a little bit about me...

The family~ Ricky w/ Ashley, Me w/Cohen, My Mom and Dad, Meredith and Daniel.
Taken at Mere & D's wedding August 19th 2006

So..I thought I'd post a little bit about my family and my childhood. Just cause I know you are dyin' to know!! ^_^

I was born and raised in a little town (not so little anymore) about an hour outside of Detroit. I grew up on a lake, and lived in the same house from the day I was born until they day I got married. My parents have been married for 36 years and still live there. :) I have one sister, Meredith. She's 3.5 years my younger and one of my best friends. It wasn't always that way, but it is now and has been for awhile. (luv ya merd!)

Growing up on a lake was awesome!! I seriously cannot think of a better place to have experienced my childhood. Swimming all summer, ice skating all winter. It was the greatest. The neighborhood I grew up in was also close enough to town were my friends and I could ride our bikes up town during the summer and just hang out. If we were lucky, we could finagle $5 or $10 from our parents to spend however we pleased. Usually that meant treating ourselves to lunch at Hardees or Anthony's. We thought we were soo cool. And truth be told..we were. ;-)

My bike rinding buddies usually consisted of my BFF, Beth, her twin brother, Doug and one of his friends. Beth and I would maybe go to D&C to look around, buy some candy, and the boys would go to the hobby store and check out baseball cards. Then we'd ride back and take a swim in the lake. Later in our youth Beth and Doug got a pool...lets just say as we got older...we spent many nights and days in the pool. The lake was still great but to several middle schoolers, a pool was *really* great.

I can also recall walking uptown after school when I was in middle school. We'd walk to "Sufficient Grounds coffee house". Man did we feel cool, with our Italian Sodas and scones. LOL We'd also make a stop by the library and study. But only after we stopped by Gus's to grab a bag of bread sticks. I can still remember it....you'd buy a bag of bread sticks and go to the library and get a study room. The room would be filled with the aroma of old books and delish bread sticks. (and if you grew up with me you are nodding your head right now, and thinking of Gus's bread sticks....haha)

Ahh..the good ol' days. I could reminisce for hours and hours, but..I'll leave the rest of my memories for another day.

Back to my family, as I said I have one sister. I also have one husband, 2 kids and one very crazy dog. (I love him tho) I was married in San Diego on July 20th, 2000. It was very windy, but I looked fantastic, and so did my groom ;-). It was the greatest day of my life, next to the birth of my two kids anyway. My husband, Ricky, was born and raised in California. And I am soo sure that he is my soul mate it's not even funny. I had always said that I wanted to live in Cali, and God made sure that my prayer was answered. ^_^ Even tho I'm in Michigan right now...awaiting Ricky's arrival to take us back to SoCal with him....I am convinced that Cali is where I will live out the rest of my days (much to my mothers disappointment). Ricky comes for a very large family, 7 brother and sisters. A little much for a girl with only one sibling, and 3 cousins. But..in the 7.5 years we've been together..I've learned to adapt. And..as luck would have it...my one and only sister just so happened to marry one of Ricky's younger brothers this past August. The idea took awhile to grow on me, but now I would not have it any other way. What better thing that having your very own sister as your sister-in-law?! Plus, Ricky likes that he now has Daniel (her hubby) to hang with when we are visiting my parents.

I also have 2 great kids, Cohen who will be 3 on Saturday. ( I still cannot believe I have a 3 year old!) and Ashley, who will be 1 at the end of April. My kids are wonderful. I never thought I wanted any, but...I couldn't have been more wrong. They keep life interesting and it's so fun to watch them grow more and more each day.

On top of my kids I also have another baby, my photography business (see my other websites). I really feel like I have finally figured out what I wanna be when I grow up. A photographer. It's the greatest thing I have ever done (okay...besides being a mom..*wink*), and I can't believe I get paid to do it. It's a great gig, and I'm working on making it better and better all the time.

Well..that's pretty much me in a nut shell. I'm thinking I'll try and post a "memory" from my childhood once a week or more. It's fun to take trips down memory lane. For me anyway. ;-)