tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35546141804614200972024-02-19T00:19:01.534-05:00Peters Family BandErin aka Conscious Shopperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02055472303320074413noreply@blogger.comBlogger592125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3554614180461420097.post-65164675320005051032020-06-03T14:11:00.001-04:002020-06-03T14:11:45.534-04:00Martin Luther King Is Not a WeaponMartin Luther King is not a weapon to be wielded against the people he fought to protect.<br />
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If you think Martin Luther King, Jr. would not have been sympathetic to the rioters, it means the only MLK speech you have read is “I Have a Dream.” Read any other speech.<br />
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MLK was not some peace-loving hippy sitting in a drum circle singing kumbaya. He was the leader of an army who taught his soldiers to take punches instead of start fights. He chose nonviolent civil disobedience in part because he believed white Americans could not turn away from the sight of the police brutally attacking people who didn’t fight back.<br />
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Part of the strategy of nonviolent direct action during the Civil Rights Movement was to break the law. MLK went to jail 29 times. One of his most famous pieces of writing, “The Letter from Birmingham Jail,” was written from jail. <br />
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He wrote “The Letter from Birmingham Jail” in response to white people who were basically saying, “That is not the right way to protest.” <br />
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The whole point of nonviolent civil disobedience is to create so much tension that it is impossible to ignore the injustices causing the unrest. Disruption is the point!<br />
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From “The Letter from Birmingham Jail:” “You deplore the demonstrations taking place in Birmingham. But your statement, I am sorry to say, fails to express a similar concern for the conditions that brought about the demonstrations.”<br />
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I understand feeling outrage for rioting and looting. Where is your outrage for the rest?<br />
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Erin aka Conscious Shopperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02055472303320074413noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3554614180461420097.post-59925346995663123862020-04-08T16:04:00.000-04:002020-04-08T16:13:29.045-04:00Cole and the BandWhen I was in 8th grade, my art teacher mentioned to my mom that I had some talent, so my mom made me choose art as one of my 9th grade electives. I really do have a minor talent for drawing still lifes (although I can't draw from my own imagination to save my life), and at the time I had an architecture hobby that my mom thought I might want to pursue as a career some day. But the thing is...I really hate art classes. Creativity on demand stresses me out so much.<br />
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I remember during the first week of my freshman year, the art teacher announced that we were walking down to the square in Franklin to do chalk art. Having to draw a picture on demand in front of a bunch of students I didn't know in a place where anyone could see was too much stress, so I dawdled behind the rest of the class, took a detour to the library or bathroom (I don't remember exactly where), and skipped the rest of class. The teacher never said anything; I don't think she even noticed.<br />
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The rest of the semester long class was fine, but constantly embarrassing. My art teacher would praise my supposed drawing talent in front of the whole class all the time. I remember one day where she was rambling about people's expectations and how they can influence your life, and she said something like, "When Erin was younger, people probably told her how good she was at drawing, and she took it to heart and practiced, and that's why she's such a good artist now." It was supposed to be a compliment, but I was mortified. I was NOT a good artist - I had one tiny gift for drawing still lifes and that was it. I felt like a poser that entire semester.<br />
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I don't really know what the point of telling that story was, except to say to my kids, "I get it. Parents make you do things you don't want to do. My mom did it to me, and I did it to you, and you will do it to your kids too."<br />
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For me, it was art class, and for my boys, it is band. Cole and Eli started playing percussion in the band at Washington Elementary by choice, and they continued in the band at Ligon Middle School by choice, and by the time they both started high school at Enloe, I wasn't about to let them quit just because they had now decided band was for geeks and losers. We had already invested so many years into band!<br />
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It started with Cole, who had a rebellious streak in middle school that derived from him choosing not so great friends, so as he was enrolling in high school, I decided he needed to join marching band because band kids are the best. I'm sure there are rotten band kids, but I don't know any. Every band kid I've ever taught has been the best of kids. So that's how my thinking went: put Cole in marching band, set him up for success. Enloe is a huge school, the kind of place where you can drown if you don't find your footing, and I wanted him to have a good start.<br />
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One thing I did not know about marching band before Cole's first year is that half of the season involves marching and the other half involves being peppy at football games. You may not have spent much time around Cole, but...he's not very peppy. He also didn't get to march because he was assigned to play keys, and you can't carry a xylophone while you march.<br />
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From the beginning, I had said, "One year. Try it for one year, and if you hate it, you don't have to do it again."<br />
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Cole seemed miserable the entire marching band season, but surprise, surprise, the next year he joined again with his little brother in tow.<br />
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He also joined the Triangle Youth Brass Band and played percussion for Enloe's symphonic band. He plays the marimba, which uses four mallets (two in each hand), and it is an impressive sight to watch him play.<br />
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Eli has not taken to band like Cole. He may someday blog about the time his mom ruined his life by making him take marching band. So it goes. That's parenting. You do what you think is best for your kids, and sometimes you get it right, and sometimes your kid hides in the bathroom to avoid drawing with chalk. </div>
Erin aka Conscious Shopperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02055472303320074413noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3554614180461420097.post-17691739231400413192019-09-08T15:24:00.000-04:002020-04-08T16:08:38.923-04:00Annual Camping 2019For Labor Day, we spent another year camping in the mountains of North Carolina. This year, Kellie and her family were able to join us (I'm pretty sure for the first time), and of course, my parents were there. The campground that we stayed at was just a step above a KOA, so not as fabulous as other places we've camped, but it did have a nice river for tubing and good hiking nearby. I really love the photos I took, so prepare yourself...<br />
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<a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/consciousshopper/1k2827" title="20190902_122901"><img alt="20190902_122901" height="480" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49312921287_cce5091e2e_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script>Erin aka Conscious Shopperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02055472303320074413noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3554614180461420097.post-14643463997763391192019-08-01T15:10:00.000-04:002020-04-08T15:11:28.795-04:00Summer 2019In the summer of 2019, I was in the middle of a two year long master's degree program, and I was spending a minimum of four or five hours a day on my classes (though sometimes as much as a full eight hours). That meant no epic summer travels, but we managed to squeeze in a few quick trips and activities.<br />
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Of course, we spent a week in Kentucky visiting family, including a zipline tour so my mom could cross that off of her bucket list.<br />
