Lucky girl.

I just got to spend a week on the Cheyenne River Reservation in South Dakota and arrived in Mexico on Saturday night. And both places are awesome. And both places make me happy. I spent the week with kids that I love and kids that I've missed!

We got to dance together, play Legos together, eat birthday cake together and go to a pow wow together.

And before I knew it, the week was over and I had to leave. Again.

I feel like I'm always leaving these kids.

And then I arrived to a super moon in the Oaxaca sky. And we started planning trips to the park, and trips to Casa Hogar, and trips to the jungle, and now I'm here, and so glad that I'm here.

And when I leave to go back to the reservation, I'll miss these kids. And then arrive to my Cheyenne River friends.

I am a lucky girl to have so many kind faces to greet me wherever I go.

Why Ed Graves is awesome.

Here is a list (an incomplete list) of why my father, Ed Graves, is absolutely awesome. He used to do chores off of my list in exchange for piano songs.

He taught me how to water ski.

He makes jokes that no one understands.

He taught me how to create and stick to a family budget (he is an accountant after all).

When I came home with new songs after my first year of college he shook his head and told me 'you're gonna make it.'

When I introduced him to Bryan, he couldn't wait to tell me what a 'nice fellow' he was.

When I obsessively started going to Mexico during college to volunteer at Casa Hogar, he supported me every. single. time.

When any other female artist comes on the radio he exclaims that they're not as good as I am and promptly puts in one of my CDs.

He's a fantastic organic gardener.

We are the only two people left who call my brother David.

He loves country music. Especially the old stuff.

He drives a John Deere tractor.

He has run marathons.

He watches crime shows with me.

He did not get upset when I balked at the idea of being 'given away' at my wedding. Even though I'm his only daughter. And loved the idea of us walking down the aisle as a family, after Bryan walked down with his mother as a family.

He sent me a piece of mail every day when I was in college. Usually with a few $ inside for a cookie.

He shares my insane love for popcorn.

He not only puts up with my crazy dreams, but thinks they're perfect and absolutely attainable.

He is the nicest and cutest registered Republican in the world. The party could and absolutely should learn a lot from him. Though he's now joined the Just Be Nice Party, so they've missed out.

He has a refrigerator full of beer and wine. And stocks it when I'm coming for a visit.

He loves bonfires, and might be a pyromaniac (in a good way).

He loves the water and walking on the beach with his daughter.

Love you dad. Have a happy birthday. I wish I was there. K

 

Graduation Day!

So here's the thing... I stirred the pot a little bit a few weeks ago when I posted my 'Do You Want to Have Kids?' blog. I didn't really mean to create a ruckus. Ok, maybe I did. But, I honestly thought that I was in my own little world of believing in 'chosen family'.

So here we go again.

You know how people say you can't choose your family? I totally disagree. Yes, I have a crazy aunt or two, or seven, and I didn't choose them, but I find them awesome. In addition to them, I've added a few people that I think were meant to be my family.

One of them is Gaby.

For those of you who don't know our story, Gaby and I met in 2001 at the Casa Hogar Children's home in Oaxaca, Mexico. When we met, I thought we were roughly the same age (not even close, I was 19 and she was 12…) because we were fast friends.

We shared a lot of chores and projects together and she helped me with my Spanish every day. As the years went on and she was in high school, she helped Bryan and I with a meal program in the city dump. In fact, she took over delivering meals to the families while we were in the states. All the while, never falling behind on her homework, and always taking care of the girls she was responsible for.

Around the same time Gaby was getting ready to graduate from high school Bryan was looking to launch a Simply Smiles scholarship program, offering a chance to exceptional students to move to the states and pursue a college education. Gaby was the no-brainer first choice.

Five years ago, Gaby moved in with us, and after rocking the intense ESL program (which isn't true, English is actually her third language - not that I'm bragging or anything...) at Norwalk Community College, Gaby graduated with her associate's degree in business last week.  Almost five years to the day from when she arrived in the country for the first time not speaking a word of English.

I'm so proud.

I'm so happy that Gaby and I have chosen each other as family.

My house doesn't resemble a lot of other homes, but those of us who live in it (five people and one dog) know that in our own weird way, we are our own family.

Congratulations, Gaby.