Wow, so I finally started this blog... I've only been thinking about it for about three years, and I'm not even sure about the name (perhaps I should have gone with something more directed toward my babies? my family?), but here we are, finally "alive".
I decided on the title "Pennsylvanian At Heart" because that is where my roots are, where I came from, the place I miss the most. Just the thought of going back there, seeing the mountains, the sunrises and sunsets, breathing the fresh air... all the wonderful, life-affirming memories, uh, how I crave Pennsylvania and all it means to me.
I lived in many different towns in PA while growing up. My father worked for the railroad, and we moved many times for his job location at the time; at the time, it was hard starting over so many times, but now I know it helped me to be able to start over more easily, regroup, come out happy and adjusted on the other side of whatever change life throws at me.
But I'm getting ahead of myself... Here's a little bit about me, and I'm sure my posts will get more in-depth on these areas, as I go: I was born in Lock Haven, PA, in December 1977. I lived in Renovo, a small railroading town where my parents were born and raised, for a couple years. Whenever I return to PA now, it's to Renovo, where my grandparents live. We moved to Jersey Shore, PA (nope, no beach nearby), where we lived until after 6th grade, where my earliest memories are from, with so many wonderful friends, a great neighborhood full of kids, the 80's! Then we moved to Carlisle, PA, which was the hardest move for me, leaving my very best friend at such a young age, but I very quickly found myself and where I fit, where I became a band geek (color guard, actually), became a part of something bigger than I could understand but felt and still feel so much pride in, where I started high school. In the middle of my junior year of high school, we moved again, to Chippewa, PA, outside Pittsburgh, where I found myself again, with so many new but close friends, for the years that "really mattered". I attended, first, Penn State's Beaver campus, where I really came alive, met some great people, before moving, with some of them, to State College, PA. College was everything college was supposed to be- new, thrilling, difficult, life changing, amazing, mind altering - academically, emotionally, and socially. I majored in Earth Sciences, and minored in geography, GeoScience, and meterology; I just loved the outdoors, nature, the seasons, the ground and water, thinking about how it had all formed, which made me appreciate Pennsylvania even more. After I graduated, I worked as a surveyor, after talking my way in the door, never believing that would ever be possible, that I had the negotiation tactics in me! In June 2000, I moved to a tiny town in Vermont to write an Environmental program for a talc mining company. I met my husband, Doug, who had grown up in that tiny town in VT, and together, in May 2001, we moved to Crofton, MD together, so I could take a job, essentially, with FEMA, to embark on a life together. We were married in May 2002, in Renovo PA, in my grandmother's church that I had grown up attending whenever I visited her, which was often, with our family and friends around us. In August 2002 we moved to Watertown, MA, just outside Boston. I worked for a Banking compliance company, eventually managing their flood compliance operations, downtown, in the city, which was exciting. In May 2007, I found out that I was pregnant with our first baby, a little boy.
Being pregnant was the best experience of my life. I was one of those annoyingly happy pregnant ladies, enjoying every little milestone, pouring over books and websites and anything I could find to see how my baby was growing inside me, the science behind it but also the emotion journey we were on together, this little baby and I. On January 9th, 2008, the love of my life, Quinn, was born - it was the most life altering experience of my life, in all the most wonderful ways. I left my office job to be with my son, and I do not regret that decision in the least. Being with him has taught me so much about love, about life, about being a mother, a woman, everything. In February 2010, I found out I was carrying twins - yes, two babies, identical twins, at the same time! It blew my mind, but even with all the questions and uncertainty, the bottom line was that my heart was overflowing with love and joy, and I was ready to welcome them into our lives. It was Quinn and I against the world that summer, as we sold our condo in Watertown, packed up the house to rent in Concord, looked for houses, had frequent prenatal appointments for the twins, found a house, packed up the apartment, and finally moved to our little green house here in Suddbury, MA in late August A few weeks after moving, the day I unpacked our last box, cleaned the house from top to bottom, and made 6 different meals for in the freezer, my water broke when I was putting my little boy to bed that night. I was laying in his bed when I felt a "pop", and I remember holding him a little longer that night, thinking that it was the last moment it would be just he and I, that life as he knew it was about to change; though we were adding two little blessings, Quinn and Mommy time was forever changed. That night, October 1st, 2010, we welcomed our identical twin girls, Sierra and Kelsey. They were 4 weeks early, so tiny, but healthy and pretty and mine; well, ours. The little girls that every mother wants, and I was doubly blessed having them.
And here we are, still in Sudbury, MA, several hours drive away from PA. Quinn is now 4 years old and in preschool, and the twins are currently 17 months old, running, learning, exploring, such wonderful times (though, not really sleeping...ugh). We travel to Pennsylvania twice a year, and I so look forward to those trips. Seeing my babies with their grandparents, who drive from Atlanta, GA, to meet up with us there, at my grandparents house in Renovo, the house I've always known them to be in. As the "Welcome to Pennsylvania" sign comes into sight, my heart feels so open and awake. I breathe deeply to take in the air, see the ridge and valley landscape all around, the mountain ranges that rise on either side of the road, the cut-outs of rock along those mountainsides. We'll be heading back there in a few weeks, for Easter, and springtime. It will be such heaven for me, to have Quinn, Sierra, and Kelsey in my favor place in the world, where I know that my grandparents remember fondly when I was their sizes, toddling around their house and yard...
I just feel so at-home and comfortable there. That's why I'm Pennsylvanian at heart! I think that maybe, after all, that is the perfect title for me to have chosen for this blog. Everything comes back to that : )
Thanks for reading, and stay tuned!
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