A Short Interview with Holly Flanagan

What is one word to describe you? Try-Hard

One word to describe your life? Productive
My adult brain is hard-wired to be doing something productive at all times. Be it socially, houseworky, or internally, I strive to be productive because otherwise I am miserable.

One word to describe your love? Earned
My love language is acts of service—if I try to serve you in some way, it is the ultimate expression of my love. In the same vein, if you serve me in ways large or small, you have done more for me than a million "You're beautifuls" or a lifetime of diamond jewelry gifts could.

One word to describe your cooking? Homestyle

One word to describe your career? 24/7
Motherhood doesn't provide one with paid time off. Usually, you have to pay to get time off (but we don't because our babysitters are awesome family members who won't accept our money).

One word to describe your hobby? Freeing
Writing is an escape for me, even if I am writing about things that are happening in my life. The catharsis I receive from sharing my thoughts is inescapable; it's no coincidence that most of my most depressed years were ones that I did not keep a journal or blog.

One word to describe your style? Kid-friendly

One word to describe your blog? Encouragement
I feel so strongly about taking the reins of your own life and steering yourself in the best direction—you have the power to do so. I want to let people know that they can manufacture their own happiness, be it by reconnecting with people, enjoying the pop culture that speaks to them, owning the negative aspects of themselves, or by being reassured that they are not alone in the treacherous world of parenting. 

One word to describe your home? Ikea
It can't be helped. We basically live next door to one.

Thanks to Sarah Hull from Little Penelope Lane for making me aware of these questions from Mommy's Sippy Cup.

Granny Square Blanket Expert Over Here

After making one to two granny squares almost every night for a few months, I have finally finished my first project from the Granny Square Love book I received for Christmas.

The 35 seven-inch squares went from this:

to this:

I didn't anticipate that it would take as long as it did; then again, I haven't made a huge crochet project since I have had kids. And did you know that kids love balls of yarn? I found that out the hard way, as I had to untangle yards and yards of a few colors of yarn.

The author of Granny Square Love, Sarah London is known for using bright colors in her projects, and I thought that I could do the same. As I went yarn shopping, I looked for the brightest colors I could find—and as Sarah suggests in the blanket project, the more colors, the better! I ended up using five different yarn hues; I wish I could remember the names of all of them. If you are truly interested, leave me a note in the comments and I will do some sleuthing to figure it out!

I've Got Mad Love: Wacky Hook-Up Hijinks

The last portion of I've Got Mad Love ended with our heroes going their separate ways after the Biology poster presentation. One hero didn't know the other hero's name.

Luckily, the other hero knew the boy's name.

As Caleb walked home from BYU campus, he was upset with himself for not asking me on a date. He plotted several ways to try and contact me. We had shared a Biology TA who sent out weekly emails, so Caleb thought he might email all 60 students the same message. Something along the lines of:

"Hey,

My name is Caleb Flanagan and I talked to a really cool girl during the poster presentation. I meant to ask her name so I could ask her on a date, but I didn't. If this was you, email me back and we can get together."

He figured that the worst that could happen would be that no one answered, or that maybe even a different girl would respond; at least he could get a date with someone out of it. Because it should be said that Caleb's last five attempts at asking girls on dates were cruelly rejected.

But what he had forgotten was that he had deleted all of the TA's emails due to it being the end of the semester. Plan A—impossible.

Plan B was to email his poster presentation group members to see if they had the TA's emails still. He was satisfied with this idea and went downstairs to get a glass of Kool-Aid before he got down to business.

By the time he got back to his room, there was a new email from a girl named Holly. The body of the email said:

"Is this the Caleb who likes to fail Biology?"

I don't want to brag, but I know how to start a conversation. The callback to our previous conversation (it was not Caleb's first time taking that Biology course), the hypothetical question, the opportunity for him to send a short, no-pressure response—I am awesome. I had looked him up on the BYU student directory because I had really enjoyed his company; I figured that hanging out with him again could be fun.

Caleb saw the email and wigged out. Here he had been fretting over how he was going to contact me, and I had gotten to him first. How like life. He sent this response:

"I believe that I am that Caleb who loves to fail Biology. I was looking for your email address. What can I do for you?

Caleb Flanagan
'You can quit if you want to, but just remember, quitting is a hard habit to break.' -Jonathan Kent"

Yes, he did have a Smallville quote in his email signature. I laughed when I read it, but I will admit that I was puzzled by his curt response. What could "What can I do for you" mean? That was what my mom would pointedly say to us kids when we woke her up at night growing up; to me, that response was almost another way of saying "Why are you bothering me?"

So, I panicked. And then I told a lie that would not be revealed as such until after we had already gotten married.

The You of the Past Meeting the You of the Future

I had a clan of sisters growing up.

Still do—holla!

But I also had a pretty solid set of friends throughout my childhood.

Kyle Johnson—Boy wonder, thrifty spender, best bud

(Ky, maybe we should be friends again, eh? My email is luxurious (at) gmail (dot) com!)

Megan Stubbs—Party planner, smile giver, eater of all things delicious

and

P.J. Strong—Unwitting boy tempter, haver of the earlier birthday, genius extraordinaire

The epithets I have given these pals today are but a few of my feelings towards them. I very very often have dreams where all four of us are just hanging out, and I feel incredibly bummed when I wake up, because we are all scattered so far from each other now. And some of us aren't as Internet friendly as others, you know what I mean?

