30 before 30: I cook

(Dinner always tastes better with a beer)

When I was growing up we rarely went to restaurants. We never had take out. My mom was a working mom and then she came home and cooked dinner. Every night.

Of course there was the occasional special night out, but for the most part I remember having dinner around the table with my family. Dinners were healthy, balanced and homemade. Did I mention that they were good? My mom is a fabulous cook and I've spent more than ten years learning from her.

Some things I learned by doing. I remember when I was probably 13 years old she called before she left work and talked me through browning beef, onion, tomato paste and then adding the ingredients to make spaghetti sauce. Other favorite recipes have been learned by writing down her recipes by hand and attempting them over and over again in my own kitchen. The favorites that now grace my kitchen are enchiladas, Dijon chicken and sausage soup. Many nights were simple and healthy: grilled chicken, rice and vegetables. Others like swiss steak and chicken cacciatiore were specialties that still remain mysteries to me.

I am grateful to my mom for a lot of things, but cooking is one that will always be high on my list. She taught me to cook healthy, cook well and to cook out of love. This is better for my family and our budget. I look forward to sharing family dinners around our kitchen, creating the kind of memories I have with my dad, mom, sister and brother. I have learned to love the kitchen and not to be afraid to try new things.

I am proud that I can cook. And I am proud that I cook for my family.

30 before 30: I got married

When I was 18 and not totally sure of myself, I met a boy when we were both cast in a high school musical. He had a girlfriend and I wasn't interested in him, but we were friendly and enjoyed each other's company. We went on to graduate high school and saw each other a few more times before I went off to college in the fall.

In October of that year I received one of those chain emails from him, asking me all sorts of "get to know you" questions. I played along. Soon enough we were chatting on AIM. Then there were phone calls. I came home on fall break and he asked to meet me and my friends at a restaurant. My friend said if he was wearing cologne, a collared shirt and sat next to me it meant he liked me. I am not exaggerating when I say that he climbed over a table to sit by my side. He looked adorable and smelled of cologne. A month later we went on our first date.

He told me after only months that he knew he wanted to marry me.

It took some time and a lot of growing before we finally got around to it. Sometimes meeting the person you love when you are young is difficult. We had some rough patches while we both figured out who we were and what we wanted from life.

But after six years he stood on a mountain and proposed to me. On July 7, 2007 I married Brandon Christopher. The Catholic mass was everything we wanted it to be as we selected the readings that represented what we believed about marriage and music that meant so much to us (sung by a dear friend that we love).

 

Brandon kissing the bride =)

In front of our surprise wedding transportation-- a classic car owned by Betty Grable.

Photos at sunset.

Yes, I know everyone has a photobooth at their wedding these days. But we invented that shit!

And the party? Let's just say that I am sorry if you weren't there. It was that good. 

I was 25 years old on the day I got married. I am proud that this year we will celebrate five years of marriage. I look forward to all the days and years ahead with the great man I married!

30 before 30: World Series

I didn't grow up as a baseball fan. But somewhere along the lines of being with Brandon I had a change in heart. I grew to love the San Francisco Giants to the point where I watch games by myself and listen to all the sports talk radio I can when I am driving.

Even though we live 100 miles from San Francisco, we have been blessed with lots of opportunities to go to SF Giants games. But in the midst of the San Francisco Giants' playoff run in 2010, it never occurred to me that I would be attending a World Series games. Until my dad handed me two tickets, that is.

 

World Series, Game 2.

One of the best conversations I have ever had with my husband was when I told him that he was going to see his favorite team play in the World Series. People spend their whole lives wishing to go to a game this important. And here I was, only 28 years old, lucky to have such a chance.

 

Did I mention that I was 33 weeks pregnant? And that after we watched game 1 of the World Series we went to Labor and Delivery because I was having contractions? Don't worry, I got the clearance to go to the game. 

Brandon outside of AT&T Park before Game 2 of the World Series.

The entire experience was surreal. I cannot even describe the electricity that was pulsing through the crowd. I will never remember the score, but I remember that it was fun. I remember that I was excited. I remember that the San Francisco Giants won. We had amazing seats near third base and it was the best baseball game I have ever been to.

Buster Posey in his first at bat.

So much of that experience gets glazed over in my memory of that time, because only four days later I went into premature labor. But I got to go with my husband to the World Series to watch our favorite team on their way to becoming World Champions. I am blessed to have been given such a gift and it stands among one of my greatest memories to have been there with my husband.

30 before 30: my first career

When I decided to start my 30 before 30 project, I sat down to make sure I had 30 things I wanted to write about. What I didn't consider was the order in which I wanted to write about them. Due to lack of planning on my part, the follow up to my high school post is appearing much sooner than anticipated because today is kind of a special day... the birthday of Mary Ward, the foundress of the IBVM, the order who ran Loretto.

