The Blue House on Gabriel Avenue

Blogtember Day 11:  Describe a memory you'd love to relive.

I regret that I didn't get to spend very much time with my maternal grandmother before she died. I was thirteen years old when she passed away, but I find solace in the fact that every memory I have of her is vivid and special.

We called her "Mimi." My family tells me that I am responsible for that nickname, which makes sense because it sounds so quintessentially "grandmotherly." Every so often, my mother would drop my brother and I off to spend the day with her in her tiny blue house on Gabriel Avenue in Zion, Illinois. To me, her house was a world of magic. Her front yard was always pristine; each strub pruned to within an inch of its life, but it looked so beautiful. She had a black wrought-iron fence that lined the yard. I imagined living there with her and greeting the imaginary mailman that would hand me our mail from the other side of the fence. I don't know why I imagined this- maybe I saw it in a movie somewhere.

However, it was her backyard that I adored. Mimi used to string several clothing lines along the length of her yard. If we were lucky enough to visit her on laundry day, her backyard looked like someone had taken a pile of paper and thrown it into the air. Each piece of clothing waving in the breeze like the falling sheets of paper. The real magic came from the light post that stood alone in the middle of her yard. It reminded me of the post that Lucy finds in The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe. I would weed my way through the clothes drying on the lines until finally the lamp post would emerge. It made me giddy with a sense of adventure, but I also knew that I was safe and not really lost. She would watch me from her tiny back porch and laugh; her laughter would weave its way through the laundry and make me smile.

Mimi had a very special tradition that she held on each of her grand-kid's birthdays. She would call us and play the happy birthday song on the kazoo. It sounded so goofy but I knew exactly who was calling. She was so full of life and always made sure we knew that she loved us.

I couldn't believe it when she got sick. She was the healthiest person I knew! I had a hard time visiting her in he nursing home. I would make up excuses so that I wouldn't have to visit her. Somewhere deep down, I felt like I didn't know the person who was in that nursing home. Surely, that couldn't be Mimi. When she died, it was my first real experience with death. I didn't show as much sorrow as the rest of my family because I felt that Mimi had already been gone a long time. I went home the night of her funeral and as I sat on my bed, staring at the floor, I remembered the tapes that Mimi used to record for us grand-kids. I dug them out of a box in my closet and stuck them in my boombox (this is 2003, ok?). When I heard her soft, playful voice come from the boombox, all of the memories I had tried to forget of her came rushing back. Mimi would give us these tapes on various birthdays growing up. She would walk along the beach and in the Forest Preserve at the Illinois Beach Resort in Zion and tells us what she saw. She'd talk about life, nature, the cosmos, God, and how much she loved us. She'd tell each of us the special traits she saw in us and would tell us why we were special.

The memory I'd like to relive is not of her passing, but rather of her memory itself. She was so beautifully happy and full of life. My grandmother did not have an easy life- she made the choice to keep her head up, find strength in love, and persevere. She is a constant inspiration to me. I miss her and think of her often.

My Favorite Online Shops

Blogtember day 7: Share links to your favorite online shops, preferably with a few photos of your favorite items in each shop.

Before I started blogging, I was way too leery to shop online. I didn't like the idea of not being able to try things on and we all know how each different brand's sizes can be completely different from one another. But along came Etsy, and then Ruche, and I decided to change my mind. So here are a few of my favorite places to shop online.

SheInside- This website has some of the best prices I've seen online thus far. Not only that, but their clothing and accessories are extremely classic and trendy, standard shipping is free, and they are always offering 15-20% off coupons to use on their site.

I recently bought the pair of black and white pants on the right. I love them! I couldn't believe how well they fit. The dress and top are currently on my wish list.

H&M- H&M has long been my go-to store for most of my clothes. They have a great variety, and the products they sell are right up my alley. So, naturally, I was beyond thrilled when they added the ability to purchase their products online!

Society 6- I love decorating with really unique art prints. Society 6 has great prices and a really wide variety of types of prints and artwork, ranging from quirky, popular culture, and the abstract.

Sorry, I'm sort of on a Breaking Bad binge these days (it's SO GOOD!) so I actually kind of do want that "cooking in the RV" print. Haha. This is a very small portion of what they have in their shop. They have some amazing photography prints as well! Check it out!

What are some of your favorite places to shop online?

