Well, hubby came home this weekend after the longest 6 weeks of my life. (Seriously, I don’t even think our last deployment was that bad. Yikes.) And these two kiddos are the happiest kids in the world, and finally back to their normal behavior.

So, a few things:

Tomorrow is October 1st and there are going to be some very big changes to my blogs.

– I’m moving my free themes over to this blog, and any future ones will be published here.

– I’ve changed my username from slightlyawsm to slightlyawesomeblog!

– My usernames on all other platforms / social networks is now gabbyguzik. I considered changing the username of this blog to gabbyguzik as well, because lack of uniformity drives me nuts. But that’s not going to happen. I just decided to make my username a bit less juvenile.

– Forever working towards better written, structured, posts instead of crazy randomness that nobody’s interested in. Remind me of that next time I babble on and on.

– I updated my theme, and it is nifty as fuck — go look at it! Do you see my menu bar on the right? Do you see my comment/note inline integration in my post pages? Do you see I have a banner/badge now that you can copy to your blog to tell everyone “I LOVE GABBY’S BLOG!”? Well, I do. So make a button for yours and we can swap. Free traffic, dude.

– Also? I officially started filling out my fafsa so that I can finally go get a degree in this web design nonsense. So, don’t expect to pay $15 for tumblr themes forever. 😉 Get your butt on the waitlist for a custom theme NOW!

And, I love you Tumblr.
That is all.

The Gabby .vs. Brie Thing

It’s been over a year and a half since i started going by Gabby. And sometimes I think it was such a stupid thing to do, and I consider dropping it—- but then I recall what it was like to be “Brie”.

A year and a half later and the only people who really call me Gabby are people who have met me in the time since I’ve started going by it. And then they are quite confused when they see/hear others refer to me as “Brie”. There are a few exceptions, but for the most part, my friends and family disregard it. Their excuse? “You’ve been Brie all the time I’ve known you. So that’s just who you are to me.”

I feel like this is such a silly & trivial thing to be upset about, and Lord knows I have bigger fish to fry right now, but it’s irking me at the moment. Like, I feel like I’m stuck between two identities. And I do not want to identify with the person that I associate being ‘Brie’ with any longer. Let me tell you why…

Brie didn’t pick her name, as most people don’t get to pick their own nicknames, and grew up surrounded by people who were always confused because they thought her name was Brianna (or some variation thereof). As a child, Brie was abused and molested by her biological father. As a teen, Brie was constantly getting the back of the hand for “mouthing off”. Brie had a lot mommy & daddy issues. In school, Brie was a gossip queen. Brie told lies, spread stories, started fights, went anon-stalker crazy online, and even blackmailed someone once. Brie exploited people’s secrets, played people against each other and broke up perfectly good friendships over lies. Brie revenge fucked other guys just to get back at the one guy who really loved her whenever they would fight. No shit, Brie was voted class Drama Queen in the Senior Yearbook. And the crown fit.

And after high school, Brie went to college, where Brie skipped class. Brie partied. Brie dressed like a ho. Brie popped pills. Brie smoked pot. Brie drove drunk (twice!) and couldn’t remember how she made it home. Brie dropped out of college. And once Brie became a mom, her priorities after her first born still sucked. Brie made an ass of herself on the internet before hundreds of other pissed off military spouses, and had to hide for almost a year to escape the fallout and embarrassment of the situation. Brie felt disconnected from her daughter, and struggled with the thought of suicide when pregnant with her second child because she was terrified of him, too. Brie was weak. Brie trusted all the wrong people. Brie was sexually assaulted because Brie put herself in a compromising position. Brie hated herself for that, and all the other bad shit that had happened, and knew that it was her own damn fault. Then Brie woke up one day in early 2012, had a Britney Spears worthy breakdown, went to the salon, had her head shaved, threw out most of her old clothes, bought $300 worth of new mom-appropriate ones, and said “I will never be this person again. I’m Gabby now.”

But people have been making it really difficult to feel like a new me, when the name they still throw at me is that of someone I’m trying to bury. You might not have seen every angle, and we might have been friends and had some good times, but when you put it under a microscope, Brie was a really shitty person.

