family dynamic.

Good morning, friends!

I'm excited to announce that Raising Redheads now has a facebook page!  You can "like" it simply by scrolling down on my blog and locating the tab on the right hand side.  Please help me spread the word about Mabel and mitochondrial disease (along with undiagnosed and rare disorders) by telling your friends about us. 

This weekend our family attended my cousin, Krissy's wedding.  It's a rare occasion when we all go somewhere together--let alone dressed up all fancy. 

Judging by the photo above, I'm sure you can see that we are a fam of many dynamics.  Our personalities, although all strong, are all very different.  

I'm loud, aggressive, opinionated, vocal and sometimes vulgar.  It's shameful but true.  I speak my mind and get disgusted with incompetence.  I'm vocal about my faith and my beliefs yet will debate about almost anything because I like to win and I like to be right.

Even writing these things about myself feels quite arrogant.  I would like to think I share all of these strong qualities with grace, but I know that isn't always accurate either.

My dad:  Quiet yet aggressive.  Passive yet strong.  Doesn't say a word when Jeni & I say or do inappropriate things and loves us unconditionally.  His dynamic often shows in quiet, dry humor.  He's known for looking up over his glasses without saying a single word in a moment when something should be addressed.  It's awkward and he knows it.  He ties our family together with one-liners that show up out of nowhere like when he told us that we were the desperate housewives of dewitt county...

He can be a funny guy.

Jake:  Much like me in that he is very loud and opinionated.  Young and free.  Incredibly passionate and loving; gentle and kind.  His heart is so sweet and gentle.  He isn't afraid to stand up for what he believes and wants.  He's learning how to channel some of this as he grows but all in all, this kid is pretty fierce. 

Mom:  Vocal, unashamedly so.  Opinionated, argumentative, strong.  She is funny and wild.  She talks loud and gets annoyed easily.  Therefore, much like me and Jake--making a scene to show how so.  She is quite blunt and loves with her entire being.  She is easily disgusted (like all of us girls) with food and habits of men.  Many of my sister and I's qualities are learned and inherited from the women on my mom's side of this family.

Jeni:  Alot like my dad in her quiet humor.  This explains how we all just shake our heads when she tells us that she's going to go puke up her food after dinner at the wedding.  This is a running joke because everyone assumes that we must do this because of our sizes.  [ we do not puke. ]  The point of me telling you this is that Jake and I both just said, "Alright.  Just hurry up.."  My dad looked up over his glasses with a grin and my mom, in disgust, said "What?--god Jeni!" 

bahaha. 

She has the biggest heart of anyone I know and she loves deeply and hard.  She is the truest friend and although quiet, very intuitive.

Throw us altogether for a family  picture and you get a little bit of attitude, a lot of irritability and a whole lot of personality.  We are a mixture of crazy but I like to think it's a beautiful mess.  Somehow, through it all, my parents did ok. 

Their kids love the Lord, love each other, and love them. 

I have to laugh at this picture and at the entire day's events.  I have to remember my Nanny and think of all the ways that Jeni, mom and I resemble her.  Throw in our girl cousins and it's a whole lot of Dowd blood blowing through. 

Nanny would have thought we looked beautiful and in her unique and loud way, let us know it.  She may be in Heaven but when we are altogether I am reminded, once again, how genetics play such a huge role in who we are.  Although time passes and we may begin to forget some of her qualities, they still appear--in us.

I am so thankful for the times with my whole family.  We argue and get aggravated but we love each other so intensely.  These are the times that I will never forget and I want my children to treasure.  I am thankful for who we are and the qualities we bring to our family.  It is who we are.

I am so, so proud of that.

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♥ 

T-minus 4 days til surgery day.  Please lift us up in prayer as we prepare.