twin factor

i've never blogged about this, but decided i would. especially since i've learned that you can print your blog!!

if you are married to a twin, then you will totally understand. if you're not, you won't. its such a one of a kind thing for there to be someone else in this world that looks and acts exactly like your spouse. in case you didn't know, andy has twin...joey.

honestly, the feeling is kinda new...cuz when we were dating...they really didn't look all that much alike. they were pretty different. andy's hair was shorter...he wore glasses...and he's a little smaller (but super fit, babe!!) than joey, so all that put together...they looked like they could be twins, but it was easy to tell the difference. as they have aged, they are more and more similar, and sometimes its just weird. (not in a bad way...just weird)

sometimes its fun. like this summer, we've been to several weddings that they were a part of, and it became a competition of sorts to count compliments...whether they were the right one or not...like andy officiated a wedding...and joey was getting compliments on it. and joey sang at a couple of them...and andy got more compliments on the music than joey did! its pretty humorous. and i can understand cuz a lot of people don't know us all that well. joey is teacher, in the roanoke area, and when we are in that area, there's a lot of kids that will smile and wave at andy. some will have the boldness to say "hi mr. vanderveer"...we don't know even half of them, but andy just smiles and waves. sometimes he'll tell them, but most of the time, its just easier to wave back. andy is working with youth here in denton...so its easy to get them confused...especially since joey taught here in denton a few years back. that gets especially tricky. andy lived in denton, then moved -- at the same time, joey moved to denton. then joey moved, and a short time later, andy is back. people probably don't even know there's two of them.

it really gets interesting now that they are both married. we live in close proximity to each other, and have most of the same friends....but have different enough lives to keep people confused. i remember a few years ago after we had just had logan, i walked into the office at the apartment complex where we were living...and at the same time waved bye to joey and kyle (joey's wife) who had been over for dinner. the girls in the office looked at me with wide eyes, and i just smiled and said "that's andy's twin brother". gasps broke out and the manager said, "o my gosh! thank goodness! we thought andy was cheating on you!" whoa. i never even thought of that! i wonder how long they had thought that! ahh! and then there was the time that a close friend of kyle's parents actually sat them down, prepared to have a very distraught and hard conversation that they believed joey having an affair with another woman...who had kids. that would be me...out with andy and the boys! and these were good friends! yikes! it concerns me a little of how many people have thought that, but never asked or said anything. pretty weird.

lately its been even more strange because they do look so much a like! our friends sat thru a whole wedding and listened to joey sing several songs....and the whole time, thought it was andy! don't get me wrong. i don't fault anyone for mistaking them....i know they are identical twins. its just funny, and weird.

probaby the part that has freaked me out most is when i've mistaked joey for andy. it has happened 2 times in my life. but it has scarred me. :) not really, but sorta. early in our marriage i almost (not did...almost) grab joey's hand. thankfully, i stopped in time. the second time was only a few months ago...and it was the first time i touched joey, thinking it was andy. his back was turned, and i kinda rubbed his shoulder just barely (i was about to ask him to get logan a drink)...but then saw andy in my periphereal ... just watching me smirking. i screamed and jumped back (in my defense, they were wearing the same color of shirt). so, so weird. to have someone look so much like your husband...just odd.

and now we have kids....so far, just boys. (the 'so far' is for kyle's sake, not mine...) and i thought the other day how convienent it is cuz she doesn't have to re-mark any of our hand-me-downs! they already say 'vanderveer' in them!

twins have the most incredible bond. they think alike, they look alike, they act alike, they say the same things, and respond the same way. i mean, they do share genetic information. its soo cool, and there's no one closer to andy (except me) than joey.
its pretty fun (and sometimes weird) to be apart of....