Why I'm a Horrible Blogger

Here we go...

This school year kicked my butt! And my blog momentum was lost.  So, I thought I'd share the top 10 reasons why I'm a horrible blogger. (I'm here simply for your amusement people.)


1. I don't post regularly. I commend people who  can write every day - or have weekly themes! That's amazing to me! I write when I have time and when the spirit moves me, Usually those two things don't happen in sync though.

2. I forget to check my blog email. All. The. Time. I had a separate email just for my bloggy blog. It was special. It had my blog name. And I forgot I had it. For like, 2 months. Until I finally just had all my blog emails revert to my regular email address because, let's face it, navigating two emails is just asking too much. TOO MUCH.

3. I don't monitize. I've gotten offers. (I KNOW.) This one's bad. It's on my summer bucket list. We'll see if I have time to devote to it.

4. TIME? What's that? I am a single mom and I teach full time. Blogging during the school year is minimal sometimes. I justify those blog droughts as "quality, not quantity" of posts while others refer to it as "Oh, I didn't even realize you were gone." I have been known to take a break for a day or two. Or a month.

5. My computer is out to sabatoge me. Seriously. In the past several months I have had TWO computers completely die on me. Granted both were old to begin with, but still. I am borrowing a work computer to write, but that doesn't let me load photoshop or anything cool on it.

6. I don't network like I should. I really, really love reading blogs and checking out all the seasonal ideas. But I barely have time to read them, let alone comment. (See #4 above.) Being a single mom and teacher gives me very valid reasons, I know. But I also know how much I love comments, and it makes me sad I don't return the love as often as I should. I tend to comment on Facebook now, more than on someone's actual post. (Is that bad? Or is commenting on Facebook just as good? What do you think?)

7. Facebook. Facebook. Facebook. Well, since we're on the subject, Facebook has it out for blog pages I think. It changes it's news feed updates faster than Rihanna changes hairstyles. Now that the newsfeed is reliant on constant network and interaction, it makes it harder for people like me to be seen and harder for me to see you. Unless I am commenting and posting daily, I disappear - and so do you. {Insert sad face.} So, if I don't post for awhile and then start posting, well, you get the picture.

8. I don't bring my business cards everywhere. Well, it's not like I should be handing them to the grocery cashier - "Thanks for the lemons, here's my card." But I forgot to bring them to a blog conference. A blog conference people!

9. I would rather play Candy Crush. Only sometimes. Maybe. I'm stuck on a level right now and once I pass that, back to blogging. I swear. Actually... wait... Candy Crush needs Adobe flash and my computer refuses to update it. Back to #5 on this list...

10. I take my own pictures. I don't hire a professional photographer for my kid's birthday parties. I do all my own projects. My camera is just a normal one. I often use my iPhone for photos.

And I also just realized I didn't put any photos in this post.

Fail.

Again.

The positive:
1. I make YOU look good.
    You're welcome. ;-)

2. There may be hope for me yet -- It's summertime now, and maybe I can change some of those numbers above. I really do love reading other blogs and pages and I'm hoping I can catch up on all the awesomeness you guys are putting out there! And hopefully, as I post more this summer, you'll see me too. :)

Do you have any horrible blogger moments to add to this list?
How about an awesome post for me to read? (Because I have time to read it now!!) {Wink}

Dear Mommas

Dear Mommas,

It will take more than one well planned day or one well planned post to tell you how special you are. Because, you are more than a mom.

Way more.

You are a teacher. Guiding little hands and feet along the right path, helping with homework and sharing life’s lessons.

You are encouragement. Your child’s first cheerleader, building up their confidence and their character. Showing how to lose gracefully and win even more gracefully.

You are honesty. An example of truth, trust and reality wrapped in love that shelters their young minds and gives them room to grow.

You are vulnerability. Your children see you at your best and at your worst. They view the faults and cracks in the surface and see right through the façade of perfection to who you really are. And still love you with all their hearts.

You are kindness. Modeling manners, social graces and reactions to difficult situations. When the world can be tough and cruel, you offer love.