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The boys did a mud run with the youth from church, and Rylan went to Scout camp.<br />
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And at the end of the summer, we rented a beach house for a few days in the Outer Banks. The last day there, Michael had to work, so while he chilled at a Starbucks all day, the boys and I did a ropes course. We were too slow to make it all the way to the top, so goals for next summer!<br />
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<br />Erin aka Conscious Shopperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02055472303320074413noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3554614180461420097.post-60546308888273362432019-06-16T14:59:00.000-04:002020-04-07T15:00:36.968-04:00Two Big MilestonesEli graduated from middle school.<br />
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And wittle baby Ry graduated from elementary school.<br />
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<a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/consciousshopper/18F2Jd" title="20190606_195727"><img alt="20190606_195727" height="640" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49312224268_be111c6b59_z.jpg" width="480" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script>Erin aka Conscious Shopperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02055472303320074413noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3554614180461420097.post-8636951760428123192019-04-18T14:54:00.000-04:002020-04-07T14:56:46.224-04:00Massanutten 2019We have reached a point in our lives where living is cyclical; we do the same things every year, wash, rinse, repeat. If you look back at the history of this blog, you start to notice patterns: every year a post about Massanutten, then our epic summer travels (including a trip to Kentucky), then Labor Day in the mountains, than the obligatory Halloween post, followed by Thanksgiving and Christmas.<br />
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I am writing this in April of 2020, in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic, which has finally given me the time and space to update this blog after nearly two years. One reason I fell out of the habit of blogging was the feeling of redundancy as I blogged about the same things over and over again, year after year. But this week we were supposed to head to Massanutten for spring break, and instead, we are trapped in our home, afraid to get within six feet of people, afraid to touch anything. Suddenly, when our tradition has been snatched from us, the repetition of our lives feels special. My backyard, where I'm sitting as I write this, is beautiful, but it's not the mountains.<br />
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<a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/consciousshopper/5gSyx8" title="20190417_110644"><img alt="20190417_110644" height="480" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49312724901_bd6cabb5ac_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script>Erin aka Conscious Shopperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02055472303320074413noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3554614180461420097.post-79936294815466749562019-01-01T14:22:00.000-05:002020-04-07T14:23:05.189-04:00How many years have we been married?Michael and I were geniuses when we decided to get married right after Christmas. At the time, the reasoning was that we'd be on Christmas break (we were both still in college), and we'd have time off for our honeymoon. We didn't realize the true benefit of a Christmas anniversary: a built in babysitter for every anniversary date since we're already spending the holidays with our parents.<br />
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We spent this anniversary in Nashville, not doing anything special, but we did take a good photo!<br />
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<a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/consciousshopper/079h39" title="signal-2018-12-29-215421"><img alt="signal-2018-12-29-215421" height="480" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49313439802_2e68c4ea52_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script>Erin aka Conscious Shopperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02055472303320074413noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3554614180461420097.post-69766838304642386442018-11-12T12:54:00.000-05:002020-04-06T12:59:18.387-04:00Erin at 40For my 40th birthday, I rented a cabin in my favorite place in the world: Chimney Rock. Mika and I enjoyed a couple of days by ourselves...<br />
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...before Michael joined us. It really was the best of uneventful birthday celebrations. I read a lot, watched some movies, sat in the hot tub, hiked to the top of Chimney Rock, walked with my favorite dog, and ate out with my favorite person.<br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-size: medium;">Erin at 40 Years Old (er, technically 41 since I wrote this a year later after I'd already turned 41)</span></div>
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<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">favorite color: Is grey a color? I really like grey.</span></li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">favorite food: alfredo with broccoli and tomatoes</span></li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">favorite dessert: cheesecake</span></li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">favorite thing to do: watch Korean dramas</span></li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">favorite video game: Just Dance</span></li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">favorite subject in school: English</span></li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">favorite book you read this year: Born a Crime (2018), Beartown (2019)</span></li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">favorite music this year: Twenty One Pilots (2018), Sebastian Yatra (2019)</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">What is the meaning of life?</span></span></div>
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<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><h1 class="quoteText" style="color: #181818; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, serif; font-size: 14px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 21px; margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px;">
“We cast a shadow on something wherever we stand, and it is no good moving from place to place to save things; because the shadow always follows. Choose a place where you won't do harm - yes, choose a place where you won't do very much harm, and stand in it for all you are worth, facing the sunshine.” - E.M. Forster, <i>A Room with a View</i></h1>
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</ul>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 18px;">What do you want to be when you grow up?</span><br />
<ul style="line-height: 1.4; margin: 0.5em 0px; padding: 0px 2.5em;">
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">Retired. I do not like working. Being a stay at home mom was the greatest job I've ever had.</li>
</ul>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 18px;">What makes you happy?</span></div>
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<ul style="line-height: 1.4; margin: 0.5em 0px; padding: 0px 2.5em;">
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">When my family spends time together happily without fighting. Also traveling.</li>
</ul>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 18px;">What are you afraid of?</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px;">
<ul style="line-height: 1.4; margin: 0.5em 0px; padding: 0px 2.5em;">
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">I live in constant fear that something bad is about to happen to my kids. My life has been too perfect; I can't have the perfect life forever, right?</li>
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<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px;">
<span style="line-height: 18px;">If you had one wish, what would you wish for?</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px;">
<ul style="line-height: 1.4; margin: 0.5em 0px; padding: 0px 2.5em;">
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">That the thing I'm afraid of never happens.</li>
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<span style="line-height: 18px;">What is the funniest word?</span></div>
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<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">perspicacious</li>
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<span style="line-height: 18px;">What is the hardest thing to do?</span></div>
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<ul style="line-height: 1.4; margin: 0.5em 0px; padding: 0px 2.5em;">
