Lifesong

Flashback Friday

 

We've been reminiscing about Idaho this week, since we have been in touch with several friends that are there currently. So I thought this was a good flashback for today. (I searched and searched for a picture of us with Lance and ReNee, but I came up empty handed. I guess I was not quite the camera fanatic back then as I am now, when a day doesn't pass without dozens of pictures.)

I can't say that Idaho was our favorite place to live (sorry, Idahoans!). There are things that are stacked against it - it's a Mormon-heavy land, which made it very difficult to fit in, it's not in the South, it was a fairly small town (read: no malls), and it wasn't in the South. Oh, did I say that already?

However, there were some great things about Idaho. We loved the snow, the outdoorsy things (yes, me!) that we never would have experienced otherwise, the climate, and our church. The snow was awesome - powdery and perfect, and it was here that John and I skied for the first (and last) times. Probably our greatest source of fun was the four wheeler we purchased a few months after moving there. It was a blast! To this day, I can smell a dusty road with an exhausty type smell (okay, rather hard to describe) and it instantly takes me back to flying down a trail with the wind in my hair, arms wrapped around John for dear life screaming FOR THE LOVE OF MY LIFE CAN YOU PLEASE SLOW DOWN? No, I'm really only kidding - I LOVED the speed, and for the record, never once asked John to slow down (and probably more often it was the opposite!).

This photo was taken in, I'm guessing sometime in the year 2000. My family had come to visit, and I remember my Dad saying for years afterwards that this was his favorite vacation ever. It was THAT fun! We borrowed two of our neighbor's four-wheelers and took off for a few days, riding during the day and then staying in a little cabin at night. It was SO.MUCH.FUN. If someone offered the opportunity for me to go back to Idaho to go four-wheeling, I'd snatch it up in a heartbeat.

I remember stopping in the middle of nowhere on this day and enjoying a picnic. Seriously smack dab in the middle of nowhere. And I remember seeing lots of wildlife, some a little scarier than others. I remember zooming off and trying to "hide" from everyone on a trail, and then popping out and chasing after them. I remember screaming - happy screams, and lots of laughs and tons of conversation about our adventures afterwards.

I love that John is taking this photo (when did THAT change?). I love that my Dad is waving. I love how happy my Mom looks. I love that Jonathan is just returning from peeing in the woods. No, I'm totally kidding, I have no idea why he's off to the side, but I did just crack myself up. I love that everyone has a jacket on but me. I wonder if John was wearing a jacket? I love the scenery.

I really do love the South, and just about everything about it.

But I hope that Heaven is a lot like Idaho.

Flashback Friday

Of course, on the last Friday before Christmas, it has to be an ornament. This ornament is on our memory tree in the basement. When it first came out of its box, the conversation went like this:

A: Where is THIS picture taken?

M: In the house I grew up in, in Douglasville, Georgia.

A: WHAT??!

M: In the house I grew up in, in Douglasville, Georgia. (You get used to the broken record effect with a five-year old.)

A: Well, how'd I get THAY-ERE? (That's "there" for the non-Southernese.)

 

It's funny to me that Ansley thinks we look alike. I don't see it quite as much - I mean, sure, you can tell that we are mother and daughter, but not spittin' image of me. And there's always the fact that I am probably like seven years old in this picture, but I looked like I was five. The story of my life. Ansley won't have that problem.

This is also proof that I did have blonde hair, once. Naturally. Oh, and straight hair, once. (Ansley asked oh-so-sweetly yesterday if I knew that my hair was black underneath. Thanks, sweetie. And for the record, it's not black, just darker than the chemically altered hair on top.)

But look at those dark jeans. Ansley has a pair just like them. She doesn't have a shirt like that, though.

There is no date on this ornament, but I know I must be older, because I remember those clothes, and that rocking chair I am sitting in, and those bookshelves my Dad built in the background. I remember Christmases in this house - warm, cozy, family Christmases. I would always beg my Dad to get out the Christmas decorations the DAY after Thanksgiving. He would always oblige. And my Mom would always start playing Christmas music pretty early in the season (like mother, like daughter). I remember the ceramic Christmas trees my Grandma made with the little lights on them, the red plastic Santas that held candy, and our red stockings, and the pinecone wreath, and the little cross stitched ornaments. The highlight of any Christmas season for Jonathan and me was Present War. A game born no doubt from those seemingly endless childhood days leading up to Christmas, we concocted a fun game to pass the time. We would gather our presents and form a little wall, and then take turns pulling out a present, and whoever had the biggest present won. The object, of course, was to have the most presents.

And if you know Jonathan, then you know he always won because he cheated and took all my presents.

Oh, I kid. I'm sure he didn't take ALL of them, just enough to win the game.

Jonathan and I always made a schedule for Christmas Eve of what we would do at each hour, just so the day would go by faster! My Dad would always have to get up on Christmas morning (after Jonathan and I went in their room for the hundredth time, telling them it was time to get up!) and turn on the Christmas music, plus all the lights in the house before we could come downstairs. I do that with my own children as well. I wonder what memories they will have of their childhood Christmases?

I love this time of year - the remembering, the traditions, the family, the love.