But I still trust them to know the all-access portions of myself.

Which is why my first reaction to receiving a recent note from P.J. was to set off my "You know me, I..." alarms.

She sent me this link, expressing that this young woman from her neighborhood reminded her a lot of teenaged Holly. P.J. sent her love and made me laugh with how cute she continues to be. Friends are the best, am I right?

And when I watched the video, my jaw dropped open. This girl, Tali, has my exact tempo of talking, along with a certain je ne sais quoi that just screams 18-year-old me. Finding "me" in the future has been a little mind-blowing.

The beat goes on, I suppose.

Have you met your teenage counterpart somewhere in this great big world?

 How earth-shattering was it when you realized you weren't as unique or cool as you thought at that age?

The Meaning of the Word Freak

When you have friends with whom you can talk about anything, some weird stuff can come up.

When visiting my friends Mike and Kelsae yesterday, I also had the pleasure of schmoozing with Roslyn and Mckenna, Kelsae's mom and little sister. I have gotten to know both of them well since Mike's stroke in November; they are my idols because of the way they have been taking care of Mike, Kelsae, and baby Toby Beans. And I know idolatry is against my religion, but I can't help it—they are cool.

Roslyn mentioned that she is a health freak because Diabetes runs rampant in her family. She also said that her children have called her a freak on several occasions, due to her devotion to healthy eating and exercise.

That started her on a mini-rant about how the word "freak" carries a negative connotation, but often it is admired when called by a different name. Her example was the term "control freak": she said that when someone says, "I've got everything under control," people are usually comforted, but once the term "control freak" is thrown around, control is seen as a detriment.

And then Roslyn said, "There, you have an idea for your next blog post."

Sold.

Here, in this previously unseen photo of Lucy in the delivery room right after the doctors cleaned her off, Lucy shows off that she is a tongue freak.

Lucy currently has a penchant for flapping around her tongue at all times. There is never an inappropriate time for a "la la la" or a lick to the face, in her eyes. Apparently Lucy has been a tongue freak ever since she arrived on the planet, but only now am I realizing that fact. Before, I thought it was a cute affectation.

Now she's just a freak.

Caleb's family are devotees to stuffed animals—he was raised with an affinity for large numbers of "friends" of every kind. He is a "friend" freak.

When Caleb and I were dating, he mentioned that each child in his family was assigned an animal and were showered with snuggly plush pals. I did not realize the extremity of the situation until Caleb and I had our own kids. They also were assigned animals (hippos for Jacko and alligators/crocodiles for Lu), because I am too ambivalent about the entire situation to stop it. Their stuffed animal collection is embarrassingly massive. And it's all Caleb's fault.

What a freak.

Jacko has delved feet first into the realm of dressing up. He is a costume freak.

Mixing and matching the costumes he received for his birthday last December, Jack enjoys pulling out his dress-up suitcases and going to town. In the photo above, you'll see that the Elmo body is stylishly paired with a foam dinosaur hat. Even though we have an Elmo hat, Jacko feels that sometimes you have to change it up a little. I don't know if Lucy will follow in his footsteps, but I hope she doesn't.

He's a freak.

And I am the freakiest one of all.

I wish I could pinpoint what kind of a freak I am. Then I could alter my behavior or at least hide my freak flag a little. But, no—I am destined to be a capital-f Freak forever. Freaky freaky freak.

But I really like myself, for the most part.

So, I guess I like freaks.

Brain Washed: Every Flanagan is a Disney Kid

We are a Disney family. No shame.

Though I admire the pure will of the parents who don't want their children to latch onto branded characters, I find that my kids are easily comforted by seeing their Disney friends on billboards, in stores, and on their TV.

Most of the Disney obsession has trickled down from my Disneyland-adjacent childhood—growing up less than an hour away from the Magic Kingdom meant that I have been more there more than my fair share of times. I suppose that some of the Disney love has also come from Caleb, who has a Herculean grasp of all of the lyrics to many a Disney song. Our kids were destined to be fans.

I posted all of the pictures below to start a "Look at how cute these kids are" post, but I realized that each photo features a Disney friend prominently. Even randomly, we are an extension of the Disney family tree.

Perryyyyyy, Perry the Platypus! And cute Lucy.

Technically, Spiderman belongs to Disney. Thanks for selling out, Marvel!

Our new Ikea toy box usually looks like this—stuffed Disney friends with a Jacko on top.

Unless it's stuffed Disney friends and Jacko with a toy box on top.

Are you a Disney/Disneyland enthusiast, as well?

Is your place littered with Disney-themed paraphernalia too?

30 Days of Lists, March 2012 Edition: The First Third

I am usually pretty good at math, guys.

But what I am currently bad at is adding. On March 11, I took pictures of all of my 30 Days of Lists thus far and I came out with an even 10 lists. 10 does not equal 11, for those who share my mathematical struggles. I missed a list along the way (turns out, it was the "Happy Places" list).

This is not my first list rodeo. I'm not sure how I forgot to do one of the prompts provided, but I have remedied it. I swear.

Here are my first 10 lists for the world to see—the day's prompt is underlined at the top, and my responses are below. And as always, the blurriness of the photos is because I love the filters on Instagram too much.

Materials used: Notebook from Datamark (Caleb's work), Notepaper from K & Company (Smash Book Blank Pad), Tape from K & Company (Black Dot Smash Tape), Pen from the Pizza Man Who Gave It To Me When I Complimented It