Once upon a time I was a teacher...

Just days away from graduating from university I received a phone call letting me know that a teaching position was opening up in theology department at the very high school I had graduated from. Every college student's dream is to have a job offer out of school. I was graduating midyear so I spent the spring substitute teaching and preparing for my first career. Teaching at Loretto was a dream come true and I looked forward to spending many years there.

When I started teaching at Loretto I was 23 years old. I was young and enthusiastic. I was dedicated and excited to learn. Brandon was living in Colorado so I dedicated every moment I had to teaching. In my short four years I taught Old Testament, Intro to Catholic Christianity, Sacraments, social justice, sexuality and morality. I went on service trips, led retreats and coached swimming. I was a moderator for class council and part of the faculty spirituality team. I lived every moment for that school and for the young women who went to school there.

It is hard to describe what those four years meant to me. The years I spent there as a teacher only reinforced everything I had loved about being a student there. I was empowered. I was encouraged. I was welcomed. I grew. And I grew up.

Most of all I had fun. Working in an all-girls high school is entertaining; the priorities and values of 15 year olds are often amusing. I enjoyed their laughter, their learning and even their occasional bouts of the dramatic. I loved their school spirit and their class spirit and their willingness to serve. I loved their attempts to distract me in class by asking about music, television or my impending wedding. I adored the silly pictures they drew in class or the terrible pottery they discarded on my desk. And I lived for the moments when one of them "got it"-- that moment when suddenly all the hours of preparation pay off because maybe just one student learned something about the subject, themselves or their faith.

And my coworkers? Some of the best friends and mentors I have ever met. We shared so much stress, joy and laughter with one another. I loved our late nights in pajamas on retreat, our after school "meetings" at the bar and just our simple moments in the faculty room. Mornings gathered around the coffee pot before the warning bell will always be one of my most subtle, but significant memories. Those men and women (many who were also my own teachers) welcomed me and supported me through every step of my short teaching career.

It is cliche to say that I learned so much more as a teacher than I ever did as a student, but it couldn't be more true. My students and my peers taught me about faith, dedication and love. I learned about trust and spirit. I learned how to lead by example and was constantly challenged to think about the choices I made. My time there reinforced that I am valuable and creative and that I can make a difference.

Almost exactly three years ago we learned that Loretto would be closing. It was an announcement that shook me to my core. A school as established, as beloved, as supported as our Loretto should never have to close its doors. The good people who worked there--some for longer than I had been alive--had to look for new jobs. Students had to choose new schools. Like the rest of the faculty, I spent months trying to decide what to do next with my life. I had opportunities to teach in different capacities, but my heart wasn't in it. So just four years into my teaching career, I put education aside and went to work for my dad.

Teaching isn't easy. Sure, there are a few months off in the summer and some time off during the school year, but don't be fooled. Teaching is physically, mentally and emotionally exhuasting. Classes were done at 3pm, but I was often grading or lesson planning until late in the evening. I spent hours preparing for just 45 minutes of teaching. Maybe the most difficult part for me was carrying the weight of my students' worries with me. In the course of teaching you learn the stories of students. It is difficult not to go home and think of those kids and the troubles they have.

When I left teaching I told myself that I could go back. Today I am not sure if or when that will be. I am sure that I would be fine in any school, but part of me knows that I would always be comparing it to Loretto, to a time in my life that wasn't perfect, but was pretty damn amazing.

Once upon a time I was a teacher. And I loved it.

Save Loretto Rally



On retreat at Lake Tahoe, 2009



Chaperoning Prom 2009- all Loretto alumnae!

30 before 30: Hitting the slopes

If you are just joining us, I am blogging my way through 30 things I have done in my life.

I am not the most athletic person in my  family. My sister and brother are the natural athletes, excelling at pretty much any sport or endeavor they have ever undertaken. They were named MVPs of swimming, water polo and and soccer while I prided myself on earning awards for team spirit. Although I was never the best at any sport, I do pride myself on trying hard and being aggressive. While athleticsm doesn't come naturally to me, I don't use it as an excuse to sit on the sidelines.

With that said, extreme sports were definitely not in my life plan. I had no false illusions that I was going to be great on anything that involved a board. Yet here I am, almost 30 years old, and I CAN WAKEBOARD and I CAN SNOWBOARD!

