My Mom

Today is my mom's birthday and in honor of her I wanted to post some of my favorite memories with her. My mom can be ridiculously adventurous and as a result we have shared some unique experiences.

1. London- in college we went to London with Sarah Kolasa (now Bouma) and her mom. We had a blast together touring and goofing off.
   
2. Girl Scouts- my mom was our troop leader and so I got to spend lots of time with both my mom and friends together experiencing new things.
   
3. Sporting events- my parents were always there for the games and practices... mom even served as my catcher for a time when I was learning fastpitch softball.
   
4. Ikea- During college I decided my dorm room was missing a couch and I saw just what I wanted at IKEA in their "as is" section for $20. Unfortunately we had traveled to Chicago in my mom's very small VW beetle. After a little pondering we figured we could work it out so we drove all the way to South Bend with a couch hanging out of the trunk. It was hilarious and such a blast! Plus, the couch served me and my friends well and is probably still being put to good use at Taylor.
   
5. Cozumel, Mexico- After graduating from Taylor mom and I took a trip to Cabo san Lucas and goofed off for a week. We went 4 wheeling on the beaches, learned how to stay alive on a sailboat (I can't say we could "drive" it too well, but we had fun and no permanent injuries were incurred), and just had a fun week together.
6. Calling my parents to inform them that I was accepted into medical school- there is no one I would rather share my successes with!
7. Long conversations at Lula's, our typical hang-out location
8. Multiple family vacations to Puerto Vallarta and Colorado, yes my mom not only participated in the "zipline adventure" in Mexico, but she was the one who insisted on it. You should see her on a boogie-board! In Breckenridge I convinced her to come down a black diamond slope with me, and while no bones were broken, the ski patrol were involved and my mom got to ride a sled down the mountain.
9. Meeting President George W. Bush together- my dad scored some great seats for us and mom and I had no shame in fighting our way in to meet him.
10. Driving around South Bend right after we had bought my first manual transmission car. I think we are all a few IQ points down due to the whiplash we experienced that day. The best was when a man who saw the stickers still on the car and my repeated failed efforts to reverse out of a parking space told me "If you haven't bought it yet, I wouldn't!" I think we laughed so hard we cried, or at least I wanted everyone to think they were tears of laughter.
    

I love knowing that the best is yet to come. We're heading to Israel for 2 weeks in May to tour with Kay Arthur and crew which should be pretty amazing!