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">be a teacher</li>
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<span style="line-height: 18px;">What is the easiest thing to do?</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px;">
<ul style="line-height: 1.4; margin: 0.5em 0px; padding: 0px 2.5em;">
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">lay in bed all day and watch K dramas</li>
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<span style="line-height: 18px;">What is the best thing in the world?</span></div>
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<ul style="line-height: 1.4; margin: 0.5em 0px; padding: 0px 2.5em;">
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">chocolate</li>
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<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px;">
<span style="line-height: 18px;">What is the worst thing in the world?</span></div>
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<ul style="line-height: 1.4; margin: 0.5em 0px; padding: 0px 2.5em;">
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">people</li>
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<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px;">
<span style="line-height: 18px;">What makes you mad?</span></div>
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<ul style="line-height: 1.4; margin: 0.5em 0px; padding: 0px 2.5em;">
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">electric fences for dogs</li>
</ul>
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<span style="line-height: 18px;">What is the meaning of love?</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px;">
<ul style="line-height: 1.4; margin: 0.5em 0px; padding: 0px 2.5em;">
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">Being with someone who makes you feel like you're good enough the way you are.</li>
</ul>
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<span style="line-height: 18px;">If you had all the money in the world, what would you do with it?</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px;">
<ul style="line-height: 1.4; margin: 0.5em 0px; padding: 0px 2.5em;">
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">Finish fixing up my house, save for retirement and college funds, make sure my family has enough money to be comfortable, then start a bunch of non-profits or give a bunch of money to charity. </li>
</ul>
</div>
Erin aka Conscious Shopperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02055472303320074413noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3554614180461420097.post-7298481321239364652018-07-26T12:32:00.000-04:002020-04-06T12:33:41.952-04:00California Summer 2018: San FranciscoBy this time, Michael had used up his vacation time, so we checked into a hotel in San Francisco so Michael could pop into the Cisco office in San Jose while the boys and I played tourist for a few more days. We took a boat tour to see the Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz, checked out Chinatown, and mainly just walked a million miles (which is one of my favorite things to do).<br />
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<br />Erin aka Conscious Shopperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02055472303320074413noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3554614180461420097.post-14913033424341769932018-07-25T12:25:00.000-04:002020-04-06T12:26:46.278-04:00California Summer 2018: Redwood National Park and Big SurWe rented a cabin at the tippy top of a mountain in Redwood National Park so we could chill and hike for a couple of days.<br />
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Then we drove through more of California's gorgeously diverse landscape...</div>
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...to drive Highway One along the coast. If anything warrants a good photo dump, it is the beautiful Pacific coast.</div>
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I think in general that I am pretty good at taking landscape photos, but you don't even have to try in Big Sur. It's just that gorgeous.<br />
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We made a special point of stopping at Bixby Canyon Bridge so Michael and I could serenade the boys with Death Cab for Cutie. Also, I like this picture a lot because the scenery is so beautiful (combined with the angle of the shot) that it looks like the boys are standing in front of a green screen.<br />
<br />Erin aka Conscious Shopperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02055472303320074413noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3554614180461420097.post-19873245304075103862018-07-23T12:12:00.000-04:002020-04-06T13:01:33.266-04:00California Summer 2018: Los AngelesOn the last morning of our stay at Josh's, Michael and I woke up and said, "Maybe we should go to Disney."<br />
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Neither of us are big amusement park fans, but we were in California, so why not?<br />
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First, we endured the L.A. traffic so Rylan could see the giant telescope...<br />
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...and Michael could side eye the Hollywood sign...<br />
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We checked into a hotel, where I spent the evening figuring out how to survive and master Disney. Apparently, I became too good of an expert: We arrived bright and early, rode all the rides (some multiple times), ate Dole Whips, and by early evening, we were like, "Welp, guess we're done."<br />
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Michael's lack of amusement at amusement parks partly stems from his tendency to get vertigo. He takes dramamine on plane rides and is the designated driver on road trips because he gets car sick in the passenger seat, so picture him on an amusement park ride. On Star Tours, to be exact - one of those motion simulator rides where you put on 3-D glasses and stare at a screen while sitting in a box that shakes, rattles, and rolls but doesn't actually move anywhere. 30 seconds into the ride, I glanced at Michael to see sweat pouring from his face. He was gripping the armrests like he was about to pass out, and then he started dry heaving. I really thought I was going to have to get the poor teenage ride operator to stop the ride and let us off, but Michael made it through without vomiting on everybody. After that, he was done with rides, though.<br />
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The next day, Michael decided to play some poker while the boys and I explored Venice Beach. I had planned to spend a couple of hours on the beach before heading to our next location, but Michael had a major goof-up during one poker game that 1) made us wait for hours in the parking lot of the casino while 2) some casino head honchos debated whether or not they should give Michael thousands of dollars, which 3) forced us to drive through the mountains in pitch black darkness on the edge of a cliff for hours and hours. Remember that time I <a href="http://petersfamilyband.blogspot.com/2015/07/arkansas-texas.html" target="_blank">almost ran out of gas in the middle of Texas</a> and reported that "I have never been quite so stressed out in my entire life"? This was more stressful.<br />
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(Michael would have to explain the whole situation about what happened at the casino. It has something to do with poker rules, so I tuned out while he was explaining it to me...")<br />
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<a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/consciousshopper/b2a501" title="20180723_135235"><img alt="20180723_135235" height="480" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/1831/29033080897_8012f8da01_z.jpg" width="640" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script>Erin aka Conscious Shopperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02055472303320074413noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3554614180461420097.post-44809424672447560112018-07-22T11:40:00.000-04:002020-04-06T11:40:25.327-04:00California Summer 2018: San DiegoAfter Kentucky, we made a quick pitstop at home to reunite with Michael before catching a flight to California to see my brother. Typically on our epic summer travels, we load up my little Camry, but since Michael would be with us the whole trip and since driving out to California would make the trip too long, we decided to fly to San Diego and rent an SUV. The boys were in heaven about both decisions. First plane ride for all three of them, and sooo much more leg room in the rental car.<br />
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Of course, the first thing to do in California is take a trip to the beach. I really love these photos I took of my boys with Josh's crazy daughter Violet in the background.<br />
