A Very Lucky Girl

I realized lately how comfortable Tyler and I are in our relationship. It's honestly amusing. There are several conversations and phrases we say now that would have been taboo on our first date about a year and a half ago. I was feeling sick the other week and demonstrated for him how much phlegm was in my throat by making a truly heinous noise. Instead of dumping me in disgust, he laughed.  We never back away from the double chin snapchat and had a contest at lunch the other day to see who could create the most chins. He won and was proud of his victory.  We confidently yell through the bathroom door mid-pee. The first time he tried to talk to me through the bathroom door I was hesitant: "Wait, you're really doing this? Are we there?" Apparently we were and have been ever since. He found a quarter in his bed one night and asked, "where did this come from?" I promptly responded, "I poop quarters." Mistake. Whenever he needs change now, he c...

I finally have a space to call my very own this semester at OU. I am living in a single dorm, but with this great privacy comes great responsibility. It would be easy to hibernate, coming out of room 35 only for class, food, and occassional dates with Tyler. My room is located at the very end of the hall, extrememly isolated from the other dorms in a dark corner.  I've decorated to make the room appealing and comforting, but hiding is not the best thing for me.  So I am making a huge effort to get heavily involved on campus during this fall semester. Come spring I'll be living in Dundee, Scotland, lightyears away from any semblance of a comfort zone. Putting myself out there this semester will lessen the eventual shock of the study abroad environment.  Even just thinking about new people is mentally draining. It's hard and it makes me want to take a nap. But A Very Lucky Girl can sleep when she's dead. For now, there are opportunities and relationships to seize. OUT...

This is Conner on the night that I met him. See that grin? That's the joy of a guy who just found his future BFF (me). It was the first Tuesday night of the 2011 Fall semester at OU. My neighbor, Rachel, and I ventured to a party we heard about. We found fun guys and punch. It was basically a winning combination. Conner and I compared class schedules as we watched an intense game of King's Cup. Discovering we had Communications together on Mondays and Wednesdays, he suggested we exchange numbers. Smooth, right? Points for Cons. I was ecstatic to discover he was from Dallas, Texas and fumbled to enter his digits in my phone under "Conner Texas." He later became Conner Texas/Golden. Why change a good thing? Despite the time that I threw a stack of post-it notes at his face (leaving a substantial mark), we have been friends ever since. He lived 2 minutes away from me during my Freshman year and we would study at the library until all hours, me listening to him dro...

I've spent some wonderful days as the girlfriend of the greatest guy I've ever met in my life. I wouldn't take back a single second of my time with Tyler Aaron McKee. Whether he knows it or not he teaches me what selfless love looks like. And I recognize that I lack it. I don't have the same desire to care for people more than myself that he embodies everyday, but I'm trying to cultivate it.  He is a thousand wonderful things, but I greatly appreciate his thoughtfulness, his honesty, and his selflessness. He isn't so great at the Gladiator playstation move game, but he will dominate in frisbee golf if you dare to challenge him. He has an uncanny sales talent, with both mobile phones and plasma screens. Go visit him at Best Buy! He will unabashedly skip you in Phase 10, but I think I am on a winning streak. If you were unaware, we broke up for 2.5 seconds (okay, 3 incredibly long days) in the middle of April. They were some of the most miserable days of my ...

Often referred to as NH when I mention him here, I've known Nathan Honaker since I was in 4th grade. He truly is one of my life-long best friends, despite the heartbreak that we put each other through in turn. It all started in 5th grade, maybe with a yes or no note? The details escape me. We had a good three day run. He moved away to Greenville, SC for our sixth grade year and I didn't really notice his absence. Probably too preoccupied with a crush on a guy that barely knew I existed. But, seventh grade year was a different story. He came back to Raleigh. And promptly started dating a different girl. Cool, Nate. We spent time together on the cross country team and formed a friendship through running and our Bayleaf Baptist church connection. I played Yahtzee at his house one evening with both of our siblings and watched him and Oakes battle it out in Ping Pong. The summer after seventh grade he moved into a house in my neighborhood, approximately 2.5 miles away. Convenie...

