Note: I'm in a good, contemplative mood. This post may ramble and be a bit disjointed. I cannot be held responsible.  I blame it on the baby ;)


It's a beautiful morning here in Western NY. The sun is shining. I love when it is bright and cheery in the middle of a cold, cold winter. It reminds me that spring and summer are around the corner. For once, I'm looking forward to summer. Summer = baby, in my mind's eye. And that makes me super excited for summer, even though that means warm, sticky weather. Yes, for once, I'm wishing that winter would go away...it's been here too long already hasn't it? :)

This morning I was thinking about who I am and where God has me in life. I've been contemplating, a lot lately, about who I want to be as a mother. As a parent. Oh goodness, is that a scary thought. To think our child might someday look at me and think I'm "one of those crazy mom's" makes me ecstatic. Let me explain. I want to be the mom that loves with reckless abandon. The mom known for always having baked goods on hand. The mom known for dancing crazily when her favorite song is on the radio. The mom who takes her kids on crazy adventures and doesn't too often say, "Be careful!" I want my children to be able to be themselves. I want them to explore, know the true beauty of God's world, and be able to live everyday knowing that He loves them. I want to be that mom who is unconventional because I allow my kids to make messes, make mistakes, and am able to love them through all of it. Oh goodness...I want that so badly.

One of the many, many reasons why I truly am grateful for my parents is their ability to do this. They have loved all of us kids through EVERYTHING. They didn't let anything hold them back, even when it seemed a bit unconventional. When my youngest brother wanted to pursue his acting career, my dad took him to the audition and my mom moved to LA with him when he made it. People may have questioned their sanity, but my parents didn't care. My parent's relationship may be stretched a bit, by being so far away from each other, but they didn't worry too much--rather they focused on the dreams of my little brother.

When my oldest brother decided to open his own sunglass company, my parents were the first to support him. Last night my dad sent me a picture-text where he proudly was wearing his first pair of Lucid sunglasses and sporting the ever popular Lucid trucker hat. Mind you, he was still in his suit after spending a full day as the CEO of our local bank. On his face was a huge smile--he is SO proud of his son.

When my middle brother decided that he wanted to go to film school in LA, my parents, though hesitant about having him move out on his own, supported him. My mom helped him look for apartments and flew out to LA with him to look around. They helped him narrow down his focus and get into editing school. They have supported him by buying him all the equipment he needs and encouraging him as he does one project after another.

And they also support me. They supported me through college and my sudden decision to go from majoring in business to majoring in human development. They supported me when I met my husband and married him. They also supported us as we bought our first house, a complete fixer-upper, even though there was some questions about OUR sanity ;) And they have both been so excited about our announcement of their first grandchild. They cannot wait.

I want to be like my parents. I want to love my kids no matter what harebrained idea they come up with next. I want to make sure my focus is always on our loving God, my wonderful husband, and our beautiful kids. Nothing else should ever be more important.

Gah!!! I cannot wait till this little one arrives. I'm one happy momma!!! :D

Vacation

IIIII'MMMM BBBBAAAACCCCCK!!! :D

I have been itching to let my fingers dance across the keyboard and create a post for you guys. But I have to pull back the reigns and remember that a week of vacation means that there is a week in which absolutely NO home improvements happened.

Whoa there horsey!

Sure, I could come up with a bunch on Pinspiration for you, but I feel like there will be plenty of that in the future. So, instead, I'm going to just post a bunch of fun pictures from our trip and allow you to ogle while I come up with a fantastic post for Wednesday.

Without any further excuse making, here are some photos I took, and ones that I stole from my cousin'a instagram, of our week in LA, CA. Enjoy.

Upon arriving in CA,  we visited Jonathan's brother, sister-in-law, and nephew. It was great to spend time with them! It has been way too long between visits. So, once we landed in Burbank, Jonathan and I hoped in our rent-a-car and drove to their house to spend a few days.

