Glossary

It occurs to me that there are many nicknames and such that I use on the blog that you might not be familiar with if you are new here or simply can't keep all of the craziness straight.  I've been meaning to do a Glossary for awhile now so you have a handy-dandy reference guide any time you're confused.  I'll try to update this entry regularly so it is current, or  as I remember things I've left off.

The Auntie:  My mother's younger sister.  I lived with her in Texas for 3 years between college and seminary.  She is hilarious and feisty and I want to be her when I grow up.  

The Bean: The Brother's youngest daughter, born in 2003 (easier than having to update ages...sorry for the math!).  Her nickname is short for Beana, which rhymes with her given name.  In a lot of ways she's my mini-me.  She's a nerd in all of the best ways from drama to band to comic books and fantasy. 

The BFF (Best Friend Forever): My best friend.  We met in college and bonded over The Beatles, Hot Tamales, and movies.

The Brother: My brother, who is 4 years older and lives in my hometown in Montana.

The Brother-in-Law: My sister's husband, who happens to be almost exactly the same age as the hubby (they are 4 days apart)

The BSF (Best Shoe Friend): A dear friend from seminary who shares my love of shoes.  We lived together for a year of seminary and she was one of 3 pastors who officiated our wedding.

The Camp Friend/Author Friend: A friend I met while working at Christikon in the middle of nowhere Montana.  She is now a published author, working on her 3rd book.  She is awesome for numerous other reasons as well.

The Coffee Friend:  Another dear seminary friend.  She is one of the reasons I started drinking more coffee because she kept inviting me to study with her at Starbucks.  There was some studying, but more talking and laughing.  She and her husband are a big part of why I got through my first semester.

Dad: My papa (obvious, yes?).  A retired librarian and EMT.  He's a woodcarver and woodworker and makes awesome stuff.

DJ: The Brother's oldest daughter, born in 1997 (easier than having to update ages...sorry for the math!).  She's all grown up and in the navy, studying to be a nurse.  So proud of her.

Double A: It stands for Awesome A----, a nickname the hubby gave her.  She is the brother's middle daughter, born in 2000 (easier than having to update ages...sorry for the math!).  She's his blue-eyed baby and has always been incredibly sweet and caring. 

FiL:  The hubby's father, so my father-in-law.  The man cracks me up.  We've gotten a lot better over the years, but still need the hubby to translate for us occasionally as neither one can understand the other at times.  He likes to nag me about "grand-grands" (grandchildren) and when I'm going to give him a passel.

Flower: The Seester's older daughter, born in 2005 (easier than having to update ages...sorry for the math!).  Her nickname comes from her Chinese  name.  The Seester and Brother-in-Law adopted her from China in 2006.  She is an amazing musician.

Grandparents: Harry and Sylvia are Mom's parents while John and Mary are Dad's.  Sadly none of them are with us anymore.

The Hubby: I'm guessing this one doesn't really need explanation, but here you go:  We had our first date on August 24, 2010 and were married August 24, 2012.  We like to count the length of our marriage in terms of how many celebrity couples we've outlasted.  Yes, we're dorks.  Our marriage has been anything but easy, but we've stuck together and pulled through a lot.  He makes me laugh, we have awesome conversations, and I very rarely want to smother him with a pillow. 😋

Imaginary Shoe Closet:  I love shoes, but I don't really buy that many anymore.  Instead, I have different imaginary shoe closets where I create virtual shoe collections (it's also cheaper than real shoes!).  I have a general closet, one for the hubby, one for the PB, one for different decades of vintage shoes, and one for my fabulous pretend life in a 1950s musical.

JG: A dear friend from St. Someone's.  Sadly she only wears black shoes, but I love her regardless.

KGHK and KAH: Between high school and college I did daycare for a family in my hometown for 2 1/2 years.  It was only supposed to be a year, but I fell in love with the babies.  KGHK was 2 1/2 when I started and KAH was 3 months.  They were born in 1990 and 1993, so they are now adults of whom I am extremely proud.  We won't talk about how old that now makes me.

