Day 8: A place you've traveled to

Although I'm not what you would call a "World Traveller", I've been a few places in my life.  I tend to like "beachy" places...Cancun, Bahamas, Puerto Vallarta, Barbados, St. Thomas, Hawaii, etc.  Which is sort of comical since I LIVE in a "beachy" place and rarely go to the beach.

A few years ago, John and I were hanging out at his apartment (we were dating at the time), listening to music, etc. and he said he had a surprise for me and wasn't sure if he should COMPLETELY surprise me with it or just kind of surprise me with it.  Well you CAN'T say something like that and keep it a COMPLETE surprise at that point, right?  He says he's had it planned for months but now that it's getting closer he thinks maybe he should tell me because he knows how much I enjoy looking forward to things (true) but really wants to surprise me so he's torn. 

Now, keep in mind, I have always been VERY hard to surprise so I'm already excited he's managed it thus far.  I mean, I knew EVERY time one of those previous 3 fiances I mentioned earlier was going to propose!  TRULY!  EVERY TIME! (sorry if any of you are now reading this).  For example, the night my first fiance was going to propose (go ahead, laugh here), I was waiting tables and was about to get off work to meet him when my boss asked me to stay late.  I told them that I couldn't because I KNEW my boyfriend was going to propose to me that night!  KNEW!  (and yes, he did).  But I digress!

Needless to say, finding out that he had managed to plan something and keep it from me this long (the "surprise" was in 3 weeks) was a feat no other man had accomplished and I was impressed.   He gave me a hint and told me that it was a trip somewhere to which I replied "You'd BETTER tell me!  I have enough "clothing trauma" here at home, let alone trying to pack for a place I have no idea what the weather is going to be or what kind of activities we might be doing there!" (you girls can relate, right?)

He agrees and sends me an email, with our travel itinerary.  I'm ALL excited now, scrolling down nervously I read

Depart: LAX 6am

(we lived 2 miles from the San Diego Airport so that was curious)

scrolling

scrolling

scrolling

Arrive: Chicago O'Hare Airport  10am

"WE"RE GOING TO CHICAGO!!!!!! 
Cool!  I've never been to Chicago!!!"

I turn around with a BIG smile, look at John to say "Thank you!" and he's looking at me like I'm not the sharpest tool in the shed.  "Keep scrolling" he says.

SO...I keep

scrolling

Depart: Chicago O'Hare 3pm

scrolling

scrolling

Arrive:

Charle De Gaulle Airport  8am

"WE'RE GOING TO PARIS??????????"

Even now, I get the same choked up feeling I had in that moment.  Teary eyed.  Wowed.  Nobody has EVER done anything so...thoughtful and extravagant... for me before.  I'm so excited and moved that I don't even get up to hug him or anything.  I believe I was speechless (WOW! right?)  And my loving, sweet thoughtful, beautiful boyfriend laughs and says to me

"Wow.  I could have gotten away with just taking you to Chicago?"

with that twinkle in his eye.

That now resides in our eldest son's eye as well.

Kind

Mischievous

LOVING

THAT twinkle.

These are some of my favorite places we saw on our wonderful Springtime adventure in Paris.  AMAZING!

Just an alley way I thought was beautiful

A mausoleum at one of the many cemeteries we visited.  I LOVE cemeteries!

Tulips are my FAVORITE flower!  They were everywhere. Like here, at

Pere-Lachaise cemetery (where Jim Morrison is buried)

The view of Versailles from across the street

We were eating crepes. :)

The Rodin Museum



Buildings at the Hameau at Versailles
It was once a farming village on the grounds.
Beautiful

I truly hope we can go back someday.  sigh.  If you get the chance and you love historical architecture, museums, parks and (my favorite) cemeteries, you have GOT to go!

Day 7: Favorite Movies

There are...

