Reasons Why I'm Not a Very Good Girl

You may read that title and think I am trying to say that I am a "naughty" girl.

That is not the case.

What I mean to say is....there are things that I like/do that do not correlate with the picture of what a 'proper' girl should be like.

For example:
When I run, I sweat. Not only do I sweat - my face turns blotchy and dark red.
When I cry, I do the 'ugly' cry. Sobbing, coughing, runny nose. The whoooole shabang.
I have the appetite of three fully grown men, and sometimes I appease that appetite without feeling guilty.

Furthermore:
I like to shoot guns.
Hunting animals (for food) does not make me cry.
I enjoy video games.
I like the dirt.
I like to camp.
I like to 4 wheel.
I like to snow mobile.
I like to tell inappropriate jokes.
I like to smell like a campfire.
I like fast cars.
I like to hike (not 3 mile day hikes....more like 10 miles a day for 3-4 days).
I don't cry when I fall on a snowboard or off of a horse.
I don't mind my bruises or scars.
I don't like to wear make up every day.
I like to wear jeans.
I only get my hair looked at by a professional once a year.
I bite my nails.
I like to build things (I've even helped rebuild a road).

On some level, I feel like I should get in trouble for loving all these things. Shouldn't my list of things I enjoy be made primarily of things such as "I like to sew" or "I like to paint"...?

I love to do those things, too....but I really love being outside and getting dirty. I'd choose stacking hay over painting nails any day.

For visual examples of reasons why I definitely cannot be defined as dainty (despite the odd conflict it causes within me) please see the following images :)

The Wedding Checklist

The Wedding Checklist:

[x] get a guy to propose
[x] say yes
[x] buy a dress
[x] pick bridesmaids
[ ] find and book a venue
[x] find a photographer
[ ] choose a date
[x] feel stressed, pull out hair
[ ] everything else....

Family - Blog 7: My Youngest Brother

I remember the day he was born. It was December 1 - his actual due date. I think he is the only one of us who was actually born 'on time.' I think that speaks volumes to his personality :) He's never enjoyed being late to anything.

Keanu was the cutest little baby. He was totally and perfectly bald. He had a wrinkly face like an old man, and long (but small) little fingers. When he finally did start growing hair, it came out white....and stayed that way for, well....forever. I think he's just now starting to get some pigment in his hair...and he's turning 14 this year.

Time. Flies.

Having a baby brother has been one of the highlights of my life. I didn't even care that I had to help change his little diapers. He has brought light and laughter and joy and all things that are good into my world. And it started at a young age. For a few years, he was my very own little shadow. He even let me paint his toe nails a few times. Even his first full sentence was just for me: "Nikki, you look pretty."

Of course, all little boys grow up to be big boys and he decided hanging out with Kameron would be way more fun. I always had some secret jealousy about that...but I knew it was necessary for him to grow up and be a proper boy ;) Little brothers naturally want to hang out with big brothers...and not big sisters.

Nevertheless, little Keanu definitely played a protective role over me...despite our 10 year age difference. When I had my first "boyfriend" in the 8th grade...Keanu would never leave us in a room alone together...even though Keanu was only about 3 at the time. He would sit between my little boyfriend and I and monitor all conversation.

The best part was...no one ever asked him to do that. He just did it.

Now this little baby brother of mine is a teenage boy. With that comes other fun things: camping, fishing, board games and silly jokes. But in my mind...he is still too young for things of the world: I want him to believe in Santa. I want him to be able to see magic in the world everywhere he goes. I want him to remain ignorant to all that is bad in the world, and live in all that is warm and good - just like him.

I love my stinkin' little brother. And his braces, too.

Family - Blog 6: A Teenage Younger Sister

I've had a lot of things in my life. A bike. A hamster. Cats. I've had phones and CD players, boyfriends and cars. I've had breakfast pretty much every day I've been alive, and I always had a bed to sleep in.

One thing I haven't really had is a teenage younger sister.

I've got one of those for the first time.

She's exactly what you'd expect a teenage girl to be. She drives a car, she doesn't like school. She likes to text and hang out with friends and avoid younger siblings. She likes to sing and dance and put on make up.

I think my favorite thing about having a teenage younger sister is that they are a lot of fun. They'll help you cook, go shopping with you, watch stupid tv shows with you....they'll talk to you on the phone about stupid stuff and they'll trade secrets with you.

I may not know much about a lot of things - but one thing I know for sure is that I love my teenage sister :)

Family - Blog 5: My Younger Brother

When I was growing up, my parents always used to tell us that "your siblings should be your best friends because at the end of the day, when you've grown up and you've moved away, you're still going to have each other. All those other people are (for the most part) just transients in your life."

While I have certainly endured my fair share of transients, my younger brother - Kameron - has always been around. In fact, he has been around so long that I can hardly remember my life before he existed.

My father was a military man, and so we moved around a lot. With moving came this 6 month period of having no friends. My older brother kind of made his own way in the world, but Kam and I stuck together like glue. We were each others best friends. We spent countless hours building card houses, playing gameboy side by side, drawing ant houses, watching Darkwing Duck and The Wild Thornberries, riding our scooters or roller blading, playing beanie babies (and even barbies). We got the flu at the same time. We went for walks, went to arcades together, went to see bands together, went to movies together...We went to the same schools, drove the same car and even had apartments that were right next door to one another (well, mine was above his). We even worked out together.

