In-Laws

Let me start off by saying that I love my in-laws. I think they are wonderful.
However, they are pretty hard to live up to.

an abandoned tank in Laos - summer vacation
(no historical markers, no tour guide for war relics, just a field full of family fun)

I have been trying to figure out why I feel so utterly unexciting in comparison to my in-laws, and I have narrowed it down to 3 major reasons. There are many more, (like, They're crazy!) but these are the pretty all-encompassing ones.

#1. They are missionaries. That right there could be the whole list of why they are exciting and I am not.

Robert & Daniel - Indonesia

#2. They lived/grew up in exciting places. ie. Borneo (Indonesia), Malaysia, Laos. The jungle.

You could feel the bump when you flew over the equator and everything. ;) (poor Mr. Whiting's gullible passengers...)

Carolyn, Robert, Daniel, & Michael

#3. When you go to boarding school, you get in all the possible family adventures you can during Christmas and summer break.
This principle transitioned into college perfectly, and since Michael and Carolyn commute from home, they are in a perpetual state of Whiting family adventures. They go skiing, white water rafting, geocaching, and recently visited a ghost town.

Daniel & Robert - skiing in Idaho

So, I think you get the idea. Fortunately, I have gotten to spend quality time with them doing boring run-of-the-mill things to compensate. I have eaten cereal for breakfast with them; I have complained about homework with Carolyn (not that she EVER complains); I have enjoyed brotherly banter with Michael; I have listened to Larry snore during cheesy movies at home :D
and I have had wonderful heart-to-hearts with my dear mother-in-law, Linda.

Notice anybody missing? That's right. Daniel. The only time I have spent with Daniel was during the wedding, which anybody who's gotten married knows doesn't really count for getting to know someone. Sorry Daniel. Thus, all I know of Daniel is from pictures and stories. And when you tell stories about your big brother, you don't tell stories about the time that you did a puzzle together, you tell stories about swimming in a cave together!

Daniel & Robert
pretty self-explanatory

See, last night at dinner, Robert was telling me that he got to talk to Daniel yesterday, and giving me the highlights. Robert was telling me that Daniel now has time/energy to cook real food again (as oppose to Bachelor Ramen), and the following conversation ensued.

Becca: "Stop. Daniel buys groceries????"
Robert: "Yah?"
Becca: "I feel like I've just been told that my favorite super hero drinks milk."
laughter from Robert
Becca: "No, you don't understand. I can picture Daniel scaling a cliff, or climbing a bridge, or swimming in a cave, but I can NOT picture him pushing a grocery cart through WalMart!"

I mean, maybe riding a grocery cart through WalMart (there is a picture of this somewhere too.) But walking through produce (choosing something blue and spiky), or worse yet - canned food (completely devoid of imaginative opportunities) is just completely beyond me.

So here's to my distant, super-hero brother-in-law,

Enjoy your produce!