Gabby is trying to be a good mom. Gabby tries to take care of her home, and her children. Gabby tries to stick to her convictions and beliefs. Gabby has recommitted herself to her husband, and seeks forgiveness, not revenge. Gabby, who granted wants to pull her hair out —-but that’s motherhood for you—- looks at her children and cries because she struggles with feeling like she’s good enough for them. But Gabby is trying to get better. And that alone makes her better already. Gabby is going back to college. Gabby stands up for the little guy, and she tries to help the people who are still living & carrying on as she did and show them that it’s just not the way to be. Granted, she cusses like a sailor, but when everything is weighed, all the awards go to Gabby before they go to Brie.

Obviously, the choices I made as Brie will always be a part of me, and as Gabby I will always have a checkered past, but at least, for me, it actually feels like I really am leaving it all in the past. And then all these people still want to call me Brie, and wonder why it sets me off so much.

You don’t understand what it’s like to live with so much hate for yourself—- to have this kind of loathing for everything that you used to be—- to have such regret for bad choices that you cannot erase, and to live with fear that in the deepest parts of you, all those traits probably still exist somewhere and wonder if you’re still capable of those things. I’m in therapy because living with that shit is hard. So don’t expect me to answer to a name that stands for everything I’m trying to leave behind, just because it’s easier for you.

Throwback!

We took these the day that I moved to Akron, August 22nd 2008, when we got home after taking my stuff up to my new apartment. Don’t ask me to explain what’s going on here. We’re just people who loved each other a lot and wanted to take some photos before everything changed. That’s all.

My Closet – Some casual tanks.
Usually for days I’m not leaving the house.

Check out the rest of my style photo project.

Omg, you guys. I miss you.
But shit’s been crazy lately and for that reason I have not been online much. And I feel bad about it, and like I kind of owe people an explanation (even though I know I don’t—- I’m a mom with two kids. Of course I can’t spend all my time online.) So I thought I would fill you in.

– For starters, I was letting some of the drama on here die down and disappear from my dash before I returned. Two people that I really like had a huge falling out and pretty much everyone I follow had something to say about it. And I hate it when people that I like decide that they don’t like each other. I kind of just disappear so as to not take sides. That shit sucks. 😦

– If you didn’t know, Philip has been over in the states on a training exercise since mid-august. It’s just been me and the kids and me left to handle the housework and I am exhausted. There’s not a lot of me-time at the moment. And to make it worse, he was supposed to return this week and I was so looking forward to it, but I found out today it’s going to be almost another two weeks and I had a good cry about it. The kids have stopped listening to me, pushing me to my limits, and I could use some re-enforcement up in here.

– I’m having an onslaught of health problems! I’ve recently gone off birth control because I’ve been getting cysts since being put on Nuva Ring, and I had one burst and it was unbearable. So, I’m erratic and hormonal as hell, and covered in acne, and probably will be until I find a new birth control option.

– I randomly keep losing sight in my left eye. Kind of. I don’t know how to describe it. It’s almost like there’s this random ‘blind spot’ in my eye that keeps popping up and I literally cannot see anything in that field, and everything surrounding it is kind of blurry. I’ve Google the shit out of this and can find no answers.

– I’m losing circulation in my legs when I sit down for even short periods of time. Most of my life I’ve sat on my legs (in a kneeling position) because I’m very short (needed to see over the tall kids in class, ya know) and a few months ago, they started going numb if I’d sit at the computer like that for too long, and my knees would ache something awful. So I switch up positions every several minutes. But if I stay in one for too long, even the normal sitting position with my legs over the chair, everything below my knees is still going numb. So, there’s not a whole lot of sitting at the desk for me anymore. I can’t wait to have a laptop again so I can kick back on the couch with my feet on the ottoman, it seems to be the only comfortable way that doesn’t result in a loss of circulation.

– After yelling, crying, getting frustrated/upset in any way possible, or even carrying laundry up and down the steps or getting the kids ready for school, I often am getting painful short headaches or lightheaded sensations. I’m pretty sure this one might be blood pressure? But I’m anemic so maybe that has something to do with it? I’m not sure. I just really feel like a good vacation might solve this one.