You are broken. Don’t hide it. Embrace it. You are human, you throw momtrums, you make mistakes and your children will know that it is okay to make mistakes too.

You are craziness. Let it in. It is the silly and crazy that often bonds our families into tight knit units of inside jokes, humor and acceptance.

You are a nurse, chef, organizer, personal shopper, assistant, disciplinarian, maid, stylist, chauffer, mediator, fighter and pacifist.

You are a hero. To them. To your children you are their first friend, their best friend, and despite all our faults and brokenness and vulnerability, or perhaps because of them, you are irreplaceably and unconditionally loved.

You are unique. You may feel you are none of these things, one of these things or all of these things. And no amount of advice, books or blog posts {wink} can tell you what kind of mom you will need to be on any given day. God gave you your  specific children for a purpose; because you have a unique skill set that only you can share with them.

Own it.

You are real.

And if you are reading this as a first time momma, single mama, a one day momma, a seasoned momma or reading this thinking of YOUR momma; I want you to know,

you are loved.

Happy Mother’s Day!

 

Keep your love for one another at full strength, because love covers a multitude of sins. ~I Peter 4:8

{WIWW} #momfails

#momfail: (verb) the act of being unsuccessful in achieving one's goals as a mom.

Here are some examples.
These may or may not be from my own life experiences. #cough

GOAL:
My child's first taste of sugar will be of his 1st birthday cake. Sugar will only be on special occasions/holidays after that.

REALITY:
Child #1 - success!!
#Ishouldhavestoppedthere
Child #2 is born.:
#1 son: "Mom can I have a piece of this cake?"
ME (I mean random mom): "Sure, but give a piece to your brother too or he'll cry."
#momfail


GOAL:
My child will only eat homemade food, no fast food.

REALITY:
Mom: "You only have 30 minutes between school and practice. If we drive thru and you eat in the car, we'll make it!"
#momfail
(or is it?) The child got fed AND made it to practice.... hmmm, may have to rethink this one...


GOAL:
My children will be intelligent hard workers in school. They will work diligently and without complaint.

REALITY:
Teacher: "You're lucky your child is so cute and charming, because they just CANNOT sit still."
#momfail


GOAL:
I will have valuable, deep, meaningful conversations with my children daily. I will make every moment a teachable moment and teach them to grow their minds by asking challenging questions.

REALITY:
This one's a work in progress...

Trev: What is that on your head, mom?
ME: It's a scarf.
Trev: Oh, it looks like a bird's nest with your head poking through it.
ME: Um, thanks...
#momshoppingfail



Me: It's actually an infinity scarf.
Trev: What's an infinity?
ME: It means it has no end. It just keeps going and going!
Trev: Oh.

Crocheted Infinity Scarf: Target

Trev: I love you.
Me: I love you more.
Trev: I love you a google!
Me: I love you INFINITY!
Trev: I love you a google TIMES infinity...

That one ended in a tie.

#momsuccess

What I Wore: Living my Dash

1977 - ?
I have a beginning date -- a birth date.
And by the grace of God, I don’t have an end date yet.
But I recently read that it’s not the beginning or the end date that counts, but that dash in between.

Think about it.

Your birth and death will be two significant dates, marked with importance and prominence. But the majority of your life will defined by that dash in between. That tiny dash - and what you do with it.

I want my dash to matter.
 To God. To my kids. To others.

So, what matters?

That answer is different for everyone.

But I know what DOESN’T matter:
Cars. Money. Houses. Decorations. Trophies…. 
All those things go away.
In the end, I won’t ask to be surrounded by my trophies, houses and money. I will want to be surrounded by the people I love and relationships I’ve built.

So how do I live my dash?
I love God.
I love my boys.
I love my neighbor.

And I try to live and love fully and freely.
Every day.
And even when I fail, at least I fail trying.


Sometimes living my dash means showing God’s love by extending love out of my comfort zone or out of my borders. {Literally}

 

{Volunteering at a Mexican Orphanage, September 2012}
Shirt and Jeans: Old  Navy

 

And always - living my dash means being a mom and spending quality time with my boys: 

{SDSU Football Game, October 2012 – Little man is tired in this pic... or giving a model pose}
SDSU Shirt: a birthday present
Jeans: Styles for Less

They are the extension of my life and my legacy of God’s love here on earth. 

