Family Friday #23 Melissa
Happy Friday! Friday is always a huge day for all of us! In our house, my husband typical comes home from his work trip and it's the start of the weekend! It's also... Family Friday!Today, Melissa from Blog Clarity is joining us and telling us a little about her family
Tell me a little about yourself.
I’m a coffee-loving mom to two boys, who happen to share the same birthday! I’ve been in marketing for 16 years now, spending the last 4 working part-time in social at Burt’s Bees. I also run Blog Clarity, my site about blogging and social media. In my “spare time,” I teach group fitness. I love spending time outdoors, watching the kids play sports, and traveling when we can.
Where did you and your spouse grow up?
My husband grew up in South Carolina and I lived in Tennessee, then moved to South Carolina in the middle of 8th grade- eek! We actually lived a few miles from each other in high school, but didn’t actually cross paths until college.
What was it that first attracted you to your spouse?
The way I caught him looking at me the first time we met! We met through mutual friends at college and everyone was like, “he keeps looking at you!” I loved how smart he seemed and, of course, I thought he was cute too.
Do you and your spouse have similar personalities or very different?
We’re actually quite similar in most respects. Same political views, same tastes, both in creative fields (he’s an architect), same penchant for sarcasm. However, we like some of the same music, but he gets tired of hearing Mumford and Sons or Zumba music, and I can only take so much electronica. I need something to sing along to!
What makes your family unique from other families?
His family has an Austrian background and I’m half Latina, so we have some recipes we like to make from both cultures. Aside from that, I think we’re unique in that we have dinner together nearly every night. My kids are only 9 and 6 so they’re still young, but I’m holding onto that tradition for as long as we can.
Does your family have any unique traditions?
Growing up in a partly latin family, we spent a couple of Christmases in Costa Rica with my extended family- I have over 50 aunts, uncles, cousins, and second cousins there. We also made tamales most years around the holidays. Before my husband and I had kids, we loved doing big hikes every year, like through the Grand Canyon.
Will you continue this tradition in your own family?
My kids have been to Costa Rica, but never for Christmas. I’m hoping we can in the next couple of years though! We do make tamales some years and we ALWAYS make a cookie from my husband’s side of the family. They’re called gullets and they’re like shortbread-type waffle cookies. I also hope to start doing some bigger hiking trips as the kids get older!
What is one piece of advice you have to share with other families?
Find something that you all love as a family and go all in. For us, we’re big Star Wars geeks and it eventually rubbed off on the kids. All of us being fans really made it fun for the kids. We also all love soccer. I’m hoping that that’ll end up loving long hikes as much as we do too, but I don’t hold out much hope for the 6 year old. Ha!Be sure to head over to Blog Clarity and see what else Melissa has to say!