Sisters

Pioneer Woman's latest photo contest has the subject of "Sisters". I've loved looking through all of the photographs, most of which have been of sisters with each other. Over my past 25 years, on occasion I've heard phrases like "I can't imagine not having a sister" or "What do women/girls do without a sister to turn to?", etc, but I've never completely understood those sentiments. I understand the value of a biological sister, but I don't have one and I've never felt a void in my life because of it, for a couple reasons I think:

1. I have a fantastic brother (or as he signed an email to me this week: "Your favorite, bestest, smartest, greatest, awesomest brother")
2. I do have sisters. We don't have the same parents, but they've filled the roll of 'sister' for me. Some of them I've known since grade school, some for less than a year and a whole range in between. Anything that you would do, say, share with a sister, I've done, said, shared with these women. I guess this is where the cliche fits for me: I don't know what I'd do without these women. Here are my sisters...

Thanksgiving

In a nutshell...

1. Grandma's Thanksgiving dinner. Mmmmmm. Best ever. She made my favorite cheese potatoes AND mashed potatoes. And turkey and noodles. My stomach was so happy and already looking forward to leftovers tomorrow.

2. Dinner conversation. My favorite quote: "Man, you googled the hell outta that, Grandma!"--my cousin, after my grandma disappeared for 15 seconds and came back with the answer to what years JFK was in office.

3. Nap time. Dozing on the living room floor, barely conscious enough to hear the Patriots come back to win over the Lions in the 4th quarter. Boo. Also occasionally interrupted by my brother and cousin talking football and/or pelting me with pillows.

4. Dominoes. The game, not pizza. 9 family members, occasional trash talk, competitive sides surfacing. Made it through 5 rounds with everyone still speaking, we quit while we were ahead. Grandma wins, I got 2nd.

One of my favorite Thanksgivings ever I think. :)

Big kids now

Add this to the pile of pictures that are adorable now, but they'll hate when they're teenagers.


(And apparently they're in the living room because they have to be "entertained" in order to get them to sit on the potty chairs for any amount of time. haha)

Happy Birthday, Haley and Bobby!

My favorite kiddos turn 2 years old today!

My weekend in pictures

I went home last weekend

To see my little brother graduate from high school.


He did a great job giving his salutatorian speech!


We also celebrated my grandparents' 50th wedding anniversary!



And I got to see my (almost) 2 yr old twin cousins, Haley and Bobby. They colored pictures and played piano and fought over this car, which resulted in some tears and eventually a bite ("Hayee bite. No Hayee!)


And we cuddled when they got sleepy.


And they wrestled a bit--soooo funny! Their ever expanding vocabulary is also a hit. They call each other "Hayee" and "Bobba" and "geen boon" = green balloon, etc.

Throw in a little family craziness and it made for a wonderful weekend!

Hugs

My big little brother

Yesterday was my little brother's 19th birthday. I don't think I blogged about him during my month of thankfulness a while back so now seems like a good time. Not only was yesterday Chad's birthday, but it was also the day of his winter sports banquet. I know I've said this before, but he got all of the athletic genes. ALL of them. He's been a three sport athlete for the past 4 years: football, basketball, and track and he was a starter on the varsity team in both football and basketball. Our house has been overrun with footballs, basketballs, baseballs, tennis balls, occasionally a soccer ball, basically any kind of ball that mom would let him have in the house for the last 19 years. Including a nerf basketball goal in the kitchen. If you throw something at me and I flinch instead of catching it... Chad is the reason why. Haha. He's intelligent too. His latest report card was on the fridge at home and contained only As and A+s. And the kid's not taking easy classes his senior year: AP Calculus, AP Physics, and his third year of Spanish to name a few. He's heading to Purdue next year to major in Engineering Technology. Given these achievements, you might think my bro's a 3, right? Wrong. I'm 95% sure that he's a healthy 9 (which integrates to a 3), and I'll tell you why.