Not too much has changed :) when we are both home, we like to do everything together. We have our own way of communicating (almost like twin talk) and we like to keep in constant contact. We like to play card games and board games...or even just make up games (only now we have other siblings who get to be involved in the festivities).

We are each other's biggest fans, and we can never stay mad at each other long (as in longer than 5 minutes). We can ask each other for help and know that we can tell one another anything without being judged.

I have always loved spending time with Kameron - and the fact that he's been gone on a religious mission for two years has absolutely killed me every day (but only because I miss talking to him every day and seeing him at family events). I am so excited for all the great experiences he has had on his mission, but I can't wait for him to come home!

I love my little brother!

Family - Blog 4: My Older Sister

The relationship I have with my older sister is not the traditional older-younger sister relationship. Because we grew up in separate households, we never had to endure any of the "that's my sweater" or "I saw him first, he likes me" type of conflicts. Because we were both totally surrounded by brothers in our separate households... I think we both probably imagined what it might be like to have a sister, living in the same house, to talk to.

For me, I know that sometimes I wished I had a sister to trade clothes with...or to give me hand me downs. There were times when having a sister to give me makeup or hair tips would have come in handy. I would have told a sister about my first kiss. It's not that brothers aren't great...they just don't care about that kind of stuff :)

I think that because my sister and I were raised far apart from each other, we have really come to appreciate the relationship we're able to have now. We don't have years of contentious memories that keep us from trusting each other. I can tell her all my secrets if I want, and know that they are locked up tight in the sister vault.

The most exciting thing about having an older sister is that she has all sorts of good advice. She has been where I am now. She can share in the excitement of getting married. And when she goes through childbirth she can tell me "it's not as bad as you think."

At least...that's what I hope she'll tell me. Either way, I know her babies will be cute and I will get to be an aunt ^_^

My older sister is beautiful and I love her!

Special Announcement!

I know I am deviating from my "Family Blog" series to write this...and I apologize to those waiting to read the "Older Sister" blog which is certainly over-due...... however..... I have big news!

I'm Engaged!

Now sit back, relax and enjoy the story of Matt and Nikki:

Matt moved in across the street from me when I was 16. At the time, we were living in Sagamihara Japan. Matt's older brother was away on a deployment, and his sister in law was pregnant with her 3rd child - so he moved there to help her out in lieu of his brother's absence.

Two of his nephews are the same age as one of my younger brothers, and so my little brother referred to Matt as "Uncle Matt." Now - before I had met him I had assumed "Uncle Matt" was in his forties (because uncles are never hot or young...right?) I had about 1% interest in meeting him.

Then, one day, everything changed. After about 2 weeks of my mom telling me I'd really like "Uncle Matt", I found myself across the street returning a dish (or something) to their house. I had been in there by myself when low and behold, Matt walked in. He wasn't old. He wasn't gray. He certainly wasn't what I'd expected an "Uncle Matt" to look like. He was about 23 and a carbon copy of a young David Boreanaz.

He said, "Hi."
I said, "Hi... You must be 'Uncle Matt.'"
He said, "You must be Kam's sister"
I said, "That's the first time anyone has ever referred to me as Kam's sister (because I'm older than him). Nice to meet you."

Then I ran full speed across the street and back into my house. As soon as I landed in the living room I exclaimed, "I love him, and I'm going to marry him." My parents laughed - they knew exactly who I was talking about.

Of course, I was 16. He was 23. He had no plans to notice me any time soon... so I was the weird girl who lived across the street. I talked to him when I had to, avoided him the rest of the time, and sometimes peeked out the living room window to see what he was doing/if he was in the yard.

Me being me, I had no plans of letting him escape easily. On the day he left Japan, I managed to get him to fork over his email address. That felt like a victorious moment. I knew that as long as I kept communication with him at all throughout the rest of my high school career, that I'd be able to make my move later in my college career.

That's exactly what I did. We exchanged the rare IM's and emails. After my first couple of semesters of college, we exchanged enough IM's that I felt confident enough to ask for his cell phone number. Then I started bombarding him with texts which he hated but couldn't stop responding to. Gradually we became phone-call buddies, and one day I informed him of my plans to get on a plane to visit him. He didn't really get a say in the matter.

On March 7, 2008 I walked off the plane, straight up to Matt and kissed him square on the mouth.

----

The rest, as they say, is history....

Except a certain day last week - which I'm going to tell you about:

On Tuesday, Jun 2, Matt and I decided we wanted to go to Nantucket (as part of a long road trip we are currently on). We spent the morning walking around, renting a scooter, riding around the island, visiting a farm/market. We packed a picnic and took it to one of the many gorgeous beaches on the island. After lunch, we decided it would be fun to walk down by the water. After we'd walked a distance (I was feeling uncomfortably far from our stuff), Matt stopped me. He started acting kind of funny, and I thought maybe he wasn't feeling well or wanted to have a serious conversation.

Instead he started kissing me a lot, which is also unusual for him, and so I started laughing. Out of nowhere he pulled out a little box with a gorgeous ring and said some romantic things followed by, "will you marry me?"

I said, "Is this for real?" and then I said, "yes."

I was completely taken by surprise, and just when I thought I was about to cry I was overcome with a wave of smiley-ness. Instead, I jumped and danced around the beach. :)

And now, we are officially engaged. Ta-da!