This may sound completely corny, but a life changing moment for me is the day I met my husband. I knew before I even met him that there was something different about him. We had just connected so well in our conversations through email, texts and over the phone the months leading up to our meeting that it was surreal when we first met. I remember being nervous about expectations being too high, both his and mine. I was worried that our physical connection might not be as strong at first as the emotional one that had already developed.

Yet, when we met….it was wonderful. You could tell that we were both nervous but were able to converse and be ourselves. I don’t think that either of us had ever been loved fully for who we are by someone else. We both can completely be ourselves around each other. We accept each other for our strengths and our flaws. 

I realized that I had never been in love or truly happy until I met Chris. To be honest, before we met…I had started to think that true love didn’t exist. While life still likes to give us some lemons along the way, I have a partner to make lemonade with. I have someone to be silly with. I have someone who cares about the little randomness of my daily life. A partner in crime.

It is life changing to be in a relationship that is real and based on a solid foundation of  love. It has given me a confidence in who I am as a person and to know that I have someone who is so supportive. My life has never been the same, in a good way!

Here are my results.

I seem to have moderate preferences of Introversion over Extroversion(33%), Intuition over Sensing(25%), Feeling over Thinking(25%), and Judging over Perceiving(56%).

Introverted iNtuitive Feeling Judging
by Joe Butt Profile: INFJ

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Beneath the quiet exterior, INFJs hold deep convictions about the weightier matters of life. Those who are activists — INFJs gravitate toward such a role — are there for the cause, not for personal glory or political power.
INFJs are champions of the oppressed and downtrodden. They often are found in the wake of an emergency, rescuing those who are in acute distress. INFJs may fantasize about getting revenge on those who victimize the defenseless. The concept of ‘poetic justice’ is appealing to the INFJ.
“There’s something rotten in Denmark.” Accurately suspicious about others’ motives, INFJs are not easily led. These are the people that you can rarely fool any of the time. Though affable and sympathetic to most, INFJs are selective about their friends. Such a friendship is a symbiotic bond that transcends mere words.

This is true. I often questions peoples motives. I used to think the best about everyone and always give people the benefit of the doubt…until I was burned one too many times. Now? I may seem gullible on the outside like I once was, but inside? I am cautious until you prove that you are trustworthy. I am VERY selective and careful about who my real friends are. I am working very hard on not letting people walk all over me like I used to. I don’t have time for selfish or negative people in my life.

At the same time, I do try to help people in need and have empathy for a rough spot in life.

INFJs have a knack for fluency in language and facility in communication. In addition, nonverbal sensitivity enables the INFJ to know and be known by others intimately. Writing, counseling, public service and even politics are areas where INFJs frequently find their niche.

I find this interesting that they suggest politics as a profession. I hate politics and all the drama and lying that it seems to attract. I try to avoid political conversations at all costs. Mainly because the general public is stupid and their ideas and grasp of what is really going on is so clouded by the media and their own ignorance that it sickens me.

Functional Analysis:

Introverted intuitives, INFJs enjoy a greater clarity of perception of inner, unconscious processes than all but their INTJ cousins. Just as SP types commune with the object and “live in the here and now” of the physical world, INFJs readily grasp the hidden psychological stimuli behind the more observable dynamics of behavior and affect. Their amazing ability to deduce the inner workings of the mind, will and emotions of others gives INFJs their reputation as prophets and seers. Unlike the confining, routinizing nature of introverted sensing, introverted intuition frees this type to act insightfully and spontaneously as unique solutions arise on an event by event basis.

Extraverted feeling, the auxiliary deciding function, expresses a range of emotion and opinions of, for and about people. INFJs, like many other FJ types, find themselves caught between the desire to express their wealth of feelings and moral conclusions about the actions and attitudes of others, and the awareness of the consequences of unbridled candor. Some vent the attending emotions in private, to trusted allies. Such confidants are chosen with care, for INFJs are well aware of the treachery that can reside in the hearts of mortals. This particular combination of introverted intuition and extraverted feeling provides INFJs with the raw material from which perceptive counselors are shaped.

So basically I am judgy, but only my closest family and friends know this about me? Guilty.

The INFJ’s thinking is introverted, turned toward the subject. Perhaps it is when the INFJ’s thinking function is operative that he is most aloof. A comrade might surmise that such detachment signals a disillusionment, that she has also been found lacking by the sardonic eye of this one who plumbs the depths of the human spirit. Experience suggests that such distancing is merely an indication that the seer is hard at work and focusing energy into this less efficient tertiary function.

INFJs are twice blessed with clarity of vision, both internal and external. Just as they possess inner vision which is drawn to the forms of the unconscious, they also have external sensing perception which readily takes hold of worldly objects. Sensing, however, is the weakest of the INFJ’s arsenal and the most vulnerable. INFJs, like their fellow intuitives, may be so absorbed in intuitive perceiving that they become oblivious to physical reality. The INFJ under stress may fall prey to various forms of immediate gratification. Awareness of extraverted sensing is probably the source of the “SP wannabe” side of INFJs. Many yearn to live spontaneously; it’s not uncommon for INFJ actors to take on an SP (often ESTP) role.

