Monday Memories {#2} Flying the friendly skies....

So I'm linking up with my good friend, Nicole for my Monday Memories. (If you're a blogger and you have a memory, you should join us!) Just follow the link on her name to get to her blog.

So I know some people are posting current things that are happening in their worlds that they want to commit to memory, but I kind of feel like that's what my blog's purpose is all the time! So I really want to go back...and write about memories that were important in my world,  even before my name was 'Mom.' The memories that don't help explain how I got to the place I am in life now. 

I think this will be a neat way to pass on memories of 'me' to my kids so that one day, when I'm 103 years old (don't laugh, my grandma is knocking on the door of 103 right now), they won't be in  a panic trying to ask as many questions about my life as possible before I depart this earth! 

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When I graduated from college at Arizona State University in 1999, I held a Bachelor's Degree in Broadcast Journalism. Unfortunately, at that point, the allure of the profession had diminished for me and I desperately wished I had pursued print journalism instead of broadcast. But, I didn't. So there I was, newly graduated and totally clueless about how to proceed with my grown up life. 

Somehow I found myself toying with the idea of becoming a flight attendant. I bought books about the career, I researched all the major airlines (most of which no longer even exist!) and I reluctantly starting applying for different airlines while working at my dad's office for the summer. Sorry McEvoy, Daniels and Darcy! I promise I WAS productive (when I wasn't actively seeking other jobs!) lol.  

I swear it wasn't even 24 hours later, I got a phone call from American Airlines. I fielded that call on a Tuesday which was disconcerting given a conversation that went, "Can you fly to Dallas on Thursday for an interview?" I'm sorry...come again? Thursday as in 2 days from now? Um, sure? 

And so it goes. I got on a plane, flew to Dallas, BY MYSELF, and found myself amongst a TON of other people who were also interviewing. The most hilarious part of it all to me was that before we even had an actual interview, we had to go onto a simulator to see if we could hoist a suitcase into the overhead compartment. (Nerve wracking for a short person like me!) But I did it! 

I recall the waiting room, I recall filling out paperwork, and I remember sitting in a group interview taking turns answering questions. I also recall that for every question asked, I always attempted to answer it before anyone else. (Not because I wanted to be an interview hog, but because I felt it made me look more confident and more authentic because I wasn't piggy-backing on anyone else's answers. Good strategy or not? Who knows?

I got the job, though, so I guess it wasn't all bad. :) 

Close the red railing, 10th person down. 

Getting on that plane for training, leaving my comfort zone was absolutely gut wrenching. I cried. I cried & I cried. I was leaving my family, my friends, flying by myself to stay in a new city and begin a new job that would have me as far away from all the things near and dear to me as possible. Hard for a home-body like me....but at the same time, I felt this major sense of accomplishment. 

I spent about 7 weeks living in the Arlington Hilton in DFW, Texas, in Room 510. There, I met some people who are still my friends today! Many of them still flying, several are not. 

We trained hard, we played hard.  :)

Karen, Caryn, and me studying hard.

Can't be a flight attendant if you can't open the doors, you know! 

Karen, Me, and Caryn

Caryn and I were just getting ready to ascend the stairs so that we could take our turns jumping out of the slide on the plane! "Jump! Jump! Don't take anything with you!" 

Leah and Me

Partying after our graduation! 

A Christmas Party we hosted in our house!
Caryn, Jennifer, Me, James, Karen and Courtney! 

Fast forward through training, I was honored to have been selected to deliver a speech on behalf of my class 99-35. And then, almost immediately, we were allowed to go home, pack our stuff and report to our new bases within a week, I believe. 

Delivering my speech at Graduation.

My sister, mom and dad flew to DFW for my graduation. The most surprising thing about this photo is everyone's hair! 

I was so excited to have been assigned to fly from Chicago. We bid for bases and Chicago was my top choice. The others I bid were NY, San Francisco, DFW and I think Miami??

Finding out our base! 

I found a fabulous house with 2 girls I became good friends with in training, Karen and Caryn.  :) They are both from the Chicago area so they knew the area. Plus my college boyfriend lived in Chicago also, so it was a bonus for me! 

