Road Trip Memories in a Purple Kia

             

When I think about taking a road trip my first thought always goes to the first road trip my sister Laura and I took without our parents, our first grown up road trip. Our parents had moved to Washington right after Laura graduated high school, while my sister and I stayed behind in California to continue our own lives. About 6 months into them being gone we were having withdraws from not seeing our family, we missed them and thought it was a great way to see the great states of Oregon and Washington! So on a whim we decided to hop into my car, which happened to be a PURPLE Kia at the time, and headed out on our first road trip together. Before we headed out we called out parents to tell them we were on our way, this was before there were cell phones so we told them we would call them when we got to our next stop and a payphone. How funny is that to think about? No cell phones, must have been the dinosaur ages! Back to the start of our trip, we started out so confident in our decision to pack up the car and go. We played all the classic car games, like the License Plate Game, the Alphabet Game, the Going on a Picnic Game, you get the point, we played a lot of car games. We were singing to the radio and cassette player, hey I told you it was before everyone had cell phones. Things were going great until about 3 hours into our 12+ hour trip, I was starting to get really tired, I was starting to fade. At the time I was the only one out of the two of us that was driving, Laura was too scared to get behind the wheel of a car. So here I am only 3 hours into the drive and I felt exhausted. I felt like I couldn't keep my head up, like it was taking everything in my to stay awake, and it was only 2 pm!! Laura started to worry, she was pumping me full of red vines to stay awake, asking me questions, rolling down the windows, everything you could think of to keep a person awake. It worked but only temporarily. It was the weirdest thing that as soon as I would start to drive I would just fall asleep. Car Narcolepsy? The seats in my car were too comfortable?

We managed to make it 3 more hours and I needed a nap, a real uninterrupted nap. We pulled over to a rest stop, we were planning on driving all the way through so a hotel room was not in the budget. The sun was starting to set so it wasn't totally dark out. I turned off the ignition, tipped my chair back and went to sleep. Laura was freaked out by all of the people passing by so she hung up blankets and clothes in the windows to give us more privacy, we must have looked ridiculous!

An hour later we were back on the road, I was feeling refreshed (sort of) and we were getting back into the road trip groove. Flash forward 2 hours and here I was tired again, no energy, head bopping, car swerving tired. NOT AGAIN. We needed to gas up the Kia and by now it was dark and we were in the middle of nowhere. We finally found a gas station at a questionable turn off, in a questionable area. If anything was going to wake me up it would be the idea that there maybe some animal or God forbid person lurking in the bushes of this out-in-the middle-of-no-where-we-could-be-killed-by-a-serial-killer-at-any-moment gas station. Laura stood watch while I got out, swiped my card, put the gas pump in and jumped back in the car as fast as I could. Then we waited. While we waited for what felt like forever for the gas to pump we sat there in silence, listening to the dead of the night. The nozzle clicked, we both jumped. I thought about just driving away and letting the gas nozzle fall out as we took off and attach the gas cap later, no issues. That could happen right? Then I thought about my car and being a starving student, if something happened to the gas tank because I was being a chicken how would I pay for it? Darn it! I needed to buck up. Laura and I listened, looked around and I got out. When I was done I jumped back in and we took off, not looking back.

Needless to say I drove the rest of the way bug eyed, freaked out and thankful we were still alive. It's so funny to think about it now, I'm sure it wasn't as bad as we thought it was. I'm sure the road wasn't as long as it seemed. I'm sure there was someone working there watching the place making sure no serial killers were in the bushes. I'm sure it was a quiet little town and not a scene from Scooby Doo with zombies and ghosts around every corner. #kiasocialclub

 


Where was your best road trip destination? Did you travel with children at the time? Do you have any advice for a successful road trip?


* This post was written in partnership with our friends at Kia.

Frugal Family Tree Valentine's Day Event Starts today

 

Valentine's Day at Frugal Family Tree is about Loving Your Family. Showing children about loving their family is something very important to us. Our Mom always taught us to be loving, uplifting and caring for each other. We were never compared to one another but valued for each of our special talents that added to us as a whole family. This type of love is one I know I want my son to learn and one Sam is teaching to her sons to love each other and for them to both love their baby sister.

I can recall making Valentine's cards for my parent's when we were little and I am sure there were plenty of macaroni noodle necklaces my mom got over the years. (I so can't wait to get one for Valentines from my son one day!) I remember one year Sam made a cool mirror etching in high school and she gave it to me for Valentines.

We like to use Valentine's Day as a way to remind our family of sisters, brothers, nephews, nieces, cousins, aunties, uncles and grandparents that we LOVE them so much. Valentine's Day is also a chance to reach out to someone who needs a little bit of love with a nice card or gift to brighten their day.

I have a very special necklace that Sam and I got as a gift from our parents. It is a heart necklace that says Best Friends and it breaks in half. It is something to this day I still treasure and keep in my jewelry box. We would wear them all the time as kids and teenagers. Having a sister that you can call your Best Friend is the best gift anyone can have! She really is my BFF. Boys can break your heart, pets will come and go but siblings that love you is something that you will always have!

