Getting to Know All About You
So in my first post, I shared all things about our blog. I figured my next step should be to share all things about me, so you know who is over here typing all this crazy stuff... I will try and sum up my life with some quick facts for you-here goes nothing!
1. Aaron+ Lisa sitting in a tree
After 3 years of dating, Aaron and I just got married on August 5, 2017 on the amazing island of St. Lucia! Our destination wedding was the best, most stress-free, day ever with 25 of our closest family members and friends. Stay tuned for a post around our anniversary about destination weddings!
2. Family above all else
I come from a very strong, close-knit Greek family. Being 100% Greek, means family, culture, and love have been infused in every part of my blood. My mom (Eva) and dad (George) gave me the best roots to grow and wings to fly. I have one sister (Maria), who I am really close with, even though I wish she didn't live across the country from me (DAMN YOU, San Diego, for being so amazing and making them move). My sister is married to the sweetest and most caring guy ever (Justin). Did I mention my sister and I married almost the same guy?? Aaron and Justin are both SO BEYOND intelligent and speak each other's language-it's kind of humorous how similar they are! ANNNNNDD....then there is my fashion muse, my Aunt Fran who is married to my Uncle John. I literally blame my shopping addiction on my aunt completely. I grew up going to stay with my grandparents and aunt in Chicago many weekends of the month (before my grandparents moved to Wisconsin)- and MAN did we shop our weekends away! Of course, being Greek means I also have A LOT of cousins and a large extended family, but these people right here are my inner circle and fiercest cheerleaders in life.
3. I love my friends something FIERCE
I literally have a hard time verbalizing how much I LOVE my best friends! I found this quote the other day...
"The best kind of friendships are fierce lady friendships where you aggressively believe in each other, defend each other, and think the other deserves the world."
My friends have seen me through some really low points in life, and they have helped lift me up to become the warrior I am today. I am POSITIVE you will be hearing about Colleen, Darcie, Janet, Laura, and Brooke in my blogs as we go. These ladies are everything to me. You probably will hear about many of my other wonderful gal pals too, because other than my beautiful besties, I have so many other amazing friends as well. Man, look around, how lucky are we in this life??
4. Midwesterner- Born and Bred
I am from SE Wisconsin, and have lived here all my life. I love life here in Wisco, because midwesterners are some of the most welcoming, caring, and genuine people out there. Aaron and I are currently living in my grandparents home, which I gutted and completely redecorated with a contractor after my grandfather passed away 4 years ago. It's a charming little brick home, 3 blocks away from Lake Michigan (the lake is seriously gorgeous), that was built in the 1920's. This home has so much sentimental value to me, that it's hard to imagine moving one day-but if we do (BIG IF) decide to expand our family one day, we'll sadly have to move out of our cute little home. For now though, I am having fun decorating every nook and cranny in here!
5. I am my dad's clone
There has been a running joke in my world that if you put hair on my dad's high school and college pictures, it would look like a picture of me. I used to get so annoyed when people would say that when I was younger, but now that my dad has been gone for 4 years, I love that I look like him. What that means is that every time I look in the mirror I can see a little piece of my dad, and maybe for a split second I don't have to miss him as much. Losing a parent is as HORRIBLE as you think it's going to be- I'm not going to sugarcoat it. However, after time goes on it doesn't consume your every thought. I will definitely be doing some posts about grieving, so come back and check those out later!
6. 3 fur babies, and counting
Aaron and I have 3 fur babies at home who are my entire world!! To say that I LOVE my babies, is the HUGEST understatement. Literally all 3 of my little buddies greet me at the door every day, all day with so much love and excitement, and it just makes my heart happy. Hercules is the black lab; Ruby is a black mouth cur (it's a type of Southern hunting dog), and Socrates is our tabby cat- annnnnd YES, most of my animals are GREEK, except for Ruby. She got to have a Southern belle name since she was rescued from a shelter down South. Speaking of being rescued, ALL of my animals have come from a shelter. I am a HUGE proponent of adopting animals from shelters because sadly there are SO MANY unloved animals out there who need good homes!! I literally have to ban myself from going to the rescue animal websites, otherwise we SERIOUSLY would have 20 dogs in this house, hah!
7. By day, I teach
I have been teaching for 11 years, and I can say it is exhausting and stressful, but so fulfilling and magical at the same time. I teach the little ones- first grade to be exact- and everyday is seriously an adventure! When you are six years old, your teacher is like an all knowing, mythical creature (HAH, if they only knew how little I really do know, and how imperfect I really am). Those kiddos love to come to school and hug you and love on you, and sadly for some of my students, school is the only consistent, happy place that they have in their little worlds. Yes, I play the role of teacher-but I am also mom, nurse, friend, role model and more, all wrapped into one. And, when you get that little smile from those kiddos and that little light bulb turns on, the stress and worry you feel is ALL WORTH IT! PLUS, I get to co-teach with one of my greatest friends ever (Tara)! I am sure you will here about my little munchkins and Tara a lot in these posts.
8. Shut up and dance with me
Aside from being a regular school teacher, I have also been a dance teacher in my spare time for 13 years. I have loved shakin' a tail feather since I was 5, which is when I started ballet classes. When I hit the high school years, I really got more into dance team style dance and hip hop dance, and I've stuck with hip hop ever since. I love the music, the beats, and the moves. When I'm dancing I can just release everything and just be me. I was teaching little kiddos hip hop for a long time, but now I have moved on to teaching just an adult class (sorry guys, I am done being with six year olds after 3 o'clock LOL). These ladies are seriously SO bad-ass, and it's not because of anything I am doing-literally, they are just SO good at dancing!! I have so many proud teacher moments with these gals!!!
9. Other random favorites
- Color: Turquoise
- Food: Grapes, broccoli, mom's homemade Greek food
- Music: Coldplay (literally cried when I saw them in concert, LOL)
- Movie: The Count of Monte Cristo
- Show: The Ellen DeGeneres Show
- Book: Anything Sophie Kinsella
- Restaurant: Field To Fork
- Animal: Sea Turtle, Dog
There you have it in a nutshell! I look forward to sharing more about my life with all of you as we go forward! Have a great weekend all!
