The 2.5 WPF Club.

I just celebrated the birthday of my favorite book "Pride and Prejudice". It seriously does not get better than Jane Austen. Keep trying Nick Sparks. To celebrate the special day, a literary friend of mine posted a vlog called "The Lizzie Bennett Blog". It was a modern twist on the beloved Bennett sisters. Very Carrie Bradshaw meets Elizabeth Bennett.

In the vlog, Lizzie brought up how her mother is only focused on her being married and becoming part of the 2.5 WPF Club.

What is the 2.5 WPF Club? I'm so glad you asked.

To be a member of this elite club, one must be married, have 2.5 kids, and live in a house with a white picket fence.

That's all folks.

The concept behind such a club rings true in our society. Excuse my hint of feminism, but women have become much more independent in my generation. No more just waiting around the house, prepping our hair, cleaning the perfect house, and fixing the Food Network worthy meal for our hard working husband. Women are working during the day, as well. Or at night. Or both. It's not even a feminist issue. The economy hasn't left us with much of a choice, honestly.

The independent, working girl gig is how I prefer things. Don't get me wrong. There is NOTHING wrong with women who just want a family to care and love on. I admire and respect that. Your 2.5 WPF pin is in the mail.

The real problem I see, is the balance in all this mess. When one does find true love and is ready to settle down, how do you find the right amount of balance of independent and dependent?

While my mother isn't as pushy as Mrs. Bennett, she does want me married and happy. She's always saying, "Kelly, it's going to hit you hard girl." I know she's right. It's happened before. Hence, why I want to be prepared.

If you're too independent in a serious relationship, it makes the man uncomfortable. In my last relationship, I kept doing everything how I always had. I quickly realized my boyfriend was starting to feel threatened, for lack of a better word. My time was not made for him. My focus was not on him. I'm a driven redhead. My bad. So I changed my approach. I picked up dinner, I helped him finish his projects. Guys...I played Halo with him. The things we do when we're in love.

However, I still didn't have balance. The table just tilted the other direction...drastically. I completely lost myself in him. I became a boyfriend pleaser. I was doing almost all his projects, spending all my time with him, changing my job for him. What happened to Miss Independent?

So I humbly ask...what is the key to holding the balance? To making sure both parties are still themselves while working together and depending on one another?

Lesson learned: This is a working progress. But I will not be a member of the 2.5 WPF Club anytime soon.

You Decide.

I'm sorry to report I am one of those girls who hates to makes decisions. Taking it a step further, I'm a redhead and, therefore, will refuse to make decisions.

The sad thing is, the kind of people who don't make decisions annoy me. I'll ask a friend to lunch and it takes us hours to decide on a place due to our inability to chose a simple restaurant. Thank God for Starbucks. At least coffee dates are stress free.

Many times, decision making goes so much deeper than even I realize. You have to seriously consider the consequences of the decision you are making. I can screw up a restaurant decision easily. What does that say about the big decisions?

The part that really gets me, though, is after you've made the decision. How do you know you've really made the right decision?

I recently had to make a huge decision that drastically focuses the next (at least) few years of my life. I had made my pros and cons list. Prayed about it. Meditated on it. Ran all the numbers. The decision I made had to be the right one. As I told all the immediate important parties, I felt a sense of peace about the situation.

Days later, I find myself in an almost panic. Did I make the right decision? Should I have changed some things around and just made it work? Am I playing it too safe? Have I closed a door on what could be one of my greatest adventures?

How do you know when you've truly made the right decision? I keep hoping a shining light will come down to reassure me or Morgan Freeman will give me a call to tell me "You did the right thing. All in good timing, Gingersnap."

But neither of those is going to happen. The truth is, we just have to make our decisions and roll with the punches. If we knew the perfect outcome to every decision ahead of time, life would be so dull.

Lesson learned: Decisions will always suck. And stress is a great weight loss program.

Lessons of the Country.

The show of the last ten months or so has been Sex in the City. I can't help it. This show is the definition of guilty pleasure. Funny, light, easy to watch, and (let's face it) the guide to womanhood. Though most of the show is what NOT to do as a grown woman, the four city women do show many truths about life.

I could go on and on as to what these truths are and how they apply to everything in everyone's lives, but I won't. You are welcome. A few nights ago, I was perusing the aisles of my local grocery store when I thought how Sex in the City lessons relate to country women. Sure, I can't run out and call a cab or grab a disgusting, yet amazing hot dog from a food cart. However, home life, love life, social life. LIFE. This is the same wherever you live. Especially for women.

Regardless of where you reside, best friends are best friends. A heart break is a heart break. A knock off is a knock off. Most importantly....men are still men.

While I haven't had the opportunity to live in a city like New York, yet, I just spent seven months in Orlando on an internship. I loved the fast paced atmosphere of living in the city. Traffic excited me more than frustrated me. There was always something to do. If I wanted to do something or go out for a bite at 3am, it was never a problem.

Enter small town Tennessee.

Pros: Gorgeous Mountains. The Smokey Mountain National Park is 30 minutes from my driveway. An abundance of hiking and country music. Weather wise, you can enjoy all four seasons in the span of one week. Rain on Monday and Tuesday. 70 degree weather on Wednesday. Storms on Thursday. Snow on Friday and Saturday. Southern hospitality is in abundance 'round these parts. You can strike up a conversation with a stranger anywhere and make an instant friend.

Cons: I. Loathe. Country. Music. The only good thing to come from country music is Keith Urban. Thank you, Australia. I would still be grateful for him if he were mute. The weather thing? We don't advertise that on our brochures for a reason. I can never pack up clothes, seasonally, because I never know what the weather will be like the next day. "Ergo", you are a snotty hot mess and have a continuous head cold from December through March. Everything closes early in a small town. Everything.

My friend and I were studying at a coffee shop the other night. They closed at nine. So we relocated the the McDonald's down the street. The hours posted claimed they were open for two more hours. After every employee stared us down for a good 3 minutes, we decided to just use the gas to drive to my place.

Lesson Learned: Slow down and try to enjoy to little things. Also, never go to McDonald's in a small town. Ever.

As far as the men...well, that's for another time.