And a blogging I will go!

It was brought to my attention that I should start blogging. Now granted I have never thought of it even though years ago I had a livejournal. I loved livejournal.. It was a site I could post my heart out in and I hada pretty good fanbase and made a lot of wonderful friends. How they found my life interesting was beyond me but I appreciated every single one of them because they helped me through the years.

My life for the most part has been good. Growing up we lived in the hood where we dealt with drivebys, drug deals and the lovely crackheads that would be so paranoid they would yell at you because they assumed you were talking about them when you didn't even have to say a word. Imagine a six year old little girl running home because she was scared out of her mind.. That girl was me. Amelia. Daughter of a strong woman and a military man. It wasn't easy growing up in that neighborhood. But looking back it made me realize that no matter how bad it got and I mean it got bad!.. It taught me a lot. It taught me how to be aware of my surroundings. How to read a person and when a situation was going to get bad. It taught me who to trust and who not to trust. Pretty sad that I learned that at such a young age. 

But my mom and dad did everything they could to raise me and my five siblings right. We lived in the hood because the house was big enough for us all. Not because we wanted to live there. It was a place no kid should be raised rather your black or white. My mom also worked to provide for us when my dad was in another country for the Army. She would work nights and leave my little sister and I in the care of my older siblings. What great fun that was. My older sisters were a fun bunch. They would tie my little sister and I up in jump ropes and set us in front of the television and put movies on for us so they could do their thing. They were teenage girls who wanted to get on the phone with their friends and talk. Little sisters prevented that. lol

My favorite movie they made us watch one night was Tombstone. Even to this day I know that movie word from word. I own it on DVD. When Interview with the Vampire came out in 1994 my sister Debra took me to see it. I was thirteen years old. I had read the book a few years earlier. Yes that's right I read Anne Rices Interview With The Vampire when I was ten years old. I was pretty advanced in reading at the age and loved the book. So imagine my excitement when I got to see the movie. I know a lot of people gripe about Tom Cruise playing Lestat but I think he did a far better job than Stewart Townsend did in Queen of the Damned. By the way Queen of the Damned (movie) was an absolute travesty. It was nothing like the book they even got the characters wrong. But anyway I thought Tom Cruise played Letstats sense of humor perfectly. He was the brat prince. I just wish they would've made Armand younger and don't get me wrong I do love Antonio Banderas. Brad Pitt as Louis was intriguing. I think he showed us exactly what Louis was. a man of sadness but wanted to see the good in everyone. And... I was in love with Brad Pitt back then. The long hair had me at hello.. 

I think that was the only movie I saw in theater at that age. We didn't go to the movies a lot because my parents had a lot of mouths to feed. But they never complained and we were always shown love. My mom would make us hug her and say I love you every time we'd leave. My grandmother (her mom) was the same way so it was easy to see where she got it from. It was a great feeling though especially growing up in such a unpredictable environment to know that we were loved and that we knew she would always be there. Even now I'm thirty two years old and I know that if my mom were still here she would expect a hug every time she saw me. Sadly my mom passed away unexpectedly 3 years ago. She was sixty years old. One of my most favorite photo of my parents I discovered in her trunk of photos was this one. 

I had no idea that photo existed until one day my dad brought me all of the photos she kept. My mom kept everything including art work all six of us kids did in grade school. I have my baby dress and blanket that my mom kept and my Annie doll. I'll never forget the day I pulled that out of the box after she died. I broke down because when I was little that Annie doll meant so much to me. It was also one of my favorite movies. 

Now she sits on my bookshelf along with my rainbow brite and trolls. Anybody remember the trolls? With the spikey colorful hair and jewel in the belly? I loved those things back in the day and I still have mine. I still have my popples. My kids were going through a box a couple of years ago and pulled the popples out and said "what the heck is that?". I laughed and said "its a popples. You wouldn't understand even if I explained it." 

I have to say my childhood was pretty good considering the circumstances. My parents did the best they could and they were great at it. I loved going to the Armory in Detroit and sitting in my dads office typing up stories on his old typewriter and sometimes harassing the Army guys. Its pretty sad that they spent more time with my little sister and I shooting hoops in the gym of the armory or taking us on joy rides in the humvies. The military functions, the terrible mashed potatoes that stuck to the roof of your mouth and had no taste. I'll never forget the time they set me in Santa's lap and I knew who Santa was so I called him by his name instead of Santa which made my dad and some of his Army buddies run  up and say okay Amelia its someone elses turn. The same happened with the Easter bunny. I guess you could say I knew people by their eyes. The eyes are the portal to the soul.

Oh the memories! I could go on and on. But I think this blog entry has met its length. My friend said to start off with a little background about yourself. Well I went way back. So here's a current background of me. My name is Amelia. I'm a thirty two year old mom of four and married to my pain in the ass best friend. My husband Landon is the love of my life and I'll tell you our story another day. But I'm sure every woman can agree that their significant others can be a pain in the ass. I believe its in their nature. My husband likes to get me riled up and as soon as I give him what he calls the "Indian look" he will say or do something to make me laugh. Which in turn makes me forget all about being mad at him. 

I love family history and working on my parents family trees. My dads tree is based in Scandinavia and my moms is based in the Southern United States. All the information I have found makes me want to find more. Especially when I didn't grow up with my dads family. I didn't grow up with my grandfather due to his wife and his religion (Jehovah Witness). So this is my way of connecting to the family I never knew. Thanks to DNA (yes I did the DNA tests) I have found many cousins here in the states and in Finland that have been such a joy to get to know. Including the children of my great uncles. 

I am also a autism awareness advocate for my son Landon who is my nine year old special needs son who lives with Autism. Last spring I did a Walk for Autism and I enjoyed it. I try to raise awareness so people will have a better understanding of what Autism is and how to be more compassionate to those with Autism. I love my kids with all my heart and would fight for all four of them. Landon finally found his voice in late 2012-2013 and its been the greatest milestone ever. One of my favorite photos is of my oldest daughter Cheyenne and Landon. We were sitting in the parking lot waiting on my husband who was in the store. 

I love that photo. It was a rare one to catch considering little Landon hates taking photos. 

What else can I say about myself... I have an eclectic taste in music and books. I love horror movies including ones from the 80s. The cheesier the better. Tremors being one of them.. Yes I know very cheesy. I remember when I was little watching the cheesiest vampire or werewolf movies and loving them. No I didn't have any nightmares because I knew Vampires and Werewolves don't exist. Unless you believe they do which I will not knock anyone that does. 

I love to read and will pretty much read anything in fact I read all of the Encyclopedia Britanicas my parents owned and trust me when I say they had a lot. I am what you call an old soul who could careless about partying and getting drunk. My ideal of a Saturday night is cuddling with my husband watching a good movie. I know... Soooo boring. But its who I am and I have never cared what others thought. In fact in High School I was such a tomboy I actually wore mens clothing and didn't care because I was comfortable. My favorite clothes to wear back in the day was baggy jeans, a white t-shirt and big flanneled shirts. It was the most comfortable outfit to wear. In fact I still have my flanneled shirts. I bet if What Not To Wear was still on someone would sign me up for the show. lol

I have no idea what else to post. So I'm just going to say that if you have read this far kudos to you and thank you. And to end this post here is a photo of me with my beautiful family.