2 Things You May Have Wondered...

For those of you wondering the details on my soon to be family, please let me explain. My wonderful, soon to be hubby has three kids. Knute is 14, Rohr is 13, and Emmalynn is 10. They have been with their mom for the past year and a half in South Dakota. (Their step-dad is in the military.) They spent part of the summer here and we were able to get to know each other and go on some fun trips. They are here for the month of April for vacation and of course our wedding! They have an AMAZING opportunity to go to Japan as their step-dad received orders to station there. They will be leaving for Japan in May and we’ll see how the summer treats them there! We are so excited for them to have this opportunity but we are also sad to not have them around for the summer.

While I’m at it let me explain my soon to be last name. It is Ljungberg; pronounced Youngberg. Sounds normal, but looks weird. Troy’s family is Norwegian and I am so excited to be a part of it. (I have a magnet on my fridge from his mom that says, “Pray for me, I’m married to a Norwegian.” Lol) For the rest of my life when I tell people my last name I will have to explain how it is spelled. I have watched Troy do this hundreds of times already. It is a small price to pay for love I suppose. ;)

Our trip to Mount Rushmore this past summer

If you must know I cannot wait to have this last name. You cannot imagine the confusion of not knowing what your name is. Some places I’m Howard, some I’m Miller, and at the gym and most recently car insurance I’m Ljungberg. I’m caught off guard when anyone asks me my name, and I have to think about where I am. It’s an interesting dilemma and I’m not gonna lie, it is pretty funny sometimes. I went to sign at the closing of my house last week and they had my middle initial recorded as N instead of M. The lady at the title company told me to just sign with an N since that is what was on everything. I agreed...I have lots of names right now.

My boys have told me that since we’ll have different last names, that that means we’re not family, and that they can’t live with me anymore. Oh, the conversations you never imagined having to have with your children! Luckily they have good friends in similar situations, and so their examples helped the boys to understand. How confusing for a little kid!


We are excited for our families to be joined and look forward to all the crazy and fun times. The kids already get along like brothers and sisters. The PLAY together, FIGHT together, and LOVE each other. I don't think I could define FAMILY any better than that.