October 9th: The Trifecta

October 9th has a special place in my life...my mom's birthday is on October 9th...my dad's birthday is on October 9th...AND...their anniversary is on October 9th. I call it the trifecta. When I met Dustin I told him that we all call it the trifecta, but as he started using the term more frequently, I realized that maybe I was the only one who used it. :) It's starting to catch on though. :) Let's talk about my parents a little bit since it is their special day. They are the best parents you could ever ask for, and I know a lot of people say that, but it's really true.

My parents and I in the summer of 2010

 My mom worked at the Post Office for a little over 20 years, and retired back in 2013. I cannot really sum up my mom in one single blog post, but one thing I can say is that she is one of the most generous people that I have ever met. She is always thinking of others, and probably the worst thing in her mind is leaving other people out, or making them feel uncomfortable/unwelcome. She loves making candy treats (hard to explain, but basically candy bars and other forms of packaged candy glued together to look like something like a plane or a train) for any group that I am a part of...when I went to Macy's parade with Purdue's marching band, she made them for all 375 members of the band!

My mom with my niece, Emily

My dad worked at Subaru, and was in charge of any additions or new buildings: he would hire the contractors, watch over them to make sure they were on task (and the project was on budget), and make them fix things if they didn't do a good job. He liked the job a lot because he got to interact with lots of different people, but it was also rather stressful, and in the last few years was requiring him to work a lot of hours. He retired in 2014, and I was very relieved when he did, because the job was really starting to wear him down. I guess the most important thing to say about my dad is that him and I have almost the exact same thought process about everything. I have always been close to him, and when I was in college, I was talking to him almost everyday. He is hilarious and probably the smartest person I have ever met--he is also incredibly social and is great at getting to know people.

Lovely picture of my dad and I :)

Both of my parents have done everything that they possibly could to make sure that I would have a good life, and I am eternally grateful. I feel so lucky that we get along well, that they like D a lot (my dad and D are honestly best buds), and that they are willing to come visit frequently. In fact, they pretty much never miss a performance that I'm a part of (which is no small thing; in the summer I was in a concert almost every single week playing the clarinet), and they even drove the 2 hours last year to watch me and D run the Monumental Half Marathon.

My parents clearly supporting Purdue! :)

I guess all that's left to say is Happy Birthday and Happy 28th Anniversary to my two wonderful parents. Thanks for everything you have done for me...I definitely couldn't have gotten to where I am today without both of your help. Love you!

Wedding Photo