Life Shaping Events

I'm on a Listing Kick!

Sometimes I wake up with the alarm and lay in bed letting my mind just jog around my memories. Yesterday the thought of life-shaping events came into my head. The more I thought on it, the more events I found and questioned why I thought they were life-shaping relevant.

Let me share some :) And like most things I do....in no particular order. (aside from perhaps a little chronologically because that just helps me sort :))

1. Falling off a pier..sort of. When I was really little (before memory actually) my parents, Kellie and I went for a walk on a pier, my parents admired the surroundings for .2 seconds and looked back to see Kellie pointing downwards. There were my little fingers clinging to the edge.

2. Hearing that we were going to get a new sister...and our reply "but we don't need a sister, we need a puppy". Looking back I'm glad we opted for the sister :)

3. Building an amazing fort with the other ramshackle neighborhood kids and my sisters. It was a glorious child-sized escape.

4. Attending several elementary schools before staying put when I reached 3rd grade. Luckily my built in sister friends followed me to all my new houses.

5. Being bossed around by Kellie, but always beating her in the 'which picture do you like more Mom?' contest :)

6. Waking up in the middle of the night thinking I heard my father (who traveled alot) get home, almost go down to greet him but didn't. The next morning we discovered the house had been broken into and my Mom's purse flung up on the roof of a local school.

7. All the books I got lost in for hours and days (Redwall, Lloyd Alexander and Laura Ingalls Wilder).

8. Taking out a $30 loan from my accountant father who drafted up paperwork for me to sign and repay with my allowance...when I was 8.

9. Making fast friends in elementary and struggling to stick together through junior high while discovering perhaps we weren't so similar

10. Discovering my quick to learn brain and excelling through academics

11. Playing the deadly game of spin the bottle, where lives are ruined and reputations made.at age 12.

12. Trying out for volleyball with no prior experience but the sheer will of wanting to be on that team. Getting spiked in the face countless times but never quitting all season (perhaps to the chagrin of my teammates.

13. Being denied a spot on Varsity soccer in Junior year only to negotiate my way on the team anyway.

14. Riding the bench for the better part of my soccer career but never leaving the sport I loved.

15. Asking my future husband to walk with me in graduation ceremony.

16. Being in the top 10 of my graduating class.

17. Getting a full scholarship to the University of Michigan, but acquiring a job within 2 weeks of starting anyway...

18. Learning to drink late in the game of life and paying for it

19. Finding friends amidst a sprawling campus, and taking comfort that my first best friend, Kellie, was there with me for 2 years

20. Choosing Turku, Finland as my study abroad location (because it was a direct exchange, i.e. free) then sitting in my parents backyard a week before departure and thinking, will there be friends there for me?

21. Finding the most amazing friends from all over the world and sharing experiences that to this day make me smile.

22. Leaving those same friends knowing it will never be the same and learning that life is made up of chapters with beginnings and ends.

23. Losing my Abuelita while away in Finland, the closest of my grandparents. I can still, and probably always will, be able to tour her house in Alma in my mind's eye.

24. Playing rugby and breaking my collarbone while realizing the amazingly real feeling of colliding with people intentionally (haven't tried it? Do!)

25. Moving to NYC with a suitcase in my hand and no idea where I was going or what a borough was.

26. Acquiring a cafe job within a week of being in NYC to support myself (well to feed me really).

27. Finally landing a teaching job as a middle school ESL/History teacher. Being torn apart and put back together by my students.

28. Finding friendship and opening another chapter of life, maybe like the Laura Diaries...like the Carrie Diaries?...no?

29. Marrying the man that followed me to Turku and NYC and bet on us time and again. Closing the NYC Diaries and heading back to Michigan.

30. Having my sweet little HP, the beginning of a chapter that will last a lifetime.

A Sprint down Memory Lane

I bring you now an update of life through pictures I found on my parent's computer! Some are true blasts from the past!

The Blandford Nature Center 2013

One year ago today! 2012

I chose this one, because of the crazy looks on both our faces!

Today he asked if Kiki would be at his birthday party :(

Yesterday was Grandma's birthday! (2011?)

Ah! What a bug!

He's loved helping his Abuelito in the garden since Day 1

For some reason I love this picture!