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Rylan and his cousin Tessa are best buds for life.<br />
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Josh looks like a crazy person when he goes to the beach - definitely doesn't look like he lives in San Diego!<br />
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We also took a fairy ride over to Coronado Island and spent the afternoon moseying around. The same day was some kind of Comic-Con, so traffic was insane. We spent forever trying to find a place to park, and then we definitely got our steps in that day.<br />
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And Eli and his doppelgänger Henry plotted to take over the world.<br />
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Erin aka Conscious Shopperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02055472303320074413noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3554614180461420097.post-21658521265682349332018-07-07T11:23:00.000-04:002020-04-06T11:24:01.592-04:00Kentucky 2018At the end of June, we began our annual epic summer odyssey, starting with a visit to my parents' house in Kentucky. We went back to <a href="http://petersfamilyband.blogspot.com/2015/07/first-stop-on-us-domination-tour.html" target="_blank">the splash fountain in Bowling Green</a>, which always warrants a good photo dump:<br />
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We also got together with Becky and her kids for a fun day at Beech Bend, an amusement park near my parents' house that I'd never been to. The rides were mostly the kind you'd find at a pop-up fair (Scrambler, swings, Gravatron, etc.), but they have a stellar water park that I'd definitely go back for.<br />
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<br /><a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/consciousshopper/Y35500" title="20180628_190502"><img src="https://live.staticflickr.com/914/43294473382_3f6f6b42b4_z.jpg" width="640" height="480" alt="20180628_190502"></a><script async src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js" charset="utf-8"></script>Erin aka Conscious Shopperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02055472303320074413noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3554614180461420097.post-36879606665015812492018-07-01T20:10:00.000-04:002020-04-06T11:08:55.941-04:00Quick trip to DCWhile Cole and Eli were at scout camp, Michael, Rylan, and I took a trip to Monticello. This was a trip 30 years in the making. When I was in elementary school, I developed a hero worship for Thomas Jefferson that continued for many, many years. At some point, I started to become disillusioned by Jefferson's full history, and then a few years ago, we had a full falling out. It was actually pretty devastating in a way that would seem really weird to most people. Hero worship = bad idea.<br />
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Even though I've lived within a few hours drive from Monticello for the past ten years, I've kind of been pretending it wasn't there, but since they opened up the Sally Hemings exhibit this year, it was time to go. Plus, Rylan hadn't been back to DC since we moved away, so we decided to take a little road trip, tour Monticello, and do some touristy things in DC.<br />
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The whole trip was lovely. Rylan is a great traveling companion who likes doing all of the touristy things that I like to do. After Monticello, we checked into a hotel in Virginia and then spent the next couple of days riding the metro, watching pandas, and walking the mall.<br />
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The part of the trip that Rylan still talks about is when we ordered froyo and chili fries at a little restaurant across the street from the zoo, and they forgot all about our chili fries, burned them, and had to give us a free order. Because of this, Rylan highly recommends the little restaurant across the street from the zoo.<br />
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The highlight of the trip for me was enjoying the city life. I love being able to walk everywhere.Erin aka Conscious Shopperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02055472303320074413noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3554614180461420097.post-2052461226587787082018-06-30T19:35:00.000-04:002020-04-06T11:08:30.818-04:00The next part of JuneThe morning of Michael's mom's funeral, I got a text from my dad that my Grandma Alley had just passed away. This one was not unexpected - I'd even gone out to Utah for spring break to see her one last time before her health declined too much - but the timing was crazy. Not only was I in Tennessee at my mother-in-law's funeral, but my parents were on vacation in Hawaii with my mom's family. Thankfully, they were able to schedule the funeral to give everyone enough time to get out to Utah.<br />
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When I told people that I'd been out of town at my grandmother's funeral, the response over and over again was amazement that I still had living grandparents. My grandma lived a long and amazing life, and although I cried buckets at her funeral because the eulogies were beautiful and I will miss her, it wasn't the same kind of sorrow as the other funerals I've been to this year. Instead, the days I spent in Utah were a sweet time reminiscing with family that I don't get to see very often.<br />
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One hard part of the trip was saying goodbye to my Grandma and Grandpa Alley's house. My Aunt Diana has been living with Grandma for the past several years, but with Grandma gone, Diana decided to move closer to her daughter.<br />
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My grandparents had lived in that house my whole life. I think even my dad's whole life. It was a tiny house with too few bathrooms for the number of people we would cram into it and the scariest basement stairs. I have so many wonderful memories of running around the gorgeous yard, playing games at the dining room table, and watching BBC movies with my grandparents in their back bedroom. When I was very little, both sets of my grandparents lived on the same block, and it was a child's dream to be able to play at one house and then walk around the corner to the other house when I got bored. I loved to play with the shells and other trinkets my grandma kept on her blue shelf, watch her wind up her music boxes, and read book after book from all over the house.<br />
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When I was fourteen, my parents sent me to Utah by myself to spend time with my relatives for a few weeks. I remember one day sitting at the kitchen table with just my Grandma and Grandpa, eating homemade bread and home-canned pears. Grandma made cheerful small talk in that beautiful happy way of hers while my grandpa and I listened quietly, and Grandma laughed, pointing out how much alike we were. I have always been a quiet person in a world where quiet is often not valued, and so I sometimes feel weird and out of place. But sitting there that day with my Grandma and Grandpa Alley, I felt like I knew where I belonged. My grandparents made me feel so special.<br />
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<br />Erin aka Conscious Shopperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02055472303320074413noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3554614180461420097.post-56829642011089923762018-06-24T18:59:00.000-04:002020-04-06T11:08:01.365-04:00This post has been a long time coming...Looking at my photos from June, it's hard to know where to start. It was a strange month.<br />
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On the weekend before my last two workdays of the school year, Michael's dad called to say that Michael's mom had passed away. She had been in poor health for the past several years and had been living in a nursing home. When we visited at Christmas, she was a frail shell of a woman, and it was hard to tell if she knew who we were. For years, we'd been saying that she might not live much longer, and yet when the call finally came, it felt unexpected.<br />
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Michael and the boys left immediately to attend the funeral in Tennessee, but since I was having trouble getting in touch with my boss, I went into work Monday morning, planning to catch a flight out that night. I left work a little after noon, went home to pack my bag, checked my plane ticket...and realized that Michael had bought a ticket for the wrong date. Luckily, I was able to book a same-day flight (for significantly more money), and in hindsight, I probably shouldn't have asked Michael to purchase my plane ticket, considering that he'd just lost his mom and wasn't in the best state of mind.<br />