I hope it's not cheating to combine two people in one post and pass it off as one person. I cannot narrow the influential people in my life to only 21 measly individuals. Katherine and Caroline Nelson are my two blood cousins and I absolutely love them both. Katherine is 6 months younger than me, but about 2 feet shorter, while Caroline is about 2 years younger than me, but probably 2 feet taller. They both live in New Orleans, one of my favorite cities in America, but I don't get to visit them nearly as much as I'd like. Of course, now that I have my own set of wheels I can change that pretty quickly. I'm hoping to hug both of their necks in early July at a family reunion in Illinois.  They both have dreams in the medical field, majoring in that crazy Biology subject. I got a 1 on the AP Biology exam so unfortunately those science smarts don't run in the family. I go through spurts of time with both of them where we will talk often, and then others where th...

Confession: Sometimes I feel truly blessed to have Addison's Disease. For one, it's fairly manageable, and for two (the best reason), I have met some amazing people through this connection! I use "met" loosely because I have yet to physically meet any of these women, but they all sound so wonderful on social media! And I hope one day I can hug each one and compare drug prescriptions and medical alert jewelry while swapping ER stories. Alycia: I found Alycia on Instagram when I scrolled through the hashtag #addisonsdisease last year. After wading through endless pictures of dogs (fun fact: dogs get Addison's Disease and I swear the world knows more about the canine disorder than the human one. Nope, not bitter), I stumbled upon a picture of a race to raise awareness for Addison's Disease. Being a runner, I was instantly intrigued and decided to creepily comment and ask Alycia about it. She informed me that it was in Australia, where she lives, so that was a ...

early days One year. 52 weeks. 365 days. That's how long I've been dating Tyler. It hasn't been a year without any single heartache, but it's been a blessed year with the boy that I love.  The boy who attended kindergarden twice. The boy who speaks whale fluently. The boy who lets me slip my gum trash into his pockets and says, "your trash is my treasure, babe!" The boy who untangles all of his clothes before putting them in the washer (we differ here, I throw the whole lot in and wish for the best). The boy who refuses to eat the crumbly bottom bag bits of chips The boy who remembers movies so well, even minute details and quotes, so that sometimes I'm left wondering, "did we just watch the same movie?" The boy who didn't understand different types of cheeses. Like the merits of Parmesan on pasta as opposed to a bag of 4 cheese Mexican. 6 months The boy who sings along to his music when he runs and plays air drums The boy wh...

I'm on page 27 of Dr. Townsend's book. It's not exactly a light read. He talked about mirror neurons on page 26 and I admittedly skimmed until I started seeing non-scientific words again. He noted that "learning about love can't be done out of the context of relationship" which I thought was enlightening. Especially since I originally planned to teach myself how to love by myself. But he defines love as bending "our heart, mind, and energies toward the betterment of someone else." I tried to practice patience and kindness this week so that the people I'm around feel loved.   And this week I add the third quality, "it [love] does not envy." I remember when Megan received her Jeep last year. I was so envious. I've never really had a car to call my own EVER and here she was getting her brand spankin' new dream car when her old car still got her from Point A to Point B. I was SO jealous. I wasn't as happy as I could have been...

I wouldn't call myself a skeptic exactly when it comes to the power of God. I don't doubt that it exists, but I do doubt that His power works in MY life, personally. I'm so insignificant in this universe of billions of people.  But it's hard to not be in awe of some mind-blowing coincidences that occurred two weekends ago.  That Thursday night was hard and I found solace in James 1:2-4, a verse that proclaims that "perseverance finish its work so that you may be MATURE and COMPLETE, not lacking ANYTHING."  Tyler and I met to talk on the Friday night (I definitely ended up using 3 sturdy napkins to mop up my tears) and he shared with me that he had watched a Life Church sermon that morning. A sermon that focused specifically on James 1:2 and the concept that "sometimes it takes what no one wanted to bring what everyone needed."  I sat there, stunned that out of the 10, 563 verses in the Bible, we both found separate comfort in the same one.  But ...

