Talking Marriage with the ‘Rents

Earlier I posted about how much I enjoy talking with my parents. Well 8 Days on a ship meant we covered alot of topics, but one that kept coming up was Marriage. I’m 26, single, and Mormon–M&G aren’t concerned, yet, but they want to make sure I’m headed down the right path lol. Discussions* included:

-Why I’m not married…G-Dubs thinks its got something to do my being too picky and *my aversion to wearing perfume. Momanager agrees with all of the above but adds my having too many male friends and my inability to look polished at all times to the list.

-Who I should marry…I feel like if a boy is referenced at least 3xs in the course of my rehashing a story, my mother feels that she must inquire if there is any potential with that individual, and if there isn’t, why not…

-Who I should have married…see above.

-What I should be looking for…G says someone you love and can have honest conversations with, M just points to G.

-Why they’re glad I’m not married…(wasn’t expecting that one huh?) But even though they’d love to see me in white, they are super proud that I have worn blue(Go Wellesley),  gray (suits for corporate America), and now Purple (holla atchya girl Stern). To be clear its not that they don’t think one can accomplish the above while being married, they just feel that my singledom allows me a certain degree of freedom  in how I  shape my life, that I wouldn’t have if I was married.

-What I should learn from their marriage…that it takes alot of work and sacrifice to make a marriage work and as a result its not something I should rush into.

-Its absolutely fine if I never get married…this is why I love them. In a culture where marriage is seen as the ideal, M&G have always taught me that there are other ways to live a happy and fulfilling life.

Despite their harassment I walked away from the ship completely secure in my singledom, fully aware that these conversations about marriage are a direct result of my parents love and wanting the best for me, and really really grateful that I have siblings to deflect some of their attention.

*M&G: Momanager & G-Dubs aka Mom and Dad. See earlier post

*Discussions: let me paint the picture- M&G talking, while I sit there shaking my head, while people overhearing these conversations chuckle.

*My aversion to perfume: lets just say years of my Mom drowning me perfume before every outing coupled with the fact that my nose tends to fixate on the alcohol in perfume makes me less inclined to wear it very often. Don’t worry Chanel’s Chance is aiding me in my recovery.

5 Stages of being admitted to b-school

I went through the below 5 stages in less than 1 hour after to getting into b-school…

1. Holy crap they let me in!

2. Hell yeah they let me in, I’m awesome.

3. I can’t wait to put this on Facebook!

4. Wait…how much does this cost?

5. You have got to be F*%$ing kidding me!

WARNING stage 5 is a recurring event that is triggered every time you get a bill from your school of choice. You get over stage 5 by double checking that your FAFSA is complete, and convincing yourself that the best investment you can make is in yourself…or whatever it is you need to tell yourself to sleep at night after signing the master promissory notes.

 

Vacationing with the ‘Rents

So I spent the last week on a Alaskan Cruise with the *Momanger and *G-Dubs. Despite what the Momanager thinks I had a great time, granted there were some bouts of boredom…a direct result of my decision to unplug from the internets and not participate in Cruise Ship activities as a way of mentally and physically *prepping for b-school which starts in 2weeks, more on that later…But seriously I had a fun and relaxing time: I got more sleep in the last 7 days than I’ve gotten in the last 4weeks (can you say *OP), saw some of North America’s most breathtaking landscapes (Tracy Arm’s Fjord, Mendenhall Glacier, British Columbia’s Butchart Gardens), read 2.25 books (Still making my way through “Deluxe”), 5 magazines *, and laughed really really hard with the Momanager and G-Dubs. 

 

I won’t rehash all the funny moments from our trip, I’ll just say that the laughter was a result of lots of teasing (gotta be able to laugh at yourself in this family…no one is safe), sharing and creating of memories, and awesome conversations. One of my favorite things on this planet is sitting and talking with my parents. I learn so much about them and and about myself from our chats. When I hear my mom talk about her hard childhood, and wanting more for herself and for her family, I know where I get my ambition from. When G-Dubs says that his family is the most important thing to him, I don’t have to look hard for evidence of that, and make sure that as I build my life I place it at the top of my priorities as well.

 

With that being said/written I thoroughly enjoyed my vacay with M &G and I’m glad to be moving closer to them so our hangouts can be more frequent.

 

*Momanager- my Mom’s self-selected nickname…it suits her well, trust me.

*G-Dubs- Dad

*Magazines- I read them like they’re books…cover to cover. Fact. Faves include Marie Claire, Glamour, and Instyle.

*Prepping for b-school- someone in admissions loved me and I got into NYU Stern. I start on July 9th (summer session). I had a little taste of what b-school would be like when I went to OP in Minneapolis last week. It tasted like no sleep, tons of networking/interviewing, redbull, and late night shenanigans with amazing people. As a result I’ve decided that the best way to prepare for the next two years is to exert as little energy as possible between now and July 9th. 

*OP- Is a 5 day conference hosted by the Consortium, for students starting their MBA in the fall. It was a wonderful opportunity. I got to meet some fellow Sternies*, meet some other MBA students at other schools, ran into some old friends, make new ones, network and interview for summer internships for next year. Learn more about the Consortium here: http://www.cgsm.org/about/index.asp

*Sternies: nickname for students matriculating at NYU Stern