I do have a good grasp on sensing things around me that others might not catch right away. I don’t feel like I loose sense of reality, but I do like to be in tune with gut instincts.

Some famous people who have the same personality type as me: Nicole Kidman, Mother Teresa, Jamie Foxx, Martin Luther King Jr, Jimmy Carter, and Billy Crystal (hilarious because my husband hates Billy Crystal and cant stand to watch anything with him in it).

I will take it. Mother Teresa and I have the same personality? Score.

I looked into my personality type a little more than just the views of this website that the test is affiliated. Some characteristics of INFJ’s include:

-They are extremely insightful, and see things that are not obvious to others. INFJs usually have a great deal of insight into different people and situations.
– When given a goal or context, an INFJ is able to generate all kinds of possibilities. They are able to see the problem from many different angles.
-They understand how others are feeling, and are genuinely concerned with others. In this matter, they make great friends, teachers, counselors, and mates.
-Perfectionists and idealistic, they always strive for the best.

With all strengths come weaknesses. Since I am apparently an INFJ, I do not like weakness so reading my own is hard!

-May be unaware or uncaring of how I come across to others
May quickly dismiss input from others without considering it
-With the ability to see an issue from many sides, they may always find others at fault for problems
May be intolerant of weakness in others
-May be sarcastic to others (oops)
-May hold grudges and have a difficulty forgiving others

And I leave you with this….because it is awesome.

We played grown ups and went to Target to purchase a few items that we have been meaning to get since oh I dont know…last June when we bought his house. We got a welcome mat for out front door. What kind of people don’t have welcome mats? Apparently us for a year. It has a dog bone on it of course. We also purchased a bath mat for our 3rd bathroom in the basement, some poster frames for Chris’s awesome gaming posters for the basement, new shower liners for the bathrooms and a curtain rod for our bedroom. We also went to Staples and got a new office chair. We came home and put together the poster frames and got all the other stuff set up. I also cleaned out the atrocious mess that we called our guest room. 

Saturday morning we woke up early and I did my normal 3 hour weekly clean of the house. Chris’s dad came over and helped us hang our curtains that we have had sitting around since last November. Oops. Then, while we waited for our guest to arrive…I enjoyed a hard root beer. It was amazing!

Our guest lives in Huntsville and had a bad first impression of Birmingham. We wanted to change that, so when she got here we headed to World of Beer. We hung out there for awhile and sampled several new beers. We then headed to Avondale Brewery. We sat outside and enjoyed the Georgia/South Carolina game…go Dawgs! Afterwards we went to J Clyde to have some dinner. It was such a great day! We took lots of pictures, but unfortunately I left my phone at home and have none of them. Fail! Maybe they will share them with me.

Sunday we took our guest to Chuy’s for lunch. Their patio has some of the best views in Birmingham!

Our waitress brought us out an extra thing of chips because she said we had lots to dip. Why yes, we did! Lunch was delicious, even though any of us hardly touched our meals after all the wonderful dips we had going!

After lunch our guest departed and Chris and I headed to Target and Publix for our weekly grocery shopping. Sunday evening we enjoyed some more Vampire Diaries, we are almost caught up to where the season is now! I don’t know what we will do when we are caught up?! 

I hope everyone has a wonderful week! Go get it!

I do love a 3 day work week! It is Friday already, and I am not going to complain! Time for the Friday Five! 

1. Candy Corn M&M’s. That’s right folks….they are back! I did a happy dance in the Target Wednesday night when I saw these on the shelf. I may or may not have eaten no less than half the bag on my way home. Don’t look at me with those judgy eyes!

2. Opened Blogger this morning, Chits and Giggles was on the top of my feed and I made the mistake of reading her post today. Sweetest darn story I have ever heard. I cried. Now I have to re-do my make up. Go watch it and listen to the song. Just too sweet for words. Click here.

3. Football. My boys are off this weekend. (Roll Tide!) The offensive line needs to go get their shit together before they play Texas A&M next weekend. You will find me this Saturday watching and cheering for the GA Dawgs as they try to bring South Carolina down. High hopes? Maybe…but go Dawgs!

  

4. I-20 is finally opened going both directions! Only in Alabama would they shut down an entire stretch of interstate to repave. It has been mayhem (like the Allstate commercial) for the last several months as they tried to get their shit together. It was so awesome going 80 MPH this morning down I-59 with out all those pesky I-20 commuters…until the speed traps started. NINE freaking speed traps in a 15 mile stretch of road. Well played cops, well played.

 

5. Look what time it is….

 

 

Topic: A story about a time you were very afraid.

I have already shared the most frightening time of my life with all of you back in April, when I told my story of the April 27th tornados and how they impacted my family. I would rather not rehash that and share another time I was afraid.

Anyone who has had me as a passenger in their car could probably tell you that I can be a little anxious in the car. I promise, I have good reason behind it! My story goes a little something like this.