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I'm hoping Michael will at some point write something about his mom and what she meant to him. For me, though, Sylvia's funeral was tough and strange because she was so young - about the same age as my own parents - and because she'd been in such poor health for the past several years. Except for the first two years of our marriage, we haven't lived near Michael's family, and I think just because of the way Michael is, the way his parents are, and the way I am, we haven't spent much time with them over the years - only a day or two in July and again at Christmas. Although I am extremely grateful to Michael's parents for the son they raised, I have never been close to them, and the fact that Sylvia's health declined so much in the end made it even harder to really know her.<br />
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I kept thinking at the funeral about an interview we did with Michael's mom a few years ago to add to our family history record. One question we asked was why she decided to join the Church. She was in college when she met Michael's dad and decided to be baptized. Because of that decision, her parents disowned her, and for most of his childhood, Michael didn't interact with his maternal grandparents. But Sylvia said that despite the way her parents felt, she loved the gospel teaching that families can be together forever, so she knew she wanted to join the Church.<br />
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Michael's parents married young, had five kids in six or seven years, and never had a lot of money. At the funeral, Michael's sister Diana had displayed photographs of Sylvia as a child and teenager, and looking at the photos, I kept thinking about how pretty she'd been and how much potential she'd had in life and how, despite that potential, her biggest accomplishment had been raising five crazy kids to be stable adults and then how she'd died so young.<br />
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"Was she happy?" I asked Michael on the way home.<br />
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"I think she was," he said. "I think that being involved in our stuff when we were kids and then watching us live our lives as adults, that made her happy."<br />
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I know there are some people that don't find satisfaction simply being a parent, but I also know that for me personally, the best job I ever had was staying home with my kids. As hard as it could be at times, I loved every second of it.<br />
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I don't know what dreams Sylvia had that she may have had to set aside to raise her family, but I know that she raised some amazing human beings, one of whom is the father of my amazing human beings. And I hope that made her happy.<br />
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Erin aka Conscious Shopperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02055472303320074413noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3554614180461420097.post-34184489962552381192018-06-08T20:30:00.000-04:002018-08-10T20:31:07.939-04:00Middle School Graduate<center><a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/consciousshopper/01gd67" title="20180610_124753"><img src="https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1751/41016879630_848e7abd27.jpg" width="375" height="500" alt="20180610_124753"></a><script async src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js" charset="utf-8"></script></center>Erin aka Conscious Shopperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02055472303320074413noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3554614180461420097.post-7069197594807353902018-06-01T20:24:00.000-04:002018-08-10T20:30:11.207-04:00Care for Your Teachers Like They Care for Your ChildrenSeveral years ago while I was working on my teacher's license but hadn't been hired anywhere yet, I took the boys to a Moral Monday rally to support teachers. We stood around for awhile on the lawn in front of the General Assembly building and then marched with the other protests downtown. Cole and Eli mostly sat on the sidelines and read, tolerating yet another thing I'd dragged them to.<br />
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This past May, we joined another rally for teachers, but this time since I have some skin in the game, we made signs.<br />
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Eli especially took his sign making very seriously.<br />
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Although I'd be grateful for a salary raise, all I really want is to be able to spend fewer hours doing work outside of work. I just don't understand the mindset that undervalues education and teachers. Plus, I'm starting my master's program this fall also, so that will be fun....<br />
<br />Erin aka Conscious Shopperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02055472303320074413noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3554614180461420097.post-24478851394628810602018-05-20T22:18:00.001-04:002018-05-28T14:43:50.823-04:00Post-ParklandThis semester, one of my students took his own life. He was in my 1st period, a class with 35 students.<br />
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I only had him for four weeks before he committed suicide. After such a short time, I couldn't have known him well enough to recognize what was going through his mind. But I've still struggled with an insistent nagging that I should have known, and I've spent the rest of this semester in a state of analytical paranoia, scouring the journals and essays of my remaining 92 students for signs of suicide and depression.<br />
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A couple of weeks ago, a mother of one of the girls in that same class called to yell at me. <i>My daughter is struggling with depression. Why didn't you notice? Why didn't you do something? How could you be so insensitive?</i><br />
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Missed it again.<br />
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Last night, I dreamed that I was shot by a school shooter.<br />
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That probably feels like a cruel non sequitur, but I don't mean it to be. I have spent the past four years of my teaching career pretending that I live in a world where school shootings are not a thing. How else could you go to work every day? But the week my student took his own life and the week a troubled teen in Parkland, FL took the lives of seventeen innocent students? That was the same week.<br />
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I can't get it out of my mind, those two intertwining tragedies.<br />
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As much as we wish for a magic formula to identify potential school shooters, researchers who study these incidents say that shooters do not follow a consistent profile. Despite the impassioned anti-bullying pleas on social media, the truth is that bullying has been a factor in some cases, but not all. Diagnosable mental health issues like schizophrenia have been a factor in some cases, but not all. Loners...some but not all. Prior criminal records...some but not all.<br />
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So what can we say about the profile of a school shooter? In nearly every case: White. Male. Has displayed signs of suicide and/or depression. Has hinted at his plans to friends, on social media, or in class assignments.<br />
<br />
Post-Parkland, the pressure as a teacher to identify and rescue feels so much heavier. Meanwhile, my class sizes keep getting bigger and bigger. Does 35 sound like a reasonable class size to you? Good, because next year you should expect 36. And you might be asked to carry a gun.<br />
<br />
North Carolina teacher to student allotment 1:29.<br />
NC counselor to student ratio 1:400<br />
NC school psychologist to student ratio 1: 2100.<br />
<br />
When you choose to be a teacher, you go into it knowing the job is more than just teaching lessons and grading papers, but how many balls can one person keep in the air at one time?Erin aka Conscious Shopperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02055472303320074413noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3554614180461420097.post-80635700892503528922018-04-22T21:03:00.000-04:002018-04-22T21:03:42.116-04:00Life LessonsI've been experimenting with having my students play around with different writing structures (beyond the five-paragraph essay). My guinea pig children tested out this writing structure tonight:<br />
<br />
<div dir="ltr" style="margin-left: 0pt;">
<table style="border-collapse: collapse; border: none; width: 504pt;"><colgroup><col width="*"></col><col width="*"></col><col width="*"></col><col width="*"></col><col width="*"></col></colgroup><tbody>
