In a word, the last year has been educational. Blogging teaches you things. Wanna see us resize some photos? Juggle some social media with ease? But while tackling some of the technological challenges of blogging was a little sour at times, blogging has been mostly sweet, and the relationships we have made while blogging have been the very best part. So what’s the cherry on top of this blogging plate of delish? We have gotten to know each other better too. In the beginning, we described each other like this, and we wouldn’t change a word of what we said back then. But blogging has given us a wider window into each other’s psyches — think the viewing window on a autopsy — that we wouldn’t have had otherwise and for that we are truly grateful. So without further ado, we give you. . .
Ten Things We Learned About Each Other This Year
Erin Shares About Ellen:
1. Ellen travels with a capital “T”. I knew Ellen and Frank went places, but we all go places. They GO places. In the past few years, they have visited Costa Rica, Mexico, San Francisco, Chicago, New York City, Washington, DC, taken a cruise to the Bahamas, and done Disney. This is just hitting the highlights. They also go to the beach, and we camp together TWICE every summer. But it’s not just that they go fabulous places, they do fabulous things once they’re there. They climb stuff and repel off things and swim with sea creatures and find great hideaway restaurants and visit don’t-miss museums. Their photo albums look like travel brochures. In one of our conversations, Ellen said that she would rather spend money on experiences than things. She’s not just talk, this one.
2. Ellen still has mad medicine skills. If you didn’t know yet that Ellen is a doctor, you should probably know that. While she chose to gracefully exit the medical profession stage right to raise her kids full-time, she never really put away those skills. She is our resident medical go-to girl for all things that might bleed, blister, or keep you up at night with worry. But I learned this year that she can still walk the walk. I had two pretty big medical things come up in my family this year, and Ellen talked me through both of them with calm, clarity, and confidence. The way she explains technical medical things to us lay folk reminds me that she would be awesome in a practice or on TV as one of those medical correspondents. Move over, Dr. Nancy Snyderman, Ellen still has game.
3. Ellen makes a cake so good that I actually tried and LOVE Nutella. The very notion of Nutella used to make me gag, but this cake made me a convert. If you make it, it will make you the Belle of the Ball, so if you are looking for a fairy godmother, Ellen just might be your girl. Oh, and the cakes she makes her kids—fuggedaboutit. Forget fairy godmother. You’ll want to be adopted, so you can call her mom and eat these ridiculous confections. Really.
4. Ellen is willing to jump off that cliff–metaphorically and literally. Remember what I said about her awesome travel escapades? Ellen is always ready for fun. And challenges. I have yet to find anything that scares her or makes her say, “whoa, that ain’t gonna happen”. Ellen is the girl that gets things done. Period. Again, if she can think it up, it’s already halfway done.
5. Ellen is tech-y in a good way. It took me a while to find my footing in the more technical aspects of blogging, but Ellen took to it like a duck to water. She is always two steps ahead of me on that front which I appreciate, because she is an extremely generous friend when it comes to knowledge and sharing it. I have learned a ton, mostly from her showing me the way.
Ellen Shares About Erin:
1. Erin is a whiskey drinking girl. Erin will partake of a mellow merlot or a cold brew, but her first choice is a whiskey sour slushie. It’s her fun-loving Irish roots shining through, but it always surprises me and makes me smile. She is such a gentle soul and whiskey just seems like a bar brawl fire-starter.
2. Erin is the ring leader, CEO, and Grandmaster Flash of fun. When we go on our Big Love trips with sixteen children ranging in age from 5 to 18, Erin orchestrates getting us fed, corralling us out the door, and divving us up into canoes. But you know her super duper secret that you should tattoo on the bottom of your foot for future reference? She is FLEXIBLE. She is not a slave to her schedules. The masses revolt because they don’t want to get out the door by 8 am? No problem. We’re having a blast at the playground and don’t want to start on the hike? No problem. She should have the theme song, “Enjoy the fun you’re with” playing around her at all times.
3. Erin is your role model for how NOT to hold a grudge. Erin is amazing. You can have a calm discussion with her, come to an agreement, and then she – wait for it – moves on. It is like watching a miracle unfold before your eyes. It is truly in the category of unicorns and leprechauns. There is a dark side though, but it is only for her. She assumes other people are also this generous and she has gotten burned. I’ve told her more than once that perhaps she didn’t get kicked enough as a kid. Hmmm, reading this over, I may need to work on my graciousness. I definitely have my cynicism down pat.
4. Erin loves fire. She really loves it. I’m a girl who has used her fireplace twice in 14 years. Her family’s most cherished times are spent around their fire pit. She is a girl who uses fire as an entertaining staple. Don’t forget she brought us the “Bonfire to Go“.
5. Erin is a master of organization, diplomacy, and calm . . . except when she is not. For the love of the Brady Bunch, she keeps her five kids’ lives trucking along in the most fantastically enriched, grounded, and fun manner possible. And she does it without an Alice — but on second thought she does it without the hindrance of a Cindy, so really it’s a wash. But she is only human as demonstrated by her sock sack of shame.
She also takes a stand on the most unlikely issues. Discussing religion and politics? The United Nations should attend her charm school. Discussing Andy Griffith? Insert the sound of an explosion in your head. In the land of calm, she is the cucumber when kids are breaking arms or scrabbling with each other like feral cats. Regarding certain instances with crock pots and lining up shoes for a photo? I started to have secret fantasies of whipping out a tranquilizer gun. But those are stories for another day . . .