Awwww

:) My teddy bear

Of course, I think all this sentimental walking down memory lane is due to the fact that this guy right here

is turning the big 03 this month. Holy smokes! 

Almost happy birthday HP :)

HP's Halloweens

I was emptying pictures off our camera and came across some of HP's greatest Halloween hits :)

2010: Baby Scarecrow 

2011: Tiny Parrot 

HP and his best friend cowboy Eli

2012: Little Boy Buzz

Alma Mater

Recently, Jon and I took a road trip to my alma mater, my first one anyway. What do you call your graduate school? Hmmm.

Aside from some growing and building, the feeling of being on campus was the very same. The students weren't yet walking around in sweats tucked into Uggs, but they were wearing the warm-weather equivelent to that dress code. Maize and blue was everywhere and packs of freshmen girls sauntered across the diag as bros gave big, back-slapping hellos to eachother.  Ah sweet college.


Would you do college any differently? Everyone I know would answer a resounding yes to re-doing high school differently in some way, but college is another story I think. Hopefully you had passed through that terribly awkward self-aware time of the teen years and emerged a more secure person in time to live out your college dreams. Did you?

In celebration of it being a full ten years since I began my college experience I will do what I love best. Without further introduction here is my list of top 10 best and worst moments of attending the University of Michigan!

BEST

1. living in Stockwell, an all girls dorm my freshman year- although devoid of hotties without shirts, the hygenic atmosphere and stellar food made up for it
2. playing on the women's rugby team my senior year- travelling to tournaments, drinking too much, and learning ridiculously lewd songs, all in the presence of very fun ladies
3. living the true freshman girl experience with my own pack of friends, wandering from dorm rooms to frat parties and back
4. studying abroad in Finland my junior year- I couln't name all the amazing things I did and saw, but the best are the friends I made and still have from all over
5. living with and working alongside my sister- a very different experience than living with a sister under your parent's roof
6. chatting on AIM with that sweet crush from H.S. and having him come visit me that fall...and keep visiting all 4 years
7. trying out and participating in the campus orchestra- even though I was last chair I still loved playing my cello
8. having tickets to every home football game the 3 years I lived in AA, the highlight being my senior year FRONT row student section with my friends
9. graduating with a solid 3.5 GPA and a job offer lined up
10. being a Wolverine, even though I thought I had my heart set on Notre Dame, UofM proved to be the best place for that quintessential college experience, and I am still proud to wear one of my many UM tees just like any true alumni would
     

WORST

1. gaining my freshman 20 10 and hanging on to it for far too long!
2. getting so very sick after an epic night out whereafter I swore off the demon drink as I lay in the fetal position at the bottom of my dorm shower...shame shame
3. withdrawing from ECON 101 only to retake the class the following year and get a hard-fought C, clearly not my strong suit
4. making bad decisions about my major- if I could have a do-over I'd have taken more Spanish and Physiology and Anatomy
5. not taking Physics- I really liked it in HS and did well in it, so why didn't I go for it? I could've been somebody!
6. working too much- I got a job within a week of moving there and had one throughout
7. being shy- come on Laura! Get over yourself! Well, that's what I wish I caould've said to me back then...
8. Not purchasing any required reading materials...did I mention I was so so cheap? Yes...I tried my best to read them at Borders or get them fron the library, but I always managed to get the wrong edition!
9. living in AA during the summer when NO one was around and all I did was work, sweat and watch too many movies
10. burning bridges with some friends, not typical of me and I still am bummed how some friendships just arn't able to last
     

 



Who's Your Fashion Guru?

Don't have one? Well get one! I am just now realizing who mine is.

 

 

Being a girl, a middle child, and brotherless I grew up surrounded by ladies. But who did I use as my fashion guide grwoing up? My father. Ask my sister and she'll gladly tell you of the giant T's and baseball caps I sported throughout my most awkward pre-teen years. Luckily I do not have access to any of those pictures to share with you. Use your imagination, it was bad.

 

In high school, after Kellie left for college my closet shrunk by half. Katie's, four years behind me, offered nothing more than you'd expect from a 12 year old girl. I was forced into suppling my own clothes. It didn't go well. Memories of too-long dresses, bad cable-knit sweaters and over-sized jeans (they were in style I swear!) come to mind. And one particular memory of walking up the junior wing and seeing a very familiar outfit on a teacher...ugh. Now I was that girl.

