We were on a staycation at my sister's house in our old town for a week while Josh painted the interior of our house.
Our Internet stopped working for THE ENTIRE WEEK after we came home and we finally have our connection back. I hold my breath every time the wind blows.
I have missed blogging and have more then a handful of updates to report. But before all that, why not kick off our return with some Wallpaper that is overdue?
For the record, I used Emily's post set up because I thought it was the easiest way to organize my memories, but I did not read what she wrote until after I made my list. We ended up sharing some memories, like most siblings would.
My favorite childhood memories:
1. The playhouse
2. Mulberry trees
3. The Town Hall
4. Kickball
5. Rollerskating in the basement
6. WJR in the mornings
7. Watching for the bus across the pond
8. The Village Market
9. The Mill Pond
10. Doing dishes with my sisters..I was almost always the washer.:)
11. The wooden swing
12. My metal swing set
13. Cartwheels
14 "Choo-Choo Peanut Butter."
15. Going to my grandparents for weeks at a time
16. My parents freezing corn. It always meant school was about to start.
17. The Chelsea Fair!
18. My birthday. It was the only day I was allowed to be the boss and not get in trouble for it.:)
19. "Buckin' Bronco." I was always the "Bucker" i never got to go for rides.:)
20. Cassidy Lake walkaways.
21. Our indoor cardboard playhouse.
22. Burning the trash.
23. Writing on the back door windows when they steamed up in the winter.
24. Walnut trees.
25. Angie Wilson, Nathan and Amy Oake, Ricky Barnes, Larry Taft, and Kyle Klink.
26. Jackie Donnellon
27. Our whole house fan in Waterloo
28. The mirror on the attic door in our house in Waterloo.
29. My Pontiac J-2000. It was robin egg blue.
30. Playing hide and seek in the dark in our house with my dad.
Only Emily:)
My freshman year of high school i tried out for volleyball. I got cut. My sophomore year i tried out again. I was terrified to do so, but i did. I made varsity. I played varsity for 3yrs!
My senior year of high school a girl punched me in my face. She thought I liked her boyfriend. I fell to the ground. My sister Laura stood over me telling me to "get up and punch her back." I told Laura "no way I want to start in my volleyball game tomorrow night!" I started the next night. The girl who punched me was suspended for 3 days.
I did punch a boy in the face when i was 11 for pushing Mellissa and stealing her place in the line for the bus. Mellissa was first in line. This boy pushed Mellissa out of the way so that he could be first. I punched him in his face and told him that he "better not think about it." Mellissa was the first one on the bus that day. My parents told me that I needed to apologize. I fought with them so hard over apologizing that I got grounded. I did not think that I did anything wrong. I finally told the boy "I'm sorry you were not the first one on the bus." I never said I was sorry for punching him in the face.:)
I used to ask for "hair styles" and for "Todd Redding to like me" on my birthday list.
When I was in 5th grade I talked my teacher into changing my F on report card into a F+. I told her my parents would not be as mad because I got a +. Wrong. I was grounded from my grandparents house for a very long time!
The perm I got at Gemini when I was 15. Betty Marsh took me. It is the one and only treatment that I have ever done to my hair!
Memories with my Dad:
1. He taught me to ride my bike
2. He taught me to throw a baseball
3. He taught me to drive a stick shift vehicle.
4. He waited for me outside every sports practice and never complained. He would get off work at 3pm and get to Chelsea at 3:45. My practice would not end until 5:30. My dad was always there when i opened the door to leave the gym. I never took that for granted!
Memories from my Mom:
When I grew my boobs I hated them. One day I was running around outside playing holding them. She called me in the house and said "Emily you are going to have these for a very long time. You can't walk around the rest of your life holding them." I'll never forget how mad I was when I realized she was right.
When I started my period, I called my mom in the bathroom and screamed "I got it." She said, "you got what?" She asked me four times. I finally pointed at the toilet and told her. She laughed at me. I deserved it.:)
My mom always supported me when it came to girly things. She paid for me to work with a Mary Kay consultant so that I would know what color makeup looked good on my skin tone when I first started wearing make-up.
