Cougar-Squared

It's a term that has been gaining in popularity: COUGAR.  I figured I knew what it meant, but after a recent experience, I wanted to find out what the actual definition of a "cougar" is....

So, to make a long story short, a guy from one of my classes asked me to go to a concert.  I'm not sure if it was an actual "date" (are we EVER sure?  "Is it a date?" "I think it's a date..." "[He/She] asked me to go to ______ with [him/her], so I think it's a date...is it a date?"), but it sort of seemed like one.  He picked me up and as we drove to the venue, I found out that he was, in fact, about 6 or 7 years my junior.  Whoa.  I suddenly realized to myself that I had, unintentionally, become a cougar.

But just what is a cougar?
Well, according to wowOwow's article on cougars, there are many technical definitions of what a cougar is, including this one: "older women who find themselves in romantic relationships with younger men."


Ok, so I'm no Demi Moore, but I do fit the "half-your-age-plus-seven rule" (a mathematical equation for determining May-December romances).

 





And when I do find myself in cougar-esque situations, I'm usually a "socially safe" cougar, a la Jennifer Aniston.

I may be just slipping under the wire in qualifying as a cougar (at the ripe ol' of 28), and while I may not be in the same league as these ladies mentioned above, or Elizabeth Taylor, or Mrs. Robinson, I am something these women never were - a cougar-squared!  That's a cougar to the 2nd power.  What made this experience so humorous to me (besides becoming a cougar without realizing it, along with becoming one under the age of 30) is the fact that I'm a BYU student (an alum, as of late), and our mascot is a cougar, our sports teams are the cougars, and we students are known as  - you guessed it - cougars. So that's why I am (as a friend coined the phrase) a cougar-squared.

It's experiences like this that make me think my life would make an interesting TV series....maybe "Welcome to Cougar-Squared Town"? :)

"Our diet starts tomorrow....."

I love this video - these boys are almost too good at being "girls."  I especially love the part when they talk about what they ate all day - "I shared a bagel with the garbage," "I actually digested a HUGE gust of wind on my way to work," "I ate two chocolate cheesecakes...."  And then there's that classic line: "Our diet starts tomorrow!!"  It's hilarious....because it's true.  How many times have I said that myself?  It's ironic that I grew up with Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood, who constantly reminded me:

and that I was great and special just the way I was, yet I often find myself sucked into the world's obsession with "the perfect size."  The funny thing is, even though the control freak within me wants to believe that tragedy and heartbreak will leave me alone if I look a certain way, it's ultimately a fallacy.  As I look back over the years, experience has taught me that happiness and bliss come at any size.  To illustrate my point, 

this was me at one of my "heaviest" times, after getting home from my mission (ahhh, good times with my sisters!)

and here I am at some of my "tiniest" times:

 Same girl, different sizes.  To be honest, "I love myself" a little bit more when there's less of me to love, and during the times of bigger jean sizes (like as of late), I tend to believe that others may feel the same way.  But regardless of how I feel, there is one very cool fact - there are people in my life who love me no matter what and regardless of how I look, because the relationships we have are based on things that go deeper than what's on the surface.  That's one of the amazing things about life - the real connections we can make with others, and the close relationships that can be formed.  But it requires jumping in with both feet - letting others see you at your "worst," revealing that (*gasp!*) you aren't, in fact, perfect, and allowing yourself to be vulnerable.  It's completely terrifying.  And completely wonderful.  Because when you find those kindred spirits who love you (to quote "Bridget Jones' Diary")  "just as you are," it is one of the most freeing and incredible experiences in life.
And so, I will continue to jump in with both feet - bigger jeans and all.