The Reluctant Storm Chaser

Day 4 of Blogtember: Write about a time that you were very afraid.

My name is Elise and I am lilapsophobic. 

Every year, my church would take all of the kids from elementary school through high school age to a summer camp for a week. For my 8 year old self, it was always the highlight of my summer! We would all hop on a bus and drive several hours north to a camp on Lake Winnebago in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. I felt like I was living in another era whilst at this camp; the cabins we slept in were literal log cabins full of bunk beds and you had to pump water in the bathroom to use the sinks and showers. It was quite the experience! Lots of families would come along as well, so I was there with my mom and my brother.

About halfway into the camp week my friend, Jessica, and I happened to be walking to the main lodge to get some snacks when we saw a sheriff drive up. He was there to notify the camp director that a major storm was moving in and he should begin to prepare for its arrival.

All of a sudden, the city itself started their tornado/storm warning sirens. I remember seeing extremely dark clouds forming over the lake and people started running towards the main lodge, a small building on the edge of the lake. It was the largest building in the camp, so the director started ushering us towards it.

The wind started to pick up at an alarming speed. As Jessica and I ran towards the lodge, I saw my mom running the opposite direction. She saw me and started yelling that she couldn't find my little brother. She kept running away and I didn't know what to do but keep running towards the lodge with Jessica.

In the lodge, several camp employees were discussing what to do next. I remember one guy suggesting that they take the campers down by the lake to wait the storm out. I was shocked he would suggest something like that, and to this day I am still confused by it. All of a sudden, everyone started rushing to the windows of the lodge that looked over the lake. We all saw what looked like tons of small tornado funnels forming over the lake itself (I later learned that these were called water spouts). In case you need a visual, this is what we saw.

 

There were at least five of these forming on the lake. Suddenly we were being shuffled into a long hallway to sit and wait out the storm. There were so many people in the hallway, I was struggling not to panic because I am pretty claustrophobic. Eventually, we lost power. It was so weird; It was almost pitch black and all you could hear was kids crying and people calling out to see if their family or friends were in the hallway too. We waiting for what seemed like ages; camp counselors tried to calm us down by singing hymns and camp songs, but we were aware of what was happening outside of the lodge. 

We eventually ventured out when we believed the storm had passed. The sky was still very black, but the water spouts had gone. The camp was in tact, but there was so much debris lying around the camp; some of the swing sets had been blown down. 

We were all so thankful that no one was hurt and that the damage was minimal. However, to this day, I get very agitated when it gets stormy during the summer. It annoys my husband to death, but whenever a bad storm moves in, I've got to check it out; I'm outside checking out the clouds and looking for "familiar signs." It's one of my many quirks... haha. 

So what about you- have you had a similar experience?

Who Asked You Anyway?

Blogtember Day 3: Pass on some useful advice or information you learned and always remembered.

I've been given some pretty crazy advice. Don't sleep with two pillows, it will give you a double chin. If you do more pushups, you boobs will get bigger. Don't stick your arm out the car window, you could lose it. Put toothpaste on a zit and it will shrink it.

Taking advice requires some humbling. By that, I mean that in order to really receive advice, you have to be willing to admit that you need it, especially if you asked for it. I must also admit that I am preaching to the choir here... I'm someone who loves to give unsolicited advice. If you tell me you're tired, I have the solution. Does your stomach hurt? I can fix that! But I realize that when someone tries that on me, I'm less eager to accept it.

So that's my small dose of advice. Be free to ask for it. Be free to accept it and run with it! But really... don't put toothpaste on a zit. Take it from me... I've tried. ;-)

If I Could Take Three Months Off...

Today's Blogtember challenge is "if you could take three months off from your current life and do anything in the world, what would you do?"


I would pack up and go on a road trip across the United States with Luis! We both really dislike flying and a road trips would be the perfect way to see and experience the places we'd be traveling through.

We'd start in Maine and end up in Seattle, all while visiting everywhere in between. While we would have a few places in each state that we would plan on visiting, we would also be on the lookout for those surprise places; hidden gems on our journey across the country.

Some cities that I'd have to see are...
Aspen, Colorado
San Fransisco
Portland
Seattle
Washington D.C.
Austin
New Orleans
and so many more! 

