Friday, August 29, 2014

I feel like I need to reintroduce myself.

Hi, I am Erin
I'm a stay at home mom.
I consider myself a Mormon, though others might disagree.
But I don't want to be a missionary.
I'm a feminist.
I am a vegetarian and I'm not worried about my protein intake.
My children are vegetarian and so is my dog!
I love conceptual and contemporary art!
I like food pictures on the internet!
I hate guns!
I would take all the guns away if that were ever possible!
I am opposed to industrialized agriculture.
I buy mostly organic and GMO free.
I don't really care about gluten.
The Brown shooting in Ferguson and events after are completely about racism.
I believe racism, sexism, ageism and homophobia is alive and rampant in our country and to think otherwise you would have to be pretty ignorant.
Green is the best color.
I will most likely never ever vote for a Republican.
I think GW Bush was a joke.
I think Obama has done about as good as anyone could with the current house and senate.
I love Harry Potter.
I hated The Hunger Games.
I hated the Avengers.
I hate country-western music.
I don't make my boys say excuse me- we just all giggle if they fart or burp.
My house is always dirty, and I don't really care that much.
I think people that are anti-tatoo are odd.
I think people who are pro boob-job are odd.
I don't care about fashion at all.
I think Darjeeling Limited is Wes Anderson's best.
My favorite musician is probably Sufjan Stevens.
My kids are names Cosby and Atlas.
If I had tons of money I would donate it to organizations that fight human trafficking and sexual abuse.
I don't ever want a big house.
I love my minivan but would prefer a Prius.
I hate trucks.
I don't like fruit and chocolate together..
I love how long the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge lasted.
East Coast is better than West Coast.
Atlas Shrugged is the worst book I have ever Read.
The God of Small Things is one of the best books I have read.
I think marijuana should be legalized.
I think gay marriage is an equal rights issue.
(That means I think gay people should be able to marry)
I oppose capitalism.
Thin crust pizza is where it's at.
I think telling immigrant children that are fleeing violence and poor conditions to go back to their country is just straight up evil.
I do not like traditional sports.
I love going to ballets.
I love operas.
People who don't pick up their dogs poop on walks are the worst.
I take a myriad of depression and anxiety medication but I don't think they do much.
I hate running.
I oppose Seaworld (sorry family)
I absolutely hate talking on the phone.
I love chocolate covered almonds.
Trickle down economics don't work at all.
Rich people should not get tax breaks. That's the biggest BS I've ever heard in my life.
I don't feel like I ever need to go skydiving.
I may have typos or grammatical errors in this post.
I got a pedicure once, but I thought it was sort of lame.
Should I keep going?

I definitely just gave EVERYONE IN THE WORLD something to disagree with me on. That's because human beings are all different. (Big shocker, I know)

I just want to let you all know that you can be who you are. So many people hide who they are in front of others or try to keep bits of info from certain groups. Guess what? It feels a lot better to just be authentic. In fact, showing authenticity and honesty is showing someone respect (as long as you're also respectful). It doesn't feel good to be judged because of who you are. I am an amalgamation of my experiences, demographic, genes, predispositions etc. and no comment contradicting me on FB will ever convince me to change my opinions. I think that is true for everyone. You can delete people, or hide their newsfeed or not click in to things you disagree with, but arguing about it just hurts humans. I have super strong opinions. I know things I think are controversial but that doesn't make me believe them any less. I also have super anxiety and depression and so being someone who is compelled to activism puts me in a very tough spot. I think if you really believe something you should be able to say so and I don't think that should ruin any of our friendships. I think we should all be open to each other, no matter how wrong we think others are. I might be a disgrace to my family or Mormons or feminists or right wingers of super liberals. I probably am, but I like myself. (If all pork chops were perfect, we wouldn't have hotdogs!

PS- That being said- I have totally deleted people over politics. But just because you bum me out online doesn't mean we can't have a friendly conversation if we happen to bump into each other at the grocery store. Also, I'm sure I judge you by what you post as well, but I'm going to try to leave that be. Post as you will. I will read what I want.

Sunday, August 17, 2014

 I guess I should write on this thing?

Atlas starts kindergarten this week! Summer has been so boring and hard for him and I think he is going to really like school. We got him into a very small fine arts school. We've met his teacher, toured the school, bought supplies, and now we are just waiting. I am a wreck. I am excited and super sad. Kindergarten here is all day everyday. No half days, so it feels like a really big transition. I'm sure it will take us some time to figure out.

We've had to be creative this summer to try and keep the boys from going too crazy. Atlas broke all his Lego sets (which really bummed me out) and we put every single Lego that he has into building a fort. It took us over two weeks. The whole time Atlas was asking how soon he would be able to knock it down. My boys love destruction.



Cosby is still the cuddliest little guy on Earth. He is such a sweetie. He makes all of us happier.


We've been exploring close to home a bit. We went to Jefferson City (or Jeff City as the say out here) to see our states capitol.


We all love exploring. We didn't really have much of an agenda.


As long as the boys can climb on something they are happy.






We have also been spending a lot of time at parks. There are tons of parks here so we try to mix it up and keep it interesting.


My little sister Megan and my BIL Michael came for a visit. I was so happy. They drove all the way to MO for their summer vacation. M&M are super fun and pretty similar to us so we always have a good time.

We showed them St Louis


Which means we went to the City Museum, cause I want to show it to everyone.




We spent a moment at the art museum.


And laid around on the grass.


They just left this morning. It was very dramatic. Atlas even told me that he wanted to go back with them and I said "then you'll never see me again" and he said "we can Skype." I'm loved.