Our house! See how high the windows are? Totally couldn't reach them to knock on them!!

Addison and Pulaski...

The night I arrived in Chicago, before my very first official flight ever, I took a cab to my new house, where I thought my roommates were going to be home. 

My roomies.  :)

Should there be a sudden change in cabin pressure, a mask compartment above your seat will open automatically. If this happens, quickly reach for the nearest mask and pull it firmly toward you.  :) 

(I didn't even have a key yet.) Long story short, there I was, trying to give directions to a cab driver to a place I really didn't even know, with nothing but a few suitcases. I will never forget FREAKING OUT because the lights were off and no one was answering the doors. Our house was on the middle floor of a tri level building so I couldn't even reach the windows to bang on them. It was dark, it was cold and I was on the verge of a breakdown. Finally after some time, Karen came to the window. They had been sleeping and hadn't heard me! I spent that night sleeping on a towel on a hard wood floor with clothing as a pillow the night before my first flight~ Glamorous, huh?  

Anyhoo, I met lots of fun people while flying...Ruthie from the old school Real World, Howie Long (yum), Joan Cusack, Dr. Phil and his son, Chuck Berry, Samuel Pivens, & Kerri Russel to name a few.  I ended up coming back to Tucson after about a year because of unrelated issues, but hands down, this is one of the greatest memories of my life. 

Talk about growing up. 

I constantly surprise myself when I think about the fact that I moved alone, lived in a BIG city, rode the subway to work, (after I walked many blocks in my uniform through the streets of Chicago, in the snow to get to the subway.) CRAZY. CRAZY. CRAZY. 

One of the best memories of my life. And the advent of Facebook was all that much greater when I became reunited with MANY of my friends from my training class!! Woo hoo!! Kudos to those of you still flying! Turned out, my heart belongs to my kindergartners.  :)

(And those who know me in kindergarten....does this apron look familiar?) Who knew it would go from protecting me from spilled coffee to paint and glitter?) 

You can't make this stuff up.

One of the most fascinating aspects of having triplets is observing how very different they are, even after having been exposed to the EXACT same life experiences since they were conceived. I recall one of our early well visits to see Dr. Goldberg when they were just babies and something about our conversation ended with Dr. G saying (half joking, half serious), "Get ready. She (Hunter) will forever be smarter than they (the boys.)" 

Well I'm here to confirm that so far, that statement is entirely true. She's wise beyond her years. Her use of language, both literal and even figurative is really quite astounding. Let's just say, girl pays attention. 

Her brothers are smart. Don't get me wrong. But they are book smart. They know letters and sounds, and a crap ton of sight words, they know numbers and can count....but they don't 'problem solve' or use 'logical reasoning' quite as proficiently as their sister. Yet. (See, I'm giving them the benefit of the doubt.) 

To illustrate this point, I'll share an anecdote about each boy. Both events happened within two days. (And both boys will probably hate me someday for sharing these.) But this stuff is too good not to share.  :) Sorry, boys.  It's my job. And it's Mother's Day, so I can pretty much do whatever I want.  

EXHIBIT A: 

SUBJECT: Ethan Bunch

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The subject had awoken at his usual time, approximately 8:00 am. After watching some cartoons to start the day, he eventually made his way to the table to have breakfast. On the end of the table was some laundry that I had not put away. One of these items was a strapless bra. The subject picked up the bra and said, "Mommy, what's this?" Knowing full well that he's seen me put these on before, I jokingly said to him, "It's a hat." Then I turned to finish pouring cereal, etc. and only turned back when he said, "Mommy I don't know how this goes." 

And there, is my child, with my bra on his head, truly trying to figure out what kind of fandangled hat it is and how in the WORLD do we secure it :) 

Oh, Ethan. You keep my life exciting.  I love you. 

