Farewell Archives – Jamieson Diaries

Today, our awesome and close friends, the Millers, started on their journey to start their new chapter at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. Talk about a bittersweet (definitely more bitter than sweet) feeling. They have been ~~stuck~~ here at this base for a very long time so this new journey of positive changes and more opportunities is much deserved. But to start a new journey it requires leaving your current one, and that is where the sadness comes in.

Krissy and I have become extremely close since I moved here in January of 2012. She’s for sure my best friend here, and we’re so close we even call each other “Sister Wife.” Let me explain…(LOL) when either of our husbands were gone for long periods of time doing Air Force stuff, the other’s husband stepped in and helped out where the other couldn’t. For example, when I was in my first trimester of pregnancy Kris was gone for six weeks doing work in California. This means Krissy’s husband, Isaiah, would come take my trash out, lift heavy stuff around the house if needed, invited me over for dinner etc. We joked that each other husbands was our second husband and started calling each other Sister Wife.

When I found out I was pregnant Krissy was the second person in the world who knew. When she found out she was pregnant six months later I believe I was the second person to know about it as well. And when I say we shared this news with each other, in both instances it was an actual picture of the positive pregnancy test right after getting the results hahaha. If we ever needed anything or someone to rely on for any reason, we always knew (and still know) we could count on the Millers. They’re the type of friends who become family and a part of your life forever. In this crazy world, military life world to be even more specific, it is hard to find people you genuinely can call lifelong friends. It’s part of the life we live to meet people, become friends, and start over again once getting orders to a new base. Thankfully, we had a pretty great group of friends here in Montana who have all left by now, but are still some of the closest people to us.

It’s going to be a huge adjustment for my family and I to not be able to call you guys and hang out whenever we want or watch our baby girls play together. Jordyn and I will actually have to start attending playgroups without our BFFs :-(. I think I’m even more emotional than usual because of the holiday season. We always spent Halloween at you guys house eating delicious soup of some sort and passing out candy to the kids while looking at their awesome costumes. Isaiah always deep-fried the Thanksgiving turkey (which I refuse to eat any other way now lol) for our big f(r)amily dinner and the same goes for Christmas.

Although we will miss you guys for the small activities and huge holidays, I am so happy you all get to finally be near an ocean again! (The Pacific will just have to do for now 😉 ) Have tons of fun for us, and prayerfully we will meet you guys there in Vandenberg one day soon. Safe travels, we love you guys tons, and miss you so much already. But of course we miss Norah a.k.a Chunky Cheeks the most ;-). Thank you for being great people and even more amazing friends. We are thankful for all of the memories we have created over the years.

It wouldn’t be right if we didn’t take one last group picture filled with hilarious-ness and attitude from our little divas LOL.

Farewell, Miller family!

Brie <3

[11.01.15]

The show Parenthood is coming to an end, tonight, after six seasons. To say I am going to miss this show is an understatement. I started watching Parenthood about two years ago on Netflix, thanks to the suggestion from my friend, Krissy. I watched the first two episodes and knew I was hooked. I was hooked for many reasons..

The main reason being I saw my own family in these characters. This huge, tight-knit, loving, easily angered, slow to forgive, boundary overstepping, mixed family. This was the first television family I have seen that seems to really demonstrate to all of us what having a large family is truly like. Growing up in a large family has its ups and downs. There are awesome moments when having a large family is the best! For example, in the show, when Drew had a baseball try-out, or when Victor got adopted, and the ENTIRE Braverman clan showed up to support them. (Whether they liked it or not) However, as with anything else in life, with the good comes the bad, and sometimes having a large family means people can overstep their boundaries of “closeness.” For example, when Kristina started the argument in the emergency room about the Luncheonette that turned into a huge blowout between Adam and Crosby. But what I really saw in these examples were how close families actually operate. There are going to be times when we absolutely adore each other, and there will be other times where we make each other SO mad or SO crazy, but in the end, an “I’m sorry and I will always love you” is all that matters. When families lose sight of the love and dwell on the anger, it makes for a lot of broken families and ultimately partially broken people.

Outside of seeing my own family in this show, I see what some would call my “ideal” immediate family. I want to have four children. Two biological and two adopted. Although none of the original four children are adopted in the show, there are four of them. I’ve always loved the idea of having a large family of my own. I’ve always loved thinking about my kids having multiple siblings to have their back and confide in if they can’t in Mom and Dad. Being the crazy lady during the holidays that I am, I even think about how Thanksgiving and Christmas will be amazing with a house full of craziness and children, or as I like to call it, a house full of LOVE :-). I even think about the future, and how our children will have their own little families, and them all bringing all of their families to Grandma and Grandpa’s house for Thanksgiving and Christmas traditions. ~~Sort of~~ almost exactly like the Thanksgiving and Christmas episodes of Parenthood in season 4.

What also makes a show lovable, is whether or not it is relatable. From Max’s Asperger Syndrome to Crosby and Jasmine’s interracial marriage, everyone somewhere could relate to a character or situation on this show. Even the different marriage dynamics were skillfully and thoughtfully planned out. There are characters I love (Drew) and other characters that make me insane (Kristina).They discuss issues that make us happy (helping children with special needs, adoption, college acceptance, etc.) and they discuss issues that are hard to talk about (cancer, abortion, alcohol abuse, etc.) No matter the issue, the writers always beautifully showed the right and wrong ways to handle conflict resolution. I believe in today’s world, with all of the sensitivity and conflict taking place, we could all use a television show that shows us how to respectfully and lovingly deal with conflict and how to resolve it like adults. Because the truth of the matter is, we are human and will not always agree on everything our loved ones say or do.

The last reason I love Parenthood, is because it was a nice wholesome family show, almost everyone could relate to at some point in their lives. The first time I heard myself say “wholesome show” out loud, I realized I was definitely a Mother lol. It was nice to have a show I could watch with anyone from my Grandmother to my sister-in-law, and not have to feel uncomfortable thinking an inappropriate scene could happen at any time. It was nice to watch a show where you didn’t hear the characters calling each other disrespectful degrading names for ratings. And more than anything it was nice to watch a show that demonstrated the meaning of unconditional love and undeserving forgiveness.

Shows like Parenthood come around every once in a blue moon. It’s sad, but it’s true. After six amazing seasons, tonight will be the last time I cry on a Thursday night watching Parenthood. (If you watch this show then you know crying is a norm) I’m SO beyond sad to see this amazing television show go off the air, but I’m even happier it ever existed. Here’s to praying one day I have a large family of my own to recreate this family dynamic in real life. As for now, I will enjoy the beginning and building stages with my awesome husband, my amazing daughter, and my entertaining dog.

Farewell Parenthood. Thanks for the made-up yet beautiful memories!

Brie <3

[01.29.15]

Farewell, Miller Family!

Farewell “Parenthood”