I have three amazing kids, three beautiful girls. I don’t know how it happened but they are growing up. What feels like a couple of years ago we worried about preschool and swimming lessons, now we deal with drivers ed and honors classes at high school. The days go by slow but the years fly by so fast. 15 years feels like 5.

Today, January 10th we celebrate 5 years in this country, 5 years in Washington, 5 years away from what used to be our home. Our move here was a big change in our girls’ life, both good and bad. As a parent you always question your decisions that involve your kids. You always wonder if you did the right thing, made the right decision. We have all learned and experienced so much and it has been a lot of laughter but also tears. I can’t even remember the first year we lived here, my mind blocked it somehow. Did we make the right decision? I do think so and I really hope so. This adventure will be a life long experience that we will all carry with us for the rest of our lifes. And I am sure growing up in different cultures has shaped their lifes. They will always view life through a lens that is different from their friends. Friends that lives on two different continents. We live in different cultures instead of reading about it in textbooks, we meet people that are very different from us every day. What awesomeness.

The only thing you really want for your kids is happiness. Not power or money, just for them to find their sweet spot, their thing that gives them goose bumps. You want them to grow up doing what they like to do, enjoy their lives. And you don’t want them to make the same mistakes as you did. But maybe they’ll have to. To get the experience and to feel some sort of pain. If I could I would pass my experience down to them but I can only give some advice. Just a few life lessons on the way, some more serious than others…

Keep swimming girls… before you blink high school will be over.

• Be nice to your sisters, always.
• It is ok to be homesick and long for all loved ones in our other country… they will still be there next summer.
• Never get in a car with a drunk driver. Call home, any time.
• Work out. As much as you can and as hard as you can. And it is ok to look sweaty, not very cute and feel like you are going to puke. It is actually good for you.
• Always work hard in school, it will pay off. But remember, you can only do your best.
• Never be afraid to ask for help.
• It is ok to spend a lot of money on shoes, especially running shoes.
• Don’t worry about love when you are 15, you have plenty of time. I am sure you will not even remember the name of the cutest guy in 9th grade when you turn 30. Life goes on.
• Accept people around you. Nobody is perfect. Not even you.
• Do your thing. Be different. But don’t wear too short skirts.
• Travel as much as you can.
• Laugh often and hard. And laugh at yourself.
• Keep your eyes on the ball, in sports and in life.
• Learn how to drive a stick.
• Learn how to cook and bake bread. Enjoy food, it is good for you and it brings people together.
• Change is good, scary but good.
• Do things that scare you.
• No tattoos or visible piercings. And no, I will not change my mind about this.
• You are all three so much stronger than you think.
• If you can’t think, go for a run, a long run.
• Don’t stress… you have a long life ahead of you.

Life is a great big canvas, and you should throw all the paint on it you can.  ~Danny Kaye

Our favorite backseat song