AJ, Meet Eva

Dear AJ,
By now we believe that you are aware that your mother has been a sneak and has advertised your virtues to all the eligible young ladies in Connecting Now Land.

Once you get over your obligatory "GEETHANKS-MOM-WHAT-WERE-YOU-THINKING-STAY-OUT-OF-MY-LIFE-YOU-CRAZY-RED/GRAY-HEADED WOMAN" reaction that is only natural, we'd like you to sit back and take a look at the lovely lady who has expressed an interest in getting to know you.

She's sharp as a tack. She's hilarious. She has so much fun wherever she goes. She's drop-dead gorgeous. (Seriously. She's fiiiiine.) She's also a dear, personal friend of mine. So personal that you can expect to have many double dates with Aaron and me if you guys go out. But don't let that ruin it for you.

Her name is Eva, and you'll never meet another quite like her.

Here are some things that Eva likes about yooooou, AJ:

-She likes that you want a wife/mom in a woman.
-She likes that you know what you want. Or at least that your Mom knows what you want.
-She likes that you like to cook with garlic.

And here's a little interview I conducted with Eva a few nights ago, so you can figure out what you like about her:


What is your favorite breakfast food?
-Sausage and eggs--just had it last Saturday!

Where would you like to go on your next adventure?
-Well. I never really "pick" my adventures, they just kind of fall in my lap and I go and I love it...I think it's fitting then, that I don't know exactly where AJ lives yet. Cause that could be my next adventure.

What is something that God has done for you recently?
-I've never been the sort of person to ask for A, B, or C from God, I trust that He has a plan and my best interests at heart, so I really just look at all the good things in my life as gifts from Him and it's kind of hard to point to one thing and say, "THAT! That's from God, and it's for me!" when I feel like He's a regular part of my existence anyway.

If you had to choose between going to the beach or the mountains for a weekend which would you choose?
-Oh that's a tough one! I think it would depend on the time of year. I love the cool weather of the fall and the leaves in the mountains, but I love the heat and fun on the beach in the summer.

How many kids do you want?
-Uhhhh...define "passel" and you'll get your answer.

How close are you to your family?
-I am very close to my family, Mom, siblings, and grandparents especially. I love that all my siblings are so different and I connect to them in such unique ways. I love the feeling of support that I get from my grandfather and the security that comes from that relationship. I love that my Mom is quiet but I always know exactly what she thinks. I love a lot, I don't want this answer to go on forever, but yeah. We'll probably talk a lot about my family if we get together.

Why did your last relationship end?
-We had different goals in life and it's stupid to continue in a relationship where you don't want the same things.

If you had to be on a reality TV show, which would you choose?
-The Amazing Race...we could be a team!

What is the last song you sang in your car?
-Actually, as ridiculous as this is, I sang the Star Spangled Banner with Carrie Underwood.

What are your views on parenting?
-Well, as you may recall I want a lot of kids. Family values are very important to me, and it's important that my kids have the stability of me being at home and accessible to them. I want to be an active Mom and possibly maintain some form of side job that wouldn't take up too much time. But my first priority would be to maintain my household and care for my family.

What are your culinary abilities?
-Being that my great grandmother is 100% Italian, I have a few tricks up my sleeve. She taught me how to make pasta sauce from scratch. My grandmother is German, so I've got some skills in that area as well (I used them to make sauerbraten at my sister's Oktoberfest celebration the other day!). I started making waffles when I was 7. But now in general I love to experiment with all sorts of stuff. Obviously, I love tacos. Who doesn't? I made this crazy lentil thing the other day. Yeah, I'm a foodie.

What are your musical tastes?
Mostly I listen to country, oldies, classic rock and Dean Martin is in a class all his own. I don't like rap or pop. I'm a classic kind of girl.


So there you have it AJ, doesn't she sound well-rounded? To conclude our little Eva Expo, I'd like to tell you a story about her from way back in the day.

Eva and I were part of a huge group of homeschoolers that would get roped into performing in church plays. Rehearsals for these plays was usually complete chaos.

At one such rehearsal, Eva and I were horsing around, being stupid, and wandering about the church like idiots while the director was working with a bunch of other kids. Eva was giving me a piggy back ride. *(Sidenote: She still gives me the occasional piggy back ride, and they're really nice.)* We eventually decided to get out of the way and actually go to the room that the director had provided for kids to hang out and be noisy in when she didn't need them. (Naturally, this room was almost always empty.)

We piggy backed down the hall and went to the room that the director had jokingly labeled: "Gossip Room! Hang out here and talk it up about your neighbors!" Eva tried to turn the knob to open the door, but it wouldn't budge, it was locked up tight. (Another reason why it was usually empty.)

Eva then said: "Oh, an angel must have locked this door, because it's a sin to gossip."

It sounds dumb, but that was a really pivotal moment for me, as this was the first time that it really, REALLY sunk in that indeed, it IS a legit SIN to gossip. I sat there, clinging to Eva's strong back and thought to myself: "Well, crap. This ruins a lot of fun things that I talk about all the time."

And so Eva taught me a valuable life lesson and didn't even realize it. I have therefore thought of Eva pretty much every time I have indulged in gossip since, and she is the image I have developed of my guardian angel who is desperately trying to punch my conscience into submission.

And like I said before, Eva is a bombshell, so it's kind of sweet having her as a guardian angel who hangs out on my shoulder all the time and makes me look better by default.

So seriously, AJ.
She's a great girl, and you should at least get to know her, cause Eva is still teaching me things today.

But if you hurt her, I will hunt you down, and kill you with my bare hands. And then I'll probably have to at least try to disable your mom out of self defense, and that'll be a bummer for me because she'd probably win.

Good luck, kids!
XOXO
-Maddie