Where's Abby (+ Dylan and dogs)

I started nannying for several families this last month and it's been so entertaining. I've watched so many kids in such a short time I've had a hard time remembering them all! For just a quick, happy post today, I'll just share some of the funnies from the little ones I've been watching.  Two adorable red heads I've been watching each week have won a piece of my heart. The oldest (2) is super sweet, repeats everything, and loves doing handstands. His repeating is one of my favorite things. His mom said it can be difficult though when she's trying to figure out what's hurting him and she'll ask "is it your stomach?" He repeats "stomach." "Throat?" ... "Throat." And keeps going.  They are just such kind hearted, easy going babes.  This 2 year old girl I watched this week is a unique one to me. Instead of just doing typical 2 year old things like swinging and going down the slide, she was content with chillin and...

My mind has been exploding with thoughts lately. This post might wind up being some jumble of crazy ramblings that may be better suited for a journal, but we'll see where it goes. After my most recent adventure, I've gotten so many questions about why I do it, how I choose the people I stay with, how I'm not scared, and so on. I never really have a quick answer. just like with many of my life choices that people question... Like moving to TN straight out of high school, taking a greyhound bus on this roadtrip, moving to Denmark not knowing a soul or the language, hitchhiking , couchsurfing, and now this trip to Charleston with people that most might not find so safe, these things just haven't had this scary veil other people see. I really don't know why moving to another country didn't even give me butterflies or why it seemed like nothing to stay on a stranger's couch. Then with Charleston, I just saw them as the unique, intriguing, loving, talented ...

Lately I've been grateful for A roommate that brings me soup and Gatorade when I'm sick.  And gives me such an awesome compliment as "she finds the beauty in everyone." Celebrating a good friend's wedding this Saturday. Even despite the rain, venue mishaps, and glitches they experienced, it was a beautiful, special wedding filled with love and excitement for such a deserving couple. A ridiculously loving mama that has endured the stress I put her in like a champ, and the heartfelt andtear-filled  conversations that bring us closer together.  Best friend Leslie and bike cruising to reflect and let go. Or help let go at least. New nanny jobs with beautifully sweet ginger babies. I love that in adding more work to my life for extra money and something to keep me busy, I also get more joy. This will be a week full of nannying plus work so I'll get back to you about that by Friday. I'll probably be doing one giant High Five just for Friday....

Today is my biggest brother Chris' birthday. To continue tradition, I'm writing him a poem. To mix up tradition, I'm taking it old school with this elementary school biography style poem. Wish I was there to celebrate with you, doing silly dances, drinking PBRs/driving around for hours to find em and then not drinking em, and cracking up from your ridiculousness. So grateful for such a great big brother that, even though you may not understand or agree with my hippie ways, you still support, accept, and encourage me.  Love you and hope you have an amazing birthday and year ahead!   Chris Hilarious, unique, hyper Son of John and Julie, Brother of Matt and Abby Who loves Liesl, planes, and Buddy and Merlin Who feels excited about his Baby Chriesl Who needs water, mountains, and backrubs Who gives laughs, raps, and love Who fears hippies, gun control, and getting fat Who’d like to see everyone in red, white and blue A pilot for the Air Force A soldier for ...

Just the thought of the task of writing about last weekend has been a daunting one. Not for any other reason than I don't know how I can ever do it justice. Of all my travels, couchsurfing, meeting randoms, and partying, this trip was the most ridiculous, interesting, and unique experience I've had. Besides maybe milking cows in Switzerland. But in a very different way. I decided to take a quick trip to Charleston when my travel bug returned. I was mainly debating between two hosts: One guy that mentioned a pot luck and other fun sounding events, and a girl in a very unique sounding house full of musicians, that was nude friendly, has chickens, a snake, and dog, and lives an alternative lifestyle. In counting pros and cons with the Roomie, who of course, went with the safer sounding option, I, of course, went with the more intriguing one. So, off I went last Sunday morning to meet my host. The trip started with a not so  out of the ordinary afternoon meeting at the B...

Remember that creative spirit, "Genevieve," I talked about here and here ? One of my favorite times with her is our nighttime routine. (I say routine but it alternates a lot). These are a collection of some of our bedtime laughs. The Doggy Bed One night, while trying to get little hyper, reluctant-to-sleep Genevieve into bed, I patted on her bed and started to say "come on, get in your bed, come on sweet puppy..." obviously with the high pitched puppy voice. Her face just lit up, she dropped to all fours, started wiggling her tail, and ran to jump in the bed.  Success.  Now, there have been several nights where she's been the Busy Bee that she is, but stops and says "do the thing!" And drops to play her puppy role.  Storytime Improv Like I learned in a lot of education courses, one good thing to do while reading to kids is to ask them what they think might happen next. It gets their imagination going, gets them to pay attention, and he...

Lately I've been grateful for my new creative spirit at work. For future blogging purposes we'll call her Genevieve (her favorite name to be while playing). My favorite playtime ever, that resulted in a coworkers falling out of her chair from laughter is fully discussed here.   Last week never got the glory it deserved so now it gets it's mention.  I got to hang out with a friend from  elementary school on Saturday.  And had a lovely Sunday that began with a 14 mile bike cruise with The Roomie.  This Sunday proceeded to a serendipitous night, running into Meryl and Chad in St. Augustine while admiring this moon scene.  Which was the beginning to a great night seeing the Nights of Lights in this beautiful city... Even if my food decision was a bust, it did cause for a lot of funny conversation about bacon. Throughout the night, we convinced a bartender to change a tv from sports to the Golden Globes, picked out all our "dream pieces of a...