And every once in a while, living my dash means pushing the limits of my inner and outer self:

 
 

{Zip Lining in Big Bear, August 2012}

Shirt: “Shine On” shirt from The Shine Project

Capris: Target

Shoes: New Balance Running Shoes

Awesome hat and gloves: From the zip lining company

I noticed something from writing these 'what I wore' posts as well. My best, shiniest and nicest clothes are not always worn in my best, shiniest and nicest moments. 

I realized the most extraordinary, meaningful and significant moments in my life usually require the most ordinary and insignificant clothes.

Living my dash.

What does it mean to live yours?

Here is the poem I read that was the inspiration for this post and my thoughts:

 

Sharing at WIWW at The Pleated Poppy

9/11 ~ World Trade Center Memorial

September 11th is a day our country will never forget.

Like most people, I will always remember where I was when I heard the news.

My sister told me every year on September 11th, the people she worked with in New York City would retell stories of where they were and what happened to their offices. You see, she used to work walking distance from the towers {post 9/11} and the people of New York continue to live with and walk through the effects of 9/11 to this day.

When I heard talk of a memorial, I couldn’t imagine anything doing justice to the destruction and emotion of that day. How do you properly memorialize such a tragedy and immortalize thousands of lives?

I wasn’t sure it could be done.

Yet, it was. And, in my humble opinion, they did a really good job.

Below are some images from my trip this summer to New York when I had the opportunity to visit the 9/11 Memorial located on ground zero. I was moved more than words or these images can convey.



In order to visit the memorial you need to go to the visitor’s center where they will give you a ticket with a time frame for you to go. {I think this is temporary since there is still a lot of construction going on around the memorial. Once all the surrounding buildings are complete, the memorial should be a place where visitors and residents can sit as well as walk through in the city.}

Three items in the visitor’s center will remain in my heart and mind forever. 

First was this flag:



It is called the Flag of Honor and the stripes include the names of each person who perished in the attacks of 9/11.


Wow.




Second was this statue:



This six foot replica of the Statue of Liberty is covered in badges. Each badge and button represents a firefighter or emergency worker who died in the attacks. Just another of many moments of pause and reflection in this tiny shop...


And third, I have no picture, but it was the streaming video they had projected on the back wall of the small center. It played non stop images of that day and shared personal testimonies of survivors and people who experienced the day first hand. To hear this in the background as you walk around the center was emotional, to say the least.

To see so many ways to remember that day, the sounds, the memorabilia, it was so emotional -- and we hadn't even been to the actual memorial! Just the visitor center! But, I'm glad we made the trek.


After we left the visitor center we were able to walk through the actual memorial.

{This tarp is hiding construction still going on.

Some buildings are still being repaired, replaced and used for the memorial 11 years later!}

In case you don’t know about the memorial, they turned the base of each World Trade Center tower into two waterfall pools. They are magical to see, but the sound of the water rushing adds so much to the calm and peace of the site.


World Trade Center One:




World Trade Center Two:




The water falls down the edges and continues to fall down that square hole in the center. Below that square would have been the basement and parking garages for each of the towers.



Bordering each tower’s waterfall is a plaque. This plaque is engraved with every person’s name that died in the towers, on the flights and as an emergency worker.











We know this site is special because city planners did not build new buildings here. They left it a memorial. As it should be.

 They are, however, building a new tower right next door. They’re calling it One World Trade Center:

I hope it stands strong for a very long time.

Dear New York and Dear World: We will never forget.

"I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” ~John 16:33

Create a Living Wall

If you look up “Living Wall” on Google, it will tell you a lot about how to hang your plants vertically. So right away, those who know me, already know this post has nothing to do about gardening. {If there was an opposite of a green thumb – I would have it!} So, what IS a living wall? My version involves writing.

