Isaac: My husband. My love. We tied the knot May 8, 2011 after a crazy five years of dating. He has been an incredible source of strength, wisdom, and information during the time I have known him. Doctoring is his passion, and he is currently in his second year of medical school at Michigan State. A natural teacher, he often schools me in the watered-down version of what he has learned with great enthusiasm. It excites him more than anything else to share what he knows with other people—and it’s especially thrilling for him when he can make something complex easy to understand.
Dad: A jack of all trades, Dad can do anything. He’s an extremely energetic workaholic who has gotten up at 4:56am for most of my life. He loves corny jokes and his favorites include, “people are dying to get in there” (the graveyard) and “Joshua was the son of Nun” (or as he likes to emphasize, none). Constantly on the move working and interacting with everyone around him, you'd be likely to see him around Cornerstone munching on something. His office is fully stocked with Nerds, Crunch Munch, and M&Ms and his stash extends to the hidden nooks and crannies in the building. We like to poke fun at how "healthy" he eats!
Dad: A jack of all trades, Dad can do anything. He’s an extremely energetic workaholic who has gotten up at 4:56am for most of my life. He loves corny jokes and his favorites include, “people are dying to get in there” (the graveyard) and “Joshua was the son of Nun” (or as he likes to emphasize, none). Constantly on the move working and interacting with everyone around him, you'd be likely to see him around Cornerstone munching on something. His office is fully stocked with Nerds, Crunch Munch, and M&Ms and his stash extends to the hidden nooks and crannies in the building. We like to poke fun at how "healthy" he eats!
Mom: Mother Hen is one of Dad’s nicknames for her and its very appropriate. Mom loves to see growth and progress in people and often likes to give them a little nudge (or push) in the right direction. She is my confidant. Constantly worn out from keeping the rest of us in line, Mom’s favorite activities are ones where she can relax—particularly, poolside in a bathing suit. One summer when I was in high school, we were searching for chairs at the pool when her flip-flop fell off. Worried I would leave her behind, she excitedly yelled, “Ashley! My thong fell off!” Needless to say, lots of heads were turned and I had to lecture her on my generation’s meaning of the word, “thong.”
Ike
: Born Isaac Dean Brekke, it’s been a struggle for my Iowa family and myself to figure out how to differentiate between him and my husband. We’re still working on it, so for illustration's sake, I’ll refer to him as Ike. A natural prankster who takes after Dad in his love of both practical and spoken jokes, he’s my little brother. He's ornery as can be and loves messing around with computers. He actually built his first desktop a few months ago! When we were little, I accidentally cut the top part of his pointer finger off with the hedge trimmers. Thankfully it grew back, but we’ve been the best of friends ever since.
: Born Isaac Dean Brekke, it’s been a struggle for my Iowa family and myself to figure out how to differentiate between him and my husband. We’re still working on it, so for illustration's sake, I’ll refer to him as Ike. A natural prankster who takes after Dad in his love of both practical and spoken jokes, he’s my little brother. He's ornery as can be and loves messing around with computers. He actually built his first desktop a few months ago! When we were little, I accidentally cut the top part of his pointer finger off with the hedge trimmers. Thankfully it grew back, but we’ve been the best of friends ever since.
Courtney: My mini-me. She might be a little bit lighter in color overall and have different colored eyes, but our personalities are strikingly similar. A lover of anything that moves, Court tells me she loves me more often than anyone else I’ve ever known and it’s primarily because of her that I’m slowly becoming more receptive of hugs. Over her short 16 years, she has probably owned, fed, and nurtured at least 50 cats, 20-something chickens, and a couple dogs. She also shares my love of makeup and food!