EXHIBIT B:

SUBJECT: Colton Bunch

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This afternoon, after making our way home from an outing, we made the kids go pee as soon as we arrived. Hunter and Ethan both went  and then made their way to the couch to snuggle with Brian and me. Colton was the last to go. Finally hearing the toilet flush, we were preparing to make the announcement that it was nap time. After the flush, Colton made his way to the living room where the rest of us were relaxing. Two toys in his hand, the child waddled into the living room (a good 25-30 feet) with his underwear stretched from leg to leg, down around his ankles. 

Thinking that he was (surely) about to pull his underwear up, Brian and I made idle chit chat. Aaannd, still no move to do anything about his 'roos. Instead, he stood at the couch playing with his toys. 

Brian and I are totally laughing about this, and even more so when Brian says to him, "Hey Colton, did you forget something?" 

"Nope." 

"Are you sure about that?" he asks again. "You didn't forget to do anything?"

"Nope." 

"So...nothing strikes you funny right now, big guy?" 

{Colton holds up his two toys.} "These?" 

At this point, Hunter is also in on the action and (she sees the humor in this of course, because she's wise like that) chimes in also. 

"Colton, are you sure you didn't forget to do something?"

Brian then says, "Well let's think. You went in to go to the bathroom....so you had to pull DOWN your underwear. Then you went pee and so...do you think there's anything you should do now?"

{Colton, still making no moves to pull up his 'roos, but smiling because I think he's starting to see the humor in the fact that 4 of us are questioning him to the nth degree.)

Finally, I chime in. "So, do you feel a cool breeze at all, bud?"

Brian, finding great humor in the situation but also growing impatient caps off the entire conversation with this little gem. "Hey Colton. Look down. Can you see your pe.ni.s?"

{Colton looks down nods his head yes.}

"Well if you can see it, then you may have forgotten to do something important after you went pee."

Alas! 

The lightbulb turned on and the underpants went up. I kid you not, people. I cannot make this stuff up. 

Happy Sunday and Happy Mother's Day everyone! 

You shoes, you lose.

Tonight, all my ideas seem to be continuations of last night's 'Happies and Crappies.' 

HAPPY: 

Let's begin with with the picture Brian sent me today, of the littles helping to clean their playroom. It was as stunning a sight as it sounds. Dave Conca said it best as I showed my phone to him, "Hey! There's the floor!" My thought exactly! Happy Mother's Day to me! By no means did they actually 'clean' it, but they DID do a fantastic job of clearing a TON of it and at least providing me a walkway. Thank you Brian for spearheading Operation Clean-up. 

CRAPPY:

For my birthday, my in-laws gave me a gift card to DSW to get some new shoes! So I did...I got 5 of them, in fact. Exactly 2 weeks ago. Today, while leaving a School Function, walking with my sister and my principal, I could feel this strange sensation on the underside of my foot-As though I had stepped in gum or something. Um, gum would've been nice compared to catastrophe that actually was. Take a look. Have you EVER seen a shoe do that? :(

HAPPY: 

I called DSW as soon as I left the function and explained the situation (despite knowledge that their return/exchange policy was only applicable to UNWORN merchandise. By the grace of God, I had the receipt still in my purse (that's actually more newsworthy than my shoe breaking) and they were MORE than understanding and accommodating to my plight. I chuckled when she asked if I wanted a different pair or just the cash back. Uh, no no. I actually NEED a new shoe considering I'm out and about for the day and was WEARING those shoes. Lucky for me, those shoes were still in stock AND there was one in my size.  :) Thank you DSW for turning a Crappy into a Happy! 

In other news, this morning we took the kids to Dunkin Donuts for a little breakfast before I left for the day. As usual, they were up in the air about what kind they wanted. (It's always frosted. It always has sprinkles. It's the color that changes. Pink or brown. Well that decision was made even more complex today with the option of HEART shaped Pink Donuts! The boys both opted for a pink heart, but Hunter remained steadfast in her original pick- a round, chocolate frosted. 

Well, as soon I served all three of them their donuts, Colton said, "Mommy, I want that chocolate circle, pointing to a Hunter's donut {I knew that was going to happen}. Sorry, bud, you picked a pink heart donut. That one is Hunter's. 