 

It wasn't until college, Finland and NYC did I really embrace clothing as more than body warmers and decency coverings. Looking through my wardrobe now it's coming to my attention that 1) I should've lived in the mid 1950's, 2) it consists of 85% skirts and dresses and 3) I think I dress like my Abuelita would have in her 20's.

 

Don't you love the Chihuaha accessories :)

 

I inherited some gorgeous pairs of shoes from her, and luckily we have

the same shoe size.

 

Love me some plaid, a $10 steal at my local consignment

 

Yes, my Abuelita had some giant grandma brooches and her fair share of costume jewlery, but I would say she was a woman of style. Evidence of her awesome style is in a frame at my parent's house. A beautiful picture of her on her quincenera wearing an amazing dress and staring off to the side. It's in black and white. The really cool thing is I know for a fact everyone in my family knows exactly which picture I'm referring to :) It's just one of those photos that get lodged in your brain.

 

Her lady-like style and her penchant for keeping her Ferragamos in their original boxes has taught me much of what I know about fashion.

Fill your closet with dresses and re-heel whenever needed.

 

 

 

 

 

A Love Affair with Lists

Have you ever stopped and thought, "just how far back has Laura been doing her List of Things to Do"? No? Well, I'm going to pretend that you have and now are desperately hoping that I will educate you on my love of listing. Take a tour of my yearly to-do lists starting in 2005...

As any good lister might confirm, there is something more enjoyable about picking up a pen and paper and taking the time to scratch off each individual triumph. That is why I have a pile of seven-year old papers stuffed in one of my yearly journals. 

The inaugural list, originally penned in Finland, inspired by my cousin.

2006's highlights included graduating from UofM, getting a full time job and moving to NYC

2007's included saving a whopping 6K for my impending marriage, watching my bffs get married and surviving Year 1 of teaching 

2008 was the year of my wedding, finishing my Masters, and completing 2 half marathons 

2009 was the year of moving back to MI, completing my Olympic triathlon, and paying off my student loan

2010 was the year of the BABY

And you know what? That's when I put down the pen and started blogging my List of Things. I like looking back on these, seeing the things I've been able to check off, seeing which I can never seem to accomplish (cycling a century and visiting the Empire State Building have yet to happen!). I'm averaging about 50% goal completion on a yearly basis. Which reminds me I better get moving on this years list....

  

Hello, Goodbye

Opposite events occurred these past two days that have left my mind in a twist. A very happy thing; a birth A very sad thing; a death. Both such pivotal moments for the friends and family for each. One with only happy thoughts, as well they should be. The other with a wealth of thoughts ranging from the happiest to the saddest.

Whenever a friend has a baby I seem to remember the very best parts of having a newborn. I mean, exclusively. You just don't think about all the hard adjusting that comes along with that cute bundle. And I guess that's probably how people end up having more than one. Of course, now that I'm in the full-swing of having a 2.3 year-old I'm wondering if we'll ever sign up for another...:)

That is the good side of the spectrum. Then comes the very opposite of birth. Saying goodbye. I don't have the right word to describe her connection to me. Co-worker is too removed, aquaintance too cold, close friends we never were, but I think she'd be comfortable with me naming her as friend and ally in the classroom.

I've only ever called her by her last name. She witnessed my inaugural year of teaching in NYC. She tried to help me as best she could. She threated her class with dire warnings whenever they came to me for Social Studies lessons, and she helped me feel like I wasn't the only one who had gotten emotionally trampled their first year. Although she had plenty of first-hand stories to share about her many unbelievable incidents, I still couldn't believe them. Because who would, or could ever disrespect a teacher personality such as hers? Whover did was a braver or crazier student than I have met.

I sat in on a couple of her ELA lessons in hopes of having some of her power rub off on me. I don't think it ever did, or could. It would be a hilarious sight to see me try to summon her ability to yell, or give off a world-class teacher stare down like she could. But what I did learn from watching her is that she knew the students were going to listen to her. You could hear it in her voice and see it in her body-language. While my stomach knotted when her kids rounded the corner, and lined up lazily in front of my door (for a double-period of hell on earth each Friday afternoon), my face would blanch an even whiter shade of pale and I would not know if I could hook them into listening, let alone sitting down in their assigned seats. I didn't have that power that teachers like her could summon. And the kids smelled it like a dog catching a fresh scent.

