Responses

It's always interesting how people respond when you tell them big news. It's almost as though you have this moment where you can see what they really think about you- or what their true personality it. I'm not sure which it is. Either way, I think disclosing big news forces a revelation of honesty of the listener.

I remember seeing this when telling people I would serve a mission, or when I would be attending law school. It made me laugh the responses I would get. Some were supportive, of course. Others thought I was crazy or that I was some sort of feminist (a label I dislike...) or all sorts of strange things.

I've learned over the years to just ignore the opinions of the peanut gallery. I've learned who my true friends are and I've learned who just want to be in the 'know'.

So I guess the various responses to the most recent news from Russ and myself should not have surprised me. Overall, it's been great! There's a few that shared their opinion that I didn't care for. But generally the response was positive.

Really, I just wanted to remember the important ones, the positive ones:

My Family

Russ and I told our families on Father's Day over Skype. We pretended like it was just the regular Father's Day Skype. We chatted about work, and stress, school, etc. Then in the middle of everything, we sent a picture of Spud, told them it was just a recent picture we wanted to share. 

We sat back and watched the wheels in their head turn as they realized what the picture was when they opened it.

It was priceless. I only wish we had recorded it. 

My oldest brother, his wife, and kids: SHOCK. Then giddy-ness. Then scolding that we had let them tell us about their jobs when we had such important news. Followed by more giddy-ness. 

My second oldest brother, his son: We were talking very casually, my brother was reclined in his chair. Once he realized what it was he sat up, asked his son what it was. Eli knew right away. Later he called his wife over to check it out (she had been putting the other kids to bed). More joy! And questions!

My Little Brother, his wife, and my mom: My little bro. had just bought an iPad. He was being fancy with his technology so I had trouble sending the file. We disconnected to talk with Russ's mom and while we were not on Skype, they saw the picture. (SAD FACE). So I missed their reaction. But my mom did exclaim, "That's It! I'm retiring!!!"

Russ's Mom: Very happy. And she asked a lot of fun questions about how things were going. And I think she may have cried. But very excited, and we ran through some names with her too. : D

My Papa: Tears. Bawling. More tears. "I never thought you two were going to have kids!" 

Aw... I love my Dad. He's always supportive of whatever decisions I have made in life. Never questions me. This reaction was my favorite.

Back to his reaction. I think it had been maybe 2 minutes and he had all the pictures printed and was eager to post them on Facebook. It was really fun to talk with him.

Russ's bro, wife & kids: Super excited. They are the 'cool' family. So there was a lot of "that's awesome...duude!"

My Sister: She doesn't have Skype, and called a few days later. She said, "What's going on, are you dying? No one will tell me what is going on but said I needed to call you ASAP." She was also excited, but sad that we live so far away.

Russ's AZ Brother: Excited. I didn't talk to him, Russ did.

Friends

Some of these I have copies of, because we told them over text. Plus, you can see the reactions from the earlier blog post.  Here's some good ones:

Kyle Counce, Former Moot Court Partner

Christopher Davis, friend from San Marcos.

Co-Worker of Russ's, fellow blogger.

Cassie Cook, friend from undergrad.

Lovingly referred to as Mine and Russ's first child. 

(We took care of her when she was sick)

My friend, José. His response was my favorite!

My best friend from high school, Shelly.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It sure is fun to share big news. And I appreciate all the positive responses! Just remember, friends, Haters gonna H8!