Obviously listening to this conversation, it wasn't but a few moments later that Hunter looked at me and said, "Mom, can you cut this one into a piece for Colton too? 

And sure enough, she shared half her donut with him because she just knew that it would make him happy. I love that all three of them do that for each other.

And then there's this little bean. She's growing up too fast. Somehow, she got it in her head that she no longer wanted to sleep in the same room as 'The Boys.' She has been asking all the adults in her world for her own room. WITH Owls. It hurts my mom heart a little bit to imagine them apart. (Even though they all sleep in separate rooms at my mom's house....) Sigh....soon enough baby girl. Soon enough.

 Happy Saturday, everyone! 

Happies and Crappies {#2}

HAPPIES


...My three littles brought home beautiful flowers with pictures of us, from Preschool today. (I'm laughing at the two wine bottles in the picture. An inadvertent happy in itself that I'm just now noticing.) It's such a great feeling (the flowers, not the wine. Although I guess the wine lends itself to a great feeling too.) Dear God. What's wrong with me? FOCUS, Ami, focus.  My point was that I spend so much time with my 38 kindergarteners, making presents for THEIR moms that I sometimes forget that I, too, am a mom now!



...which leads to this next point. Happy are the moments when I realize I am their "person." The one they want when they don't feel good or they're sad or scared. I love it. Colton's belly was "grumpy" again tonight and he insisted he was 'sick again.' Aside from crying loud, crocodile tears, all he wanted was to snuggle on my lap.  I'll take it.

...there are 8.5 days of school left in this school year. Not that I'm counting.

...

CRAPPIES

...I overslept my alarm yesterday. On a preschool day, no less. Boo to oversleeping.

...I frankly have no words for this one. It's the play room. If this isn't an indication of how busy I've been the past few weeks, I don't know what is.

There's not much crappier than that. I can't get past it.


And I can't keep my eyes open any longer to even write about any other happies or crappies.
 So goodnight all!
I've gotta go clean the playroom now....
or maybe drink the wine.  :)

A Few Funnies

Hunter: "Mom, can I give Piper my cereal (her leftovers).?"
Mom: "Sure."
Hunter: "Okay, mom. Piper, Sit. Sit Piper. Sit Piper. Piper Sit. Piper Sit. Sit Girl. Sit. Sit Piper Girl.
Mom: "Um, Hunter? She IS sitting.
Hunter: "Oh. Okay. Stay sitting, Piper. Stay sitting. Piper, stay sitting.":)

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After tucking him into bed...
Ethan: Mommy, I want you to get me my water NOW."
Mommy: Um, whoa! That was pretty rude, dude.
Ethan: {brings his hands to his cheeks} Oh! Sowwy mommy. Pwease I could have my water, mommy?

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Realizing he's hungry as his stomach is growling....
Colton: My tummy's so grumpy, mom.

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I love you, Monkeys.

Thank you!

Thank you everyone! What a fun few weeks it was, watching where this contest took us! Back and forth and back and forth! We ended in 3rd place which is Fantastic!  Love you all! 

If you like, click the picture below to read my "Interview Questions." And if you don't want, I copied them here,  below the picture.  :) 

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HAPPY TEACHER APPRECIATION WEEK! 

I have appreciated all the gestures and cookies, etc. from my students, which reminded me that I am not only a Teacher this year, I'm a parent of kids who ALSO have teachers.

What to do...what to do....

I had a totally different idea planned, but while walking around a dollar store, I saw these cute tissue boxes and immediately had a thought--

"Thanks for softening the blow"...

of having my 3 babies start school at the same time." 

With a Starbucks card and tissue paper coming out of the hole, to look like tissue.  Pretty cute in person. And TOTALLY FROM THIS LITTLE HEAD!  No Pinterest, no nothin!  :) Just me. 

Anyhoo, a big thank you to Mrs. Moten and Mrs. Castillo for all the love you give my kids. I know they are far from perfect, and I thank you for helping to shape those little people of mine :) 

Short and Sweet

Unfortunately my to-do list tonight trumps an exciting post. Soo, I thought I'd share some odds and ends. 