I unearthed this pearl of a paper from a file filled with a Safe Sex PowerPoint presentation I made for my speech class at TCU, several embarrassing essay attempts, and my AP Biology Fruit Lab report. Oh, the joys of a hard drive.  I did not have a guy when I wrote this during my junior year in high school, unless you count the pseudo-long-distance relationship that NH and I shared, so I don't know why I thought I was an expert. But my English teacher required an advice essay so I didn't hesitate to share my extenssive knowledge... Well, if you are reading this you are wondering how to get, but most importantly, KEEP a guy. I mean, once you actually have him labeled as yours, you have to have some strategy to keep him that way. First things first. Hopefully, you were already pretty good friends with this guy. It is not a good idea to jump from, “Hi, what’s your name?” immediately to holding hands and sending sappy text messages. Trust me, it is likely that this sort of r...

On my bed you can find several practical blankets, 3 pillows (one for sleeping on, the others as barriers to any monsters lurking in the closet), aaaaand one, rather old, childhood "blankie". Yep, I've slept with my baby blanket for 20 years and counting. I feel like the fact that it isn't a stuffed animal makes it almost acceptable. It's just something to keep me warm! If you ignore the fact that it would only cover my torso if I used it as it was intended...  Instead I ball it up and hold it close to me as I sleep.  I'm not entirely positive on why I have this attachment to a childhood relic. But it's been a constant through all 5 states, changing relationships, crying jags, bookworm nights, poor-decision hangovers, and Addison's-induced puking (it has been washed I swear!). It's like having a non-interactive pet/baby that requires zero responsibility from me.  I don't know when I'm going to evict my cuddle buddy from the typical s...

He had the sadz male model obvs Today marks month NINE that I've been dating Tyler. So, in honor of such an auspicious occasion, I've compiled the top 9 funniest things he's ever said. Humor is a major cornerstone of any relationship that I have and I'm so glad he can put up with it when I make fun of him every now and then. And all times in between. it's not batman but... this...is tolerance of his immature girlfriend God, Karen, you're so stupid When working on French homework the sentence began with "je parti." Tyler helpfully mused, "So, I partied..." Brb dying. Parti is a conjugated form of the verb "partir" which means 'to leave'. We made cupcakes (Valentine ones to be exact) on Sunday night. When I was over at his house on Monday I searched for them so I could devour a delectable heart-shaped delicacy, "I need a cupcake." "OH, they're in the refrigerator!" *stran...

Tyler and I are literally THE WORST at giving presents on the actual day of celebration. I think it's becoming more of a tradition than a faux pas. Who knows, we may end up celebrating Valentine's Day on February 1st or something equally ridiculous. I gave him his birthday present (originally designated for June 18th) around June 10th and he reciprocated by presenting me with my birthday gift weeks before my twentieth year of life. I had been working on his Christmas present since October and that's a really, really long time to keep such an epic secret. So I knew I wouldn't last much past Thanksgiving, when I completed the project. My gift to him was also time sensitive so I told him I needed to give it to him before Christmas. He caved to peer pressure and agreed to exchange gifts at the beginning of December. The plan was to decorate the tree at his house on November 29th, switch presents, and then watch Elf. We did all of that, except we opened presents on Novem...

So I mentioned in a previous post that Tyler would be guest writing to share his side of who he has found me to be, in rebuttal to my sharing the observances of him in a post that celebrated our 6 months together. He emailed me his words, complete with pictures, for your enjoyment. I'm sure that everyone who regularly reads Taylor’s blog has a pretty good idea of who Taylor Arceneaux is, but I’d like to give you a little inside scoop of what I’ve learned about her over these last seven months. Taylor Olivia Arceneaux was born on July 1, 1992 in Bloomington, Indiana to two spectacular parents, Paul and Shari “Sharbear” Arceneaux. She has one younger brother named Oakes who will be graduating from Heritage Hall this year. And I can’t forget her wonderful grandparents (with a free meal from Slim Chicken's and Longhorn Steakhouse, wonderful might be selling them a little short.) She has lived in Indiana, Tennessee, North Carolina, Texas, and Oklahoma over the last twenty ye...

