Well, let me tell you!
I am 20 years old, and I am originally from the San Francisco Bay Area. The peninsula to be more exact. I'm from a little town sandwiched between a bunch of other towns full of hills, trees, and pretty stellar views of the San Francisco Bay– the lovely city of Belmont, to be most exact.
I currently live in Santa Barbara, California right now while I'm finishing up my BA at UCSB, but never fear, I'm moving back to the Bay in a few short months when I graduate. You could say I'm extremely excited about that.
Don't get me wrong, Santa Barbara is gorgeous in it's own beach-y/palm tree type of way– but I'm more of a San Francisco girl. Significantly so.
As you might have noticed from the title of this blog, I am a mormon, and a vegan. As you may have thought upon reading both of these conflicting pieces of evidence, "Uh... isn't there something I read about that once... like, 'never the twain shall meet'?" Well, dear reader, you're not wrong. But, the truth is, I love being a vegan, and I love being a mormon– even if there aren't many of us out there. And even if it seems like every church activity is a barbecue sometimes.
On to the photographer part. A few months ago I woke up, decided I wanted to be a photographer, and the rest is history! It's not my full time career, nor do I plan on it ever being, however I truly love taking pictures of people, and I'm a total photography nerd (which I'm pretty sure is genetic... Dad...), so I DO plan on continuing to be photographer for... well, forever!
I have a wonderful family, and a Big family! I'm the oldest, and I have one little brother, two step-brothers, and a little sister (she's technically my half sister). I have a mom, a dad, a step mom, and a step dad, too! I'm now going to take moment to spell the rest of this all out for you, because things can get confusing later on if we aren't all on the same page. Seriously. Take a look:
My mom is, well, my mom! Biologically, in name, in spirit, and everything. She's pretty awesome– she's the original hippie. She went to UCSC (go banana slugs!), and she is an amazingly gifted teacher who specializes in remediating dyslexic students. She's so cool! Also, she doesn't eat gluten. So don't send her cookies. Or do, but make sure they are gluten free...
Mom: Born and raised in the U.S.A. Currently lives in the U.S.A
My dad is also my dad in every sense. All the genes. All the genetics. He is a plastics engineer by trade, and went to the University of Massachusetts, Lowell for both his undergrad, and his masters in plastics engineering! He's crazy smart, and graduated early with high honors. He currently lives in Switzerland with my step-mom and my little sister, and works for a big pharma company headquartered there. Like I said, he's a total photography nerd, although he is equally obsessed with wood working.
Dad: Born in South Africa (No, he's not black because he was born in Africa. He's very white. Just thought I'd clear that up because I know one of you out there is scratching your head about that one.), raised in South Africa then moved to the U.S. and became a U.S. citizen when he was a teenager. Currently lives in Switzerland.
My step mom is not biologically related to me (duh), but I grew up with her around, and spent a good chunk of my childhood and teenage years living with her and my dad. So, she's really my step mom– not just someone my dad married after I had gone to college or something. She is Indian, and because of that I feel like I was raised in an Indian-American household. Like: I ate Indian food pretty much every night, she spoke Hindi to us, we watched Hindi movies... all through middle school my favorite songs were all Hindi music... I have a huge box of Indian clothes... I watched Ramayan and Vishnupuran with my Nani (oh my gosh... the theme song is stuck in my head now... send help) ... like I said, super Indian. My stepmom went to CSU Easy Bay, and is freaking hilarious. She's a complete blast in a glass. Is it kosher to say that? Well, she is. And thanks to her I spent my teen years in absolute terror that she would find out what boys I had a crush on by racing my diary, which she totally did. I do not recommend doing this.
Step mom: Born in India, raised in India, came to U.S. at 18, became a U.S. citizen, currently lives in Switzerland.
My step dad, is, again, not related to me. He's another total genius, and had a degree in everything. No, really. He graduated from Santa Clara University back in the day, and has worked for Wells Fargo, Stanford... places like that... being smart, you know, the usual. He does astrology (not astronomy. It's different), which... well, it's way fun. He's also really gifted at essentially any sport you throw at him, but I think he is mainly into cycling because he has like 50 bikes. He's written plays, studied education, has an enormously full bookshelf, and is fascinated with the stock market. Plus, he's a really good cook. He's a generally cool dude.