My brother is one of the most laid back people I know; he gets it from my dad. It takes a lot to get him angry, or upset, or super excited about anything. He just takes life as it comes, one day at a time. He doesn't get too worked up over anything. He also takes charge when needed and is a good leader, from what I've seen. He knows what needs to be done and does what it takes to make it happen, whether it's taking extra work home for a group project or calling plays on the court. One of the coolest things about Chad, though, is his humility. He's a good leader and people respect him. A lot of that respect comes from the fact that he doesn't take things too far. He's not arrogant about his achievements and he doesn't even like the limelight when people try to shine it on him. Last night at his sports banquet, his basketball coach called him "the most humble athlete I've ever coached." This was right before he awarded Chad the Mental Attitude Award, his second Mental Attitude Award of the year (he was also awarded it by his football coach last fall.) I'm proud of all of Chad's athletic achievements, but I'm even more proud of how he handles himself on the court and with his teammates. Honestly, after this year no one will care that he made 6 3-pointers in the sectional game (which he did), but he'll carry his attitude about achievement and working as a team a whole lot further in life.

Chad has always been popular, for as long as I can remember. When I was in 5th grade, my friend Joel told me that my brother was cool and I wasn't. It was an on-going bit that we both laughed at because Joel was a big tease, but looking back... I'm pretty sure that he was serious. Haha. So my brother is part of the popular crowd at school, but the thing is... he's part of every crowd at school. Now, I may be biased and in the dark as his sister, but I really don't know anyone that really doesn't like Chad. He is the easiest person to get along with (except when you wake him up, but most people don't see him like that:) ). He's friends with everybody: the jocks, the geeks, the ag guys, the outcasts, younger, older. Doesn't matter. He's also a big hit with kids. The cheerleading coach's son is about 6 yrs old and he follows Chad like a puppy. There's also this little girl at church named Haley. My mom says that almost every Sunday she feels this little tap on her arm and turns to find Haley standing there, asking "Did you bring Chad with you today?" Haha. She even comes to sit with our family sometimes. They all like him so much because he pays attention to them. When other teenagers won't give the little kids the time of day, Chad talks to them, teases them, and makes them feel special.

So that's my "little" (I guess I should say younger) brother in a nutshell. I'm pretty proud of him and I'm excited to see what he's going to do next in life. :)

Oh, and he got the curls too... ^^ :)

Again with the toddlers...

This family is too attractive for their own good. :)

Ridiculously adorable toddlers

And they're even cuter live:
Haley plays babies
Watching Sid the Science Kid

Planes, trains, and automobiles

It will only take me 2 hours to drive home tomorrow to be with my family.

My aunt, uncle, and cousins will drive across 4 states (~12 hrs) to be here for Christmas.

Melissa and I had dinner (and donuts!) tonight, thanks to her quick flight from Massachusetts.

If it were not for air travel, odds are I wouldn't know and enjoy the company of Doug, Miriam, Joni, Payel, Krithika, Ying, Rohini, Rich, or Vasanthi. (This list could be extended :) )

My life is richer for the people listed above, among many others. Without innovative transportation, we may not have crossed paths, or at least not as often. Thanks to God for the blessings of the people in my life and the means that brought us together.

(Let's overlook the contribution planes, trains, and cars make to global warming for the sake of this post...)

The 'rents

I honestly don't know how I ended up with such a great family. Really. Huge blessing. It was wonderful having my parents in town visiting today and just being able to spend time with them. I appreciate them so much more now that I've been (relatively) on my own for a handful of years. I know there's no way I'd be the same person without their guidance, support, and love. And I know that God used them as more than just loving support and a moral standard. They made sure that I was at church, Sunday school, and youth group every Sunday--in a way, He used them to bring me to Him--and for that I will be eternally grateful (literally).

