Defining me

I am a wife. I am a mother. It is who I am. There was a day when I was not defined by these roles. Or these rolls either. Get it? Roles. Rolls.

Life was simpler and more like a Wheat Thin as compared to the rich complexities of a 12 layer chocolate cake of my current life.

A couple friends have recently posted about defining moments in their lives. I think I will too. Kind of like those cheesy email surveys you are supposed to send to 20 friends. "Which one of your friends will complete this first?" I find myself completing them each time they come around. For the record I am wearing a yellow sweater and my favorite food is spaghetti with angel hair noodles. Make sense out of that one.

A few years ago my grandma gave me an envelope full of pictures from my childhood. I had time to kill (this was obviously more than 5 years back) and I made a scrapbook. Behold the magic of Creative Memories. I took pictures of the scrapbook to highlight some of my somewhat and mostly shallow defining moments.

Childhood:

(good luck reading any of the captions. My computer's camera reversed the images. You could hold your computer screen up to a mirror to read them. Or you could come over and I would gladly show you my AWESOME scrapbook. Just please don't tell anyone I claim to be a photographer.)

Barbies, Barbies, and more Barbies, and one Ken

my sister as my favorite playmate

a super pink room, including the carpet (thanks dad)

books about missionaries because I was going to be one someday

homeschool friends and friends from church

bangs that started at the middle of my head

The Teen Years:

Pillazo pants

my first airplane ride and the beginning of an unquenchable desire for travel

homeschool, correspondence school, public school, and private school

playing piano in church and singing in the choir

PCCC, the CA camp where I worked during the summers

Dr. Pepper and Reeses Peanut Butter Cups

growing out the bangs that started at the middle of my head. we've had a sketchy relationship ever since, bangs and me

The College Days:

finally some tall friends, amazing and wonderful too

oversized sweaters and faded blue jeans

mostly harmless practical jokes

Dr. Pepper and Reeses Peanut Butter Cups

While You Were Sleeping

first boyfriend

20 extra pounds because of always asking for extra gravy from the cute cafeteria guy (who was not my first boyfriend)

The VW Rabbit that could actually hop

Getting Married, the pre-child years:

learning twitterpated is fun, but committed love is better

a home to decorate

dilutionally thinking I could have all-white anything while living on the farm

trading up to a VW Jetta

living the DINK life (double-income-no-kids)

sleeping in and snuggling

Africa

learning what love really means

Mommyhood:

throwing up in every bathroom in the Magic Kingdom. throwing up in general = pregnancy

"If any of you lacks wisdom..." (James 1:10) as my life's theme

gaining weight, losing weight, gaining weight, losing weight, gaining weight, and still trying to lose weight

Hooter Hider

sleep deprivation

family vacations

thinking my kids are so fantastic, and cute, and funny

finally something to take pictures of and loving it

the best days of my life