Step dad: Born in the U.S.A to immigrant parents from Columbia and Mexico, raised in the U.S.A. in a culturally Columbian/Mexican household (speaking Spanish, etc. etc.), currently lives in the U.S.A.
My brother, Nick, is 18. He's just under 2 years younger than me. We both have the same parents (my mom and dad), went to the same high school in Belmont, grew up together... the works. Nonetheless, we have turned out very differently: he doesn't want to go to college, wants to become a rapper, and currently works at Taco Bell to save up money for his recording studio bills. He doesn't want to get married, and only wants a son at some point that he can name "Nick Jr." so he can be called "Nickelodeon", and then when he's a grandpa he wants to be called "Nick at Nite"... one can dream... Nick does have an insane work ethic and incredible sense of humor for the most part, in his favor. He is born and raised in CA, and currently lives in CA, like me, as well.
My step brother, Antonio, is 17. He is a fundamentalist evangelical Christian, and goes to a little high school run by his church. He has a friend who is a girl that comes to our house all the time. And he likes to do obnoxious teenage boy things in his free time. He was born, raised, and currently lives in California, and is my step dad's oldest son.
My other step brother, Nicolas, is 13, and he is just about to start high school at the same high school that Nick and I went to! He is an amazingly talented dancer, and participates in every intensive dance thing you can think of. He's in a super tight skinny-jeans phase right now, loves to play DS games, loves his iPhone, and is an incredibly eccentric young lad. I'm pretty sure he confuses my entire family at least 90% of the time, but we still love him to death. Also, he's a total perfectionist, and like lemon flavored desserts. He was born, raised, and currently lives in California, and is my step dad's youngest son.
My half sister, Diya, is 6 years old. She is a really adorable little kid, and I have loved getting to watch her grow up, although I don't see much of her now that she lives in Switzerland. She has ever-changing interests, as little kids do, but you can always count on her to love chocolate (nutella, chocolate bars, hershey's kisses... plus, she lives in the chocolate capitol of the world, so...), and her stuffed animals. Also, last time I checked she was into my little pony but, who knows, by now that may be passé. She was born in the U.S. (California), and is currently being raised in Switzerland. She's the daughter of my dad, and step mom.
My boyfriend, Jack, while technically not part of my family, is I'm sure going to crop up in a bunch of posts! Ha. He is 22 years old, and just got back from serving a mission for the LDS (mormon!) church a year ago. That means he spent two years in New Mexico being a full time missionary...! He's an unfairly gifted drummer and musician, and will figure out how to play just about any instrument he can get his hands on. He went to the University of Utah for 2 years, and now he's back in California pursuing his Bachelor's. He really likes frozen burritos... I'm serious. He's just genuinely an all around respectful, kind, hard working, great guy! I love him a ton. Born and raised in Santa Barbara, California, and he currently lives here, as well!
Ok, that was a long introduction.
But, now you know.
TL;DR: If you get terribly confused later on, you can reference this post and all will be made clear. Or, just look at the FAQ down below!
FAQ:
Am I Indian? No. My step mom is, and my little sister is half Indian, though. But I am not!
Are you engaged? No.
Who are you actually related to? My mom, my dad, Nick, and Diya.
Is your family vegan? No. My dad, step mom, and Diya are all vegetarians, though.
Does your dad speak Swedish? No... and he lives in Switzerland, not Sweden ;)
Is your dad black? No. Although his family is South African, they are technically British!
Alright. Now that all that's taken care of, my next blog posts will be about more of these things individually! I want to write about my photography, health, being a vegan, being a mormon, traveling, my family, and anything else that I want to share on Second Generation Hippie. Or, if you have something you'd like to see a blog post about, let me know in the comments below!
Well... that's all for now folks ;)
Thanks for reading, and I'll see you next blog post!
xx,
Abby
follow me on social media!