As for my mom, I appreciate the fact that she always has a listening ear. When she asks how you are, she cares about the answer. She's also been my shoulder to cry on for more than one occasion, everything from skinned up knees to a broken heart. A hug from mom has gotten me through many rough days. Her family is top of the list. I don't think I can even grasp all the things that she has done for Chad and I throughout the last 23 years. Chauffeuring us to innumerable practices and performances, sitting through all of our band concerts, sports events, and academic competitions (even though those are insanely boring), making sure that homework was taken care of, chaperoning the elementary fieldtrips, being team mom and room mother, making who knows how many lunches and baked goods for school events--and that's just for starters. Her hospitality is unmatched in my book. She always goes above and beyond. I could keep going, but that would take more than one blog post. :)

As for my dad, he's the hardworking perfectionist of our family. He doesn't just scrape by on a project, he puts the time in to get it right. When I came home in 4th grade and told him that I wanted to show sheep, he was all for it and went out of his way to talk to local sheep farmers and read books (which is not his favorite pastime) so that he knew what to do. My quiet side is from my dad. He may not be super talkative but when he talks, you listen. I can list off my favorite times with my dad; they aren't anything spectacular--just times when we spent quality time together. Bike rides after dinner (and picking weeds/flowers to give to mom), trips to get grape slushies, afternoons around the barns, sheep show days, him teaching me things even when I didn't want to learn. I remember at sheep shows there were friends whose dads would get frustrated when they didn't get something right, but my dad was always so patient with me. It didn't matter if I won or if I answered the judge's questions correctly or if I made a mistake in the ring. My dad was more concerned that I tried my best and learned from my mistakes. Oh, and hugs from dad are top notch too--always make me feel safe and loved beyond what I can comprehend.

I love my parents dearly. I am so grateful that God placed me in this family.

The latest from the Swem's

November 17, 2008

Is it Christmas yet? I'm aching to see these kids.

Some really beautiful pictures

Now these, I don't think you can argue with... beautiful.

Top: Haley
Bottom: Bobby

I got to see my cousins (the adorable 1 year old twins shown above) and aunt and uncle yesterday while they were back in Indiana for a visit.
Love love love these kids.

Jersey girl for a weekend

I took a trip out to New Jersey last week to visit my uncle, aunt, and cousins. What a blast! It was just the little vacation that I needed relax after graduating and start off the summer.

My uncle is just 10 years older than me. Actually there's less of an age difference between he and I than between he and my mom (his sister). Because of that, I grew up following him around like a puppy. In my grade school mind, you couldn't get much cooler than my uncle. I think part of that stuck with me a little. :) I still think he's pretty cool--my aunt, too. It's always neat spending time with them because we have so much in common. They both did their undergrad and grad work here at IU and they share my love of Bloomington. They're also both microbiologists so I can talk science with them (which we all know I love.) Actually, they're kind of the reason that I first became interested in research...but another story for another day. So it was really fun to spend time with them.

Now, they've added to their/our family. They have twins who are now about 9 1/2 months old. I really enjoy kids in general, but these two take the cake. Haley and Bobby are the cutest babies I have ever seen--I may be biased, but other people seem to think they're pretty cute as well. Honestly, there's not much I can tell you to relay how much fun it is to spend time with them. Their smiles are infectious and they share them easily. They even wake up smiling. You peek into their cribs and they just grin--excited to begin the day. They talk often--baby jibber jabber and really like music. It's funny how there is a distinctive difference between boys and girls already. Haley really examines things. She'll hold a toy in her hands and turn it around and just look at it really closely. Give her a book and she'll be entertained for quite awhile. Bobby, on the other hand, is a slam-banger. He loves anything that makes noise and throws his toys around as hard as he can. I had so much fun with them and miss them a lot!

I also got to see Princeton (where they both work: my uncle as a post-doc and my aunt as a lab tech/manager). It's really neat--so historical and old compared to things here in the mid-west. We also went to NYC for part of one day. It just so happened to rain all day that day, so we didn't end up doing most of the touristy things. We went to the Museum of Modern Art which was really fun. You don't always get to go to those kind of places with the intention of spending the whole day, so we really got to see a good chunk of the museum. I really like the painting galleries. They had a lot by French artists that I had studied some in HS (Monet, Cezzane, Matisse, etc). They also have van Gogh's Starry Night, which I didn't know until I saw it there. There were also some very cool architecture and technology exhibits. After the MoMA, we took the subway over to Times Square and grabbed some lunch.

So all in all, a fantastic trip. :)