Becka's Epic Adventures: Do What You Want and Be Nice About It

Today is the day we celebrate my brother's birthday, so it's an appropriate time to acknowledge just how blessed my life has been because of both of my brothers. I've acknowledged how great my parents are and all three of my sisters, but a little brotherly love has been lacking. My brothers, Scott and Ryan, are really, really great and as I thought about what exactly was so great about them I stumbled on some lessons I've learned from the way they've chosen to live their lives. This seemed easier than picking illustrative stories, because my brothers are trouble makers of legendary status, so I couldn't pick just one or two episodes in two lifetimes of hilarity. Scott and Ryan are certainly different characters, but being the only boys in the family sandwiched between older and younger sisters, they tend to react to things in a similar way (which I've read is a habit of middle children) so I'm sandwiching them together for this celebratory post. Scott and Ryan are some of the happiest guys I know and I always look forward to hanging out with them because they bring a lot of happiness with them.

1. Do what you want.
"I do what I want" is a common refrain in my family's home, and it seems most appropriate for my little brothers who do what they want through a mixture of poor impulse control, mischief, and nerd-level curiosity. And they seem to be pretty happy guys because of it. I could ramble on for days with stories of Scott and Ryan doing whatever they want (throwing rocks, spraying Windex at people, making stop-motion Lego movies) because its been a pattern in their lives. If you ever run into my dad, ask him to tell you some of the stories about my brothers he's written down in the journal of embarrassing stories he keeps, you won't regret it.

Sometimes they just want to wear cereal boxes and forks while shouting "Decepticons." I don't get it, but I love it.

Sometimes they want to build sandcastles

And sometimes they want to play video games

2. Be nice to people and good people will stick around you.
Ask anyone who's met my either of my brothers and they'll tell you that Scott and Ryan are the sweetest people you will ever meet. It's the absolute truth. I think karma has finally started working in their favor after decades of being great to everyone. The long term friendships I've watched my brothers cultivate (I can't tell if it's too much disclosure to mention by name the "other men" in their lives (OK, I'm thinking specifically of Vince and Zach)) just warms my heart and I think the relationships bring joy to those involved. Even better, my family has been blessed because these two guys have snagged spouses that are also great, so now I have two more sisters that I really like a lot. Those lucky ladies really snagged themselves a couple of sweethearts.

Scott and Stephanie - 2011

Ryan and Brittney - 2014

3. Wander until you find the right path for you.
Scott and Ryan both have lots of stories about the times they've wandered away from my parents. Scott got lost in Ogden City Mall looking for a comfortable place to nap, Ryan was found wandering the streets of Clearfield blocks away my folk's place. Neither was running away, just wandering some place because they were curious. This habit of meandering somewhere unexpected seems to be life plan for both of them, but it's worked out well, as far as I can tell. I don't even know how many times Scott has declared a major in his academic journey or how many different jobs Ryan has had before he settled on the one's he in now, but they both seem to be doing remarkably well after years of experimentation. And both have chosen interests that I never would have guessed intrigued them when they graduated high school. Even if it comes after a few years of uncertainty, finding a career that feels right sure looks like it will be worth it. And they're both pretty young, so it could all change again.

The whole engineering - computer programming course these guys have taken sometimes makes all the sense in the world, in hindsight.

Scott near the beginning of his academic journey

Ryan near the beginning of that same journey

4. Wear a helmet.
My brothers are the most accident prone people I know. Just last winter Scott actually cracked his helmet going over his bike handlebars on his way home from work. Ryan spent most of childhood with some sort of wound due to crashing a bike or a dump truck. I'm doing a bit of mind-reading here, because I haven't asked them about their feelings on bikes in quite some time, but I imagine they riding because it's super fun and maybe an accident here and there is worth it if you're having fun. The thing I know for sure is that they're still with us because they started wearing helmets on their noggins before the really serious crashing began. I also know that whenever I hear Queen's "Bicycle" I think of Ryan. So always have fun, but through in a little common sense protection in when possible.