Just Gindi

I'm participating in a little "getting to know you" exercise hosted by my sweet college sorority sister over at Kelly's Korner, so here goes:

History: My name Gindi came from the mudflap of an 18-wheeler. I was born in Texas but moved when I was 3 weeks old. In addition to living in Texas (I am now a Houstonian), I've lived in California, Arkansas, Kansas, and Tennessee and did study abroad stints in England and Russia. My parents divorced when I was 12 - my dad was a pastor and my mom is a special-ed teacher. I have the cutest baby brother in the world, he's four years younger which makes him 34 but he's still the baby, and he moved to Oklahoma last year to work near my dad. I got a BA in Political Science & History from Ouachita Baptist University and a JD from Vanderbilt. I've loved two boys and one man (the latter I got lucky enough to marry) and have had the best girlfriends anyone could ask for over the course of my life, but sadly I only get to live in the same city as a few.

Current: I've been married to the love of my life for six years (this weekend!) and together for eight and a half. We've got the most brilliant, beautiful, funny, nutty two year old triplets you can imagine - two boys and a girl. It took us a long time to have a family, so we're unspeakably grateful for this gift of three. I'm a lawyer and have been for 14 years, an environmental attorney for 12 of those. I live in West Houston in a nice house that currently looks like a tornado hit it. In addition to my mom and dad and brother, my husband's family is now my own. He's got two sisters and a brother and between the lot of them there are 11 Vincent grand kids which my mother- and father-in-law love. The MIL/FIL live on a farm in Louisiana and, despite me being a total city girl, my kids adore tractors and horses and cows and hay. Go figure!

What Makes Me Tick: I believe in Jesus and love Him every single day even when I don't act like it. I believe everything I have is a generous gift from my Heavenly Father, and I'm so grateful that He forgives me when I mess up. I love to write and speak. I get to do it sometimes for my job and sometimes on the side for faith-based groups. I hate to work out but I do it, early in the morning, so that I can keep up with my three kids who I'm head over heels for - even though they are two and tough as nails right now. I also get to kiss good morning and kiss good night (and any other time I can dream up in between) the handsomest husband in the world.

My Interests: I love the arts. I try to get Symphony season tickets or catch a play or musical if the budget allows. Plus I'll listen to just about any kind of music out there (almost), but I could listen to jazz around the clock. My favorite movie as a kid was Grease and as an adult is The Royal Tenebaums, but keep in mind I almost never get to see movies anymore (despite adoring them). I think the last movie we saw was J. Edgar. I do DVR a handful of shows, some more embarrassing than others. The current roster is Grey's Anatomy, Private Practice, Castle, The Bachelor/ette, Revenge, and Chopped, but the best show of all time was Friends. I love to cook and travel but don't get to do either right now. I fell in love with Venice and St. Petersburg abroad and Cape Cod, Kenai Fjords, Sonoma and the Grand Canyon in the U.S.

My Friends: I have the coolest friends in the world, and they're all totally different which makes my life interesting and fun. I couldn't possibly list them all, but here's the basic camps:
Mary - she stands alone because she's my best friend and we've been through a ton together and there's nothing I couldn't count on her for (or she me) or tell her, she's my touchstone;
Amy - she's my Christian/accountability/prayer/writing heart friend - when I have a need, she's the first one I call for prayer (and she me) and hopefully in 10 years we'll both be writing forwards to each other's third book;
Natalie - she's my precious mom friend, a working mom who lives in my neighborhood with a son the same age as the kids and she just GETS everything;
Kellie/Alice - they're, along with others, my sweet supportive Fort Worth friends. I had the most amazing deep network of friends the four and a half years I practiced in Fort Worth, dozens of go-to girls, and these fabulous women topped the list. Even after all this time away, they are still as close to my heart as they always were.

I blog about my funny kids and faith-based issues along with whatever random stuff hits me too. My (brand new) Twitter handle is JustGindi (hence the title), but I'm not using it much yet. I'm looking forward to learning about you too!