refreshing conversations

i am quite a talker and perfecting the art of listening.  
i wish i could talk to so many people from my past and just listen to what they have to say.
silence is beautiful, especially when you are listening.

eddie and i in NYC

eddie: i spent 2 hours speaking to my very dear friend second lieutenant eddie mobley.  this was incredibly refreshing in the sense that i haven't talked to him in months.  eddie and i go way back.  he was the guy i looked up too (and will always adore)  when i was a little measly 6th grader and he was a big, impressive, popular 8th grader.  sense all those years ago, we have developed such an obscure relationship.  we were both atheletes and leaders in our high school.  we had/have a lot in common. we talk so sporadically (which i hope will change but we both are up to our nose in busyness) but once we finally talk, it is like no time has passed at all.  eddie graduated from west point military academy 2 years ago and is now in flight school for apache helicopters.  he is a driven man doesn't let anything stop him from doing what he wants to do.  i have so much to learn from him.  after 2 hours, it felt only like 10 minutes.  this is the longest phone conversation i have had with anyone in such a long time.  i had such an enjoyable talk with eddie and it was really what i needed to lift my spirits.  when you actitively engage in someone else's life and genuinely care about what they are up to, that is one of the most rewarding experiences.  he had so much to tell me and i couldn't stop listening to all the crazy military and college-like party stories he had to tell me.  he is doing great, and that makes me happy.   

i believe everyone deserves to be happy.

haley asked me why this picture wasn't
on my blog.   well, hay, HERE IT IS :)
haley and connor on their first date

haley:  HALEY!!!! and i spent all day together yesterday.  we moved boxes, cleaned her apartment, cooked food, drove through starkville, actively recruited (very successful), and talked more than humans should talk in one day.  this could not have been more refreshing.  we talked about EVERYTHING.  when i say EVERYTHING.....i mean EVERYTHING from A to Z.  haley is one of the most bubbly people ever.  she loves green, and looks great wearing that color.  it brings out her eyes to match her stunning blonde hair.  haley has this way of relating to you no matter what you have been through and is always there to offer support or advice.  i really just enjoyed listening to her talk yesterday.  we shared really secret things and very personal things in order to see into each other's lives a little better.  i think a door was opened in our relationship. i can learn so much from haley. both of us have been really lonely lately, and being together all day yesterday we just fed on each other's lively personality.  i am so blessed to have haley as a friend, teammate, and sister.  as much as she may tell me that she loves me and that i help her, i promise you she helps me more than she will ever know.

"The most basic of all human needs is the need to understand and be understood. The best way to understand people is to listen to them."

— Ralph Nichols