Hi! I’m Erica, and I absolutely adore sharing my life on this website with you! I come here almost daily to blab about all of the things related to being a regular wife and mother in today’s ever-evolving society. I share about our new home, what’s on our kitchen table, what we’re hanging in our closets, where we’re traveling to next, my crazy 5 a.m. work outs, how I make time for girlfriends, our faith, and much more. We always have a lot of balls in the air and somewhat thrive on the chaos. I believe in the power of story-telling as a form of inspiration and entertainment, so I’m here to do both! I was born and raised in north Alabama and recently re-planted roots here again after my husband transitioned out of the Army (he is now in the Reserve and it’s going so well!) I’m a super proud mom to three little girls (ages 7, 4, and 1) who seem to be the stars of the show around here (for good reason – they’re pretty great!) I’m so glad you found me and are here reading! I hope we can get to know each other here on the blog as well as Facebook and/or Instagram. xoxo
“You’re Nancy Olsen’s daughter!”
Between morning presentations and an evening community event last month, I decided to explore Long Island, NY and find my parent’s old home that they built in their early 20s. I got the address from my mom “just in case I had time to see it”.
Long Island, NY
2:20 p.m.
March 9th, 2012
40 miles of exploring later, I parked in front of the found house and gave my mom a call.
Mom: Hello?
Me: Mom, is your old house brown?
Mom: OMG yes! Why?! Are you there?
Me: Yep, I’m sitting right in front of it!
*SQUEALS* from Mom ensues for a few minutes, and then she let me know that the people next door still live there because they’ve been exchanged Christmas cards for 25+ years.
Me: Should I go ring the doorbell and say hello?
Mom: Will you?! I haven’t seen them since we moved, but we were really good friends and they’ll know who you are if you say you’re Ron and Nancy Olsen’s daughter!
Me: Okay, stay on the phone with me.
So here I go walking up the driveway of a family who my parents haven’t seen in 25 years. Mom is on the phone.
Before I even reach the door, a woman emerges SCREAMING. Screaming so much that my mom cannot understand what is going on; All she hears is this woman shrieking and me laughing!
All in a VERY heavy NY accent (if I tell you this story in person, I can TOTALLY tell it with the accent. Makes it so much better.):
OH MY GOD YOU DON’T EVEN HAVE TO TELL ME WHO YOU ARE! YOU’RE NANCY OLSEN’S DAUGHTER! OMG What are you doing here? You look just like her!’
*Squeezes me in a massive hug – Screams for her husband to come outside because “Nancy’s daughter is here!!”
She talked to my mom for a few minutes and then invited me inside. She said that her husband saw me walking up the driveway and asked her if she knew “who this girl is walking up our driveway”. She said that it only took her a second, and then she had a flashback because she thought it actually WAS my mom. The last time she saw my mom was when she was 24 (my age now), and she said that we literally look like identical twins.
People have been telling me my ENTIRE life that I look like my mom. I kid you not – we cannot go ANYWERHE together without people commenting about how alike we look.
WHEW! Finally have this story written down; Been meaning to for a while. This is not a story I want to forget because it gave me a glimpse into my parents’ lives before little ‘ole me came along. 🙂