It Starts With Sisters – Meet Miranda (Mir)

PCK.  Sly.  Randi Jo.  Other nicknames that she’d KILL me for posting publicly (Meesh, you know what I’m talking about…).

She’s my sister, and despite the fact that she’s almost 26 and less than a year younger than I am, she’s still my little sister.  Older siblings, you know exactly what I mean.

I said around New Year’s that I wanted to better introduce some of the most important people in my life, and I’m starting today – with Miranda.

For starters, she’s the best damn first-grade teacher in Minnesota, instructing and influencing hundreds of young minds to be smart, independent-thinkers, and to take responsibility for their actions and their outcomes.  She starts every class by reminding her students,

Today is going to be the best day ever!  WHY?

And every morning, they respond:

Because it’s all about attitude.

It’s all about attitude.  What a powerful message for a 6 year-old.  For anyone!

She has a huge heart – after all, she has room in there for her students, her family, her husband (Hi, Jeff!), her friends, and the world.  She’s creative and inspiring, and more often than not, she is MY role model.

The basics:

Name: Miranda
Age: 25 (26 in April!)
Occupation: first-grade teacher
Relationship status: Married to the best brother-in-law I could’ve ever imagined
Favorite food: pizza
Favorite drink: mango MIRtini
Favorite song: Brown-Eyed Girl (She still believes it was written for her)

She’s a loyal friend, an amazing sister, and just a beautiful person – inside and out.

We played a lot of phone tag for my first month out here in Colorado – the hour time difference isn’t that big, but when you’re a teacher on a school schedule trying to get a hold of a freelancer on a coffee-shop-hours schedule – we just never quite seemed to be in the same place at the same time.  We FINALLY caught up this week and I got to hear all about the house she and Jeff are looking to build (BUILD?!  OMG!), hear about her students, the snowy weather Minnesota has had, and I got to tell her all about the new and amazing people I’m meeting here, how busy all of my activities, jobs, and freelancing opportunities are keeping me, and just how FREAKING GORGEOUS this place is.

It was finally catching up with Miranda that made me realize – it’s been a crazy first month out here.  So crazy and so full and so wildly amazing, but SO hectic that I’ve put so much of my energy in settling in, making friends, and finding a groove that I’ve been missing some key conversations and moments with the people I left in Minnesota.  Reconnecting with Miranda, even though it’d only been a few weeks, felt like home.

It Starts with Family and Friends – It Starts with Us

With this in mind, I wrote my first mission for ItStartsWith.Us.  As I’ve mentioned, 20-Something Bloggers has joined forces with Nate and the #ATeam in doing little things in our every day lives that make big impacts.  A smile, a hello, a note.  This week?  A reminder to take a step back from the hectic and the busy, and to reach out and reconnect with someone you may have lost touch with – or just need to catch up with.  For me, that was making sure Miranda and I had some serious chat time this week.  It was sending letters to my bests back in Minnesota.  It’s my plans to ignore “business” emails tomorrow and respond to friends and family who’ve reached out.

For you?  Maybe it’s sending a card just to let someone know you’re thinking of them.  Maybe it’s finally calling back that friend who’s been trying to get a hold of you all week.  Or maybe it’s as simple as an IM or an email or a text message – just to say hi.

Whatever it is, do it.  Do it today, and share it with us!  Check out the website, join the team, and get involved and inspired!

Speaking of 20sb/ISWU missions – if YOU, my 20sb friends, have an idea about how we can make a BIG impact in every day ways that you want to share, let me know and we’ll bring that to the team together: doniree@20sb.net.

Tagged as: 20sb, do-good, Family, introduction, itstartswitus