After I graduated from high school my dad bought a boat. We loaded it up with wakeboard gear and I was so excited to learn to wakeboard. Too bad I sucked. Actually, it wasn't even that positive. I couldn't even get up. I tried over and over again. My dad gave me hints. My sister tried to explain how it worked for her. My brother kept saying "you can do it!" My mom patiently waved the flag over and over again. I just couldn't do it. Day after day I felt like my arms were falling out of their sockets from letting the rope pull me. I spent an entire summer failing at getting up on a wakeboard. It was terrible. But the next summer I tried again. Again. And again. Finally I succeeded. And ever since then I have been able to wakeboard. I am not a great wakeboarder. I happily practice small jumps and enjoy the view from the back of the boat while my brother and his friends do 360s and tricks I don't even know how to name. But I did it; I learned to wakeboard and I can say that I AM a wakeboarder!

While wakeboarding is a big accomplishment, I think that snowboarding is probably a bigger deal to me.



So much talent that I can photograph myself while boarding. I know you are jealous.

We all started skiing when we were young kids. Through lots of practice and skiing with my parents (who are great skiers), I actually became quite a good skier by the time I was in middle school. Right about that time snowboarding gained in popularity. My athletic sister and brother, along with most of our family friends, became snowboarders. I continued schlepping my skis and poles and wearing awkward boots while the cool kids had their single snowboard and more fashionable snowboard clothing.

I continued skiing for another 10 years before I decided to take the plunge into snowboarding when I was 23 years old. I had just graduated college and moved home. I was looking for a way to reintegrate myself into life in Norther California. I was looking for new challenges and ways to hang out with friends. So I went to Tahoe and took snowboard lessons with my friend. Then I went back by myself and took more lessons. After years of speeding down black diamonds on skis, I spent hours on the bunny slopes by myself practicing turns and falling on my ass, riding my sister's long since discarded snowboard that Santa had purchased at Costco in the late 90s.



My view.



Learning to snowboard wasn't easy for me. My body ached. I suffered a lot of foot pain as I looked for the right boots. I spent a lot of time alone while my family and friends sped off on more difficult terrain. But today I am proud that I can snowboard and that I challenged myself to do something that wasn't easy.

Yes, I am such a badass that I wear a helmet.

30 before 30

(Oh, hi! I am back! Some of you probably have forgotten who I am... well this blog series will be a good reminder! Thanks for welcoming me back after a six month hiatus. I appreciate it!)

In exactly 30 days I will turn 30 years old...


30 used to seem so far away. When I was in my teens and early twenties, I thought 30 was an age of accomplishment. I expected to feel and act a certain way. Now that I am just 30 days away, I can't say that I feel older or accomplished like I imagined I would. I just feel like me.

Many people have a 30 before 30 list or some sort of life list. There are things I want to do and accomplish in this lifetime, but as I have gotten closer to this milestone age I have found myself thinking less about what I haven't accomplished and more about what I have.

I am dedicating these next 30 days to writing about the things I have done in my life. Some of them are big things, others are significant only to me or my family. But they are all things that I am proud of.

So without futher ado...

30 before 30: I graduated from high school

Ok, don't judge me for choosing that as my first accomplishment. There was never any doubt that I would graduate from high school. Graduating is not what I am most proud of. What makes high school an accomplishment for me is that I allowed it to shape me. I learned how to be comfortable with myself and my relationships. I learned that who I am is valuable and worthy. And I had fun.

I went to an all-girls Catholic school named Loretto. My parents encouraged me to go there because of the academic challenge. I was excited to go there because I needed a change from the small, suburban public school system I had grown up in. It was scary to change school systems. I knew only one acquaintance going there. I was terrified that I would be judged and disliked. I wasn't sure if I would make friends.

And you know what? I loved that place and the people I met there. I revered the teachers and built life-long relationships with my peers. I learned to believe in myself and my abilities. I learned how to be a good friend. I grew in my faith and spirituality. I left high school more whole.

I am proud of the four years I spent in that place. I am proud to have been a student there and thankful that I had the opportunity to walk through the gates there each and every day. And most of all, I am happy that the relationships that started on that small campus in 1996 are still thriving in my life.

fill in the blank friday

I've only been gone from blogging for like, oh, a couple of months. I have tried to write a few posts but nothing inspired me. Then I stumbled upon a new blog and found this. So I thought I would join up. It is like Mad Libs, but less inappropriate!

Here is Fill in the Blank Friday from the little things we do.

1.   One of life's most simple pleasures is  drinking wine with family and friends.

 

2.   Driving at or below the speed limit  makes me want to punch someone.

3.  I like  reality television   because   those crazy people make me feel normal.

4.   Oy   is a funny word. "Oy with the poodles already!" If you know that quote, I love you.

5.  If I had to choose one beauty product to use for the rest of eternity it would be   conditioner. I love to condition my hair!  "Conditioner is better! I make the hair silky and smooth!" You should also know that quote.

 

6.  I'm happy that   I have two hands, two feet, two eyes, two ears and two babies .

 

7.  I would never    say never. You never know what might happen ;)