We did a lot of talking, eating, and the boys played video games a majority of the time. But here are a few highlights for ya.

The third day there, we decided to walk around Oakley Headquarters. The building was really neat and a lot of fun to explore.  

Uncle Jun Jun helped Casen try on sunglasses. We didn't buy anything, but instead watched a bunch of people race on the big outdoor dirt track that they have for RC cars. 

 Then the morning we were to leave, we went out to breakfast together and made sure to take lots of photos. 

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After spending time with them, we spent time with my side of the family. We went to an observatory in Griffith Park, CA where we were able to also get a good view of the infamous 'Hollywood' sign. 

We also spent a lot of time eating--it's sort of what my family does. 

This is the only picture I took of our visit to Venice beach. Other than this dog, which I found hilarious, I wouldn't recommend it. Venice was interesting, just not my thing. But I would highly recommend Santa Monica--a lot cleaner and more my style. 

My dad is on the right, my uncle on the left. I still mix them up at times. Oh and have I mentioned that my husband is a twin too? --yea, I'm in trouble. 

A compilation of the whole week. We celebrated my mom's 50th while we were together!! It was awesome. 

I have to say, it was a wonderful week spent enjoying family time. We drove all over the LA area, spent hours in traffic, talked, laughed, ate lots of frozen yogurt, had In and Out Burger, and made many memories together.  I am so thankful that God has blessed me with them and I cannot wait to spend time together, again. I just wish we all lived closer to one another. 

I Just Have to Gush...

about all of my brothers.

Have I ever told you that I am the most boring person in my family?! No, I'm not really insecure, it's just fact. I live in the same town I grew up in and don't plan on leaving any time soon. I'm the stereotypical housewife from decades ago...I cook, clean, and stay home to take care of my husband and the house. Guess what? This is what I LOVE to do and it's me...so I'm totally happy :)

My brothers, on the other hand, are crazy. My sister? Well her story deserves a post of its own!! (Miss you Yuliya!!!!) My brothers all live in California. One is opening up his own sunglasses and t-shirt company. The middle one is going to film school to edit and eventually produce movies. And finally my youngest, little brother, is currently pursuing his acting and singing career. Yea, they are all super-fantastic in my book.

I want to share with you some of their "stuff."

Let's start with Mark. Mark is my oldest, younger brother. At the age of 21 he is the most ambitious and uninhibited person I know. He is the one who asked me if I wanted to settle down and get married, even though he gets along really well with my husband. He just loves to live his life to the fullest and won't let anything stand in his way. His moto is 'man up!' or 'you only live once!!' --I don't think I know of anything that he wouldn't do. He originally moved to Cali to pursue a career in snowboarding and is currently professionally sponsored. But his heart is, now, into building his brand. Check it out here.  But you also need to watch his amazing snowboarding skills. You can thank me later ;)

Parker, my middle younger brother, is a phenomenal editor. He has helped to edit many a video and really has mad talent. He is almost 20 years old and going to be a great film producer some day. When we were all younger, he would watch the same movie over and over again analyzing it and trying to find all of the flaws. It always amazed me that he could pick out such details! He will often edit videos for both of my other brothers when need be. It has just become a whole family affair! Check out this video that he edited for Mark's business.

Finally, you have my youngest, younger brother. Alex, who is 15, moved to Cali with my mom about a year ago. He is pursuing his acting and singing career. I can't believe that my 15 year old brother is living in Cali doing what most kids dream about. He has had a couple of commercials for Disney XD and, also, has shot a couple of scenes for various primetime TV shows. But my favorite part is listening to his music. Check out these two Switchfoot covers below. The first video was edited by Mark and the other was done by Parker.

Yup! Those are my amazing brothers. I love them dearly and I am so thankful that God has blessed them so. I pray that they are able to achieve everything that they want to! Even though I miss "The California Contingent" as my dad calls them, I know that God has them where He wants them. I am just such a proud big sister.