I'm Glad I'm Like You

41 years ago today this beautiful woman, my momma, was born.

 (she doesn't look 41 does she)

20 years ago she prayed and prayed that she wouldn't be pregnant on her birthday, her prayer was answered and the day before her birthday she got me. Not only do we have birthdays one day apart, but...

My mom was born at 9:05am, I was born at 9:01am.
We were both 19 inches long at birth.

She weighed 7 pounds and I was one ounce more.

By the time she was 25 she had 4 children and and being the amazing mother that she is, decided to home school all of us. She made a damn good teacher too, I've learned more from my mom than I have from any other person I've met. We went on countless field trips to the zoo, nature center, pumpkin patch and cosmosphere, and she made sure each time we went we learned something new. She taught me to love the outdoors whether I was camping, climbing, hiking, canoeing or just admiring nature.

She taught us to identify insects, reptiles, amphibians, birds, flowers, trees and various other plants. If we didn't know what a certain animal or insect was we would take a picture of it or capture it, identify it at home and then return it to where we found it. When we didn't know what a word meant she instructed us to look it up in the dictionary rather than just giving us the answer. She did numerous science and art projects with us and encouraged us to be what we wanted to be. She taught us to work hard, love God, and take care of each other. As I got older she began sharing her love of writing and photography with me, which is when I began to realize I'm a lot like my mom. Besides our similarities at birth, we share many characteristics.

I've been told I look like my mom more times than I can count,

 we make a lot of the same faces,

we both tend to be quiet and shy around large groups and outgoing with close friends and family,

we usually have the same sense of humor and we're hilarious.

We both have a love for photography, animals, nature, reading and writing.

We even kind of sleep the same. :)

She has always been there to comfort me, give me advice, laugh with me or let me know she's proud of me.

 My mom is a remarkable teacher, and an amazing mother and I'm so glad I am so much like her. I couldn't ask for a better mom. I love you and miss you so much momma!

Oh yea, and I got it from my momma!

I Love Mondays

Recently, Mondays have become my favorite day of the week.

I know what you're thinking, Mondays are awful, first day back to work from the weekend, blah, blah, blah. So hard to drag yourself out of bed, blah, blah, blah. I HATE Mondays, blah, blah, blah.
 Oh just be quiet for a minute and let me explain my insane statement. You see a few months ago I started spending every Monday with one of my favorite little men.

 

His name is Oliver.

 Everything about him is absolutely adorable, even his initials spell OWL how cute is that? In my opinion he is one of the cutest babies/toddlers/little men I've ever met.

Don't you agree?

Yes, Jordan. We absolutely agree, We've NEVER met a cuter little boy.

Good. I thought you'd agree.

Anyways, back to Mondays. Every Monday, I start watching Oliver in the morning, after his parents leave for work. There is usually only about an hour or so before his nap so we play around the house for awhile (he loves his toy cars) or sometimes we'll read a book.

Or attempt to read a book....upside down?

Or maybe we'll just chew on the book?

OK, you win books are read before nap time, when you're to tired to chew on them. They don't taste good anyway, we'll just stick to playing with toy cars in the morning. After his morning nap is when all the fun begins anyhow.

Once Oliver wakes up from his nap, we eat lunch together. Usually, for the first 30 minutes or so he's not completely awake yet and makes this face at me a lot.

I don't blame him. I've been up for several hours now, sitting in the empty house, bored, waiting for him to wake-up. So by the time he does I probably look a bit like this....

 Yeah, I'd be scared and a bit confused too. He tolerates me though and eventually,

after a bit of persuasion,

even though he tries to hide it at first...

Ah! There it is, happy baby!

This is his "okay Jordan, I guess you're kinda funny," look

But, he's still kinda tired. So he's just going to close his eyes and try not to laugh.

Wait, you haven't seen what I'm going to do next!