<tr style="height: 0pt;"><td style="border-bottom: solid #000000 1pt; border-left: solid #000000 1pt; border-right: solid #000000 1pt; border-top: solid #000000 1pt; padding: 5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt; vertical-align: top;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">I BELIEVED THIS...</span></div>
</td><td style="border-bottom: solid #000000 1pt; border-left: solid #000000 1pt; border-right: solid #000000 1pt; border-top: solid #000000 1pt; padding: 5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt; vertical-align: top;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">SO I DID THIS...</span></div>
</td><td style="border-bottom: solid #000000 1pt; border-left: solid #000000 1pt; border-right: solid #000000 1pt; border-top: solid #000000 1pt; padding: 5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt; vertical-align: top;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">WHICH MADE ME REALIZE...</span></div>
</td><td style="border-bottom: solid #000000 1pt; border-left: solid #000000 1pt; border-right: solid #000000 1pt; border-top: solid #000000 1pt; padding: 5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt; vertical-align: top;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; white-space: pre;">SO HERE’S THE TRUTH...</span></div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<br />
<br />
<b>RYLAN:</b><span style="font-family: inherit;"> <i>I used to believe that all life should be fair because everyone is equal. Earlier, I had to walk the dog, but my brothers before me didn't do their job. When everyone takes turns doing something but the people before you don't do it, you still have to do it. So here's the truth: Life isn't fair.</i></span><br />
<div dir="ltr" style="margin-left: 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="margin-left: 0pt;">
<span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b style="font-family: Arial;">ELI</b><span style="font-family: Arial;"> (wants to make clear that this essay is not based on a true story):</span><i><span style="font-family: Arial;"> </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">I didn’t think I needed to wear deodorant. </span></i></span><i><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But then I took a whiff of my armpits. I said, “Ewww.” </span><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">I was pretty stinky. So here's the truth: </span><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">You should always wear deodorant.</span></span></i></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="margin-left: 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="margin-left: 0pt;">
<span id="docs-internal-guid-66797688-efff-a81a-7a8d-8461bef83ef2"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b style="font-family: Arial;">COLE: </b><i><span style="font-family: inherit;">Listen, here’s what you need to know about life. I always believed that if it’s easier for someone else to stop than for you to stop, they should be the one to stop. </span></i></span></span><i><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">For example, my brother Eli annoyed me constantly, so I always yelled at him to stop. He never would. My parents told me that the only way I could solve the issue was to stop being annoyed. </span><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">This helped me to realize that no matter how many times I yelled at Eli, it wouldn’t change anything. </span><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">So here’s the truth: You can’t control what other people do.</span></span></i></div>
<div>
<span id="docs-internal-guid-66797688-f001-615a-d6fb-82656e5dc47f"><div>
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
</span></div>
Erin aka Conscious Shopperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02055472303320074413noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3554614180461420097.post-9747276007817041862017-12-29T19:29:00.001-05:002017-12-29T19:29:37.938-05:00Rylan at 10 Years Old<center>
<a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/consciousshopper/GS5vc3" title="20171206_183326"><img alt="20171206_183326" height="500" src="https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4646/39348369702_01c767ffa2.jpg" width="281" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script></center>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-size: medium;">Rylan at Ten Years Old</span><br />
<ul style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18px; margin: 0.5em 0px; padding: 0px 2.5em;">
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">favorite color: blue</span></li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">favorite food: shrimp alfredo</span></li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">favorite dessert: buckeyes</span></li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">favorite thing to do: play video games</span></li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">favorite video game: Pokemon Ultra Moon</span></li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">favorite subject in school: science</span></li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">favorite book series: Percy Jackson</span></li>
</ul>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">What is the meaning of life?</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px;">
<ul style="line-height: 1.4; margin: 0.5em 0px; padding: 0px 2.5em;">
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">to live with Heavenly Father again</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 18px;">What do you want to be when you grow up?</span><br />
<ul style="line-height: 1.4; margin: 0.5em 0px; padding: 0px 2.5em;">
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">an astronomer</span></li>
</ul>
</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 18px;">What makes you happy?</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px;">
<ul style="line-height: 1.4; margin: 0.5em 0px; padding: 0px 2.5em;">
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">family</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 18px;">What are you afraid of?</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px;">
<ul style="line-height: 1.4; margin: 0.5em 0px; padding: 0px 2.5em;">
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">creepy clown killers creeping in your closet with creepy chainsaws</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px;">
<span style="line-height: 18px;"><br /></span><span style="line-height: 18px;">If you had one wish, what would you wish for?</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px;">
<ul style="line-height: 1.4; margin: 0.5em 0px; padding: 0px 2.5em;">
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">I would say unlimited money, but now that I think of it...world peace</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px;">
<span style="line-height: 18px;"><br /></span><span style="line-height: 18px;">What is the funniest word?</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px;">
<ul style="line-height: 1.4; margin: 0.5em 0px; padding: 0px 2.5em;">
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">purple</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px;">
<span style="line-height: 18px;"><br /></span><span style="line-height: 18px;">What is the hardest thing to do?</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px;">
<ul style="line-height: 1.4; margin: 0.5em 0px; padding: 0px 2.5em;">
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">go to a planet that's really far away</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px;">
<span style="line-height: 18px;"><br /></span><span style="line-height: 18px;">What is the easiest thing to do?</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px;">
<ul style="line-height: 1.4; margin: 0.5em 0px; padding: 0px 2.5em;">
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">breathe</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px;">
<span style="line-height: 18px;"><br /></span><span style="line-height: 18px;">What is the best thing in the world?</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px;">
<ul style="line-height: 1.4; margin: 0.5em 0px; padding: 0px 2.5em;">
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">Breathing! No, no, family.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px;">
<span style="line-height: 18px;"><br /></span><span style="line-height: 18px;">What is the worst thing in the world?</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px;">
<ul style="line-height: 1.4; margin: 0.5em 0px; padding: 0px 2.5em;">
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">Don't write this down, but I say it's Eli's face.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px;">
<span style="line-height: 18px;"><br /></span><span style="line-height: 18px;">What makes you mad?</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px;">