I am always St End and she is Be Fri

We hope everyone has a great month of Loving the ones they love. I am going to try to think of ways to share Valentines with someone that might need some cheering up. Maybe a store worker, a mail carrier, a neighbor, friend I have not talk to in awhile or maybe a random act of kindness to a stranger. A simple Valentine, candy or book can be picked up at a dollar store type of place that might really change someone day.

When Lunch Isn't About The Food

As a mother of five grown children, it's often hard to get everyone together at once. They are all busy with work, children, school, and their social lives. While I'm grateful that Facebook and cell phones and texting keeps us in touch, there is nothing like face to face time with those I love.

So I was very happy to be able to have lunch on Sunday with two of my daughters. If you are a regular reader of this blog then you know that my oldest daughter Samantha recently had a baby girl. She also has two young sons and her life is extremely busy. My twenty year old daughter Megan also has a busy life and I don't get to see her as often as I would like. Megan just had a birthday, so a girls-only-lunch seemed like just the thing to help celebrate. We went to a great little cafe that Megan introduced us to and had a delicious lunch.

Then a little shopping at some cute boutiques where we wanted everything we saw! But of course it wasn't about the restaurant, or the food, or the shopping. It was about spending time with these young women who were once my babies.

Thanks girls, I had a great time. We'll do it again soon!

OMG NKOTB

Can you believe New Kids on the Block are back together again and have joined forces with the Back Street Boys? NKOTBSB!!! When Liz and I were growing up we worshiped NKOTB. I mean it was an obsession and a sickness, like every other girl out there we LOVED them! We each had our favorite, she loved Jordan and I loved Joey. We had everything NKOTB from the fannie packs, to the giant buttons for your clothing(I can't believe that we wore those so proudly), t-shirts, any Teen Beat magazine that had a picture or an article about them, dolls, posters and much much more. I even scored a signed and framed picture of Joey! Our walls were covered with posters of NKOTB, we lived and breathed for them.

When I heard that they were making a comeback I was so excited. I thought Oh My God I love those guys! I need to see them in concert, then I heard that they even had an NKOTB cruise that I missed and I was bummed. lol Then the more I thought about it I realized that I loved them in the 90's. Don't get me wrong if someone paid for me to go on the cruise today I would go in a heartbeat, but I have to remember that I am not 13 anymore and I have other things to pay for. Sure they are still the guys we loved, just a little older. Danny, Donny, Jordan, Jonathan, and Joey will always hold a special place in my youth, and if you asked me today I would probably brush it off like they were no big deal. But the truth is I am secretly jealous of anyone who has recently seen them in concert or were lucky enough to cruise with them ;) NKOTB FOREVER!

Thanks for welcoming all of us to the Frugal Family Tree!

A few weeks Liz introduced me (Sam) and our Mom (Nana) to everyone. We have really been jumping up and down over being involved in the Frugal Family Tree, after all as a family we love to do everything together! There is a special relationship between a Mother and her Daughter(s) and we are happy to share that here, with you. Thanks for the warm welcome :)

Like Liz said, I am a new SAHM with 2 little boys. You may remember my post about leaving the work force? Well I am now 3 months out and loving every minute of it (well that is a lie somedays are just rough) but we make it to then next. JJ is 4 years old and full of personality. You will see me telling a lot of stories about him or what he says because boy oh boy does he crack me up! Baby L is 9 months old now and starting to get quite a fiesty personality, I think that is pretty common in the second child. He wants to do everything that JJ does and just as well, it is a daily battle I tell you. Baby L can stand his own though, we are sure that one day he will be beating up his big brother. :)

Liz and I are about 2 years apart, I am the big sister and it showed growing up. I was bossy and mean and if there was only one of something left, it was mine. I am not proud of that but it was just the way it was. Little sisters always get the raw end of the deal right? Liz has a great memory and remembers way more about our childhood then I do so I can just imagine the stories she has! As time goes on we will share those memories and stories, good and bad.

Well now that we are older and are mothers, we get along great and I think that Liz has forgiven me for most of it (I hope). We are learning together what it is like to have to worry constantly about another human being, that life is hard but if you have a sister or a best friend to talk to and share things with it is a whole lot easier. Liz and are a lot alike in our parenting skills but our personalities couldn't be any more different. I am more of a "shoot straight from the hip" kind of gal and she is more reserved. I tend to talk a lot and Liz is a great listener. She is sweet and I can be sour or the reverse if the situation calls for it :) We can be pretty tough cookies when we have to be! When it comes to socializing we are also pretty alike. We both love talking and getting to know new people! We grew up in such a large family that we always had someone to talk to or someone to play with. We also moved around a lot so making new friends was also a must.

We have a great Mother that only wanted and wants the best for us, she was and is the best role model and Mother that a gal could ask for. Our boys call her Nana and she is the best! She has always promoted reading to all of her children (there are 5 of us you know) and it is carrying on to her grandsons. She is very proud of that and we love her for it :)

The 3 of us together are a great team. We enjoy eachothers company, we laugh, we talk and we really are enjoying this experience that Blogging has offered us. What a way to grow and learn about eachother, we are very lucky. Thanks for reading and we look forward to growing relationships with all of you!!