Yup, I'm hilarious. Well maybe not to you, but at least he thinks so. :)

Alright, alright enough shenanigans. After we finish lunch we usually go outside. Sometimes we play in the backyard.

When we are in the backyard we explore or pick the fruit off of the trees.
Some days we go downtown,

and chase pigeons, or climb boulders.

This kid is going to be an awesome rock climber.

Most Mondays, however; we go to the park.

Oliver loves the park. He can even climb all the way up to the slide by himself.

All that work and all he wants to do is bounce on the bridge.

Silly little boy, the slides are where the all the fun is.

You should try them.

Come on, it's fun. I promise.

Told you, that you'd like it

(Sorry the video clips are so choppy)

Oh what's that?

Motorcycle time.

This is his biker face.
He has to show off for the girls ya know.
Alright, this motorcycle doesn't move much.
Time for some real fun.

BAAAAALL!

 Ah! Who needs slides, swings, and motorcycles when you have a soccer ball?

Not this guy.
Our day is almost over though.

It's time to go home dude you're mommy is waiting.

Well, that pretty much sums up why I love Mondays. Good reasoning?

Ugh, but it's still a Monday.....even if he is kinda cute. Okay, okay he's really cute. Alright, fine we love Mondays now too. Humph.

I thought you'd say that. :)

 I hope all your Mondays are as great as mine, and if this post didn't make you smile this last picture will.

Have a great week!

Watchin Airplanes

Have you ever just sat and watched airplanes take off and fly? Or maybe you’ve sat by the tracks and watched as train after train passed by? I have and every time I do I’m left in a state of awe, because it’s such a beautiful thing to me. I’m not quite sure why, but every time I see a plane flying or a train traveling down the tracks it always sets me off on a long spiral of day dreams. I know it seems a bit ridiculous, but I love to day dream (what can I say I’ve always been a dreamer and always will be) maybe that’s why planes and trains are so beautiful to me…..or maybe it’s the countless mysteries they hold.

At first glance you may think a plane is just a plane and that a train simply a train, but you have to look deeper to see the mystery, you have to look closer to see the diamond in the dust. Every time I’m stopped at the tracks waiting for a train to pass or I look up and see a plane darting across the sky, I instantly begin wondering about the mysteries they hold. Where are they traveling to? How many passengers are there? What are the passengers like? Are they going on vacation? Maybe there is a soldier finally returning to his family? Perhaps there are some newlyweds on their way to a romantic honeymoon? Is one of the passengers is running away from their problems and off to a better life? 

These are just the first few questions that cross my mind, and then the day dreams begin. I dream the plane I saw is traveling to Italy, there’s an open seat, which is perfect because I’ve always wanted to go to Italy. Everyone on the plane is full of excitement, just waiting for the plane to land so their next adventure can begin. A young couple is sitting in the front row eagerly discussing their plans for their stay in the beautiful country; they’ve been planning this trip for years.  They will begin in Venice where they will take a gondola ride under The Bridge of Sighs, and tour St. Marks Square. Next they’ll visit the Coliseum in Rome, the Sistine Chapel in Vatican City, the ruins of Pompeii, and the beautiful waters of Capri. Finally they will finish off their trip by touring the beautiful vineyards of Tuscany.

Whoosh……

I’m off on another day dream, maybe the plane is returning from Afghanistan carrying a soldier who is finally returning to his family after a long prayerful year. His family awaits his return at the airport with a big banner and tears in their eyes, just thankful to be able to hug him again. Brothers and sisters eagerly waiting to see his smile and hear his voice, glad that their hero is finally home.

Whoosh….

The plane is traveling to California, carrying a teacher to a conference. On the plane he is calm and collected studying his notes and making corrections, and then he notices the nervous young girl next to him. He starts up a conversation to make her feel more comfortable, this is her first plane ride and she is traveling to see her big sister who moved away after graduation. She is still nervous, so the teacher tells her all about his daughter back home who is about the same age; she’s loves playing sports and has such a big caring heart. The teacher and girl continue to talk until the plane lands and reaches the gate; he helps her get her bag down and the kindly part ways never to see each other again.