<ul style="line-height: 1.4; margin: 0.5em 0px; padding: 0px 2.5em;">
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">Eli's face. Um, um, let's see...Cole and Eli annoying me.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px;">
<span style="line-height: 18px;"><br /></span><span style="line-height: 18px;">What is the meaning of love?</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px;">
<ul style="line-height: 1.4; margin: 0.5em 0px; padding: 0px 2.5em;">
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">red (This is how Robbie answers all questions.)</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px;">
<span style="line-height: 18px;"><br /></span><span style="line-height: 18px;">If you had all the money in the world, what would you do with it?</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px;">
<ul style="line-height: 1.4; margin: 0.5em 0px; padding: 0px 2.5em;">
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">I would split it into three halves. One for me. One for charity. One for me.</li>
</ul>
</div>
Erin aka Conscious Shopperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02055472303320074413noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3554614180461420097.post-83047643118369533902017-12-29T14:04:00.002-05:002017-12-29T14:20:31.241-05:00Cole at 14 Years Old<center>
<a data-flickr-embed="true" href="https://www.flickr.com/gp/consciousshopper/860p6r" title="20171029_155013"><img alt="20171029_155013" height="640" src="https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4527/38415296622_295d0b87a3_z.jpg" width="360" /></a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js"></script></center>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Cole at Fourteen Years Old</span></div>
<ul style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18px; margin: 0.5em 0px; padding: 0px 2.5em;">
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">favorite color: green</span></li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">favorite food: I don't have one. (Eli says, "You're turning into your father...")</span></li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">favorite dessert: cheesecake</span></li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">favorite thing to do: play basketball</span></li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">favorite video game: I don't have one</span></li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">favorite subject in school: Social Studies. The teacher is the best.</span></li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">favorite book you read this year: <i>The Light Fantastic</i> </span></li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">favorite music: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRky75n0vNODVTQxKJUCV2g" target="_blank">the music he wrote himself</a></span></li>
</ul>
<br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: inherit; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px;"></span>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;">
<div style="line-height: 18.48px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">What is the meaning of life?</span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 18.48px;">
<ul style="line-height: 1.4; margin: 0.5em 0px; padding: 0px 2.5em;">
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">42</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div style="line-height: 18.48px;">
<span style="line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 18.48px;">
<span style="line-height: 18px;">What do you want to be when you grow up?</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 18.48px;">
<ul style="line-height: 1.4; margin: 0.5em 0px; padding: 0px 2.5em;">
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">a music engineer</span></li>
</ul>
</div>
<div style="line-height: 18.48px;">
<span style="line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 18.48px;">
<span style="line-height: 18px;">What makes you happy?</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 18.48px;">
<ul style="line-height: 1.4; margin: 0.5em 0px; padding: 0px 2.5em;">
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">No Eli. No, don't put that. Lots of things make me happy...Like spending time with my family and seeing a movie or something.</span></li>
</ul>
</div>
<div style="line-height: 18.48px;">
<span style="line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 18.48px;">
<span style="line-height: 18px;">What are you afraid of?</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 18.48px;">
<ul style="line-height: 1.4; margin: 0.5em 0px; padding: 0px 2.5em;">
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">Having appendicitis. I get scared of that all the time. Every time I get gas, I assume it's appendicitis.</span></li>
</ul>
</div>
<div style="line-height: 18.48px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 18.48px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">If you had one wish, what would you wish for?</span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 18.48px;">
<ul style="line-height: 1.4; margin: 0.5em 0px; padding: 0px 2.5em;">
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">To be immune to appendicitis. To have my career made out for me. And world peace.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div style="line-height: 18.48px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 18.48px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">What is the funniest word?</span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 18.48px;">
<ul style="line-height: 1.4; margin: 0.5em 0px; padding: 0px 2.5em;">
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fard" target="_blank">fard</a></li>
</ul>
</div>
<div style="line-height: 18.48px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 18.48px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">What is the hardest thing to do?</span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 18.48px;">
<ul style="line-height: 1.4; margin: 0.5em 0px; padding: 0px 2.5em;">
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">stopping eating when I need to stop because otherwise I'm going to get sick</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div style="line-height: 18.48px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 18.48px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">What is the easiest thing to do?</span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 18.48px;">
<ul style="line-height: 1.4; margin: 0.5em 0px; padding: 0px 2.5em;">
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">stub your toe</span></li>
</ul>
</div>
<div style="line-height: 18.48px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 18.48px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">What is the best thing in the world?</span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 18.48px;">
<ul style="line-height: 1.4; margin: 0.5em 0px; padding: 0px 2.5em;">
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">love</span></li>
</ul>
</div>
<div style="line-height: 18.48px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 18.48px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">What is the worst thing in the world?</span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 18.48px;">
<ul style="line-height: 1.4; margin: 0.5em 0px; padding: 0px 2.5em;">
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">non-love</span></li>
</ul>
</div>
<div style="line-height: 18.48px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 18.48px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">What makes you mad?</span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 18.48px;">
<ul style="line-height: 1.4; margin: 0.5em 0px; padding: 0px 2.5em;">
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">non-love</span></li>
</ul>
</div>
<div style="line-height: 18.48px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 18.48px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">What is the meaning of love?</span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 18.48px;">
<ul style="line-height: 1.4; margin: 0.5em 0px; padding: 0px 2.5em;">
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">to be happy</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div style="line-height: 18.48px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 18.48px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">If you had all the money in the world, what would you do with it?</span></span></div>
<div>
<ul style="margin: 0.5em 0px; padding: 0px 2.5em;">
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">I don't have any particular interest in spending money on anything in the world except when I'm at the grocery store check out line. (This is an answer that he stole from Eli. The real answer is that he would buy lots and lots of name brand clothing.)</span></li>
</ul>
</div>
</div>