A living wall is a space in our house that my kids and I can draw or write notes for each other. We call it LIVING because it is constantly CHANGING and evolving as we grow and write new things.
So where is this beautiful space? Maybe not where you’d think…


Normal kitchen cabinets on the outside…




Our Living Wall on the inside!




This really is a simple project, as well. Last summer I remodeled my kitchen. One touch I added was chalkboard paint to the inside of my pantry cupboard!


BEFORE:

Plain inner cupboard. {Okay, this is the opposite pantry door, I guess I was too quick with the chalkboard paint! But they are identical doors – guard rail and all.}




To make the chalkboard cupboard, WHILE THE CABINET DOOR WAS OFF IT’S HINGE, {trust me – ever try spray painting around your pantry? Not fun.}

1.  I taped off the entire raised border around the inside of the door and covered what I could with plastic. {Spray paint can be tricky and I didn’t want it getting anywhere on my white door!}

2. I spray painted the chalkboard paint in the center of the door. I recommend 2-3 coats. I used 2.
And the end result was a chalkboard cabinet!



AFTER:



Originally I envisioned this chalkboard cupboard as a cute shopping list area. I’d mark things I needed as I used them up, and keep chalk handy in my pantry. I actually did use it that way for a while… but…

I have two boys. Boys are like chalk MAGNETS {I think they can sniff it out!} so once they discovered the chalk it was no surprise they got crafty too {hey, it IS in their blood} and started ‘adding’ to my shopping list. Every day I was constantly finding new notes and drawings on the chalkboard and it wasn't long before I was writing little notes back to them.

And thus our living wall was born!


Sometimes we write thoughtful notes, or favorite bible verses {see left} and sometimes we draw silly pictures. {right}



Sometimes things get erased quickly and sometimes they stay up for a looong time – note the Happy St. Patrick’s day! I guess they liked my Shamrock! But always, our notes create memories.





This week my boys are visiting their dad. They’ll be gone 11 days, just in time for school to start. Sooo, I erased the whole chalkboard.
I know.
It kind of made me sad actually. {I’m so glad I took a picture of it!} But now, it’s ready for the new school year!



I’m looking forward to all the new notes and pictures we will add this year!

What I love about this project is that you can create a living wall anywhere in your home – on any wall, picture frame or space! I’m even thinking of starting one in my classroom for my students to add favorite quotes and ideas. How about you – where would you put a living wall?

Where to Eat in NYC

Do you like food?
Yes?
Well, then this post is for you!!

I recently traveled to New York this summer to visit my sister and nephew. I’d been to New York before and seen most of the ‘touristy’ stuff so this trip was just for family time. The only places I wanted to visit were the World Trade Center Memorial {more on that later} and Central Park. {I’d seen it, but never been!} So, other than those two stops, the rest of my trip pretty much involved my sister taking me to all the places she loves to eat! {Yay!} Can you imagine having an NYC tour guide take you to the best local little places to eat?  Well, that’s what I got!

And just so you know, we’re not talking the trendy expensive hot spots here. We’re talking little family owned restaurants and cafes, that you might accidentally pass by or happen upon out of luck, but that create the best food I have eaten in perhaps years. Yes, it was divine.


Stop 1: Numero 28 PIZZA FROM NAPOLI





This is a family owned restaurant and the owners really are from Italy!
In addition to the best bruschetta bread and pizza, they also had really good tiramisu. This was my official birthday lunch while I was in NY. {Thanks again sis!}




Some of you could probably stop at that delicious tiramisu – but there is so much more to share!!


Stop #2: THE LOEB BOATHOUSE in Central Park

I have to say this was my FAVORITE place to eat on the trip for many reasons. Yes, it had great food. Yes, the service was excellent – funny and nice waiters; efficient, yet relaxed. But you get the best of both worlds! The Boathouse has an indoor restaurant, it has a full bar area with TV’s, if you’re into that, {maybe next time for us, when we don’t have a 10 month old and stroller in tow}, it has an express cafe AND it has an outdoor patio area right on a lake in Central Park. That is where we sat. Who wouldn’t love a nice cool drink and meal with a view like this?