I’ve found my way to the train tracks now, just as a 42 car train begins to pass by. Artists or vandals have been to work on this one, maybe both depending on how you see it. Each car that passes is different, beautiful, tasteful and artistic graffiti covering the sides. In the first car there is a mother with her teenage son, they’ve never been on a train before. Neither shows it, but they’re both enthralled. The son pressing his face against the glass of the window trying to get a better view of the graffiti, wishing he could open the door and lean out feeling the rushing wind in his face. The mother is taking careful pictures of everything that interests her, captivated by the beautiful country side racing by outside and her son’s funny fascination with being so close to the window. Silently they are both thankful they get to experience the adventure together.

Whoosh….

A few cars down an old drifter just lugged himself into the open door; he rolls onto his back exhausted. No idea where this train will lead, but it will be somewhere new, somewhere he hasn’t seen yet. He’s been hopping trains since he was in his twenties and traveled with a carnival. Those days long gone, now he’s just looking for a place to belong.

Whoosh….

Another car down a young woman sits, she’s never done anything like this before, but she just had to get away. She’s wanted to leave that town for as long as she can remember she craved more in her life than the boring repetition of her waitressing job and long line of guys who would never really care. The big fight with her so called friends was just the push she needed. Now she’s finally free and she’s dreaming big. As she sits alone with her thoughts a young man watches her, captivated not only by her beauty, but by something else he can’t quite put his finger on. It’s something different than all the other girls he sees each day, something deeper, something pure. He sits across the aisle pondering how to start a conversation. He talks himself into it, then out of it again. Finally, something inside him musters up enough courage and he sits down beside her and says hello, she lost in her thought is startled and can only respond with a blushing smile. They soon begin to laugh and talk like they had never been strangers.

Whoosh…

The train is gone and I’m brought back to reality, frozen in a state of awe. A smile instantly comes to my face as I think of all the mysteries planes and trains bring. For a moment I was able to escape the reality of day to day life and just wonder about the unseen possibilities these mysterious machines hold.  Sometimes I wonder if anyone else is sent into a spiral of day dreaming by the big, beautiful machines or maybe it’s just me. Whatever the case, I love that it happens to me.

 

(Photo by Jordan Bader)

My Forever Friend

This gorgeous young woman turned fifteen today.

Would you believe, that just fifteen short years ago, she was this beautiful baby girl?

It's true, but I can hardly believe it myself. You see this beautiful girl is my baby sister.....

I know, shocking isn't it.
Over the years I have had the privilege of watching her grow into the amazing young woman she is today. She is absolutely gorgeous.

Inside and out.

She is kind and polite to everyone she meets, loves and cares for those fortunate to be in her life, and a great listener for anyone wanting to talk. That's probably why people love being around her.

 She is extremely athletic and talented,

and she works hard at everything she does.

Most days she can be pretty girly, always picking out cute outfits, styling her hair, doing make-up and talking about boys non-stop.

She doesn't need any of it though, she would be drop dead gorgeous if she still dressed like this....

(on second thought, you might want to keep the cute outfits Booga!)

Even though she looks pretty girly, don't let her cuteness fool ya.

This girl ain't afraid to get dirty.

She loves being outdoors whether it's camping, climbing, hiking, or just a plain old romp in the woods. My baby sister is tough as nails and can do anything she puts her mind to.

I don't think she's afraid of anything.

If she is, she does a damn good job of conquering those fears.

She is a million different things all rolled into one perfectly sized person.

She is loyal and a great friend.

She is hilarious,

playful,

extremely goofy,

 and as she likes to point out all to often, a pretty good ba-donk-a-donk.

Best of all she's my sister, my forever friend.

 

Never try to be someone else, because you are perfect just the way you are baby girl. You are perfect as you.

I love you Booga!

Love, Jo