See you next week-Emily
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My childhood memories:
1. Playing and sleeping in the playhouse
2. The smell of the garage
3. Walking to the store in the summer to run errands for Mom and Dad and picking up a gummy worm and stick pretzel on the way.
4. Going to Gee Farms and getting seeds and doughnuts
5. Going on drives and getting "lost" as a family
6. Walking around the pond or riding our bikes
7. The town hall
8. The mulberry tree
9. Kickball with the Waterloo kids
10. Ice skating on the pond
11. Going to spend the night with Grandma and Grandpa Grau
12. The bus stop in the morning
13. The walnut trees
14. Skipping rocks, fishing, cat tails, "the hill"
15. Clear Lake
16. Chelsea Fair
17. The attic at home. The fan, the creaky boards, the floor register, the house antenna, the Christmas lights, all of it!
18. Picking tomato worms from the plants and putting them in the road for cars to squish.
The Stories:
I remember drawing a picture for a "Hay bale Hoedown" advertisement competition when I was in 4th grade. I knew I was going to win the contest, I could feel it! But, Jacob had things on his mind too. He scribbled all over it with a marker and ruined my drawing. I was so sad. My mom convinced me to turn it in anyway and I ended up winning honorable mention.
I won a She-ra poster and coloring book from my strawberry bubblicious gum. I really thought that was the coolest day ever.
I remember skipping band with Laura (senior) my freshman year. We went to breakfast and went back to school for second hour. The office called home and asked my mom why we weren't in class and they concluded that we were skipping. She didn't care. It was funny.
Riding up and down the driveway for hours and through the church circle while Emily learned how to drive the stick in the J2000. We thought we were the bombs, listening to the radio and mixed tapes. I later learned to drive a stick in that same car in that same loop.
Sharing the living room mirror! Oh, the torture! Three girls and one mirror. I was the youngest of the girls and had the least authority. My mirror time seemed very limited.
Playing basketball, volleyball and soccer throughout high school and being voted most athletic my senior year. But most of all, the smell of the gym during summer basketball practice, walking the back way into school, early morning practices, playing soccer in the snow, marching band practice right after basketball practice, the games, the spotlights, the announcer...."good sports are winners!" I loved every minute of that.
Memories of my Dad:
1. Dentyne gum in his front pocket or on the secretary
2. Pushing us on the rope swing so high that our feet could touch the house.
3. Wearing his cut off jeans to clear lake to go swimming. SO FUNNY!
4. Watching us out the front window playing or to see us across the pond on our walks. He was so nervous someone would steal us.
5. One time some random guy was taking a picture of Emily and Laura having a picnic in the front yard. Dad snatched me up, ran to the Cavalier, throw me in and sped out the driveway. We were hunting the guy down. I was so scared and asked why he snatched me to go along. He said, "Because I didn't have my glasses on and had no time to find them. You have the best eyes. I need you to spot the license plate." We never caught him.
6. My dad grilling.
7. Cutting corn to freeze for hours in the kitchen.
Memories of my mom:
1. Picking strawberries or blueberries. I always went with my mom. And every summer she would take my best friend, Monica, and I.
2. Making muffins and sending them in my lunch. My lunch was always SO embarrassing. It was filled to the top of my paper bag, so much that I couldn't carry it normally. I had to cradle it like I was holding a baby. My friends loved that I would share with them because I had enough to feed a basketball team. I never told her. She was just making sure I didn't get hungry.
3. Going grocery shopping early Saturday mornings. It was something she and I looked forward to.
4. She went T.Ping with us one summer night after Laura and I had gotten out of work. I will never forget her jumping in the ditch when she heard a car coming. I laughed to the point of needing to pee.
5. She and I would ride our bikes MILES and she would complain about how much her butt hurt the next day. Then we would hop on and go again. It was fun.
6. She always had a home cooked meal waiting for me after a game or practice.
7. Her yelling out the back door, "Get in here!" HAhahaha!
Mellissa
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Question: What are your favorite plants, flowers, trees, etc.?
(Let's help with the landscaping!)
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