123's of my life

I saw this on my friend Kristen's blog, thought it was a cute idea so I'll give it a try! Enjoy...

1...wonderful husband who I've known since we were in 1st grade. I don't really have vivid memories of him until 6th grade but we do have a picture from VBS where we are sitting by each other when we were in 1st grade, maybe younger
2...part-time jobs that I really enjoy and love the kids I get to work with every day
3...years we lived in CHICAGO; we'd both move back in a second if we could, although I'd wait until it was warmer
4...months until Summer :) I do love to be tan!
5...nieces & nephews (soon to be 7) that I love very much and think are the cutest kids out there
6...days until Super Tuesday-I sure hope its not a successful day for Hillary!
7...is my shoe size
8...is about the the time we've been eating dinner lately
9...th of February we are hosting a wine-tasting party; I better get busy finishing up plans for it
10...years (almost) Anthony has been my significant other

thoughts on sibling order

I am the youngest sibling of 4, and lately I’ve been thinking about how much I love being the youngest. Growing up as the youngest in a family with 5 other people, I often had to try pretty hard to get some attention since there was always lots of commotion and so many things going on at once. Growing up in a big family I always had plenty of people to play with, but as the youngest, I was usually the “child or student” anytime we played house or school. I never seemed to mind or really know any different, it was just the way it was! My siblings were actually great to me growing up and usually treated me no different because I was younger…except when they made up a VERY elaborate story about finding me on the front porch in a basket. They told me I was from Mexico and that the family adopted me since they had no way of giving me back. My real name was Isabel Chavez…I believed the whole thing and for the longest time didn’t ask my parents about it in fear that it might be true (my brother is still so proud and loves to take the credit for it!). Anyway, I have been very blessed with great siblings, and I'm thankful we are closer than we've ever been.

Poe family--early 1982 I think

Since I was the only non-blonde headed child and had darker skin, I can see why I would believe I was adopted. No one ever told me I looked just like my Mom did when she was little!
all grown up!

I have always looked up to my 2 sisters and brother (and still do); my eyes were always on them—I wanted to do what they were doing and learn as much as I could from them. They took the time to show and teach me all sorts of things—I wanted to be a cheerleader like my oldest sister Kim; play basketball like Kara; be easy-going like Kurt. What a huge responsibility older siblings are given and its not even a choice; as soon as that 2nd child in your family is born it is automatically give to you whether you want it or not. I didn’t realize what a huge responsibility this was until I married Anthony. He is the oldest and since we started dating when we were 15/16, I have practically seen his sisters grow up, and I feel like I am truly their older sister. Tara was in 4th grade when we started dating and is now a freshman at ACU…man, does that make me feel old! I remember seeing them peak out their bedroom window at Anthony and I when he would walk me out to my car…they were always trying to see if we would kiss! I remember thinking I had to always be on my best behavior around them because they were watching and learning from us. Just because we all grow up and get older, that responsibility as an oldest sibling never really goes away. I know I still look up to my siblings and still watch them because I want to learn from them.

Laura, Tara & me

I find the whole birth order thing fascinating and think having siblings is such a great blessing in life. I'm very thankful for all of mine (in-laws included)!

Over the weekend, my mom and sisters came to stay with me because Anthony was out of town for work. It was so much fun to have some girl time and it has been a while since the four of us have been together without our hubbies or kids. We did lots of eating and chatting and we got pedicures, did some shopping and saw the movie P.S. I love You. If you haven't seen it, you definitely should. Its a sad one but so good. When its over, you'll want to love on your spouse that's for sure!! It was so nice to just do whatever we wanted, sleep in and just be together. I'm very blessed to have family as some of my best friends.

Sisters...baby Peyton will be here in just a few short months!

me and my mom

For some reason, the girl who took our picture at the restaurant, decided to take it at a slant...I don't know if she was trying to be artistic or what!

various thoughts

So, has anyone watched the new American Gladiator in the last few days?? I used to love watching that show back when it was on in the late 80s, so Anthony and I have watched it the last few nights. I don't think I will get into it where I have to watch it every week but it has been kind of been fun thinking back to the old show. The Gladiators actually gross me out...they are not attractive and they just have way too many muscles!! I'm the type to always cheer for the underdog, so I like to see the "common-person" kick some Gladiator butt!!

Speaking of shows...I am ready for this writers strike to be over so we can all get back to watching Grey's and Private Practice! Those are really the only 2 shows I watch on a regular basis and its been so long since we've seen a new episode I can't even remember what's happening.

Has anyone been keeping up with the Presidential debates/stuff? Being in a political family I feel like I keep up pretty well (whether I want to or not) and I just want to say...Go Barack Obama!! I think this country need some serious change and I think he could lead us in that direction. And remember--I met him twice! I rode with him 2 different times in the same elevator in our old apartment building in Chicago. Its not why I like him but its still cool. Anyway, I'll save my opinions on this matter for another day, when I have more time to write!

We celebrated Christmas with my family over the weekend and it was fun to be together. I will post pictures once I get them uploaded. Anthony didn't get to come because he had to work and neither did my brother and his family. I enjoyed playing with the kiddos and catching up with the rest of the family. Kara & Shane graciously opened up their new home to all of us and now that we've all been there, it is already much lived in! They also officially kicked off their church plant on Sunday so it was nice to be there for their first "service". It's so nice that Waco is just a short hour and a half drive from Dallas!

I hope everyone has a good week!

happy new year!!

Ringing in the New Year
We had a fun New Year's Eve with friends. Our first New Year's experience in Dallas was pretty fun. We had dinner at Kenichi (a sushi place in Victory Park) then stayed down there for the fireworks and outdoor concert. There were actually a lot of people around! We took the DART (public transportation) and it was my first time to use it here in Dallas. The train was actually clean and rode smooth, which is quite different than the El in Chicago! For the past 3 years we spent NYE in Chicago and did the same thing every year, so it was a little sad not to be there this year BUT we are making new traditions and memories in the Big-D!! It was also pretty cold last night...I don't see how some people can wear mini-skirts and halter tops and no coat when its 30 degrees outside! I might not have looked sexy but at least I was warm, which is more important to me.
Dinner at KenichiHanging out listening to some live music waiting for the countdown

The firework show was quite impressive!!

It's hard to believe 2007 is over. It has definitely been a year of change for us...Anthony graduating from law School, moving to Dallas from Chicago, and both of us starting new jobs. It has been hard, but life is still good and we have much to be thankful for. Here are a few highlights from our year:
--Anthony graduated from The University of Chicago Law School and passed the BAR exam
--We were able to take a wonderful vacation to California and spend several days in San Fran and the wine country
--We found out that we'll be adding 2 more kiddos to the Poe grandkid list: Kara & Suzy are both pregnant
--I have 2 jobs that I love and I am really glad to be working with kids
--Anthony's sister, Laura, got engaged and we'll be adding another member to the family in June

Happy 2008 everyone!!