We actually started planning a road trip for next summer. Traveling and exploring new places is probably our favorite thing to do together. Nothing energizes or inspires us more than experiencing new places, eating different food, and hitting the open road. We're lucky to live equidistant from two large cities (we live almost exactly between Chicago and Milwaukee, WI) and can take mini trips to each of them when we have some spare time... It definitely keeps us sane!

So, what would you do for three free months??

Knowing Me, Knowing You

Guess what time it is? Blogtember time! Remember how I did that blog every day in May "challenge" a few months ago? Well, the lovely Jenni over at Story of My Life blog is hosting another blogging challenge that I'm equally excited to participate again. The prompts are really great this time around, too! If you want to participate, you can check out the challenge at her blog here.

Today's challenge is to "describe where or what you come from. The people, the places, and/or the factors that make up who you are."

Honestly, when I sit down to think about this prompt, there are so many memories and people that flood my mind; so many of which have contributed to who I have become to day. I'm so happy to say that most of that has been positive and not negative. 

I was born into an incredibly loving family. My mom has a positivity that gives her strength in the face of obstacles and pain; my dad has such love and wisdom that were and are so valuable to me. And then once my younger brother came along, it was nice to have someone else there to figure things out with, even though we had some pretty nasty fights along the way. And honestly, no one makes me laugh like my brother does. He is so unbelievably funny! Looking back, my family was always around, from my grandparents to my aunts, uncles, cousins, and everyone in between. I'm thankful for the amounts of love and trust that we are able to give to one another.

Internally, I was a very fearful child. Everything scared me; the dark, being alone, having to read out loud in class, etc. As I grew older, that fear turned into insecurity. I became less afraid of things, and more afraid of people, particularly my peers. I struggled to find where I belonged in terms of everyone around me. I thought that if I did everything the same way as my peers did, that I would be golden. It worked sometimes, but other times I would let the facade drop just a little. I would wear socks with penguins on it (which I loved, by the way) or show a little too much enthusiasm for a particular book or subject in school, and suddenly I was the subject of ridicule.

Despite all of that, my home life kept me grounded and gave me the love I needed. I was also very blessed to have two of the best friends someone can have in their youth. I met Kelsey when we were in elementary school together, but we really became bonded in our middle school days. In eight grade, Alyssa moved into our small town, and before long, the three of us became inseparable. It was such a relief to find people so similar, yet so different, with whom I could confide, live life with, and love.

And so, the three of us survived high school by each others side. Honestly, high school was so much easier for me than middle school ever was. I started to become more confident in what and who I was. I started to do what I wanted because I wanted to do so, and not because everyone else was. I mean, I was in the marching band for god's sake... and I had a blast!

Before long, college crept up on me. I really had no idea what I was in for, and college turned out to be a huge learning experience for me. While I didn't have the typical "college" experience, the experience I did have taught me the practical side of life. I eventually transferred to a four-year college called Carthage College. I knew, when I was making my decision about where to transfer after I completed my general education courses, that Carthage was the best place for me. I was so right! Carthage pushed me in all the right directions; they challenged me academically and personally. The faculty weren't just there to teach, but to advise you and become your mentors.

A lot of my development happened at Carthage. Looking back, I wish I would have started my college journey there in the first place. But hey... I had some learning to do. As a graduation requirement, each senior has to develop, research, and compile a thesis. As an English major, we had to write a theoretical analysis of a major piece of literature (I chose Pride and Prejudice) and present it to our peers and the faculty. It was one of the hardest projects I've had to undergo in my academic life and I'm so proud of the accomplishment that writing and presenting a thesis gave me. I got a near perfect grade on my presentation and the forty page paper itself. It was a very happy moment for me.

Finally, I'd be remiss if I didn't talk about my husband Luis. I met him during my last year of high school and we started dating a month before I graduated. He was with me during some of the difficult periods I went through during college, and helped me get through them with encouragement, love, and wisdom. Luis is so different than me; he possesses all of the skills and abilities that I don't possess, and vice versa. This is so lame, but we complete each other (hehe). I could not have found a better person to live the rest of my life with. He has contributed so much to the person I am today.

Despite everything I've written here, this is only a small portion of everything that has gone into who I am today. It's merely what came to my mind as I thought about this prompt.

I'd love to hear about what makes you you! Are you going to do the Blogtember challenge, too? I'd love to hear your responses.