Aldens first Blog Post

Cousin Audrey keeps talking to me about this blog that Nana has and she was teasing me that at 5 months she herself wrote her 1st post so I better get busy.

This is me Alden Michael Krueger 

 

I first met my Nana just moments after my birth on January the 28th 2013. All I had to do was lay there, (which was a bit hard to balance since my legs would not lay down) and she cried. You are right cousin Audrey she is pretty sappy.

My Nana sang this song to me when I was just a couple of days old, I was crying and she began singing something about Grace being Amazing and whatever Grace is- it is amazing because even now 5 1/2 months later that song calms me right down.

You said Nana liked to tell stories and you are right she does.  My favorite though was when I was only a few days old.  I didn't want to sleep one night and mommy and daddy needed to rest.  Nana took me downstairs and she looked me in the eyes and said baby your mommy wanted you for so long.  she wanted to be a mommy more than anything.  She has done really well and will embrace motherhood.  Your daddy though, he was scared.  You see he didn't have a daddy growing up to teach him things daddy's teach.  He was afraid he would fail. Nana started crying again. (Hey cuz, does she do that a lot?) Then she chuckled and this was the funny part, she said you know your daddy said "how will I know what to do?", "will I just wake up someday and know this is the day I teach him the ABC'S?"  I don't know what they are so I am pretty sure that day hasn't come yet.  Then Nana thanked me.  She said Alden you proved your daddy wrong.  He does know how to be a daddy. I saw it in his eyes the moment he saw you, I saw determination on his face, I heard protectiveness in his words and I saw Love in his heart. Nana said. you see Alden, you made my son a daddy and no one else can do that.

This is my mommy and daddy.

 

This is me and Nana 

You are right cousin Audrey Nana loves it when we smile at her. It has been pretty profitable so far.

 

 

So I was warned about the photography and the outfits but just humor me will you?

 

 

This is me in an outfit that Nana's mommy made for daddy when he was a baby? I can't believe daddy was once a baby.  How did he grow so big?  I sure have alot to learn.

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is me with what Nana says is my blog thinking pose.

 

 

 

so after months of looking at each other through a little screen on something called Skype and listening to our parents brag about us, I finally got to meet you last month.  I love you cuz and you are right you are pretty cute but next time could you lay off the kisses a little bit. 

 

Anyway, so far you are keeping me up to speed on what I need to know and so I thank you for that.  I know I have a lot to learn but one thing is for sure we are 2 pretty lucky kids, I think Nana would give her life for us..... Oh wait a minute she just took over the keyboard.

You are right Alden and Audrey nana would.

Trail talk (amongst myself)

In the last couple of weeks I have done alot of walking/running and biking. 

Yesterday I told myself it was just the heat that was making me have a constant conversation with myself however I have not convinced that self yet.

Curiosity, nosy, judgemental? Why do we see people and draw conclusions about them ?  I was able to identify and classify people by just running by them.  There are many charachters represented on one trail!

There is the elderly couple who just leisurely walk and enjoy each other and the fact that they can still walk.

There are those training for a marathon;
Students readying themselves for track;
Mommies just wanting to get out;
Mid-life men who are trying to defy aging;
The perverted  strange camera man who is there EVERYDAY with his camera- how many bird pictures does one need?
Young families pushing strollers;
Bikers who are clearly strong bikers and bikers who are not;
And today a new group hit the trail, The real housewives of Reynoldsburg Ohio.

Strange maybe.
Seriously though I did have an opinion about every person I encountered.  It made me think about myself for a moment.  I even thought ok, am I initiating a morning greeting more often than the person I pass or am I just a responder?  Shamefully more often I was the responder.

What are they thinking about me?  Oh there goes the woman who has to match her shoes to her shorts. AND man they are bright.
Hey strange man with the camera if you are going to drag me in the woods and leave me there I am going to be sure to make it easy to be found.

See where our minds go?
What if this is what I saw?

People.  Beautiful people just doing what they love, want or need to do.  Nothing more, nothing less.

Still learning lessons

Have you ever wondered if there is an easier way to learns life's lessons than the hard way?

When we are kids, as we grow we learn how to play with others which leads us to learn how to get along with others. Through the stages of our growth we learn that life is not always fair and getting what we want does not always happen.  We learn how to belong . We discover there are consequences to our behaviors and for some that lesson is harder to get than for others.


As we become adults there are already so many lessons we have learned, some we accept some we do not which may lead to mistakes made.

We learn that what we knew of friendships may have been superficial.  After all as a child or young adult we may not have had an experience that warranted the testing of true friendships.  Our true friendships change the way they look.  It is no longer important to belong to the most popular group.  We don't have to be rich or attractive to be loved by others. We learn that true friends love us for who we really are even when we are being ugly. 

When life gets tough for me who do I want beside me? I want a friend who can tell me the truths even if the truth is not what I want to hear.  That is how we learn and trust and grow.  If someone loves me enough to tell me what is ugly about me and the next sentence they still show they love me, that is who I want by my side.


Our relationships are where we really learn about ourselves.
Friends bad things do happen to good people.  That is just the way life is.  It is how we learn to cope, recover and keep things in perspective that help us learn those life lessons quicker.  Sometimes we have to take some of the lessons we have learned and unlearn them along the way, you know the not so positive .

We are or maybe I should say I am always seraching for the meaning in our living.  I think we find it through our friendships, our sense of purpose, helping others, and our spirituality and for me mostly in my Faith.

I learned a tough lesson this week and it was one I thought I had already learned. I failed the lesson miserabley though.  But this is what I take away;

Relationships are not one sideded ( I knew this) but they may be driven by only 1 person.  What I mean is our relationships are where we really learn about ourselves.  If somone took my friendship for granted then I can not control their role in it but I can control mine. I have become more aware of my own strengths and vulnerabilities and while it takes more than one individual to make a relationship work we can really only control our part.

I am going to be who I am for me, who I am to others for them, and who I am as a child of God for HIM. 

What I hope anyone takes away from a friendship with me is loyalty, honesty and trust.  What they cannot take away is my sense of self I can promise, that lesson is one I have learned.