Insta: @_abbyroe
Facebook: Abigail Roe Photography
On the Web: www.abigailroephotography.com
I currently live in Santa Barbara, California right now while I'm finishing up my BA at UCSB, but never fear, I'm moving back to the Bay in a few short months when I graduate. You could say I'm extremely excited about that.
Don't get me wrong, Santa Barbara is gorgeous in it's own beach-y/palm tree type of way– but I'm more of a San Francisco girl. Significantly so.
As you might have noticed from the title of this blog, I am a mormon, and a vegan. As you may have thought upon reading both of these conflicting pieces of evidence, "Uh... isn't there something I read about that once... like, 'never the twain shall meet'?" Well, dear reader, you're not wrong. But, the truth is, I love being a vegan, and I love being a mormon– even if there aren't many of us out there. And even if it seems like every church activity is a barbecue sometimes.
On to the photographer part. A few months ago I woke up, decided I wanted to be a photographer, and the rest is history! It's not my full time career, nor do I plan on it ever being, however I truly love taking pictures of people, and I'm a total photography nerd (which I'm pretty sure is genetic... Dad...), so I DO plan on continuing to be photographer for... well, forever!
I have a wonderful family, and a Big family! I'm the oldest, and I have one little brother, two step-brothers, and a little sister (she's technically my half sister). I have a mom, a dad, a step mom, and a step dad, too! I'm now going to take moment to spell the rest of this all out for you, because things can get confusing later on if we aren't all on the same page. Seriously. Take a look:
My mom is, well, my mom! Biologically, in name, in spirit, and everything. She's pretty awesome– she's the original hippie. She went to UCSC (go banana slugs!), and she is an amazingly gifted teacher who specializes in remediating dyslexic students. She's so cool! Also, she doesn't eat gluten. So don't send her cookies. Or do, but make sure they are gluten free...
Mom: Born and raised in the U.S.A. Currently lives in the U.S.A
My dad is also my dad in every sense. All the genes. All the genetics. He is a plastics engineer by trade, and went to the University of Massachusetts, Lowell for both his undergrad, and his masters in plastics engineering! He's crazy smart, and graduated early with high honors. He currently lives in Switzerland with my step-mom and my little sister, and works for a big pharma company headquartered there. Like I said, he's a total photography nerd, although he is equally obsessed with wood working.
Dad: Born in South Africa (No, he's not black because he was born in Africa. He's very white. Just thought I'd clear that up because I know one of you out there is scratching your head about that one.), raised in South Africa then moved to the U.S. and became a U.S. citizen when he was a teenager. Currently lives in Switzerland.
My step mom is not biologically related to me (duh), but I grew up with her around, and spent a good chunk of my childhood and teenage years living with her and my dad. So, she's really my step mom– not just someone my dad married after I had gone to college or something. She is Indian, and because of that I feel like I was raised in an Indian-American household. Like: I ate Indian food pretty much every night, she spoke Hindi to us, we watched Hindi movies... all through middle school my favorite songs were all Hindi music... I have a huge box of Indian clothes... I watched Ramayan and Vishnupuran with my Nani (oh my gosh... the theme song is stuck in my head now... send help) ... like I said, super Indian. My stepmom went to CSU Easy Bay, and is freaking hilarious. She's a complete blast in a glass. Is it kosher to say that? Well, she is. And thanks to her I spent my teen years in absolute terror that she would find out what boys I had a crush on by racing my diary, which she totally did. I do not recommend doing this.
Step mom: Born in India, raised in India, came to U.S. at 18, became a U.S. citizen, currently lives in Switzerland.
My step dad, is, again, not related to me. He's another total genius, and had a degree in everything. No, really. He graduated from Santa Clara University back in the day, and has worked for Wells Fargo, Stanford... places like that... being smart, you know, the usual. He does astrology (not astronomy. It's different), which... well, it's way fun. He's also really gifted at essentially any sport you throw at him, but I think he is mainly into cycling because he has like 50 bikes. He's written plays, studied education, has an enormously full bookshelf, and is fascinated with the stock market. Plus, he's a really good cook. He's a generally cool dude.
