Boys Boys Boys

So senior year was a beautiful hot mess of a shit show (sorry for the language). To top it all off at the end of second semester I was getting really unhappy. You know the typical "I don't want to leave college and my friends" unhappy but there was a little something else on top of that. As many of you know if you've kind of followed R and I had been dating since the middle of high school. When I finished senior year we would have hit the 6 year mark together! Crazy long time. 

Up until then R was my world. I loved him with my whole heart and thought that he was "the one". One and done. I thought he would be the one I would traverse the world with, marry, and have a family with. Everything was going well but somewhere in February I felt a shift on my end.

He was still the amazing gentleman I still know and he treated me like a queen at every turn. At that point in the year the sorority, my friends, and real life started taking a major front seat. So much so our relationship fell to the way side. He noticed and I'm not sure if he was doing this intentionally or not but I started to feel smothered. There were constant questions of where I was, who I was hanging out with, and what I was doing. He wasn't a fan of drinking and I had found social drinking a fun thing to partake in.

To me I started to feel like he was very controlling and didn't really appreciate what I was doing or wanted to do. He held me on this pedestal of ideals he wanted me to be and thought I was. In reality I was realizing who I really was and wanted to be. I was growing up and changing which didn't seem to settle well with him.

We had the most awful breakup one could imagine.

It sucked.

I called him one night and told him I wanted to end us. Get out of the relationship. I needed to find out who I was. I had not been single for 6 years and he was my first serious boyfriend. He was not happy about this, I mean who would be. This was about mid-April.

He didn't take it well and kept hanging around. I tried my best to be civil and be the good friend to him that I knew he needed. I really didn't want to loose him as a friend but looking back at that time it was necessary to completely break ties and come back at a later time to build that friendship back up. He hung around, showed up unannounced, and just wouldn't let go. He kept bringing up the same conversations and getting really upset. 

It wasn't until almost mid-May or the end of May that he finally got the message and gave up. I was livid with him. The fact that he was keeping tabs on me and who I was seeing and what I was doing still was frustrating. I was so mad at him. I was hurting so bad but just couldn't sweep this under the rug. I kept my ground and held fast to the decision I made.

Through the summer he would pop up occasionally and it felt like we were moving toward friendship and it made me so happy. Then out of nowhere he decided to start avoiding me, well at least that's what it seems like right now. I understand. He has a new girlfriend and probably does not want to mix past with present.

I'm sad. I miss my best friend. He seems so happy though and that makes things so much better. I know it will take a long time but I hope we can be the best friends again that we once were. 

It's hard to let go. I never really understood it before but now it makes complete sense.

Since then I have popped in and out of the dating world. I've had a lot of flops. Some promising starts that just fell through. Dating sucks. It's fun at the beginning but I'm over it. I have completely pushed dating out of my world and have been focusing on me. I figure if it's meant to be it will happen and I will know. For now my world revolves around my friends and what makes me happy.

It's weird not having someone there to share everything with and go out with but it's kind of refreshing.

Love is a weird thing. I love love but man it fucking sucks. To everyone out there, don't force love or a relationship. Let it do it's thing and enjoy the ride. It may not always end nicely but we have to learn somehow and what better way then to make some mistakes and move on.

If for some reason R finds this heres a little note to you.

I know you are happy now and I couldn't be more thrilled for you. I hope things continue to work out for you and that you are beyond successful. Hopefully one day you will talk to me again and we can grab some brunch. You'll always be in my thoughts and there will always be good wishes for you from me. Keep pushing, have fun, be happy, and don't let anyone tell you you can't do something.

Until next time darlings

XOXO

ZMH

Sunday Service & Speke Estate (Liverpool Day 4)

 After a long day of watching futball and traveling on the bus Sunday was a pretty laid back day with church and touring a local estate. 

My self and a couple other of the students went to All Saint's Church in Childwall for the family service in the late morning. It was a pretty short and fun service because all of the kids were there. It was noisy and entertaining to watch the kids run around and answer questions about the bible that were asked.

After the service the whole group met up and took the bus out to see Speke Estate. This estate had been around for 400 years. This estate is a traditional Tudor style estate meaning that it is low to the ground and wide as well as painted on the outside the tradition black and white.

Way in the back you can see the estate, we had a little bit of a walk up to the estate but we enjoyed the pretty fields and forests surrounding the area.

Above is door to the carriage house. This was used to house all of the families horses as well as guests horses. Below was the servants house but was turned into a tea parlour for the tourists.

The front of the estate was currently under restoration so we were not able to see it in all of its glory but you can imagine how beautiful it is! Below shows the Adam and Eve trees that stand in the courtyard of the estate. These trees are about 1,000 years old but it is unsure exactly how old they are because to be able to do that they would have to cut them down. For now the trees stand there and look pretty!

I loved in the first room that this beautiful organ hid a fireplace. The story was that the room was originally two rooms and the family decided they wanted it to be bigger so they knocked down the wall.

This statue above is of a Tudor family member. It is unsure who this statue is but they must have been very important to be able to have such a big and magnificent statue made of them. Below is a portrait of one of the families most important body guards who was later a wrestler. This man was so famous because he was unusually tall for the time, it is estimated that he was about six and half feet tall.

The family was privileged enough to have a separate room for their bathroom which at the time was very unusual. Of course servants still had to heat up water down stairs and run it upstairs for baths but that wasn't problem.

The servants bells in the servants courters. Each bell was made a little differently so that if a servant could not see the bell ring they could hear it and know what room they needed to report to. Below are the remnants of the family's pigeon and dove home. This housed a couple hundred birds that they kept as pets, food, and messenger birds.

Part of the houses back gardens and below is a lovely view of the back of the estate.

After a long day of touring Speke Estate and soaking in all of the information it was time to get some energy from Abbey Friar. I feel in love with this place! It was so delicious, always fresh, and right down the street from campus (also it was super cheap). By the end of my stay the workers knew who I was and what I wanted (no shame).

I found that their litter bins were so pretty! Below is a photo of the little street of shops we all frequented just around the corner from campus. This street held Abbey Friar, the convenience store, Bargain Booze, and the pharmacy.

Overall this was a great low key day and pretty great first weekend in Liverpool. Looking back at these photos I really miss this place, it stole a piece of my heart. I also am really missing the fish and chips, nothing in America compares to Abbey Friar.

XOXO

ZMH