Ansley counts down every day - FIVE MORE DAYS, MOMMY!

Christmas is upon us.

Flashback Friday

I'm sure there will be no one who will look at this picture and say, Hmm, I wonder who that is?

 

Me, circa 1984ish.

And, as an added bonus if you've stopped by here today, here are twenty things, in random order, about me.

1. I am not spontaneous. I do enjoy doing things and going places and traveling, but if something last minute comes up? No, thank you.

2. I could become a vegetarian. I really could take or leave meat. It doesn't thrill me. I love vegetables, fruits, soups, girlie food, as John calls it. So hence why I can't become a vegetarian: John would not be onboard with my meal planning.

3. I used to consider myself very sensitive. And while I think there are still some hidden chambers of my heart that quietly burst into tears when I hear certain stories, for the most part, I think I have learned a lot about myself in the last ten or so years, and I wouldn't really call myself sensitive anymore. I have learned that I have control over my emotions, and I can choose to respond differently than I might have 12 years ago. (This has taken lots of prayer.)

4. I think often that I spend too much time on the computer and watching tv. And yet, at the end of the day, when the kids are soundly sleeping, I am most often surfing the internet while catching up on my favorite shows. What's that definition of insanity?

5. When I was in the 4th grade, I came in 3rd place in a school wide spelling bee. In the 5th grade, I won "cutest" for a class superlative. In the 6th grade, I won "Best Sportsmanship" in my horseback riding summer class. Since the 6th grade, there has been a rapid decline in the awards I have won. 

6. Sometimes I am very irritable and short with my kids. And I always regret it. 

7. Sometimes I am too busy thinking "woe is me" to realize all the wonderful blessings in my life.

8. I love to read. I wish I had more time to read. For now, magazines will have to do. Oh, and children's books. PLENTY of children's books. Which I also love.

9. I want to learn how to knit. 

10. I love to host things. I should do it more often. And by more often, I mean more than once every two years.

11. I thrive on deep and meaningful friendships. The kind of friend that you can be honest with and share your thoughts and emotions and know that nothing will change. Those are the friendships that change me, and challenge me, and make me better than I am. Or thought I could be.

12. Cool weather DELIGHTS me.

13. I thought 20 random things would be a lot easier than it actually is.

14. I wish I could sew. Really well, not just curtains. I wish I could make adorable dresses and cute little outfits and purses and bags. But that's different than wanting to know how. I don't know if I want to learn how; I just wish I already knew.

15. It's hard to write exclusively about me. So many things come to my head about Ansley or Christian and what's going on with them, but then that's not really about me, is it?

16. I hardly ever nap. But today, I feel like a nap.

17. Come to think of it, my house is eerily quiet. That usually means one thing: Ansley has fallen asleep as well. It might be a good day for a nap! How is that about me? It goes back to the nap thing. Somehow.

18. Nope, I take that back. Just heard a toy fall, or a chair, or maybe a child. But now I have napping on the brain, so I'm feeling too comfy to go check.

19. My cat is on my lap. I love cats. Always have, always will.

20. ZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzz

Flashback Friday

 

This picture makes me smile. And brings tears to my eyes.

As this boy loves to say "Where'd Christian go?"

Oh, yes, he's right here. Just different. Older. No longer a baby. So, Where'd my baby Christian go?

He is seven months old in this shot. In a few months, he will be TWO. Where'd the time go?

It's funny, Ansley's babyhood I can recall so well - I remember milestones and events and playdates; with Christian, it's a little harder to recall. It was a blur, a constant balancing of two, trying to get it right, hoping the balance would come eventually.

And it has. It's so much better now. And, dare I say easier? Ansley and Christian are great pals. They play together all the time, so much so that sometimes I find myself wondering what I should do, because I'm not always included in their play. They giggle and share secrets and have tea parties. And I watch, aware of the fact that as my kids get older they aren't as needy as they once were.

This baby needed everything from me. Now, he is content to play with his sister, and shout "NO!" when I ask him a question.

This baby reserved his biggest smiles for me, his Mama. Now, he smiles the most and laughs the hardest at Ansley, because she is just silly and goofy and the toddler-boy in him loves that.

This baby was content to stay in the place I put him and look up at the camera. Now, he would not stay in the same place if his life depended on it, and camera shots are usually blurry and in constant motion.

This baby ate whatever I put in front of him, and opened his mouth wide at whatever was on the spoon. Now, he uses a spoon and fork and is a little pickier at what goes in his mouth.

This baby looked at me like I was his whole world.

Well, maybe that part is still true.

I loved that baby. I love this boy.

That will never change.

Flashback Friday

When my Dad was sick, he would wake up every morning and say "THIS IS THE DAY THAT THE LORD HAS MADE; LET US REJOICE AND BE GLAD IN IT!" I can still hear him saying it, either over the phone when I was talking to him in the morning, or when we were visiting in person. Ansley would even say it with him when we were visiting, which my Dad loved.

But today my Dad would have been sixty-two. Should have turned sixty-two.

 

And tomorrow my Mom and Dad would have celebrated thirty-nine years together.

And so I don't feel much like rejoicing. It's been a tough week.