But time passed, and I fell into my way of teaching. And we came to share a wall my last year at IS 52, both teaching on the same floor. And because I am who I am I used some sick days occassionally for not-so-sick time off. And every time I would return she would come into my room the next morning and look at me and say "I could tell you were gone yesterday by the amount of times I heard yelling coming through that wall!" I loved hearing that :) I guess that means my kids where total monsters, but the point is they weren't for me :) I  give credit her for helping me get to be better, and survive my first year.

 

Death makes me remember the last time we spoke, or saw eachother or reminisced about those crazy moments. And happily my last time doing all of those things with Ms. Waldman was over a delicious brunch at Essex among friends, where I got to show off my little HP baby-bump and see her in a good health.

 

Whenever encountering what I feel is the craziest, or most disrespectful or simply uncontrolable child I think to myself, "no way will it ever be harder than Waldman's 7A5 in 2006". What doesn't kill us makes us stronger though, and Waldman definatly made me a stronger teacher. And I will miss her.

A Blast from the Past

H's mind will be blown when I tell him about living in the olden days of sub 2000s. It seems comical even now to think that my parent's hulking, brown conversion van had a sweet car phone, that I didn't have a cell phone til college, that I had to step away from the computer for several minutes while it noisily dialed up.  You just can't commit to any one piece of technology. It'll change next year.

But some things stick around and feel the same regardless of however long you've been away from it. Like the best friend that you fell out of touch, it just feels normal and easy to get right back to talking to them when next you meet. Lake Michigan is like that in a way. The dunes are always moving but it all feels the same. H, Jon and I drove to a beach I've been going to since I was a little girl. It's so surreal to see your own child experience your own past experiences, like seeing double.

That same feeling happened last night at my 10 Year high school reunion. That double-vision of seeing people you knew (or didn't recall knowing) all jam-packed in a bar. I made the rounds talking to many familiar faces, but just as easily found myself happily sitting with those friends that you can just fall back into natural conversation.

Yay for friends like these :) 



 That shirt and pizza just says it all :)

Year 4

Yesterday Jon and I celebrated year 4 of being married.

Yes, 4 years is a long time!

Jon's mom babysat for H and we went downtown to the Monkey Bar for tapas a 2 ridiculously watered-down drinks. But the food was yummy, the weather was a steamy 90 degrees, perfect for eating some gelato under the gazebo when we got home.

I felt soooooooooooo young walking down that aisle!

Over dinner I asked JOn which year he's liked most and that got us to thinking how we'd summarize our years together. Jon and I brok down the 4 years as follows:

Year 1: relocation, NYC to GR

Year 2: pregnanacy and living at home

Year 3: Harrison and House

Year 4: ?

So what to do this year?



Friends, Family, Festivals and Fiascos

H and I had a very lovely long weekend, which began after I got out of work Wednesday. We were joined by Kathryn, my good friend from NYC. She'd been travelling the far reaches of the world so of cource Grand Rapids was next on her list :) 

 We showed her the sights of GR, including the misting pool at Rosa Parks. H loved it so much he threw his hat into it...

Not much was on the agenda outside of taking it easy. We did a lot of that. But Friday evening we joined my visiting sister Kellie and my mom for the ride up to Alma to experience the one and only Highland Festival! Did you know Alma is Scotland, USA?

Well it is:) We have fond memories of visiting my Abuelita's house in Alma and watching the parade and highland games.

 Complete with bloody marys :)

 We had great seats thanks to my Uncle. HP got a great view of the parade.

 Many different views of the parade :)

Which actually didn't turn out to be a great thing...

It sounds crazy and it was really surreal, but we witnessed a freak accident at that parade. One of the floats carrying several passengers tripped up and literally ran over a woman walking alongside of it. She is okay (as far as I know) but she most definately went under a wheel and was trapped under that float for at least 30 minutes before being carted off in the ambulance.

And then everything went back to normal.

Yeah, crazy.

Speaking of crazy, have you ever seen a caber toss? The different clansmen tried their hands at tossing a giant log (like a telephone pole).

The strong man gets the "pick", then does the caber dance to get his balance before tossing it upwards to make it flip over. Some were successful, some not.

It was a fun-filled, dramatic week :)