Ok, that's the oldest lie in the book. It is you, Xanga. I've given you three years and countless memoirs, but let's face it, you're dying.

I'm moving my blog to chaptersofsarak.blogspot.com. The main reason for this move is that Blogspot doesn't require people to login before they leave comments. Anybody can leave comments on my new blog, and they even have the choice of being anonymous. My statistics say I currently get about one comment for every 30 people who read my posts. I think (hope) that the new blog site will make it easier for more of my readers to leave comments.

I've transferred some of my favorite Xanga posts from the past few years onto the new blog. I also have a brand new post about seeing American Idol David Cook last night during his hometown visit. And I have pictures too... is that tempting at all? What if I promise a candy bar to everyone who visits my new blog and leaves a comment?

Curious about the opinions of mainstream songwriters (the poets of our time?), I Googled the lyrics "love is". The four songs on the first page of results said 1. Love is blind 2. Love is free 3. Love is strange 4. Love is the answer. I decided that I agree with two of those four statements... can you guess which two?

I love Bryan so much! I love that we knew each other 7 years and dated 5 before we got married. I love that we both saved ourselves for the wedding night. I love that we're better together and that everything sucks when we're apart. Now that I've established all these lovey-dovey credentials, let me share four of my own opinions about what I think love is. Because even though I've only loved Bryan for 7 years and only been married for 2 years, I think our love has overcome more obstacles than most that are much older.

1. Sacrifice. Does that make you think of Jesus? It should because he was the perfect example of love, and love does not exist without sacrifice. It's why you give your love the biggest and best-looking portion of a meal even though you hate eating all the other parts that have burnt edges. It's making yourself a little bit miserable (or a lot) just because you like to see your love happy. It's being unselfish; it's The Gift of the Magi. (If you haven't read that story, you should.)

2. Friendship. Your love should be your best friend. The person you can't wait to share a secret with, the person you giggle with and act goofy around. Your love should have the most horrible blackmail on you and be the one person who would never use it against you. All solid friendships have love, but not all loves have solid friendships. Yeah I know, that was really deep. Take a minute to think about that if you need to. :)

3. Honesty. No kidding. The more subjects you can be blunt about with your love, the better life will be. We humans have a chronic problem of wanting to lie just to save face. And then immediately afterward you wonder why you just said that. Obviously it's important to be honest with everybody, after all it is on God's top ten list, but with your love you should be unashamed to truthfully approach any subject no matter the degree of difficulty, awkwardness, or embarrassment.

4. Stubbornness. Now I know what you're thinking. You're thinking of that old Sesame Street song that said "one of these things is not like the other." But I'm not referring to stubborn in the selfish sense. I mean stubborn like, "you and I know that we share something special and we're not going to let anyone talk us out of dating or getting married." Jane Austen wrote about what happens when a love fails to be stubborn in her book, Persuasion. It's not a pretty sight.

Now let's review. I love Bryan. Love makes you miserable. Love involves horrible blackmail. Love is blunt. Love is as stubborn as Sesame Street. Hmm... I'm suddenly feeling a little less confident about the caliber of my love advice. Maybe I should've just stuck with the song lyrics from Google. I was considering another chapter next week to discuss other essentials of love like communication, trust, and chocolate, but I'm not so sure about that now.

Bryan and I get to talk twice a day on our webcams. It's a nine hour difference between here and Iraq so he's waking up when I'm getting ready for bed. We miss each other tons, but at least he's getting to room with his best friend and I'm getting to live with my sister's family. I stay busy taking care of baby Flora during the day while Stef and Chris are at work. She's a cutie! But in case anyone's wondering, I'm still not ready for one of my own yet!  ; )



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