Part 1: Family Interview Interview with my mom: Why did you decide to live in Maine? “I Grew up in Maine. I knew it’d be a safe state to bring up my kids. I also like having all four seasons. Being around oceans and lakes is important to me as well because I love camping. I did it as a kid and I still do it now with my family.”  If you didn’t live in Maine where would you live? “Somewhere south for the warmth. South Carolina maybe because there are still oceans and lakes. Not Midwest because it’d be so dry and land-locked. I also like southern cooking.” Where would you visit if you could go anywhere in the world? “Italy. I Married an Italian. I’d love to see the artwork and taste the food. I’d also want a Gondola ride. I’ve wondered if it’s as romantic as movies make it seem.”  How was your first date with dad? “It wasn’t what I was expecting. He told me we were going to a movie and when we got there he bought two tickets to ‘Die Hard.’ Not exactly romantic, which is what I was hoping for. Then afterwards we went to a bar and had some drinks. Pretty typical stuff.” What was your wedding song and why? “It was a Brian Adams song. It was called ‘Everything I do, I do it for you’ or something along those lines. The lyrics meant a lot to us.” What’s a recipe your mom taught you? Why? “Honestly, my mom never taught any recipes.  I wish I could tell you she did, but I pretty much taught myself. My mom worked a lot and I had to take care of my younger brothers.” What’s the one thing you remember most from high school? “The Spring Dance because I got to pick which guy to go with. I Picked Ken and we ended up dating rest of high school.”  What did you want to be “when you grew up?” “A singer or an actress, but Maine didn’t have any options for that. My mom pushed me to be more practical. She didn’t really believe in dreams. That’s why I push you guys to do what you want to do even if sometimes it seems out of reach.” What’s one thing you remember your grandparents telling you? “My grandmother, Francis, on mom’s side told me that her husband was in the Navy. He died before my mother was born. I figured it was service related, but she told me he died of cancer while away.”  If you had another child, what name would you use and why? “What? I already have four! Hm, If it were a boy his name would have been Jackson. As lame as it sounds it’s because of my love for Michael Jackson. I’d have to convince dad of that one. If it were a girl her name would be Deziree, that’s what Sierra’s name almost was. Remember?”  What was your first pet? “A Cat named Funnyface. He was multicolored. I got him when I was about ten years old. I love cats, which you already know.” Part 2: Family Artifacts    #1 My great grandmother’s pocket watch. Dorothy Butler (Maiden name Little) What is it? Pocket watch with mom’s great, great, grandmother’s initials on the back. What does this item tell about yourself and family history?  It’s was a tradition to hand down the watch to next generation of women in the family. Why did you choose this article? Because I never met her and I thought the tradition was nice. Could be mine someday. #2 Artifact Great grandmother Dorothy Butler’s Sewing machine: She made her own dresses for her family because of being poor. It’s important to me mom because Dorothy used to make dresses for me mom too. I think it’s amazing that she used to make things to save money for her family. I wish I was craftier, but my sister is more so. Part 3: Your Story Turning Point Spring 2009 It was my sophomore year of high school. I’d never traveled anywhere outside of New England except for Florida once in middle school. The opportunity to travel to Dublin, Wales and London during my spring break came to surface and I felt like the trip was calling my name. At sixteen I thought it’d be smart not to tell my dad about it at first. I knew he’d be the most difficult to convince, but that didn’t work out so well. I understand that my parents were hesitant about me going. A sixteen year old girl going to Europe with four chaperones and a bunch of high school kids. What could go wrong? Well, just as I’d guessed, nothing bad happened. I was able to see more of the world and in fact, if I hadn’t gone on the trip I wouldn’t have met my current boyfriend of almost five years. Before he’d just been “Ms. Richards son,” a guy whose mom worked at the elementary school. I didn’t even know his face. Meeting him has led to me to love basketball, go to college in Maine and love bulldogs (to just name a few things). Favorite Memory It was my first photography critique. I was really nervous because I’d never worked with film. I was afraid that I’d miss a step and ruin my photos or just end up having the worst one. We were working only in black and white film which I loved. We actually had to learn rules of photography that way. After all the time spent in making that first picture made the critique even more meaningful. When I stepped back and looked at everyone’s photos I thought ‘wow, mine’s actually pretty good.’ It ended up being that mine was the best aesthetically. I was so proud. I still have the photo hanging in my room now. When I look at it I can see how far I’ve come with something I love.  An event in a place that’s really important to you There’s a bridge on one of the Green Belt trails where my parents live. It goes over part of the marsh where a small stream runs through. I have a lot of memories from there. It’s been a few years since I’ve gone back which is a shame because it’s so close to my parents house. When my boyfriend and I started dating we went to that bridge a lot. It was a place that we could walk to from both of our houses. It was a place we could more or less be alone besides some runner or bikers. We talked a lot there about our lives and dreams. One memory that was so surreal took place one late afternoon. Luke and I were sitting on the rail of the bridge when two foxes appeared. We both stopped talking and stared. One fox was on one side of the bridge and one on the other with us in between. Now when I say that, they weren’t far from us. In fact, they were pretty darn close. At the time, Luke and I didn’t feel scared at all, just curious. We were like “uh, what just happened?” when they hopped down into the tall grass in the marsh area. We still wonder why we didn’t get scared. Part 4: Education For now my goal is to finish college in spring of 2015. At this point in time I’m unsure on whether or not I’d like to go to grad school. I think I’m going to try and find work first and go from there. I’m not positive on what I want to do for work, but I’m open to and leaning towards any jobs involving kids. My minor in education is supposed to help me on that end. I’d love to work on toy design, an animated television show, children’s books or on designing curriculums around new technology. It’s safe to say that while New Media has given me some information about most of those fields, I still would need a lot of training. If I find that the skills I have aren’t shaped enough for those jobs I may need to reconsider grad school or just spend a lot of time self-learning. Now, practice and tutorials can be very helpful when money is an issue (which it is in my case). Focusing in on what I want to do with Capstone may be helpful in my decision on where to go next as well. I’d love to stay in New England so I can be closer to family. When I graduate that’s where I’ll look first, however I know that the west coast can also have tons of opportunities. Part 5: A Day in Your Future  Not in any particular order:

1. Live in a bigger home
2. Comfortable job hours (Live somewhat close to work).
3. Keep Christmas dinner & breakfast tradition
4. Read to my children
5. Spend more time with family
6. Take lots of pictures/Document life
7. Have a garden w/ veggies & fruit
8. Travel!
9. Teach children to cook
10. Close relationship with family.

It’s Christmas morning and we’ve just finished opening gifts. I walk into the kitchen and get the cinnamon buns ready to go in the oven. After refilling my cup of tea, I sit back down in the living room. The kids are already asking for scissors to open their toys’ packaging or batteries to “make them work.” While it’s a day off, it’s going to be a busy day of cooking. My husband and I take shifts in the kitchen to prepare for our early dinner. Ham with pineapple sauce, sweet potatoes with marshmallows and some veggies. When dinner is ready we all sit at the table that the children helped set and eat. Christmas night is filled with happiness. We all sit by the fire and wait for the grandparents to come for dessert. My mom’s chocolate cream pie is a hit as always. We take lots of pictures and open their gifts with smiles. We talk about how we plan on going to Canada of the next long weekend. The kids haven’t been yet and are really excited. Finally, after the day is almost done I read a book to my kids before bed and say goodnight. They are tired from a long day of play and food and it doesn’t take long for them to doze off. I climb into bed with my husband and look forward to a relaxing day off tomorrow.