brothers and honkytonks

so aaron met my brothers.

this is that story.

turns out, aaron and i drove fourteen hours through the night

down to texas

to meet my family

him, for the first time,

on the celebration of my twin sisters' 18th birthday

in a texas dancehall honkytonk

southern junction

(the website calls it a "nightclub" and "steakhouse." ssssuuuuuuuuure)

sounds like a movie, right?

YEAH, you are telling me.

here's the thing about me.

i

love

to

dance.

if YOU

and YOU DOESN'T MATTER

if YOU DANCE WITH ME

i will fall in love with you.

end of story.

i.

love.

to.

dance.

turns out my family ARE dancing fools.

which is not a surprise, seeing as my parents met in a dance clas 27 years ago.

well, i'm not that great of a dancer.

i mean, i get it, i can learn,

but nobody has ever taken me in their arms and swung me around often enough

for me to really internalize the rythym and flow of dancing.

while i spent four years acting and moving and vocalizing in college

my brothers spent four + years drinking beer and

country/western dancing and studying a little bit, in college

they obviously have the upper hand.

turns out,

this brother,

is a PHENOMENAL DANCER.

mainly, because he's a big guy.

tim LOVES TO THROW HIS BIGNESS AROUND.

we all somewhat love it.

he's huge.

he's a recent marine.

and he's starting to be a pretty cool guy.

he's also a PHENOMENAL DANCER.

i danced with him ONCE.

"just hold onto my hands," he said.

and then he threw me ALL OVER THE DANCE FLOOR

and it looked like i was an EXPERT.

no mind that i was sweaty and dripping and my hands were slipping

no mind my boots were a size too big.

no mind.

when we finished dancing,

I WAS ON FIRE

because tim is a PHENOMENAL DANCER.

always dance with tim.

my new advice.

always dance with tim.

aaron and tim had a rough start

mostly

because tim is a big butthead.

but aaron's a good guy

and softened him out

and they worked their way through it in the end.

this brother

jared

told me that he's a pretty poor dancer

which, of course,

is debatable,

given the fact that he's telling me to not pick my feet up and shuffle around and then freaking out because his sisters have boobs and eeeeeewwwwwww.

jared is sweet as pie, though.

dancing with him is sweet as stars.

he loves being nice

and he's chill as can be.

dancing with jared is a shuffle of toes and knees

but worth it every moment of the day.

jared's the nicest one, probably. :)

duane's pretty nice, too.

but jared offered his hand, meeting aaron,

and asked a lot of questions.

inclusive.

IMPORTANT TO NOTE

jared is tim's ringmaster

tim does/says something dumb

and jared reigns him in

such an important dynamic. :P



this brother

chester

LOVES TO LEARN.

dancing with him is like dancing with a ten year old.

obviously.

chester and i took dance lessons together.

his head is near my boobs

and we're cantering and careening around the dance floor

step step slide

step step slide

turn

and

step step slide

he's the BEST!

such light and magic and sparkle in his eyes

he experiences the world

is responsible for learning

he proved to be a very good dance partner

and a very good buddy for all involved.

i love chester! he's always up for hanging out.

the whole trip he did all kinds of things with us!

he went to paciugo and mckinney

to the gaylord texan

made gingerbread houses

went gun shooting

EVERYTHING!

chester is le cool.

ye olde front porch steps

We take family portraits every year on Christmas.

and i love it.

we all pile onto our porch steps

and start goofing around.

last year, i wore a cat hat

and someone is always making faces or grabbing private parts or sticking feet in someone else's face.

and then mom does a great job of taking "couple photos."

duane and his wife.

jared and cara.

and this year, me and aaron.

of course the sibs in the background always have a lovely time with Couple Photos.

as documented here, obvs, when chester and stephanie stole a little face-time in the back of my adorable pic with aaron.

christmas cookies

 i mean, today, and every day of my life,

i

love

christmas

cookies.

is there anything better?

no wisecracks, aaron clements,

and NO, there is not a single thing better than christmas cookies.

the perfect christmas cookie recipe has to be complicated enough to be an Event.

it has to be Special.

but

in my family

it also has to be kind of easy

i mean, you'd think we were baking and cookie specialists

but man, oh man, are we not.

except, surprisingly,

for Duane! yay duane!

who baked his face off when he lived at home before landing a job and a wife.

