The lesson Mary-Kate Olsen taught me, that Ashley never could.

"Yes. Yes, you are."

That is what the flannel wearing, Budweiser drinking, Joe Dirt doppleganger told me when I asked him the simple, yet pertinent question- "Are we in the parade?".

Now in order for you, as the reader, to fully appreciate this scenario, I must rewind a few hours. Earlier that lovely Saturday, my niece Zahra, my nephew Ethan and myself piled into my mint condition 2002 Ford Taurus, affectionately named Talan, and drove to the center of scenic AuGres, Michigan. We parked Talan, and found our spot on the grassy knoll, with a plethora of other classic car enthusiasts. Ok, the truth? We were bored and thought it might be fun to watch and possibly mock the plethora of classic car enthusiasts. So, for a good 30 minutes, we watched and waved as tons of old makes and models puttered through the streets. After a while of this adventure, Zahra, Ethan and I were getting antsy. We decided to go pick up Zahra's friend and be on our way. After making weaving through the crowd of crazies, we hopped in Talan and began our journey. At first, everything appeared normal. Sure, people were still sitting on the curb with lawn chairs and beer, but it was, afterall, AuGres, Michigan. Then.... the further we went, a few things jumped out at me. First, the aforementioned beer drinkers, were spraying water ALL OVER the road. Secondly, they were yelling things like, "PEEL OUT!!!" and "Show us what this Ford's got!!!!" Thirdly, some people were giving us the finger. 

Then, like Kristen Stewart in the Twilight Saga, realizing that she should find better company than vampires and werewolves, it all became clear. Crystal clear. We.Were.In.The.Parade. 

I'm embarrassed. There we were, smack dab in the middle of an awkward sandwich- circa 1963. So- what did we do? We embraced the suck. We swallowed our pride, ignored our obvious ignorance into the quite intricate classic car circuit, and we paraded our little hearts out! We waved. We smiled. I think we even found some random mints in my back seat to throw out the window to the kids. I was like the freaking parade queen and the crowd LOVED me. I was on fire. 

Yes... my car, the great Talan, has seen his fair share of adventure. Talan keeps me on my toes. Talan once decided to take a personal day on the way to Ohio in the pouring rain, in an area of the country that I can only assume was the inspiration for such Blockbusters as The Hills Have Eyes and Jeepers Creepers. Talan has been through the ringer. To assist you in your understanding of the beast,  below is a list of Talan's Fun Facts:

1. The number of famous people Talan has driven. (Michael Salgado, aka the mexican Justin Timberlake)

2. The number of engines Talan has gone through.

3. The number of people that have puked in my car.

4. The number of unidentifiable stains Talan has accrued over the last 9 years.

5. The number of times that Talan has scratched my Britney Spear's Greatest Hits cd. 

Yes, Talan has had his fair share of expeditions, and I can honestly say, that similar Knight Ryder, that car TALKED TO ME. THAT CAR LOVED ME. And I loved him. 

However, if LOST has taught us nothing else, we have learned that all good things must come to an end. Sometimes you have to wake up from that amazing dream you were having about Tyson Beckford. Sometimes you have to say goodbye to that amazing friend. And sometimes, you are half a mile away from home, and some Vin Diesel wannabe decides to try his hand at Tokyo Drifting... into your car.... The same car that once would not release your Maroon Five cd from the player for 3 weeks. 

Yes. Talan has been considered, by the Liberty Mutual Insurance Group, a total loss.

The cold hard facts:

broken back axle. 

The BFF and I were almost home last Wednesday, when out of nowhere, a lead footed male that shall remain nameless, blew through a stop sign and into the side of us. If the BFF hadn't seen him coming, we would have been completely TBoned, and I'm not sure how I would be writing this blog right now. Unless heaven has wi-fi. Which, I'm sure it does. So on second thought, I would still be writing this blog, but I would totally let Jesus do a guest post. =) So, after we waited 2 hours for a tow truck, I got the privilege of going through the issues of insurance. I am now close to purchasing a new (to me) car, and hopefully I will be back on track. 

So, I ask myself.... what do I do? What do I do when I lose the only thing I had left of my dead father. What do I do when something completely out of my control, ruins a goodly portion of my month. What do I do, when life isn't fair? After a week of tears, prayers and fetal positions, I have decided what I do.

I, my friends, embrace the suck.

In the movie Beastly, Mary-Kate Olsen plays this crazy girl that casts a spell on the hottie of the movie, in order to teach him inner beauty. And after she does this, she encourages him to "embrace the suck". I laughed when I heard it. I didn't get it, at first. There are many things I would like to embrace- Zac Efron, pizza, also the entire cast of GLEE..... but the suck- the random crappy-ness of life..... I'll pass.

To embrace the suck, sucks. I assure you of this fact. Life can suck. I won't lie to you about that. satan is a total douchebag, and thanks to his clever sales pitch in the Garden of Eden, we are subject to the suck. However, we don't have to fear it. We don't even have to ignore it. Sometimes, we have to embrace it. 

This week, I have been a biotch fo sho- I have snapped at people that were trying to help me, I've questioned God's love for me multiple times, and I wont even start to list the amount of Eminem songs that I have compared to my own life. (You know, because a broken down Taurus is EXACTLY like having a drunken mother and no father)

I've been far from a trusting Christian. If the trusting Christian is Amy Grant, I'm Ke$ha. If patience is Yao Ming, I'm the world's shortest man. Yes, I fell victim to the suck. I allowed it to put me over the edge. However, I've decided I don't want to do it anymore. I instead, have decided to take a page out of Jesus's book (The Bible- perhaps you've heard of it), and embrace said, suck. We just celebrated Easter, and this entire week, I failed to remember, that Jesus didn't simply ignore his doom, or throw a fit about it. He, in some ways, embraced it. Jesus realized what He had to do, and He did it. And it sucked. 

I'm gonna try to be a little less Leanne, and a little more Jesus. 

I'm going to embrace the suck that life brings, because God's got my back, and he can turn the suck into something amazing.... He's taken many gross situations and made them good. He can do it with anything. Except for that new show Mob Wives.... and also, maybe The Situation.

**Thanks for reading! Hope this post wasn't too depressing!!!** =)