I could have sat there all day with a glass of wine and a good book. But, hey, something else I had really wanted to do was go for a boat ride on this lake, so after we relaxed at the restaurant, off we went! Guess who got to row?




Stop #3: A PICNIC in Central Park!



Okay, this one isn’t exactly a restaurant, but if you’ve never been to Central Park {like me} or just want to get back to nature for a bit, then Central Park is the place for you. We just bought simple sandwiches on our walk, but you can even pack your own picnic to make it a fun day. This is also an inexpensive way to enjoy the city. We ate lunch with this adorable little gazebo in view:



You could even stop by the Zoo or find a bench and have lunch near Belvedere Castle in the Park! {This CA girl thought it was a little reminiscent of Cinderella’s Castle in Disneyland! Just a little.}



And if you’re feeling very brave, you could buy a hot dog off of one of the many carts in The Park.
I did that.
Once.
That was not one of my favorite places to eat, but I had never eaten a hot dog off a cart before. Check #112 off the bucket list. I think we ended up getting a sausage and it was not good. Lots of people say the hot dog carts are good, so maybe we just got a bad cart? Time will tell if I give another cart vendor a chance, but at least I can say I tried it! lol

Stop #4 – DESSERT TOUR!

On my last day we took a dessert tour around the city! We had crepes, chocolate chip cookies and  cream puffs! We were supposed to have gelato as well, but I couldn’t hang and had to stop at the cream puffs!

The crepe I got was from the Café Deux Margot. We sat outside, had a French waiter, felt fancy and ate a delicious crepe!



Then it was off to Levain Bakery to get the thickest, biggest chocolate chip cookie in the city! If my sister didn’t know about this place, I very well could have passed it. The bright blue door is actually quite unassuming from the street. You have to go down the stairs once inside to see what the bakery looks like. There is no store front or bakery window showing their treats. Just this sign and their signature blue door {that I will be sure not to miss next time I’m in the city!}



Why no picture of the cookie? Let’s just say we ate it so fast there was no time to snap the evidence! By the way, this cute shop also sells milk. Good call Levain Bakery. Good call.


Last stop: cream puffs!



Beard Papa’s boasts the world’s best cream puff, and I have to say, they’re pretty close. My favorite EVER cream puffs are from COSTCO. Believe it or not, their small frozen hors d'oeuvres are quite tasty. BUT, I will say Beard Papa’s taste almost exactly the same only in a larger creamier version! Yum!!



Next time we’ll have to come here FIRST so I won’t be so full because I seriously want to try every single flavor! Éclair puff? Yes, please! And if you want to try some good gelato {also on my list for next time}, it's just next door or at least not far from Beard's Papa's.

A couple other side track stops – while walking, we got water. I HAD to snap a picture of these treats I did NOT eat. Apparently this shop had a fascination with BACON:



Have you ever had a bacon cookie?? Not me – but maybe my next trip.


Because you walk everywhere in New York, we made sure to stop at my sister’s favorite bookstore. I know this picture is not about food, but we’ll just keep with today’s theme and say if you are hungry for books {get it? lol} like me, you won’t mind! This is my sister’s and now my favorite bookstore in NYC:



It’s quaint atmosphere reminds me of ‘The Shop Around the Corner’ bookstore in the movie “You’ve Got Mail.” It’s locally owned, independent and lots of new and seasoned authors go there for book signings! My “I’m not going to buy anything” mantra did not last very long in this store!!


And finally, if you are at all worried about eating your way around New York City – then have NO WORRIES. New York offers FREE yoga in the park {Bryant Park} on Tuesday nights. Yes, I said FREE. And it was awesome. The only thing missing in this pictures is the sky scrapers in the background behind those trees.




Aaagh, good times. Thank you to my sister and little nephew {isn’t he a cutie patootie?} for being the best tour guides ever on my trip! {PS – the only other place to eat I left out was my sister’s house. She’s a great cook and if she wasn’t so dang private, I’d post her address and phone number here so you could pop over for dinner sometime.}




Are any of you planning a trip to New York soon? I’d love to hear if you eat at any of these places!! Or share a new place for me to try on my next trip!