First of all, once you get past the red fleece jammies... in Arizona... in May, please look at my dog, Piper's eyes. Is it just me or is this picture cracking anyone else up? She looks none too thrilled to be getting SQUEEZED by lil' Miss Hunter.  Are her eyes going to bulge right out of her head? 

Second, she wasn't even 4 yet. Nope. Still 3 and posing like a little champ. Are we in trouble or are we in trouble? Her brothers and her daddy and going to have to keep an eye on this one!

 And then there's my handsome little men. 

Yeah, I pretty much love them.   

And thanks to my friend and sorority sister for sending this to me yesterday! She was in a Hanger Clinic up in the North Scottsdale area and she walked in and saw THIS hanging on the wall! I was so excited! I've only seen it in a book and on a big cardboard cutout! Those are my babies (and I'd like to note that I aged about 15 years on this particular day....that, I'll never forget.  :)

Thank you very much, Auntie Jen. The scooters are a favorite.They travel back and forth to Grammy's and our house. Now let's discuss when they became so grown up. Oh right, you wouldn't remember.....because I haven't blogged their birthday yet!!! Aahhh!

How can I resist these next two...

Ethan and Gigi just enjoying a little sunbathing.

But {almost} always the gentleman, Colton walks Gigi back in. She's practically 103. She deserves the royal treatment! 

Such gentleman. When they want to be.  :) 

Now for real, I gotta go.  

Thanks for the crunch time votes! It's over tomorrow! So you might be able to vote one more time! But I promise I'll be happy where ever we end up! Thanks for the support!  :)

Monday Memories {link up} #1

My dear friend Nicole is challenging us to get some of our best memories out of our heads and onto paper. She's beginning a link party, so if you're a blogger and you'd like to join the Monday Memories link party, please feel free to join in and share your memories!

Because it's always my intention that this blog will eventually adorn my three grown children's coffee tables, I thought I'd write a little about who we were before we were 'mom and dad.' It's a story I feel like people often ask...how did your parents meet. So let's be sure I lay this out for you. Here we go. The story of 'How Mom and Dad met.'

He hates this photo, but I love it because it reminds of how he looked when we met...

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Dear kids,

Did you know that your mom and dad were once, NOT yet, mom and dad? We were super heroes. Can you believe it? Your dad and I had both been in love with other people for many years and for different reasons, we parted ways.

Cue your "Auntie Jen." (You must know by now that she is my best friend from college and my sorority sister...the way I tell it, she's the one who made your mom do all kinds of naughty things.) hee hee. So in other words, she was the fun friend.)

Anyway, one day she called me and asked if she could give this guy my phone number. Having been recently single after a long relationship and engagement, I was a little hesitant. "Well, what's he like?" I asked her.  "Well, he's a police officer and he works with the wife of a guy on my squad." 

Phillip & Marcia..the other couple in on our 'set-up' 

She said she didn't personally know him well, but that she'd seen him at the jail! (Don't worry kids, your dad wasn't a criminal, he was there representing the other side of the law.)  :)

Anyway, with some reluctance, I said she could give him my #. And then, not long after, he called.
Aaaannd....I let it go to voicemail because I was deep into the 'Million Dollar Trading Spaces' episode that I'd been waiting and waiting for. (I haven't lived this down yet.)

Well I DID call him back, if you must know and we talked for several HOURS that first night. Then another several hours the next night, and so on and so forth. (By the way, kids, you must know that 'so on and so forth' is a phrase your father uses ALL. THE.TIME.  I'm sure you all say it by now too.) I obviously do. And we talked about EVERYTHING. Literally-from preferred toothpaste, to favorite foods, to craziest things we'd ever done, etc. They were great conversations.

Anyway, we were trying to arrange a group date of sorts, where we could finally meet each other. Well, your dad, being the impatient one that he is (surely you also know this about him by now) decided that he wasn't waiting. So he arranged to drive down to Tucson to meet me.