Duane's cookies are always TO DIE FOR

and I DON'T EVER UNDERSTAND WHY.

he makes the kind of cookies that you eat, like,

SEVEN OF THEM

before telling yourself you need to stop

and then, by that point,

you just CAN'T.

you have a HUNGER Duane's cookies

and that hunger is never satisfied.

i remember begging him for months to send me cookies up in cincinnati.

i remain a beggar.

ANyway, I am in love with Christmas Cookies!

There is NOTHING BETTER

and few better ways to spend the holidays at home.

Chester makes an excellent baking partner and conversationalist,

and I dream of whipping up batches of yum with him, soon. :)

today's a good day for a chester story

years ago, when i was a happy 18 years old,

when the most upsetting thing in my life was possibly that i worked at DQ till ten on the weekend sometimes

i had one of the best Christmas experiences of my life.

Basically, i was captain of the drill team for three years, had dance drill team since junior high.

i loved it.

i spent weeks in a constant creative cycle, creating new dance moves, teaching them, organizing/arranging dancers, raising funds for all our work and costumes, working hard to promote team morale. i mean, i wasn't perfect, but i took the job very seriously.

senior year, i stepped down.

i had to.

theatre took ahold of my life, and i wasn't willing to commit full-season to drill team when it conflicted with theatre season, as it did, then.

so i switched gears.

the drill team still rocked.

they had a new captain, strong direction, and they put on winter talent shows that were super cool.

i was asked to be in it.

people are very supportive in my hometown.

they came to shows to see me dance.

so i was a draw, and i was happy to be one.

i decided that was the year i'd tap dance.

so i did.

i selected the revamped "Nutcracker Suite" from Elf, and edited it on a cassette tape in my bedroom to fit my time constraints.

And then I choreographed it.

It was pretty good.

Pretty okay, with me in it.

I mean, I was a meh-tap dancer at that point in my life.

Like anything, getting by mostly on the joy and the connection to the moment.

But i knew the routine needed a little something extra, a little something "adorable."

something a little more "Chester," if you will.

so i plotted.

and saved.

and choreographed.

and taught.

i bought black sweatpants and red fabric paint.

i bought a red turtleneck and black fabric paint.

i painted a long, red stripe up the side of each pant leg.

i painted suspenders and bright, yellow buttons on the red turtleneck.

i made a nutcracker hat out of styrofoam and secured it to a baseball cap.

and i painted two bright red, rosy circles on Chester's adorable cheeks.

and suddenly, my spotlight tap solo become a scene-stealing duet.

Chester COMPLETELY stole the show.

We worked it out pretty easily.

Basically, as a tap dancer, my character spends the first 3/4 of the song dancing away her imagination.

About 3/4 of the way into it, a soldier appears! Comes marching out from the curtains and demonstrates "appropriate" rigorous motions.

My character counters with jazzy, funky movements.

The soldier runs to my feet, pointing and scolding. "NO TAP DANCING," he seems to say.

I continue to tap anyway.

At this point in the music, all hell breaks loose and what was our respective tones combine into a beautiful mess.

I basically told Chester to just let loose in this part of the music

AND HE DID.

he went nutso!

and the crowd went wild!

At this point, I'm 18, so he's five, and more adorable than you would know what to do with.

I mean, i could be cool all by myself,

but man, oh man,

there is NOTHING

like watching a five year old completely steal the scene.

Way to go, Chester! Way to GO! :)

see more great chester posts:

five things i love in tx

chester's first date

trapped in a trash can

making pirate costumes out of programs

lego store and brothers

chester rocks.

he fashioned this pirate get-up out of a program from a museum field trip.

creativity is a-ok in this one.

a squealable outfit

this is exactly what i would want to wear today.

and maybe with a coat.

but i'm actually pretending that i'm at home in texas

and i'm about to do something very big-sisterly

like take chester downtown for lunch

and if i was doing that! in the summer time! this is what i would wear.

so fun! squeal!

ohman, i love this kid.

here's a treasure i found buried on my facebook last week.

chester.

the coolest little bro.

chester.

skype

mom got all tech savvy on me this weekend, and downloaded skype to her laptop, as well.

i had the best. skype. date. EVER.

Chet obvs loved it.

dancing.

singing.

and then hugging me. <3 <3

he's totally the sweetest.

Lego Store and Brothers

without a doubt, one of the many perks of being newly single is being accountable ONLY TO ME for my spending.

well, within reason. (Hi Parents who go out of their way to help and support me!)