For all of my foodie friends out there – what’s your favorite restaurant/place to eat where you live??? Cheers!!

The One About Running

So I decided to run a half marathon.

 Let me start this post with saying:

I AM NOT A RUNNER!! I don’t even play one on TV. 

I also use the word “Run” pretty loosely. When I say run, I usually mean a nice shallow jog, walking whenever I feel like it.

My kids like to run. I’ve entered them into kid’s 1 mile races and my 11 yr. old just started running 5k’s. Using the above running strategy makes running those 1 mile races pretty easy though. And you should see the cool pictures I took on the last 5k I walked ran with my 8 year old.

About four years ago, however, I actually did run the LA Marathon. Twice. Why? Because the school where I teach had a marathon team for middle school students and they needed a teacher to help. My initial thought: if a 12 year old can do it – so can I! 

WRONG.

Nothing is more humbling than being on mile 11 or 19 and seeing a tiny 12 year old blow past you.

I ran in the back of the pack of our team, making sure all of our students finished the race -- which made it a really long race, and not always my best time. (Not that I was fast to begin with. There was a reason I volunteered to be last!) It was one of the hardest things I have ever done and I’m very proud of just finishing the marathons. (Did you know statistics say only about 2% of the world’s population have run a marathon?!?) Item #1 on the bucket list – check!! And the sense of accomplishment of finishing the race cannot be beat!

But that was then. 

This is now. 

I haven’t really run since then. I’m active, but not really a runner. So, when my friend said she signed up for a half marathon and asked if anyone wanted to join her, I immediately said yes. I’m not sure what I was drinking that day or what I ate, but for some reason, it seemed like a good idea. And our goal: TO RUN MOST OF THE 13.1 MILES, IF NOT THE WHOLE THING. Yikes.

Enter our training runs:

As we started our slow intro jog, all I could think of was how tired I already was from the day and how I pretty much wanted to stop after a few steps. But I pushed on. After all, how embarrassing to be the first one to walk. (Or so I told myself.) I tried to chat as we ran, but it’s kind of hard to talk and run for lengthy periods of time. Outwardly I was smiling. People walking past were smiling at us. (I imagine they were thinking, “Wow, those girls are really fit! Check them out going for a run!”) While inside I wanted to give up and thought I was going to die. Seriously – my body could not even remember how to breathe.  But, people were walking past us remember! I had to save face. And we were only halfway through. No stopping for this girl. When you’re going for a run, peer pressure really works. If they run – you run. If they stop, you stop. 

Except we didn’t stop. 

I always prided myself in the fact that my body doesn’t really sweat. Maybe a slight, pretty glow. Maybe. Well, I discovered that it’s not my body makeup – it’s the fact that I never worked myself hard enough to break a sweat.

Times have changed.

We ran our entire training run. I was exhausted. Sweaty. Hot. Weak. And sore. But I finished it!

1 mile down. Only 12.1 to go…

Do you run? Any tips would be appreciated! :)

if you really knew me.

 

If you really knew me…

You would know that I love the Lord and love my neighbor.

You would know that I love the smell of cookies and sweet bread baking…

that I love chocolate and tulips but if you really want to make my day, write me a letter or sing me a song.

You would know that reading a good book with my toes in the sand will put a smile on my face any day of the week

and that someone lying to me will take it away just as fast.

You would know that I love my family and adore my kids.

You would know that I once read a story about a parent living in regret over their child’s death, because the last words they said to each other were something mean and that after reading that story, I make sure every time I leave my kids, 
the last words I say are something nice, 
and always, 
I love you.

 

If you really knew me..

You would know that I was once a good dancer

And that I still dance – even when no one is watching.

You would know that I am a weak person and that it’s only God that makes me strong.

You would know that I’m a perfectionist

and that I make mistakes.

Sometimes a lot of them.

You would know that thanks to a college professor I now have a fascination with Mt. Everest.

 

If you knew me, you would know that I have a lot of dreams

and that I keep reaching for them

even when I fall.

