes, dislikes, the color of our socks, our favorite movie, and the last person we spoke to on the phone. I guess there is just that part in all of us that enjoys talking about the person we think about all the time: “me.” When Eric … [Read more...]

“What do you want to watch tonight?” “I don’t know, what do you want to watch tonight?” “I don’t know….” For most couples, the question of which movie to watch will come up from time to time. Some people love all kinds of movies. When you go to a movie with my friend Robin, she usually likes any genre that is playing. She can watch chainsaws in action for two hours and then turn around and watch an animated, girly love story. I, on the other hand, have more limited tastes in my movie selections. In short, I prefer to be uplifted in some way by watching a movie. I either want to be crying … [Read more...]