Step dad: Born in the U.S.A to immigrant parents from Columbia and Mexico, raised in the U.S.A. in a culturally Columbian/Mexican household (speaking Spanish, etc. etc.), currently lives in the U.S.A.
My brother, Nick, is 18. He's just under 2 years younger than me. We both have the same parents (my mom and dad), went to the same high school in Belmont, grew up together... the works. Nonetheless, we have turned out very differently: he doesn't want to go to college, wants to become a rapper, and currently works at Taco Bell to save up money for his recording studio bills. He doesn't want to get married, and only wants a son at some point that he can name "Nick Jr." so he can be called "Nickelodeon", and then when he's a grandpa he wants to be called "Nick at Nite"... one can dream... Nick does have an insane work ethic and incredible sense of humor for the most part, in his favor. He is born and raised in CA, and currently lives in CA, like me, as well.
My step brother, Antonio, is 17. He is a fundamentalist evangelical Christian, and goes to a little high school run by his church. He has a friend who is a girl that comes to our house all the time. And he likes to do obnoxious teenage boy things in his free time. He was born, raised, and currently lives in California, and is my step dad's oldest son.
My other step brother, Nicolas, is 13, and he is just about to start high school at the same high school that Nick and I went to! He is an amazingly talented dancer, and participates in every intensive dance thing you can think of. He's in a super tight skinny-jeans phase right now, loves to play DS games, loves his iPhone, and is an incredibly eccentric young lad. I'm pretty sure he confuses my entire family at least 90% of the time, but we still love him to death. Also, he's a total perfectionist, and like lemon flavored desserts. He was born, raised, and currently lives in California, and is my step dad's youngest son.
My half sister, Diya, is 6 years old. She is a really adorable little kid, and I have loved getting to watch her grow up, although I don't see much of her now that she lives in Switzerland. She has ever-changing interests, as little kids do, but you can always count on her to love chocolate (nutella, chocolate bars, hershey's kisses... plus, she lives in the chocolate capitol of the world, so...), and her stuffed animals. Also, last time I checked she was into my little pony but, who knows, by now that may be passé. She was born in the U.S. (California), and is currently being raised in Switzerland. She's the daughter of my dad, and step mom.
My boyfriend, Jack, while technically not part of my family, is I'm sure going to crop up in a bunch of posts! Ha. He is 22 years old, and just got back from serving a mission for the LDS (mormon!) church a year ago. That means he spent two years in New Mexico being a full time missionary...! He's an unfairly gifted drummer and musician, and will figure out how to play just about any instrument he can get his hands on. He went to the University of Utah for 2 years, and now he's back in California pursuing his Bachelor's. He really likes frozen burritos... I'm serious. He's just genuinely an all around respectful, kind, hard working, great guy! I love him a ton. Born and raised in Santa Barbara, California, and he currently lives here, as well!
Ok, that was a long introduction.
But, now you know.
TL;DR: If you get terribly confused later on, you can reference this post and all will be made clear. Or, just look at the FAQ down below!
FAQ:
Am I Indian? No. My step mom is, and my little sister is half Indian, though. But I am not!
Are you engaged? No.
Who are you actually related to? My mom, my dad, Nick, and Diya.
Is your family vegan? No. My dad, step mom, and Diya are all vegetarians, though.
Does your dad speak Swedish? No... and he lives in Switzerland, not Sweden ;)
Is your dad black? No. Although his family is South African, they are technically British!
Alright. Now that all that's taken care of, my next blog posts will be about more of these things individually! I want to write about my photography, health, being a vegan, being a mormon, traveling, my family, and anything else that I want to share on Second Generation Hippie. Or, if you have something you'd like to see a blog post about, let me know in the comments below!
Well... that's all for now folks ;)
Thanks for reading, and I'll see you next blog post!
xx,
Abby
follow me on social media!
Insta: @_abbyroe
Facebook: Abigail Roe Photography
On the Web: www.abigailroephotography.com
I think that it's pretty cool to be a vegan Mormon....
ReplyDeleteI think that it's pretty cool to be a vegan Mormon....
ReplyDelete