My Family
Family will always be the most important thing to me. Seriously, nothing else comes first. We're definitely unique and crazy and we do things that I'll bet no other family does, but that's what makes us so dang awesome. No amount of pictures or words I put on this silly blog will make you know them or understand their awesomeness... but I'll do my best!
Oh and Just so you know, this will be a long post with a butt-ton of pictures.
Mom
Her name is Jodi. And she's about the greatest woman you'll ever meet. She gave birth to me. For like hours. And apparently it hurt. But she did it for me cuz she loves me, and I know that's only the beginning of what she's done and what she'd do for me, to make sure I'm happy.
She's been the greatest example to me, and I wouldn't trade her for the world. Ask her though and she won't believe what I just said... See, mom has this crazy idea in her head that she's somehow failed us, that she hasn't done her job. That's just something that she learned from Grandma, so we just laugh it off cuz we know that it's no where even close to being true.
So many of my friends complain about their parents. "They're too strict." "They don't let me do what I want." "They don't understand me." or "I can't talk to them." Not a problem I've ever once even had with my parents, and especially my mom. It actually shocks me
how much she really does understand me. It's like she reads my mind, and even know that I'm 23 years old I
know I know I can go to her for advice, whenever and for whatever. She doesn't judge me, she's not biased. In fact, I think the only thing we've ever really disagreed on is the girls I date, and that's just because I know she loves me and she's claimed in the past "It's gonna be really hard for me to accept the girls you date, especially at first, because I know you deserve the absolute best, and I don't know if a girl like that exists for you." (that was extremely paraphrased).
She has always created a feeling of trust, and that's allowed me to talk to her about whatever, and to tell her to the truth when I've done something wrong or am in some sort of trouble. I've usually been one to earn that trust from her, and I do believe I deserved it. Except for once. I broke into my school at the end of my senior year (story for another day) for a silly senior prank... well we got caught and I had to tell her. It was literally one of the worst experiences of my life because I knew that I'd crushed her and violated that trust. Took me a long time to get it back, and to feel not ashamed when I talked to her. And yet, she forgave me and did nothing but love me :)
I think the biggest thing my mom's done that's had an impact on my life is letting us make our own decisions, and learn from the consequences. It was impossible for me to rebel as a teenager because really it wouldn't have been rebelling. It would have been learning, and she made sure of that. I get my space when I need it, but she's right there when I decide I need her. If I didn't want to go to church, she didn't force me. If I didn't want to do my homework, she didn't force it. She explained the good, explained the bad, and then let me figure out the rest. If I have any success in my life, I can attribute it in large part to my mother!!!!
Did I mention she's silly? Seriously so fun. The rest of us are absolutely freakin' weirdos, and Jodi has been nothing but brave and patient dealing with us and our weirdnesses, and she just dives right on in with us. If you wanna see more of what I'm talkin' about (and wanna check out her mad photography skills) go here!
I absolutely adore my Mom and I won't lie I've gotten a little teary-eyed writing this and thinking about how ungrateful I've probably been to her!
She can often be found asking my Dad or Tyler to help her with computer stuff, helping Kandice crochet, or watching the full series of ER for the sixth time.
Dad
Alright, where to even begin with this guy!? Kirby is one of the most chill people I know. My Grandma pointed out something the other day, she mentioned that she's never seen my dad get angry or yell. I haven't either! The guy just somehow manages to keep his cool and I don't get it.
Would you look at that hair? I mean seriously, that goatee is impeccable, and I've never seen someone rock the grey hair so majestically. I'm already going a bit grey and I couldn't be happier about it if I get to look like that!
He's a problem solver, he's a freakin' hard worker, and he's charitable. I remember once we were in Vegas and we were walking down the strip. He saw a drunk homeless guy on the side of the rode who had his pants down and asked for help. Any normal person would ignore him and walk away. My dad told us to keep walking and he stayed back and helped the poor guy put his pants back on. He helps old senile ladies who get stuck in the mountains. He helps out in the ward and most importantly, he treats my mom like a queen.
