Throwback Thursday: Tiny Feet

*personal photo*

Teeny, tiny, one-week-old feet.

They're bigger now.  And sometimes they're kind of stinky.

But they're still pretty tiny.

Much love,
The Geeks

Answer Me This: Father's Day Edition

Time for more Answer Me This on this hot, sunny Father's Day.

1. What's the best thing about your dad?

back before my dad grew his woodsman beard

I'd say the best thing about my dad is that he will always stand by his convictions.  Mom has always called him her rock; he won't ever give up on what he believes.

That, and he's a pretty great Papaw.

2. What's the best thing about your kid's dad?

That's right, Chief.  He does rock

The best thing about Mr. Geek is that he is willing to do anything for his little family.  Walk around the house singing to a crying baby at 2 in the morning?  He'll do that.  Sleep on what was essentially a sheet of plywood wrapped in fabric (the "sofa" in the hospital recovery room)?  No problem.

More important than his willingness to get his hands dirty, though, is his devotion to this marriage as a true partnership.  He doesn't view looking after his daughter as "babysitting"; he doesn't see vacuuming the living room as going above and beyond.

3. What's the best advice your dad ever gave you?

It wasn't fashion advice, I can tell you that much.

It's not so much advice that he gave me, but rather a sort of philosophy to live by.

He told me that you choose who you love, and I always thought that was terribly unromantic.

But now I get what he was saying.  You might not always choose who you're initially attracted to, but you choose who you love, because love is a choice, an action- not a feeling.  I'm so glad I finally figured out what he was talking about, because it's the foundation we've built our marriage on.  My parents have had a strong, solid marriage for 29 years now; I feel like that's a pretty good relationship to imitate.

4. What's something you have in common with your dad?

That whole being firm in his convictions thing?  That tends to translate into stubbornness and inability to concede when he's maybe kinda sorta wrong.  I don't know anybody who inherited that trait from him.  Nope.  No idea.

5. What's the manliest thing you know how to do?

I don't really like this question, because it implies that any talent can be "manly" or "girlie".  The only truly "manly" activities in the world are things like peeing standing up, and the only truly "girlie" activities are things like giving birth.

But there are plenty of talents and abilities traditionally assigned to men, and I can do some of them, too.

The most "traditionally male" things I've ever done are as follows:

-graduate with a degree in mechanical engineering

-drive (and prefer) a manual transmission

-replace the headlight in my car

-fired a weapon at a shooting range for fun 

-work outside the home and bring in the larger paycheck

-and yeah, I've peed standing up once or twice

6. Who is your favorite fictional dad?

image by Warner Bros, via Harry Potter wikia

Arthur Weasley is not a perfect father- he tends to want to play "good cop" by threatening the kids with, "Wait until your mother hears about this!" as opposed to enforcing family rules himself- but he loves his wife and children and does whatever it takes to protect them.

Sometimes Mr. Geek and I are a little like Arthur and Molly.  I even dream of having 7 kids one day...

Head on over to Catholic All Year and link up your answers!

Much love,

The Geeks

Wordless Wednesday: Wheeeee!

her favorite part of the playground // *personal photo*

Much love,
The Geeks

Answer Me This is Back!

Catholic All Year is once again hosting her summer link-up series Answer Me This and I'm so excited to participate!  Let's jump right in:

1. Any big plans for the summer?

Out on the lake on our Memorial Day trip

This summer is going to be pretty low-key, with a few visits with family.  We officially kicked off summer with a trip to Alabama for Memorial Day.  Chief and I briefly visited Roanoke Saturday- a friend of mine had her bridal shower and Chief spent the afternoon with "Aunt Biz", my baby sister who has an internship at the Mill Mountain Zoo for the summer.  My other sister, who just got engaged, will be visiting at the end of the month to do some marriage prep and help her fiance find a new apartment (which will eventually be their apartment, next summer, so that's exciting) and then we're all heading back down to Roanoke for the Independence Day holiday.  I expect we'll visit Aunt Biz a couple more times in the month of July to keep her company, since the drive is so short from here.  Then we have a wedding here locally to attend at the beginning of August that I'm very much looking forward to- I love weddings, especially when I'm not the one planning them!  Other than that, I don't think we'll be doing much around here this summer, other than maybe throwing a couple of cookouts and dinner parties.

