August 3rd, 2010 -- Posted in family, marriage, san francisco, the city |
I thought I’d be a different person by now. When I think about myself as a kid and what I expected my life to be like as an adult, I guess I thought things would be … different. I didn’t have any sort of tangible, explainable idea of the exact life I would live, I never had 2.5-kids-white-picket-fence delusions of grandeur. And overall I think if my teenage self could’ve seen me now, she’d be pretty happy with where I’ve ended up so far.
And yet in the last few months I’ve been thinking a lot about how I just expect that one day I’ll wake up and be someone different - someone more adult, more mature. I still look at my friends who are a few years older than me and think - when I get to that point, I’ll totally have it all together. But I’ve been thinking that for years now and I have not managed to accumulate any sense of said “togetherness.” At lest I don’t feel like I have.
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July 27th, 2010 -- Posted in career, family, science |
Most people probably don’t know this because I never really talk about it: I want to work at JPL someday and I have for a really, really long time. I think it’s due to my space brat upbringing and the knowledge that this is a place where, although I’m not aeronautically or scientifically or mathematically inclined, I could still contribute and - as an added bonus - let my uber space dorkiness run free.
So how come someone like me - who splatters her personal, intimate, mundane life all over the internet via a myriad of social channels - has never let this be known? I was afraid. Superstitious. Unsure.
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June 20th, 2010 -- Posted in family, military, parents |
The great thing about blogging is you can write sentimental posts for people in lieu of gifts ~ j/k, I took my dad out to dinner as his father’s day gift last time we visited. On mother’s day, I posted a tribute I’d written for my mom several years back so for father’s day, I wanted to resurrect this post I wrote last year. It’s a list of reasons why I’m grateful for both my parents, but I still found it applicable as a tribute to my dad!
1. they taught me i could be anything, do anything, have anything i wanted. i don’t remember anything ever being too crazy, too ambitious too … whatever.  i always had (and still have) a strongly-held belief that i could accomplish what i set my mind to, thanks to the encouragement of my parents.
and they went beyond just telling me i could do something. when i played sports, i don’t think my mom ever missed a game (and my dad was always there if he was in town). when i was a cheerleader my mom learned the cheers. whether i was competing in piano guilds or pageants, they were driving me, practicing with me, giving me the tools i needed so i COULD actually accomplish anything. (and, looking back, i accomplished a lot for a kid!) this type of support was especially impressive considering my dad was gone probably an average of 25-40% of my childhood … yet i never felt like he wasn’t there for the things that mattered.
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June 9th, 2010 -- Posted in family, parents, religion |
Not long ago, we were having dinner with friends (yes, you really should check out their blog because they are gourmet cooks and make ridiculous food), reminiscing/commiserating about some of our experiences growing up in the church. We were asking each other if - in light of poking fun at some of the traditions of our background - we would change anything about the religious aspects of our childhood. I responded that I would’ve changed what was talked about. I know there are issues on which my parents don’t agree with the general evangelical consensus. But what’s more than that - I know that whether they agree or disagree they have reasons for their beliefs.
I didn’t come away from my upbringing with a strong sense of the research, wrestling, and decisions behind beliefs espoused in my churches, schools and at home. There are exceptions, but in general I came away with a series of strong implications of things I should believe. Don’t get me wrong - I was encouraged to question things and my parents have been very supportive and open to discussing my faith journey but it’s something I’ve initiated as an adult.
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May 8th, 2010 -- Posted in family, marriage, military, parents |
I wrote this note for a project my parents’ chaplain put together for military moms on Mother’s Day a few years ago. Since I hadn’t posted it on the blog, I thought now was an appropriate time to do so. Love you mom!
As an Air Force Brat, I grew up with a pretty privileged, sheltered life. Of course, I didn’t realize it then – and sometimes still forget how blessed I was, and am. It wasn’t till I went away to college that I began to uncover the idyllic tendencies of my upbringing.
It came as news to me that some people’s moms hadn’t always been there to answer the phone when they forgot their homework (and subsequently bring it to school for them). Or that most people’s days DIDN’T start with a home cooked breakfast and prayer before school – as they did for me – or get capped off with reading the classics (some of my favorite childhood memories). I also discovered that, post 1950’s, it wasn’t super-common for families to all sit down to dinner together – but we did, even if we had to wait till 8 pm, when dad got home from work.
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