Now don't get me wrong, he's got his imperfections. I mean we can't even walk through Wal-Mart without having to stop and talk to like 6 people cuz he knows everyone everywhere.
If you're ever curious about where my sense of humor (or weirdness) comes from, look no further than Kirby. It's one of those special senses of humor that you have to spend a lot of time around to understand, but that can keep me rolling around on the floor laughing for a while. I mean come on, the man calls me Ass-Face and I take it as a compliment. The best part about it is that in his genuine weirdness he has NO shame. He tries to pick up girls for me in the Wal-Mart check out line, or tries to see how awkward he can make my friends feel the first time he meets them. I know he embarrasses the heck out of my mom, but like I said, she handles it like a champ cuz she knows she really doesn't have much of a choice.
He knows how to do everything. Seriously, everything. If I need help with math, he's there. If the water heater's broken or we need to build a patio in the backyard or redo the basement, he magically can just whip that out real quick. He loves Jeeping, soccer, and photography (which he's brilliant at by the way, as shown here. and that's his wicked awesome bee picture too).
I'd have to say one of my best memories with my dad is the time we spent in New Zealand, where he went through a whole lot of work to make sure Kandice and I could go and have the time of our lives. And we seriously did. It inspired me to travel and get to know the world, and to be a total kick-A dad like mine.
He can often be found sitting at the computer figuring out finances or looking up Jeep parts on "the intertubes"(as he calls it), watching something weird like "Defiance" on TV, or running to Chevron to grab a Diet Coke (where everyone of course knows him by name).
Kandice & A.J.
Kandice and A.J. got married in July of 2009. Kandice is my sister sister. A.J.'s my brother-in-law. They're pretty much one person now, and if one goes without the other all hell breaks lose, seriously. They broke up once before they got married and I was pretty sure it was the beginning of the apocalypse. They live in Arizona where A.J. teaches high school history and Kandice owns her own business crocheting and selling hats, mostly animal hats. See her work here! She's an inspiration to me when it comes to starting my own business!
Anyway I'm not kidding when I say they're one being now... I mean back when they dated they were impossible to pull apart physically too. I think that their lips were constantly touching. As seen in the picture to the right, we can see Ceejay's reaction to their oft public displays of affection. There are currently claims by Tyler and Mom that Annie and I are just as bad, but I'll never truly believe that.
They are perfect for each other though, and I don't think Kandice could have picked a better match for her. I wouldn't choose anyone else for a brother-in-law either; he's hilarious and luckily he's got lots of his own weirdnesses (the feet thing?) so he fits right in with the family!
Kand (or Kandi) really has been awesome to me growing up. She'll sit and let me talk to her or she'll talk to me for hours. We spent some good quality time in New Zealand on the beaches and cruisin' Tauranga. One of my... most interesting... memories of her was when I was five years old and she told me that our dad used to be a king, and that she had his old royal clothes. She blindfolded me and "dressed me up in his old clothes". When she took off the blindfold I was wearing a pretty pink tu-tu. I never quite trusted her the same... ;)
I remember being jealous of her wicked awesome soccer skills and wanting to be as good as she was. She always had lots of weird friends, but that were attractive and of course I always flirted with.
She can often be found eating at Indian Oven, massacring her hands crocheting for hours on end, or doing outdoor activities with the hubby.
CeeJay
Ok now here's a character for ya. Seriously the weirdest kid I know, but among the most awesome as well. Nothing I can say or pictures I can show will do him justice, or capture the entirety of his ... uniqueness. But I can do my best...
I think pretty much his philosophy from the beginning has been to just be as weird as possible and not to give a crap what anyone else thinks. He does his own thing, and let's his personality show, whatever the price. He's definitely been my dad's favorite subject to take pictures of, for obvious reasons.