2. What's the strangest thing you believed as a child?

Honestly I can't really answer this question.  My parents were always pretty direct with us as kids about the way the world worked- they would explain things truthfully, though perhaps more simply and more "kid-friendly", but never an outright lie.  For example, the answer to the question, "Where do babies come from?" was something along the lines of "When a Mommy and a Daddy love each other very much, they pray very hard, and then God gives them a baby."  Which is true, if extremely simplistic.  I never believed you could get pregnant by kissing, nor did I believe Mommy ate the baby and that's how the baby got in her tummy.  My parents were pretty elaborate about Santa, though; we sometimes got handwritten notes from him, especially the year that I heard him delivering his gifts in the living room and got up to investigate.  We woke to a stern note from Mr Claus explaining that if I had seen him, he would've been forced to leave our house present-less- luckily for us, I've always been basically blind without my glasses, so I didn't see anyone in the dark and got straight back in bed.  I totally believed the threat, though.  Does that count?

Oh, how about this- I had an imaginary friend.  My aunt was a teenager, and one time she was talking to her friend Jacqueline on the phone and she let me talk to her.  I was maybe 6, and I don't know what I would've talked to this girl about but I loved telling people that I had spoken on the phone to a girl named Jacqueline, and recounting the details of the conversation.  The more times I told people about this grand event, the more complicated our conversation became, until finally somebody called me out- "We were standing right there, you didn't talk to Jacqueline about that."  That's because it was a different conversation with Jacqueline, you see.  We were best friends now, and we spoke on the phone all the time.  And when we moved, Jacqueline moved, too- right across the street from us.  I'm pretty sure she was a full-fledged imaginary friend who would play with me even though nobody else could see her.  So yeah, Jacqueline- that's the craziest thing I ever believed.

3. What is your favorite amusement park ride?

Was there ever a doubt?

Mission: Space at EPCOT is, hands down, the single coolest amusement park ride I've ever been on.  It's an incredible concept, it is a mastery of Imagineering, and every single detail, from the queue to the safety briefing to the ride itself, are completely spot on.  I'm so glad Mr. Geek refused to let me chicken out on him- this ride is amazing.

4. What's on your summer reading list?

image via Amazon

I have a nice big stack of books I've received as gifts since Christmas (maybe even earlier) and it's really time I got around to reading them.  This one is the top of the list.  I think I'll renew my reading-on-my-lunch-break habit.

5. Have you ever fallen asleep in public?

On planes, in cars, on buses, between classes at a dance convention, during a movie very, very late at night that was not as good as I'd hoped it'd be, at work....

Yeah, all the time.

We were joking earlier when Miss Chief proclaimed, "Mommy sleepy," that, yes, since the day I got pregnant- since the day I became Mommy- I have been sleepy.  It's a permanent state of being.

6. What is your favorite smell?

He smells pretty good, too

Ooh, that's a tough one.  Either brownies baking in the oven, or a freshly bathed baby.

Two of the absolute best smells in the world.

Head on over to Catholic All Year and give your answers!

Much love,
The Geeks

Oh, Internet... {70}

I don't know about you, but I'm itching for another vacation.

To substitute, I took a little vacation on the internet this week.  Here's where I went:

Catholic All Year shared a SUPER awesome overview of the Catholic faith

Petite Panoply is fabulous as always.

Molly Makes Do made an adorable Doctor Who skirt for herself (and jammies for her son!) and now I'm itching to make something from my ridiculous fabric stash!

Make It and Love It introduced me to the wonders of Craftsy- I'm going to look at some photography classes!

A Beautiful Mess talked about how to chose a color story for your home.

Bean In Love made re-upholstering chairs look super easy...almost deceptively so...

Infarrantly Creative shared an incredible makeover for a cheesy old chandelier.

Where did you go on the internet this week?

What are some of your favorite blogs?

Much love,
The Geeks

Baby and Me: Jellies!

Baby:
Dress: Carter's
Shoes: Carter's

Me:
Dress: ModCloth
Shoes: ModCloth

If Chief ever gets a pair of jellies, I think it's only fair that I should get some, too.

Much Love,
The Geeks

Memorial Day Adventures

We spent Memorial Day weekend with my parents, sisters, and Mammaw down in Alabama, and we had so much fun!  We played on a playground, rented a boat out on the lake, and visited the Georgia Aquarium.  If you follow me on Instagram, you saw some of our adventures, but here are a few more pictures:

How did you spend Memorial Day Weekend?

Much love,
The Geeks

*all photos personal*