He's in a better place. (I've heard a thousand times.) He's celebrating his birthday with angels, perhaps.

Happy Birthday, Dad.

I miss you. And I wish you were here.

Flashback Friday

 

This picture makes me feel like I have a 20-year old daughter, and we're looking back at old photos. Doesn't it look OLD? I don't know why, but it looks like it's been around a lot longer than three years!

When Ansley saw this photo, she pointed to the boy and said WHO is that?

I said, it's your friend Alex.

To which she said, WHAT? It doesn't even look like him!

This was taken three years ago at Burt's Pumpkin Farm. Ansley was two, and Alex was a year and a half. It seems like I recall just after this photo was taken, Ansley pushed Alex out of the wheelbarrow. Ah, toddler friendships. There's just nothing like 'em.

But they did finally get to a point in their friendship where they weren't pushing each other out of wheelbarrows. Where they laughed and talked and played and were actual friends, just like their Mommies. It's cute to see toddler friendships turn into real, non-shoving friendships.

Stay tuned: I will tell you why I chose this photo.

Flashback Friday

 

Here is my Grandma, Mom, Jonathan and little Megan. On the back of this photo, it says: Marsha, Jonathan, Megan and me, Toccoa, GA. So obviously this photograph belonged to my Grandma at some point; I'm not sure how I got it.

Ansley asked me what I was doing this morning, and I told her and showed her this photograph. I asked her who these people were, and she says "The only one I know for sure is THAT is JonJon." I wonder why that is? She didn't know at all who the others were and couldn't even guess.

This photo makes me smile, as most old photos do. I wonder what my Mom is looking at? I wonder who took the picture? Look at my short little dress. Actually now that I look at that dress, it reminds me of another picture. I recall a picture of me in that dress - I'll have to look for it. Were we coming or going from church, I would assume, unless Mom just liked to wear skirts during the day. Where was Dad? Or Pappa? And where did that little girl's blond hair go?

I love looking back at old photographs!

Flashback Friday

This is a new favorite photo of mine. I'm pulling together a bunch of "old" (I know, it's all relative) photos to hang in our basement. I thought it would be a fun theme, and neat to look at. Here's one that's definitely going up on the wall:

This is my Grandma, Pappa, my cousin Beth, brother Jonathan and cousin Josh in the corner. Then baby Ben (cousin) on Grandma's lap and Yours Truly crying. I wonder what I was crying about? Nobody seems too concerned. In fact, Grandma seems quite happy about it! We all look like we are either heading to or coming back from church, I would assume. Hopefully heading to, and someone brushed Jonathan's hair before we left. Weren't we fancy looking? And I actually still have that dress I have on. Ansley has tried it on before, and loves to twirl in it. But I sure wish I still had Jonathan's suit! Christian would look quite handsome in it, don't you think?

Oh, these pictures crack me up. One day Ansley will look back on her childhood and laugh as well, I suppose.

And, I would also like to flash back thirty-three years today and wish Missy a very happy birthday! (Hope you enjoyed our message!)

Flashback Friday

In the name of all things equal and fair, we travel back in time (to the EARLY seventies) and visit Baby John today. Which is a bit of an anomaly, since he would not have been called John at this age. Or for many ages to come. But, nevertheless, meet Baby John.

For the sake of fairness, and for the love of my husband. Sometimes he thinks we need a third child so maybe he/she will turn out to look more like him. (But there are no current plans for that.)

Honestly, though, I really would like for my kids to have their own look. No spitting images or exact replicas here, please. I grew up never hearing that I looked exactly like my Mom or Dad, because I didn't. And I liked it that way - I was free to be me. I don't really want Ansley to look just like me. Even though people say it all the time, I don't really think she does. In the sense that we both had blonde hair and we were both little girls, then yes, she does. But features, size, traits, none of those things are really the same. And even though I think Christian does bear a shocking resemblance to me now, I want him to look like Christian, not an exact copy of me or John or Cousin Lily (I don't really have a Cousin Lily, but you get my point).

Having said all that, I can assure you that John played (and plays) a vital part in their genetics, whether it is seen or unseen. But I'm still curious - who does this baby look like?

Flashback Friday

ETA: I, too, think there is an eerie resemblance to this baby and Christian. So I was curious to see what you all thought. Thanks for all the guesses, via comments or emails. And congrats to those who were right!

Oh, what? I haven't said who it was? Silly me.

Drum roll please.......

This baby is ME, taken in 1976 (apparently before they had invented pink for girls), says the back of the photo, in my Dad's handwriting.

This is why I always laugh when people say that Christian looks just like John! (which gets said a LOT!) Hmmm......

Flashin' back to the Seventies!

  

Who is this? Who does he or she look like?

Just curious.

Some fun facts for you from the 70's: (I did a little research)

A new home cost $23, 400.

A gallon of gas was THIRTY SIX cents. (Oops, sorry, the caps lock randomly came on over that one.)

Eggs were 25 cents a dozen.

The average income was $9,350 per year.

Wow, things sure have changed in this little baby's lifetime! And just think, one day we'll look back with the same amazement and wonder on the days we are living now.