On October 5, 2003, we met in the back parking lot of my school, Cottonwood Elementary. When I pulled up in my car, he was already there, waiting in his parked truck. I WAS SO NERVOUS trying to figure out how to 'nonchalantly' MEET someone I was already pretty sure I was going to marry (yes, I had a feeling even before we met). Crazy, right?

Anyway, I got out of my car, walked around and there he was, dressed in jeans and a blue plaid shirt, neatly pressed, and very proper, with a belt and all. And oh, so handsome.

Anyway, I honestly couldn't tell you what words we uttered at that moment if my life depended on it. I was all a flutter. We hung out in my classroom for a while, just talking. And may I just say how strange it was to meet someone for the first time, that I already knew so much about....weird. (Oh and by the way, apparently, what I thought was a completely BLIND date turned out to be only half blind.  Your dad got to see a picture of me before we ever even talked! NO FAIR, I say!)  :)

So after chatting a while at my school, we walked around a nearby park, then headed for Applebees . As we drove away from school headed for Applebees though, I sent out a mass text to my sister and friends, who were waiting anxiously to hear about this blind date, "He's HOT."   :)

And the rest, as they say, is history.  (Well, almost.) We were engaged about 6 months later, on the tailgate of his truck, in my driveway.

(Dates on the tailgate had kind of become 'our thing.') We planned to get married in October, when our plans were suddenly shot to hell with the news that your Dad's unit was deploying very shortly.

As such, we were married 3 and half weeks from the day we got engaged...June 19, 2004. Do the math and you'll quickly realize that you little cherubs wouldn't come along for another 5 years almost.

As the saying goes..."Good things come to those who wait." Whoever said that, was right. :) But that's a story for another day!

Hanging out, trying to plan a wedding. 

THE WEDDING SHOWER

L to R: Heather, (that's Taylor's mommy, kids), Leigh, Aunt Mary, Liza, Mommy, Kelly, Sarah, Kim (that's Autumn and Tonio's mommy), Cindy and Nicole. 

Auntie Kim and Cristina

Rosey and Grammy

Mom, Auntie Kristen, Audrey and Aunt Phyllis

Starting with Aunt Mary's blonde hair in the foreground, then Kim, Sarah, Nicole, Heather, Leigh and Cindy

Gigi

Nana, Aunt Phyllis, Audrey and Auntie Kristen

THE BACHELORETTE PARTY

Auntie Jen and Mommy. (They were playing patriotic songs in the bar and Mommy was a little sad that Dad was going to be deploying.) 

Leigh and Mommy

Take a good look. That's your mom. On a box. In a bar. 

Mommy and Auntie Anabelle

PRE-WEDDING SET UP

Aunt Mary, Heather, Mommy, Jen, Nicole, Anabelle

This is your Aunt Mary dictating how this wedding was to go down. She earned her nickname 'The Boss' at this event. And thank God. Without her, this wedding would've been nothin'! (Please note your dad's face. Hilarious.)

Mom, Dad, Auntie Jen and Auntie Anabelle!

The Wedding Place (Corona Ranch) before...

And after. It was a remarkable tranformation!

And that's your Great Grampy Daniels at the bar with your Uncle Jungle Jim.  :)

THE REHEARSAL DINNER

Dad and I waiting for our friends to show up. 

But...they were busy having drinks at the CowPony.  :) 

PRE-WEDDING PREPARATIONS

Aunt Mary, Mom, Grammy

Me! Gettin' my hairs did! 

AND...THE WEDDING!

Ponka and Mommy

Smoochie smoochie! 

Auntie Valerie, Auntie Darlene, Auntie Donna

Your Great Grampy and Grammy Daniels and me

Auntie Jen, throwing away the wedding cake. (I told you she was the naughty one! lol.
(Not really. )

 Obviously, these are only a few of the photos from our wedding extravaganza, but these are the ones I could find readily in my little rinky dink album. (Our real wedding album is packed away... somewhere...) Someday, I'll bust those out!  Either way, hope you enjoyed the story.

Now, how about a vote? Only 2 more days.  :)