Movies-That-Sucked-Me-in-and-Left-Me-Slack-jawed

Movies-I-Watch-Over-and-Over-and-Over-Again (much to my Hubby's chagrin)

Movies-I-Adored-In-Childhood/Young-Adulthood

and

Movies-That-ALWAYS-Remind-Me-of-My-Dad

What are your favorite movies?

Day 6: A picture of something that makes you happy

Like this is a surprise!

and this

Day 5: A song to match your mood

I love this song. I was definitley feeling this way on day 5.

Day 4: Parentals

I know, I've missed a couple days.  I've been single mom'ing it, under the weather and to be honest, confronted about writing my parents and doing them justice.  This still doesn't come anywhere close, but if I had waited until it was exactly how I wanted it to be, my own children would be grown and out of the house by then!

So, here's  Day 4: My Parents


Thinking about my parents makes me smile.  Especially since becoming a parent myself.

Like most kids, I always thought I knew who my parents were and what they were like.  You know, "My Mom IS this way" or "My Dad WOULD/WOULDN'T do/say/be that".  Now that I'm a parent, I can see that no matter how much I know about my parents, for the most part, it's through the lens of them being my parent, not necessarily who they are as whole people.  And that's okay, but I know enough now to know that whatever I think I know about them is only part of the story.  

We'll start with my Mom.  My Mom is the oldest of four kids born to two crazy kids from Wyoming.  She lived all over the country (and sometimes out) as she grew up with a Navy father. 

My Dad is the middle of three, born to a Baptist Preacher/Air Force man/re-builder of cars from Wisconsin and a stay at home mom from Texas.  He also moved around most of his life.

My Dad was 20, either on leave or very close to being drafted into the Air Force during the Vietnam War.  At 19, my Mom was working and dating and living life.  One fateful evening, she went cruising with some girlfriends.  Her friends started flirting with some cute boys in another car  who invited them to go to a party.  From what I remember being told, my mother was NOT thrilled about going to this party with these boys they did not know but she went anyway. 

Well, I'm sure you've already guessed, but one of those handsome young men was my father.  And boy did he make an impression on my mother!  She couldn't STAND him!  She barely tolerated him speaking to her the entire evening and when she finally got her friends to leave the party, she saw him passed out, face down in the front yard (hmmmm....interesting that I met my husband, drunk in a bar.) and couldn't have cared less!  I believe one of her friends even asked if they should help him and my mother assured her that was not at ALL necessary.

Needless to say, he was a charmer because somehow, some way, he managed to not only have her give him the time of day and go out on a date, but married her less than a year later.  A few years later, after having one daughter already, they became my parents. 

What a lucky girl I am to have been born to them. 

(Now, it's quite possible that some details of this story are slightly (or completely) inaccurate, but this is how I remember what I've been told.  Makes an interesting story though, right?)

Day 3: Your First Love

Hmmm...First Love, huh?  First Love.  I think writing about my First LUST would be easier. First INFATUATION easier still.  But First LOVE?  That one is surprisingly difficult  

I know, I know.  How could that possibly be difficult for the woman who (as my Husband so eloquently put it) "Never met a proposal (she) didn't like"? (funny, isn't he?).  I think that's precisely why it's difficult.  I've been in love many times (obviously).  Some didn't even include a proposal so you can imagine the number!   But looking back, and yes this is going to sound cheesy, none of them was what I would call Real Love.  Until John. 

He is the first one I've ever really... chosen.  Others were puppy love, or love that evolved more because that was the direction it should go rather than it being the direction I/we really felt it going.  Others I felt more swept away by and caught up in.  But John, John I chose.  From the very first moment we met. And I keep on choosing him, every day, in every way.  And I'm very lucky he chooses me too.

(I'll tell the story of how we met another time)

Day 2 - Figuring Out Family LIfe

Today's task is telling you the meaning behind my blog name.  At first glance, I thought this post would be about 2 sentences long because I think it's pretty self explanatory...Figuring...Out...Family...Life.  And this is true.  However, I took on this challenge to work on my writing so write I must.