– On top of all of that, I had the flu about 2-3 weeks ago and it had me out on the couch (or by the toilet) for a little more than a week. I’m still waking up with a sore throat and congestion but it goes away by about 11/12 every day, and returns again late at night.

– I’ve rediscovered my love of books. I guess this is in part to the fact that I don’t care to jump on the computer after the kids go to bed and spend my night online anymore now with my leg issues. So instead I’ll plug in my phone and go lay in bed and read. For hours.

– In addition to that, I’ve been writing fanfiction and an original novel. Or maybe novella? Novelette? I’m not sure what length is required to qualify as one or another. I’ve been doing this almost entirely on my phone (with this really awesome app called Plain Text. Love it.) but I email the chapters to myself when I feel like getting on the computer and writing there instead. It’s going to be a long time before I share either pieces. I haven’t written anything since fall 2008. This was missed.

– And I’ve been doing a lot of marathoning on Netflix, Amazon Instant Video, or Hulu. And indulging my inner fat kid with junk food and soda as I do it. I’ve been horrible about it. In five weeks I’ve caught up on Pretty Little Liars, Sons of Anarchy, Doctor Who, and two seasons of Supernatural. I’ve also started watching the current seasons of the X-Factor and Dancing With the Stars. (Omg. What is wrong with me.)

– My house is falling apart on me. (No, seriously though.) Ethan tore his bedroom door of the hinge, broke the swinging stair baby gate I have at the top of the stairs so that they can’t sneak out of their rooms and downstairs at night. Knocked the hall closet door off it’s sliding track, and Sophia did the same to the one in her room. And! The bathtub in the upstairs bathroom is falling through my kitchen ceiling and maintenance has to assess the issue further to figure out what to do about it. Bleh.

– Most of all, I spend a majority of my time these days cleaning. It just seems like a never-ending battle anymore. I try to tackle at least two rooms a day, because it seems like while I’m doing that, the kids manage to destroy two other rooms. Well, Phia’s at school most the day. So it’s mainly Ethan. But she’s sure to get her share in when she comes home.

Dude, I’m just fucking exhausted.

Philip and I are having some kid-free time and going camping the weekend after he returns. On the beach. We’re going to have s’mores and lots of sex. Hopefully beach sex. (But with my luck there will be other campers nearby.) Either way. It’s has never been more necessary than it is right now.

How are your lives lately, tumblr folk?

Throwback!

Tuesday, August 19th, 2008. The bonfire.

So, we were all hanging out at my house. In just three days we’d head off to college (we were all going to Akron except for Lacee) and thought “Hey, let’s have a fire,” and we sent some texts out to other friends to come join us. In the meantime, we took these photos.

Then the other folks showed up, and even some people who weren’t invited but word travels, ya know? And the night got crazy. What started as a bonfire ended up with us barhopping the 18 & overs (on a Tuesday, so exciting! Not.) and eventually winding up at the local shithole strip club until everyone paired off and went their separate ways.

I didn’t make the best choices that night, and it’s bittersweet because it started out as such a great time. I look back at these photos and laugh because I love these people, and then cringe because I know what happens later. Ugh.

Throwback! Summer 2008.

If you haven’t been introduced yet, meet Amanda.
Or for the folks of Tumblr, Delicassassin.

Best friend, royal advisor, awesome musician, psychology major, will fuck your shit up on Guitar Hero, and destroy you on Final Fantasy.

My Closet – Long-sleeved blouses, sweaters, and cardigans.

Continuing with my style photo project, here are a few more selections from my wardrobe.

My Closet – Long-sleeved blouses, sweaters, and cardigans.

Continuing with my style photo project, here are a few more selections from my wardrobe.

My Closet – Short Sleeve Blouses

Another edition of my style photo project, as I catalog all the pieces in my wardrobe.

Excuse the wrinkles; a few of these tops set in the dryer a bit too long and I wasn’t going to iron them for the occasion of a photo.