Laughter: The Seester's younger daughter, whose given name means Laughter, who was born in 2010 (easier than having to update ages...sorry for the math!).  She's our other blue-eyed baby, which is a beautiful contrast with her brown skin and brown eyes.  She was adopted in Montana, and she is hilarious and stubborn and smart.

MiL: The hubby's mom.  I am very lucky in the in-law department.  She loves me and I love her.  I wish I could see her more often, but am lucky to talk to her on the phone at least once a week, sometimes more.

Mom:  Pretty self-explanatory, yes?  An avid reader.  She sewed our clothes growing up, and now she paints and makes awesome crafts.

The Nephew: The BFF's son, born in 2010 (easier than having to update ages...sorry for the math!).  I was there when he was born!  He's the lone boy in a gaggle of nieces.  He loves Star Wars and superheroes and playing baseball.

The PB (Potential Baby):  I don't know if those grand-grands are ever going to happen for the FiL, but it's still a possibility.  I post a lot of baby shoes and started an imaginary shoe closet for a future (possibly also imaginary) baby that I started referring to as the PB.

Pippi:One of the not-nieces, born in 2007 (easier than having to update ages...sorry for the math!).  Her nickname comes from her older sister, but they also named their St. Bernard Pippi, which makes it confusing.  I lived at home while waiting for my first call and she and I spent a lot of time together in the first year of her life (Mom did daycare for their family and likes to joke that I kept the kid in my room so she never saw her).  She has always been able to crack me up.  And she square dances!

The PF (Pinterest Friend): A former teacher at the preschool at St. Somone's.  She now lives in Idaho with her hubby and 2 boys.  She likes to wander through Pinterest and find pins to send me for the blog.  She's also an awesome friend. 

Scout: Pippi and Tink's older sister, born in 1996.  Another not-niece, although not quite in the same way.  She's older than they and Mom didn't do daycare for her, but she is so amazing

The Seester: My sister, who is 6 1/2 years older, and lives in Montana. 

The Seminary Friend: She needs a better nickname, as I have lots of friends from seminary, but she was one of my roommates during seminary.  She is one of the kindest people I know and I am blessed to have her in my life.

SKD: A good friend and former co-worker at St. Someone's.  She has helped me navigate a LOT through the past 7 years.

St. Someone's: The church that brought me back to California.  I was Associate Pastor there for almost 3 years before my life took me down a different path.

Sunshine: One of the kiddos at St. Someone's.  She is right up there in terms of my favorite kiddos.  She is super smart and sweet and brings sunshine into my life whenever I see her.

Sunshine's Grandma:  Obviously the grandma of Sunshine, but a dear friend as well for whom I am very grateful.

The Texas Friend:  I lived in Texas for 3 years between college and seminary, so I have more than one Texas Friend, but this person was my FIRST Texas friend, so she gets the title.  She used to drag me out on the weekends and force me to have a social life.  I have laughed with her a lot.

Tink:  One of the not-nieces, born in 2009 (easier than having to update ages...sorry for the math!).  She's the youngest daughter of a good friend in my hometown.  She has awesome, crazy, bright taste in clothes and his goofy in all the best ways.  Her nickname comes from her oldest sister. Don't ever tell her she's not really a niece, though.

The Uncle: Mom's younger brother who has been incredibly supportive over the years.  I'm extremely lucky in the uncle department.

The World Traveler: Another fabulous friend from Seminary. This particular friend is possibly one of the coolest people I know.  She's hilarious, smart, engaged, passionate, and since I've known her has lived in:  California, Washington, Ohio, New Mexico, England, Boston, Washington DC (twice), Niger, and is soon to move to Belgium.  I might want to be her when I grow up.

What am I missing?  Tell me in the comments and I will update as often as possible!