In the spirit of Thanskgiving, we owe some big thanks to Kerstin Auer at AuerLife for this week’s Listicles topic. We love an opportunity to write about each other and not just our families and friends. You’re all welcome to love her now. Kerstin has a great blog and her latest post about her life in numbers is worth reading all 41 entries. Really. Check her out.
As always, we owe a debt of gratitude to Stasha whose Monday Listicles are our favorite place to link up every Monday.
I love your love and respect for each other. You seem very much like sisters. You mesh well together 🙂
Jill recently posted..Monday Listicles: 10 Things I Learned in 2012
Who knew Erin loves fire 🙂 you girls never seize to amaze me!!
Stasha recently posted..Monday Listicles
You two have such an amazing relationship!
Alison recently posted..My Life In Numbers
I bet doing this blog together has brought you closer — or maybe you always were? That is really neat.
Jamie@SouthMainMuse recently posted..It’s 4 a.m. and here’s my list of 10.
Love it! Y’all did a such a great job talking about each other! 🙂 Makes me think Lisa and I need to do this sometime, too! 😉 Happy Monday Listicles…it is the BEST!-Ashley
thedoseofreality recently posted..10 Things We Learned in 2012
Paint me green and call me jealous. What a blessing you each are to the other. What fun!
Great list, Ladies.
christine recently posted..Monday Listicles – My Brain Can’t Take All This Learnin’!
Sounds like you complement each other perfectly! How wonderful to have such a close friend so integrated into your life.
Stacie @ Snaps and Bits recently posted..10 Things I Learned In 2012
What a fantastic list! It is great to hear about your wonderful friendship!
Kim@Co-Pilot Mom recently posted..10 Things I Learned in 2012
The crock pot reference made me giggle 🙂 Love you guys!
OK, now I really want to know the story behind the crock pot reference.
Erin needs to pin the Whiskey Sour Slushie recipe….sooooooo good!!!!!!!!!!!!
you two are so inspiring and fun. I dig that about you.
oh look…Fire!
Rorybore recently posted..4M: Free and in the Spotlight!
It must really be great to blog together with a friend! I tried to get my friend to join me, but too busy. Bummer. Be glad you have each other =)
Anja recently posted..Ten Lessons I’ve Learned In 2012
First of all – thanks for the shout-out and introduction. You girls are awesome.
I love this post, it’s the best of two worlds put together. Your blog is truly one of my favourites, it’s funny and real, just like you two.
Kerstin @ Auer Life recently posted..10 things I learned in 2012
Love the Erin/Ellen show:) (and what an awesome bonfire-lol!)
I’m also a firm believer in spending money on experiences rather than things. And I really like whiskey, so I’m just like both of you!
Christian at Point Counter-Point Point Point recently posted..Dude, Where’s My Life?
Wow you two are super cool, and amazingly lucky to have each other. Loved reading this list!
Stephanie Sprenger recently posted..2012: A Sleepy Year
Love this list, this in particular:
–I love the fact that you blog together, and I wish I had someone to blog with. So cool!
–I too love to travel and miss those adventures had before we started paying for private school for our oldest.
–My sister is a physician as well, and I have truly appreciated having a doctor in the family, so many times!!
–I can relate to both of you in the “grandmaster of fun” category. When my sister and I have vacationed together with our crews (10 in total), I’m the one who organizes things and engineers all of our outings. Sometimes her kids tire of all of our activities, but I like to keep everyone on the go!
–ParkQuest sounds like a blast, and I’ve been really into “Big Love” lately (watching all seasons from start to finish–I’m a little behind the curve), so I love the name too.
–I also love the fact that Erin is a forgiving-and-not-holding-a-grudge role model. My oldest son is like that, and I really admire that about him. I have a lot of family dysfunction going on with my cousins right now (lots of grudge holding and silent treatment), and I hate that!! Grudges should be banned!
As always, I love to read about you two and wish we could all get together on Monday evening to have a Monday Listicles night out! Thanks for sharing so much of your lovely selves!
How great is this, to have some respect and admire you so much. Super sweet. You gals are great 🙂
QueenMomJen recently posted..Exciting News and Holiday Fun!
Such a great post and even better…a great friendship! 😀
This was a great post! I think we should all get together and hang out, like Marie suggested! I’m up for some whiskey sours. LOL.
Julia
Julia Gibson recently posted..Monday Listicles: Ten Things I Learned This Year
Wow. You two both sound so amazing!!
Clarinda @ Enjoying the Course recently posted..10 Things I’ve Learned in 2012
Don’t you just love AWESOME friendships?? Your is definately one of those…
Chris Carter recently posted..Divided Attention…
That was a beautiful list! I enjoyed getting to know you both better. Always love reading your listicles.
Kate Hall recently posted..I Never Want To Visit A Chinese ER Again
I love that you wrote about each other giving us a short cut to not only the highlights of one another but also what you value in each other. Friendship is amazing and even more spectacular between two Super Heroes! So tell me….what color are your capes?
We too have found blogging together to be a great joy…who knew. ANd while we would have a very different list about each other, we say every day. “how do people do this alone????” So glad we found you.
Grown and Flown recently posted..After the Last Child
You two really compliment each other! What a fun adventure blogging together has been! You guys rock!!!
Stacey recently posted..Ten Things My Kids Taught Me in 2012
the two of you are absolutely awesome. And, Erin, I can’t believe you didn’t like Nutella. Also, Ellen your cakes are gorgeous!
BonnyBard recently posted..I’m a treasure, a treasure I tell you!
My head is still spinning—my hat is off to you girls!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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