For a while now...

For a while now I've wanted to share this with you. I grew up in Idaho. I am talking about Heritage with my students and who we are as a result of who and where we come from. I was born here, raised here, and have no qualms about raising my family and growing old here (although someone else MAY have other plans...). Let me tell you. I don't regret it. I don't regret it at all. The fact that I have remained in the same place for my entire life has directly affected who I am. As I so often write in lists, here is yet another. Why I am okay with traveling but even more okay with the fact that I never moved as a child and "saw the world"--I saw the world in a completely different light than those who literally saw it. I feel I am incredibly blessed as a result.

Seeing the World:
*I grew up with family...that may seem small but it is not! I learned that people aren't perfect and they make mistakes. I learned that love overcomes all...love leads to forgiveness. I was frequently disappointed by my family but I love them the same. When I think of them, I do not think of the things they've done that make them seem less loveable, but rather the things they've done to make them more loveable. Allow me to share what so many missed:
*I got to clean my Aunt Cara's house with her until 3:00 in the morning. She took me to Circle K and we got Haagen daz icecream and ate it while jamming out to music.
*Dinners with Cara and Levi and ordering Virgin Strawberry Daiquiris
*I got basketball games with Will and Todd
*I had an uncle Will to cash my paycheck for me when the banks were closed and I was leaving out of town
*I had countless kareoke nights
*I had a grandma that I literally loved with my whole heart
*I had trips with my grandpa, eating oranges and celery sticks in his car until we got sick
*I had grandparents that let me stay with them when I needed them
*I had Jay Leno with grandma and grandpa on a Friday night--that was my social life my sophomore year and I was MORE than okay with it
*Our family overcame trails...we faced them together
*I saw my mom help out her sister and I saw her sister help out my mom
*I saw both my mom and my aunt help their parents
*I'm proud of women because of my mom, Cara, and my grandma
*I was there when Gunnar, Grayson, Gatlin, and Ava were born
*I saw my uncle Levi off to Iraq
*I had an aunt and a grandma that called the attendance office to let me stay home or leave school early
*I have trips to Jackpot with Will and mom'
*I have family roadtrips with Will, Cara, Levi, Gram, and Gramps. Even ones with the boys (maybe the babies?)
*I have more memories and love in my heart then I could possibly ever recount.

*I have schools that I'm proud of--I am a dang proud Warrior and Bronco, through and through
*I have a legacy to continue
*I have roots...
*I know the seasons
*I can point out the place of my very first job, very first love, first....EVERYTHING!


I think you get the jist. I am proud to be an Idahoan. I am proud to have ground. I am SO blessed that I grew up with family and I learned to love over all things. I learned to let things go (as difficult as it still is for me...I work on it when I love people). You can't love them like I do unless you know them...unless they've shaped you. Lucky, lucky me!


Happy Valentine's Day you guys! :) LOVE YA!

MUAH!