In high school he was in the band. He played the clarinet and was also the drum major, which is a good example of his leadership. He's a leader among his friends as well, and certainly a super good example. He's been the spiritual kid in the family too, always keeping us in check and making
sure we're staying on the right path.
He 's currently serving a mission in Guatemala, where he's been for 10 months, and he's still got 14 more to go. I know he's been a champ at learning Spanish and being a leader of other missionaries, I've never doubted he'd do a stellar job and be obedient!
Him and Tyler pretend like they don't get along, but we all know that they wouldn't survive without the other. It's one of those relationships where they thrive off of bothering each other and pretending they don't want each other around. It's all a big hoax though.
Every family has that one kid that's like perfect. You know the one. The one that gets 4.0's all through high school... the one who goes to church every Sunday, the one who never does anything wrong. Yeah that's CeeJay. And while we might tease him for it, he'll be the one laughing when he's 25 with no student loans and I'm thirty drowning in them.
He can often be found saying "meow" in response to anything you say, doing math for fun, or getting some of the most embarrassing pictures ever taken of him.
Tyler
So Tyler's a littler harder to represent picture-wise. If you know Tyler you know there was an insane transformation going from his childhood to adolescence. Seriously, when I left on my mission he was 14 and a little kid. I got back when he was 16 and he was a completely different person. His voice changed, his attitude changed, his maturity changed. From boy to man like that. It was awesome, and as soon as I can get my hands on a picture to accurately show the before and after I'll post it. The pictures I've got posted right now are all little Tyler.
It's crazy to me how different everyone in my family is. Tyler is completely different than I am,
just as CeeJay is from Tyler and I. Tyler is brilliant. He knows everything about everything when it comes to anything random. Geography, pop culture, and probably his strongest hand is in music. He can hear any song back to the 1960's and tell you who it is, the name of the song, and the album. He might even be able to tell you what the album art looks like. He's got a record player and room full of vinyl.
He likes to set himself apart, especially from Wiener (CeeJay), and if you call him CeeJay he'll likely storm out and not talk to you for a while. If you saw him you might call him a hipster, but I think that even being a hipster is too mainstream for him. He could wear a fedora one day, suspenders the next.
We went to Mexico recently, and he refused to purchase a pair of sandals. He wore sneakers the whole time or went barefoot.
Tyler can often be found doing a crossword puzzle, turning Pokemon into "sprites" on the computer, or calling me faggot or telling a girl he wants to punch her in the ovary. (Which don't take that wrong, both of those last things are to be considered compliments coming from Tyler.)
Sammy & Cali
Alright, let's just be real. These are by far the cutest dogs you will have ever seen. Luckily my dad's taken lots of great pictures to document their personalities...
We've had Sammy since I was 12, and he's 11 years old now. He's been the best dog a kid could ask for, for real. He's really been so loyal and obedient.
He is so crazy smart. I doubt you can find another dog that can play the piano, chess, shut doors, and pose for pictures like this on command. And I know you can't find one that can do all that and look so darn cute in the process.
Despite his being an absolute genius, my parents still can't get him to stop peeing in the house, and all the gallons of carpet cleaner spent on trying to get the smell out will testify that to you.
Whenever I talk about my dog I tell the story of one time when he was a puppy and I was twelve I failed to get home to babysit my cousins, which resulted in me getting in trouble. I sat on the kitchen floor and cried cuz I thought everyone hated me and I was a failure, but not Sammy! He was right there and laid down on the hardwood floor next to me and made sure I knew he was my best friend. Good sappy times.
My parents got Cali while I was in Colombia on my mission, and they actually named her after the city I was serving in (Cali, Colombia). She was super teeny when they first got her, and a lot blacker. She's been a good friend and companion to Sammy, and I think they've balanced each other out well. Cali's crazy and Sammy's so chill in his old age, so Sammy's matured Cali, and Cali keeps Sammy young.
I haven't gotten to know Cali super well, cuz I was gone when we got her, but she's still loved me and been a good pup to me :)
