Guest Feature: Ms. Fancypants’ Life Well Lived List

Good Morning, Friends! I’m so thrilled to bring you the first (of what I hope will be many) featured LWL lists on the blog! I need more submissions to keep this thing a float, so please, don’t be shy!

Without further adieu, I bring you the musings of one of my “real life” friends, who is stylish, kind, and generous!

Enjoy reading a bit from the life of my friend, Ms. Fancypants!

For information about contributing, please check here:

Life Well Lived

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As I was perusing Kelsey’s blog today, as any good stalker would do, I found a challenge to tell my own stories. I love the idea of using a blog, or any outlet, really, as a means to bring positivity into the world and encourage others to find the silver lining in their own lives. Because let’s face it…. Life can seriously suck sometimes.

So here is my “LWL” list for today. I’m very long-winded, so I will not overwhelm you with the Top 20 Milestones of Miss Fancypants’ life… just… oh, let’s go with 5, shall we?

In no particular order:

1. I have traveled the world. Well… some of it.

When I was in high school, my parents offered to pay for me to visit New York. Now, don’t get me wrong… the Big Apple is amazing and wonderful and houses some of the most amazing actors, directors, choreographers, etc in the nation… but my parents were not sending me for that. Our religious headquarters is located in Brooklyn, New York, and they were offering me a chance to go tour the facility for 3 days.

I thanked my parents but informed them that I wanted to go to Europe, not New York. They laughed it off, quite literally, with a “sure you do” and left it alone. The following year, the year I would graduate, they offered again. I reminded them that I would be going to Europe instead. They both protested, saying it was expensive and dangerous for someone my age, etc, etc. I told them I had been saving every nickel and dime for over a year and now had enough to get there and back. I had no idea how I would eat or get around while there, but I was going. “All due respect, I have the money, I have the time, I will be 18 by the time I’m ready to go…. So you can’t stop me. I’m going whether you help me get there or not.”

In April, they threw me a graduation party. As my gift, they told me they had been saving since offer to send me to New York. They assumed I would change my mind, but since I hadn’t, they would give me the money they saved as spending money. So in September, my stupid little 18 year old self put her ass on an airplane and flew to London, took a ferry to Calais, a bus to Paris and an overnight train to Rome. It was one of the most wonderful experiences of my life. I learned many valuable lessons with it… that I could, indeed, make even the most unlikely things happen for myself, that I want to live in Paris or somewhere very near it someday, that I could and would be happy without Justin Pringle (who forgets their first real love??), and that when I remove myself from a certain set of circumstances or atmosphere, a new person emerges from within. Not too bad for an 18 year old.

2. I have saved a life.

The first time I ever went into a chat room, I noticed a certain poster’s comments were very negative. We started talking privately and I found that it was a teenage girl, about my age, and she was contemplating suicide that very night. I chatted with her for about 5 hours, assuring her that, no matter how bad life had gotten, it would get better; that God cared for her; that her family, no doubt, cared for her, even if they were having a hard time showing it at the time; that I cared for her, despite the fact that we had just met. I quoted some scriptures to her and discussed what I believe happens when we die. We talked about the consequences for those left behind, were she to take her life. We talked and talked until dawn. I gave her my email address and phone number and told her to call me if she were ever feeling that way again.
Several months later, I got an email. She said I had saved her life that night. She thought about all we had discussed and sought help. She had gone into treatment and was doing so much better… and she wanted to thank me for not leaving her alone that night. It was a very humbling experience.

3. I have watched the sunrise.

On a trip with friends and family to the Frio River one year, I set my alarm to wake before the sun rose. I went for a jog and, when the sun started to peek through, sat by the river, listened to the water hurrying by, and watched the day begin. In moments like that, I think how lucky we are that God loves us enough to show us what real beauty is.

4. I have thrown caution to the wind.

In more ways than one. I have stayed with complete strangers in cities I’ve never been to. I have flown across the country on a whim to visit a man I’d known for 3 days. I have walked into the bar and decided I wanted to hang with the band after the gig… and made it happen. I have jumped into a limo with a complete stranger. I have had the cops called. I have made terrible decisions and lived to tell their stories.

5. I have grown a person.

Of all my adventures, this one was the most rewarding. I am 5 ft tall and, when pregnant, resemble an albino Oompa Loompa. Pregnancy was miserable for the majority of the 10 months I acted as ‘the vessel’ – oh yes, they SAY it’s 9 months… but no sir… it’s 39 weeks. That’s closer to 10, my friends. 10. But, around 3 months, I was lying in bed and felt this strange bump from inside. It was like nothing I’d ever felt before and I knew, without a doubt, that it was my little pumpkinhead letting me know he was trying his hardest to be healthy so he could meet me soon.

At 5 months along, I gulped down Hawaiian Punch so that the munchkin growing inside would be active and I would be able to find out if the creature pushing on the other side of my stomach was a boy or girl. When the sonographer turned the screen toward us, I saw him reach his little hand up and punch at the same time as I felt him move… and we found out that the person we thought was named Evelyn was NOT an Evelyn after all. At 8 months, we had a 3D ultrasound done. I was already having complications and was so ready to hold my sweet baby boy in my arms. He wasn’t all that active that day, and the tech told my ex to talk to the baby… sometimes, the baby will move in reaction to a familiar voice. After about a minute of constant “Baaaaaaaby Boyyyyyy…. It’s daddy….”, the tech turned to me and said, “Why don’t you try, mom?” All it took was, “Hi Baby… it’s Mom.” I kid you not… the little face on the screen grinned. Less than 2 months later, Baby Fancypants made his debut in my life and has captivated me every since. He is the best, most honest thing I have ever given the world.

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Thank you so much, Ms. Fancypants!

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