I've learned a lot about Tyler Aaron McKee in the past six months. Born on June 18, 1990, he is a solid 22 years old with two brothers (he's the baby), really cool parents, and truly lovely grandparents. This boy is an Oklahoma City Thunder enthusiast and unbeatable at NBA 2K12 on PlayStation. Unfortunately, his video game skills don't transfer to Nintendo64 Diddy Kong Racing #suckstosuck. When he's not watching "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" he is stuck on level 30 in Bubble Mania. I'm on level 54, but who's competing, really. He typically avoids spicy foods but manfully swallowed-and claims he enjoyed!-Sharbear's gumbo. He washes down 100 Grand bars and pretzel M&M's with red Gatorade, lemonade, or Dr. Pepper 10. He takes notes in French class with a Bic Atlantis, pointing out the squirrels ("ecureuil, ecureuil!") through the perfectly drawn, symmetrical blinds (he is kinda OCD). Tyler listens to live recordings of ...

If there is one thing that I've learned in 2012, it's that relationships are ever-changing. Whether for good, for bad, of just for a new season in life, it happens. I'm slowly coming to terms with the idea that there is nothing wrong with change. Change builds people, change grows friendships. I've had my fair share of "best" friends. Whether they were best for a season or best for a lifetime is irrelevant. I can't choose the best person that has made me the better version of myself that I am today. It is a combination of everyone's bests. The popular meaning of a "best friend" is juvenile. I think I have at least 4 "best friends" necklaces in my jewelry drawer at home. A Hello Kitty one for me and Samantha, a orange sparkly duck one for me and Callie, a dolphin one (that changes color depending on my mood! omg LyKe we were/are the coolio-est!) for me and Kayla, and an ice cream cone one for me and Ashley. But necklaces don't ...

Approximately 5 months ago Tyler asked me on what I consider our first official date. We had hung out prior to this evening, but this is the first time that he took me anywhere. He texted me on Thursday, May 3, "Victoria's tonight? :)" Before you ream him for texting an invitation, don't. I found it perfectly acceptable, especially with the smiley face addendum. It took me less than 3 seconds to say yes and I spent the rest of the afternoon finalizing an outfit, traipsing up and down the hall to Natasha's room to get feedback and snapping countless mirror pics to garner Sharbear's opinion. I bet he doesn't remember this, but I wore white jeans, a navy tank top with flower embellishments, and navy sandals speckled with multicolored flowers. He picked me up in his too-hot-to-handle Honda Civic and took me to dinner at Victoria's, an Italian place on Campus Corner. We sat at a little two-person table to the right of the door and I tried to cross my le...

My competitiveness brings an interesting dynamic to relationships. Especially the one I have with Tyler. I've recently been paying more attention to my dictionary word-of-the-day notifications and tweeting a sentence a day using the new syllable(s). Today's word was "hamartia", a noun meaning "tragic flaw". It's hard to narrow it down when you have lots, but my tweet today read: "I have countless imperfections, but one glaring #hamartia is my extreme competitiveness when it matters least. #wordoftheday"-@AVeryLuckyGirl   It all started a few weeks ago with a trip to OKC to see my family one Sunday. I challenged Tyler to a game of Battleship. He was convinced that he could probably beat me. False. From the bonus room emitted a symphony of "hit"'s from Tyler and "miss"'s from me, followed by a few muffled choice words as Tyler realized he was losing to the Battleship Queen. I sank all of his ships with only minor s...

On May 8th I started officially dating one of the greatest guys I've ever known. But I want to share some background story. Because we are pretty freakin' cute.  I sat in the "cool corner" of our Beginning French class with my friend Natasha. The boy in question perched diagonally across from me, conveniently located beneath the clock for easy glance-stealing access. During one of Natasha and I's many discussions about the male species, I piped up, "Hey you know who's pretty cute? That guy across from us in French!" She stared at me, mouth agape, "He's gay." "No! Not him. NEXT to him."  During our next class she nudged me, "yeah, you're right. You should ask him out!" HAHAHAHA since when has that ever been Taylor Arceneaux's style? If you guessed never then go get yourself a cookie. You deserve one. I responded with an "are you dumb?" eye roll. She picked up on it and whisper-yelled (did I menti...