If you knew me
you would know that I can’t watch scary movies late at night

and, if I do, I have to watch a funny movie right afterward, before I can go to sleep.

You would know that I like a clean house but I don’t like to clean.

Dishes are my least favorite; doing laundry is calming.

You would know that I love to laugh

I love surprises

And making up silly songs.

If you really, really knew me, you would know that today is my birthday

and that all I want is my life to make a difference.

That I am passionate

and imperfect

and that’s okay.

How about you?

 

Getting to Know You: Siblings

"Sisters, sisters, there were never such devoted sisters." {Singing that song from White Christmas!} Do you know it? My sister and I love that movie - and that part! :)

Thanks to Nay at Cover to Cover and Everything in Between for hostessing a "Getting to Know You" Series, starting with: SIBLINGS! This was perfect timing too since I just returned from a visit to New York to see my little sister! So, here are my answers! I know I have welcomed a lot of knew friends to this blog recently as well, so I hope you enjoy getting to know a little bit more about me {and my sisters!}


1) How many siblings do you have and what are their names?

I have two sisters. Katrina is the oldest and Laura is the youngest. That puts me in the middle. Awesome sauce.

2) What is the age range among the children in your family?

My sister Katrina, Trina or Tree depending on my mood, ;-) is 5 years older than me and my little sister, Laura, is 18 months younger. I would say I am closer to my younger sister, since we are so close in age and went through most of school together.


3) In what ways are you like your siblings?

  We all have similar senses of humor  and we are most alike in looks – oh, and we all have awesome fashion sense as the picture below so beautifully displays:

4) In what ways are you different from your siblings?

  I am definitely the most girly girl out of all of my sisters. Even though all of us have some athletic/tom boy in us I got the dressing up, doing hair, crafty, girly gene. Although sometimes I wrangled my sister in the dressing up fun...

      {That's me on the far left, my little sister in the middle and a friend on the right.} Even though I was older, people used to think my little sister and I were twins ALL THE TIME because we were the same height most of our lives. It didn't help that my mom often dressed us alike as well. It used to bother me a lot. However, my sister stopped growing in 8th grade and I kept going. She's now 5'3" and I'm 5'7". {Ah, vindication!}                

  

      5) What is the craziest sibling story you've got?

      Crazy sibling story? Hmmm… Really, the most crazy stories involve me rescuing my sister out of some trouble she got into (Yes, I was the goodie two shoes – GOOD one!!) But the rest of our stories involve cars – usually getting stuck on the side of the road somewhere or some sort of misadventure.  For example, one time our family decided to take our old VW bus on a road trip. Remember the movie “Little Miss Sunshine?” Well, we had that EXACT VW bus. Curtains and all. We even had to do the running push start sometimes! Our VW bus was old, vintage, beat up and kind of broken down, so naturally my parents thought it would be a GREAT idea to drive it from Los Angeles all the way up to Washington State to see our cousins. You don’t need to be a rocket scientist to guess how this story is going to end. Yep, we made it about a third of the way before something broke and we got stuck on the side of the road.  That was it. Two week vacation over in less than one day. We got our car patched up and hobbled home. The nice ending to this sad story is that when we got home some friends from church had rented us a car!! We so desperately wanted to hop right in and go back to our vacation, but my parents said we needed to pay to fix our car. So, it became a stay-cation.  At least this misadventure gave us a story to tell! 
    
    6) Any treasured memories or routines you shared with your siblings?

      Even after that story my favorite memories with my sisters are still family vacations and our annual family camp and camping trips with church! Most of these vacations were in our local mountains, so we didn't have too many car worries on these trips!

     7) What are your siblings' best talents? 

 My older sister can sing really well. My younger sister – is being super smart a talent? I swear that girl collects college degrees! She is also a new mommy and wonderful at it!

     8) You and your sibling get to share one perfect meal.  What is on the table?

      Mexican or Italian!! My little sis and I both love to cook, so she or I would probably make the meal and I would make dessert. When I visited her in New York she took me to some of her favorite restaurants!! We even went on a dessert tour! Yum! But, as long as we're together, any food would be delicious!

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