When I was younger, I would have laughed at this title.  "What do you MEAN figuring out family life?  How hard can it be?"  Haha. I never knew having a family could be so complicated.  And perhaps, it's complicated because I make it that way.  I would agree with that in some instances.  However, I think it's more universal than that. 

Getting married and having kids (which I did in a rather accelerated fashion once I started) has completely turned my world upside down.  I think some of it has to do with becoming a family later in life (I had my first child at 36) and some of it is just the design of being in relationship with other people whose lives and future depend on you...every moment of every day.  I had always been fairly independent and really enjoyed being able to do what I wanted to do when I wanted to do it.  I never realized how much, until I had kids.

This blog is about trying to figure out all of that.  The crazy, exciting, boring, amazing, tough, trying, mind boggling balancing act of being a wife, mother and (oops, almost forgot) person.

I hope you enjoy it.  And please comment!  I LOVE getting feedback from people.  It makes me feel like I'm still connected to the Over 3year old set! :)

Day 1 - 30 Day Challenge

Several times a day I feel a great blog post in me.  And then when I have a moment to sit and write...POOF!!! NOTHING is there.  Nothing.  Even when I still remember the topic, I can't seem to summon up the, I don't know, juice of it.  The driving force of why I wanted to write about it in the first place.

So, I decided that perhaps I just need to practice writing.  And to do that I am going to do this "30 Day Challenge" thing.

Beginning today:


Day 1: Introduce, recent picture of yourself, 15 interesting facts


Even though I think I introduced myself when I started, I'll try again.  Hi.  My name is Laura.  I'm a wife, mother, daughter, friend, stranger, neighbor, and woman.  I'm about to complete my 40th year on the planet. 

1.  I drew a picture of a red robin sitting in a tree when I was in 4th grade.  It traveled the world in an exhibit from China.  I wonder if I could ever find it?

2.  I've been engaged 4 times.  Married twice.

3.  I'm so terribly afraid that something terribly, awful, horrible will happen to me, my husband or my children.

4.  For 2 years, I worked for a Major League Baseball team.  It was an amazing experience.  I wish I would have enjoyed it more.

5.  My favorite conversations are those where there is never an answer found and your head hurts from being so stretched by the end of it.  I smile just thinking about this.

6.  At the time of the 9/11 attacks, I was married to an Iranian man and was step-mother to his 3 children.  I was afraid for them every day in those first few weeks when anyone with Middle Eastern looks was potentially in danger.  It was such a scary time on so many levels.

7.   I used to know what my gifts were but since becoming a Mom, I'm not so sure.

8.  My need to understand and be understood often outweighs my ability to shut up and listen.

9.  My dear friends matter as much to me as my children and husband.  I am fiercely protective of all of them.  Fiercely.

10.  When we were dating, my Husband surprised me with a 2 week trip to Paris.  Those memories have helped me through MANY a day.

11.  If I could spend every day wandering around old/ancient buildings and cities, learning of their history, I would he a happy happy girl.

12.  I was told I might not be able have children.  Found the right guy. 2 weeks for child #1.  3 months for child #2. :)

13.  We named my eldest son after my father who died before ever meeting my husband or my children.  I miss him deeply almost daily.

14.  My husband and I met in a bar.

15.  Just thinking about a beach vacation has me smelling salt water, coconuts and feeling light, weightless and free.  smile.

Man, that was hard to come up with 15 facts!  Okay.  Here's a kind of recent picture:

Up, up and away

I'm up early, sneaking out of the house so I (maybe) don't wake up the kids and Daddy can sleep a little longer.  It's still a bit dark outside so I'm heading to the gym instead of running on the street (yes, I'm paranoid about someone jumping me. An almost 40 year old. Here.  In suburbia.). 

I'm driving the 2 miles to the gym when I see something kinda cool.  So I turn around and go pile all my boys into the car for a little adventure!

Here's how we began our day.  I hope yours started out as fun! (listen carefully for the running commentary. heehee)