It was spring break 2001. I was a senior in high school and my dad took my sister and I to St Louis for a few days to visit our friends. (We lived in MO for a few years while I was in middle school and early high school.) Our last night there my dad took my sister to the hotel pool and let me take the family car (a brand new Chevy Blazer) out to Warrenton to visit my bff Ashley. When I got to Ashley’s house to surprise her, she wasn’t there. Her mom said she had gone over to the tanning place and I knew exactly where it was and headed over that way.

I was on the service road in Warrenton, minding my own business and jamming out to some Ludacris. Specifically, What’s Your Fantasy. (For those of you who do not know what a service road is, it is a road that runs parallel with  the interstate.) I was coming up on the strip where the tanning place was and was about to turn in, I looked ahead and didn’t see anyone coming and proceeded to start turning. At that very moment, a car came flying around the corner and t-boned the passenger side of my car. They hit so hard that the blazer flew up in to the air, turned over and landed facing the opposite way on the other side of the street. I remember hearing the crashing sound and then seeing sky, grass, then sky again.

I wasn’t quite sure what happened for the first few moments following the impact. I remember hearing Luda in the background and seeing the car that had hit me sitting there in the middle of the road. The drivers head was laying face down on the steering wheel and there was a child crying. I unfastened my seat belt, and remember hitting my elbow and looking over. The passenger door was smashed in so far, that it was against the console. I got out of my car. I remember stepping out and my entire body was trembling. I was so afraid. I screamed help several times, though I don’t remember that. I had gone into shock. At this point, Ashley and the other people in the tanning salon had heard the crash and my screams and were running across the parking lot to me. They were calling 911 inside and checking on the people in the other car. Ashley was talking to me and seeing if I was OK. I told her that I didn’t know what had happened. She then asked me where the other kids went. I remember when I had gotten out of the car, there were several children and 2 adults in the car that hit me….and now there were only 2 adults and 2 children. The rest of the children were getting into a van that had pulled up. I later learned that there were more people in the car than what was legal and some of the kids were not properly restrained.

It seemed like just seconds had gone by, and there were all type of rescue vehicles showing up. A paramedic had come running to my car first. He asked me where the driver was. I told him I was the driver and he just looked at me. He said he just knew when he saw my car that I was ejected and laying on the side of the road somewhere. He wasn’t quite sure how I managed to have gotten out on my own and standing there. He asked me if I could follow him to the ambulance or if I needed to lay on a stretcher. I told him that I didn’t need any medical attention. A cop was walking up as I was saying that and said that I needed to get in the ambulance. I told him there was no point. That as soon as my dad hears about this, he would kill me and be pissed that he has medical bills to pay too!

The paramedic laughed and the cop said, “Honey, when your daddy sees that car and sees that you are OK, everything is going to be just fine. He isn’t going to care about anything else.” Still, I refused medical attention. Probably the biggest mistake I had ever made up to that point in my life. I sure did pay the next day after my adrenaline went down! EVERY muscle and bone in my body hurt. I could barely walk. My back was SOOOO messed up. That is a different story for a different day.

Ashley had called her mom, and her mom and step dad came down to the scene. Ashley’s mom had called the hotel where my dad was staying at and when she arrived she told me that the hotel was driving my dad and sister in a shuttle to come see me. I started to get real nervous because I just knew he was going to yell at me!

The driver in the other car was being treated, she wasn’t wearing her seatbelt and had hit her head on the steering wheel and was unconscious. There was a witness to the accident, a man behind me in a truck had seen everything. He said the other car was FLYING and there was no way that I would have seen them coming. He also said that the other car never even attempted to use their brakes. His story was confirmed by the police, as there was no evidence of tire marks or anything. They were driving nearly 65 mph in a 35 when they hit me. Missouri was a no fault state though, so we were each responsible for our own insurance.

When my dad arrived, he ran up to me and hugged me. He had tears in his eyes. My sister looked frightened. She said that she was in the pool when my dad got the call and they immediately got in to the elevator to get some clothes from the room before they left. She said my dad punched the elevator walls on the ride up. He called me mom, who had stayed behind in Georgia, and told her I was in a bad accident and that Ashley’s mom said that our car was totaled and that was all he knew. So she WORRIED the entire time until she heard my voice later that evening.

My dad thought it was ridiculous that I was worried about getting in trouble and refused medical attention. He said he was just happy I was OK. That a car could be replaced but I couldn’t be. So I was a little relieved even though I knew I would never hear the end of it, and to this day it still gets brought up quite regularly!

After everything was said and done, the blazer had to pretty much be reconstructed on the passenger side. It was only about a thousand dollars away from being totaled. It never drove the same after it was fixed, no car does. The driver of the other car ended up being just fine after she came to. I don’t really feel sorry for her. She should have been wearing her seat belt and not driving so fast. I hate that her kids were not properly restrained and she is really blessed that they were all OK.

If you have ever been in an accident, you know that crashing sound stays with you forever. Those moments right after the accident when I was in shock and didn’t know what was going on were some of the scariest moments of my life. I am so thankful and blessed to have walked away from that accident. While I spent MONTHS in physical therapy for my back, it could have been much worse. I have been in a few accidents since then, all accidents where I have been rear ended or the driver of the car I was in was rear ended, so yeah…you could say I am a little paranoid and certainly defensive in the car.