Erin aka Conscious Shopperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02055472303320074413noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3554614180461420097.post-10408374121612493312017-12-29T14:02:00.003-05:002017-12-29T21:10:06.806-05:00Eli at Twelve Years Old<center>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Eli at Twelve Years Old</span><br />
<ul style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18px; margin: 0.5em 0px; padding: 0px 2.5em;">
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">favorite color: red</span></li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">favorite food: burritos</span></li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">favorite dessert: cheesecake</span></li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">favorite thing to do: sleep in</span></li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">favorite video game: Star Wars Battle Front (PS4)</span></li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">favorite subject in school: language arts</span></li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">favorite book you read this year: The Outsiders</span></li>
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">favorite music this year: Ed Sheeran</span></li>
</ul>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">What is the meaning of life?</span></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px;">
<ul style="line-height: 1.4; margin: 0.5em 0px; padding: 0px 2.5em;">
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">to return to Heavenly Father</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 18px;">What do you want to be when you grow up?</span><br />
<ul style="line-height: 1.4; margin: 0.5em 0px; padding: 0px 2.5em;">
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">an architect guy</span></li>
</ul>
</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 18px;">What makes you happy?</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px;">
<ul style="line-height: 1.4; margin: 0.5em 0px; padding: 0px 2.5em;">
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">When I don't have to wake up early in the morning to go to school. And <a href="http://homepage.eircom.net/~cronews/elep/elep.html" target="_blank">elephant jokes</a>.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 18px;">What are you afraid of?</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px;">
<ul style="line-height: 1.4; margin: 0.5em 0px; padding: 0px 2.5em;">
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">Crabs. And bad elephant jokes.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px;">
<span style="line-height: 18px;"><br /></span><span style="line-height: 18px;">If you had one wish, what would you wish for?</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px;">
<ul style="line-height: 1.4; margin: 0.5em 0px; padding: 0px 2.5em;">
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">Cole to get appendicitis.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px;">
<span style="line-height: 18px;"><br /></span><span style="line-height: 18px;">What is the funniest word?</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px;">
<ul style="line-height: 1.4; margin: 0.5em 0px; padding: 0px 2.5em;">
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;"><a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fard" target="_blank">fard</a></li>
</ul>
</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px;">
<span style="line-height: 18px;"><br /></span><span style="line-height: 18px;">What is the hardest thing to do?</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px;">
<ul style="line-height: 1.4; margin: 0.5em 0px; padding: 0px 2.5em;">
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">whistle</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px;">
<span style="line-height: 18px;"><br /></span><span style="line-height: 18px;">What is the easiest thing to do?</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px;">
<ul style="line-height: 1.4; margin: 0.5em 0px; padding: 0px 2.5em;">
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">eat</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px;">
<span style="line-height: 18px;"><br /></span><span style="line-height: 18px;">What is the best thing in the world?</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px;">
<ul style="line-height: 1.4; margin: 0.5em 0px; padding: 0px 2.5em;">
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">food</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px;">
<span style="line-height: 18px;"><br /></span><span style="line-height: 18px;">What is the worst thing in the world?</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px;">
<ul style="line-height: 1.4; margin: 0.5em 0px; padding: 0px 2.5em;">
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">Rylan. Wait, probably the hour and a half on the school bus.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px;">
<span style="line-height: 18px;"><br /></span><span style="line-height: 18px;">What makes you mad?</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px;">
<ul style="line-height: 1.4; margin: 0.5em 0px; padding: 0px 2.5em;">
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">When the school bus is late. (What makes his mom mad is when the school bus is early...)</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px;">
<span style="line-height: 18px;"><br /></span><span style="line-height: 18px;">What is the meaning of love?</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px;">
<ul style="line-height: 1.4; margin: 0.5em 0px; padding: 0px 2.5em;">
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">personal space</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px;">
<span style="line-height: 18px;"><br /></span><span style="line-height: 18px;">If you had all the money in the world, what would you do with it?</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; line-height: 18.48px;">
<ul style="line-height: 1.4; margin: 0.5em 0px; padding: 0px 2.5em;">
<li style="margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px;">make it rain</li>
</ul>
</div>
<br />
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<center>
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Erin aka Conscious Shopperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02055472303320074413noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3554614180461420097.post-13955657534488024112017-12-29T12:30:00.002-05:002017-12-29T14:05:43.766-05:00A Hard Day for DreamingThis is a novel I wrote once upon a time. It's been gathering dust in a google drive for a few years. If you're not doing anything with the rest of your Christmas break, you could read it. I'm pretty proud of it.<br />
...<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-large; text-align: center;"><a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1HYQDbQYFXF0SYit8l9hvMWDft5-852kKTJAb-L2OxsE/edit?usp=sharing" target="_blank">A HARD DAY FOR DREAMING</a></span><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
In her last semester of college, Emma Whitacker is torn between two men. She feels a connection with steady but stoic Thomas thanks to their shared love of indie bands, and when he tells her that he loves her, she believes she has found true love. But when her friend Will impulsively kisses her, her confused feelings leave her questioning how you know when you've found The One. Ten years later, married to one man but dreaming about the other, she can’t help but wonder, “Did I make the right choice?” Pulled between the past and the present, Emma contemplates what it means to fall in love, to be married, and to become a mother.Erin aka Conscious Shopperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02055472303320074413noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3554614180461420097.post-62682128808534490202017-11-25T19:26:00.000-05:002018-08-10T19:58:31.776-04:00Thanskgiving 2017Mom, Dad, and Kellie (and family) came to our house for Thanksgiving this year. Michael made his traditional pulled pork and cranberry stuffing. I made some pies.<br />
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Kellie's husband Alex is an ice hockey fiend, so we took him and our own ice hockey boys to a skating rink. This was my second time ice skating in my 40 years. I actually think I'd enjoy ice skating if I could do it more often. Too bad it's so expensive.<br />
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While they were at our house, I put my mom to work making me a work of art to hang over my table. I don't know if you'd call it a painting or what - it's just a quote from my favorite book ever. I can't decide yet if I want to frame it, but currently it is unframed. Either way, I love it.<br />
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Erin aka Conscious Shopperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02055472303320074413noreply@blogger.com0