But let's say that, as I should, I plan and save my money for my future and my bills the way I should.

and because I have a very blessed life, I'm also able to plan and save money to BUY PRESENTS FOR MY BROTHERS!

Happy Birthday Chester!

I recently sent him the above military lego soldiers (recognize a Toy Story reference, anyone?). I thought perhaps a child's imagination should tie into his real-time life, and since T-Bone just hit it up in the Marines, military men it is.

And then, this one. FIREMEN. and an awesome FIRE TRUCK. How cool is that? Duane, my oldest bro, is a fireman/paramedic, and he's the bomb.com. I'm happy to love almost all my brothers by creating a relevant present out of them.

Well, actually, I owe it to them. Once, when I was a little girl, I decided one day that I was REALLY MAD at all my brothers. So I wrote them hate notes.

"Dear Duane and Tim,

You are terrible brothers and buttheads.

Love, Jared"

Of course, I got into all kinds of trouble, as I should (even though I wasn't trying to get Jared in trouble. I just wanted to remain anonymous."

But seeing as I printed the hate notes off of the computer and decorated them, it wasn't hard to figure out they originated from me. :P

And then! Guess what!

I got "Creationary" for Duane.

Have you guys seen it? It's like pictionary except you build things out of legos, which is WAY more fun, and WAY cooler. If you've played it, let me know how it went. I want to play!

No reason, except that I love the crap out of my big bro who always checks in on me and tells me he loves and misses me. I miss him too!

I've decided to start being a woman worth her weight in love. The way to get is to give, and giving is my favorite thing to do. So when the choice was between a new pair of sexy shoes, or giving Duane a surprise awesome present, hands down, no argument, the present goes to Duane.

I love you brothers! and I love the Lego Store!

Such Sweet Notes

Such sweet notes

laid sweetly on my bed

as a sweet, night time surprise.

I love this Chester fellow and his heart of gold.

<3

Five Things I LOVE in TX

1. Chester at Halloween.

Chester: I want to be the most terrifying thing ever. I want to be something really scary.

Allyson: What is that?

Chester: I don't know! *grumble*

Eventual answer: A skeleton motorcyclist. Obviously. Wreaking havoc on highways everywhere.

2. Chester at his Bday

Exercising the yearly gangsta in him.

3. Chester at any Bday.

Practicing his occasional bird. :)

4. Chester Hair
Need I say more?

5. Chester, Everyday.

Wonderful, Delightful, Imaginative, and sweet as can be.

Such good hearts for such good healing.

I love you, Chester!

Finding Photos from Things Long Forgotten

oh Chester.
How happy you make me.

Seeing My Braces Put to Good Use

as in, SMILING.
A happy, successful visit to Texas with the fam for Graduation.
Actually, let's get a little more specific here.
I graduated in March, and have been traveling my butt off and working nonstop (saving for the big move to NYC.)
I missed the fam, and they kept asking me to come down because they missed me.
And they threw a HUGE party!
People from OMAHA, NEBRASKA came down. We made our first dessert table EVER, (and it was awesome.) Friends from High School, friends from Church, friends from EVERYWHERE showed up.
And it was amazing.
I had smiles for miles, indeed.

mischief

from Mom: Escobedo from work told steph and Kris that he was going to help Chet trash their rooms while they were gone to camp

He came over last night.

THEN we sent the pics to Egger who is a coach at school and a counselor at camp--- told him to share with the twinks. He said they went nuts!

The joke is that escobedo's name is Pablo Helmberger. So we told them that Chet and Pablo were trashing their rooms. Pablo wanted to switch their books out but Chet said that would mean death.

Chester Updates

Hey Chet! Thanks for being so funky and cool. Too bad you're fourteen hours away and I can't blog about you all the time. :)

Congratulations on your first date. :D

Chester

This poor, tortured child is now nine years old. And essentially, the littlest love of my life.

This is Chester.

And guess what?

HE HAS HIS FIRST NINE-YEAR-OLD DATE TONIGHT.

I'm losing my mind.

It's literally exploding into candy. This is all too cute.

Apparently, as a fundraiser, all the teachers in his grade taught all the kids how to dance. And then they invited them all to and end-of-the-year sock hop.

And get this?

He bought flowers.

I mean, he got his other Big Sister to buy him flowers.

For his date.

That he asked.

To his first-ever sock hop.

KABOOM.

Head into candy.