My (Almost) First Love

Last night, I had a very vivid dream. Not necessarily a happy dream, but definitely one that moved me enough to write about it today.

My dream was that someone I cared about very much in the past had died.

See, not a very happy dream.

A lot of the dream is fuzzy, the way that dreams sometimes feel like after you wake up. But I remember going into the memorial/funeral service, where the dark gray coffin (closed) was placed at the front of a crowded chapel. Having been raised Catholic, I performed the sign of the cross as I stood in the center aisle, yards away from the coffin - not wanting to get too close. After this small gesture, I moved to sit in the middle of a pew, waiting for the service to start.

As I sat, waiting, I was not aware of anyone else at the service, just focused on the gray box up front, feeling a numbness and removed from the scene playing out around me. The memorial began, then immediately changed to a darkened room, where a movie was presented to commemorate my friend's life. 

The professionally done movie (one of his brothers dabbled in film making) flashed on the screen with a childhood school photo of my friend grinning and the opening bars of The Beatles song "Hello, Goodbye" as the soundtrack.

Suddenly, I became aware of being squashed against the side of my chair - you know, where someone tries to share your chair, even though there isn't enough room, but you do it anyway because you want to be close to each other. I couldn't see a face due to the darkness, nor could I make out anything but a shape. Then a hand reached for my right hand. The hand was enveloped in a thin blanket, a blanket that covered the shape sharing my chair. I realized it was HIS hand, grasping mine, intertwining our fingers like we used to when we walked along together. A calmness flooded through me, comforting me in my grief. This was his way of telling me he was here, and I relaxed a bit against his presence, knowing he was with me.

I don't recall anything that happened after that. But feeling a person with you so vividly...it almost made me cry in my sleep. I haven't seen him in years - at least 10-12 years since our last encounter. And we've had minimal contact (i.e. email) since then. But one thing we shared when we were together: a sense of everything in the world being where it should be. It was one of the happiest times in my life - and his too, I'm sure. Our lives took different directions, as life does when you are young, so we parted. 

But I've never forgotten the guy who made me feel so alive, so right, so comforted. He wasn't my first love, but he definitely was the first guy that I ever considered spending the rest of my life with. And for that, he will always hold a special part of my heart.

Earlier this year, I captured a memory of this special person in a scrapbook layout:

Missing You Forever by cyranoscrap
Credits: Created with Forever Missed by ninigoesdigi

While I don't know if our paths will ever cross again, I still want to keep some of the memories that we shared, especially as time passes and my memory starts to fade.

And THAT is why I scrapbook.

My Biggest Treasure

Once in awhile, one of my designer friends makes an absolutely beautiful kit that I cannot find a photo that is appropriate for the subject. This is one of those times. Design by Heather T. came out with a gorgeous kit called Mermaid Dreams.

Courtesy of Heather T.

The colors were inspiring, and quite honestly, it took me awhile to find the right photo to scrap. However, I am quite pleased with the results.

My Biggest Treasure by cyranoscrap for Heather T.

So much fun to pull out one of my favorite photos ever and use it with Heather's kit!

2015 in Review

The December template challenge at ninigoesdigi kicked off today! From today through January 20, submit your creation using this template:

Courtesy of ninigoesdigi

The rules are all on Nini's blog. It was a fun template to play with. Here's my version:

2015 Moments by cyranoscrap

CREDITS:

All items from ninigoesdigi

Papers: Bright Side of Life, Merry Solids

Elements: Bright Side of Life, Authentic, Words to Live By, Far Far Away

The hard part of doing a year in review page for me is trying to narrow down the photos. It's really hard for me to get just one photo per month since there are always certain moments you want to capture during a month. What do you think?

Take a shot at the challenge - at the very least, you'll have a quick summary of your year!

The Happy Challenge: Day 49

Day 49 of 100 Happy Days Challenge.

Happy #1:

Happy #2: Watching the toddler dance around to the song "Happy."

Happy #3: A salad (with real bacon bits!) for brunch.

What Will You Regret?

Some thoughts on a Sunday morning...

I was reading a post on the Daily Digi titled "A Question That Might Change Your Week." The question was "What will you regret not doing?" The gist of the article: in our busy lives, too often we ask ourselves: What do we need to do today? Instead, we need to ask the opposite and go do it.

However, this is a question that I ask continuously regarding my life. It's one of the main things that pushes me to do something instead of trying to take the easy road. You know what I mean - excuses that I give myself: "I'm too tired." or "I can do it later."

But is that true? You can't always do something later. For example, I was in New York City in June 2000 to work on a tradeshow. I had one weekend day to myself to see some sights, so I jumped on a tour bus just to get a sampling of the city and see a lot of the famous things in The Big Apple. As you can imagine, the day was pretty darn busy, and by 4 pm, I was getting tired after spending my day hopping on and off the bus to check out everything. That was about the time we neared the World Trade Center. I decided to stay on the bus so I could continue on and get a few more sights in, telling myself "It will be there later. After all, the World Trade Center has been around for years." The bus dropped off a few tourists and proceeded with the tour.

Fast-forward to September 11, 2001. The World Trade Center collapsed from a terrorist act and is no more. While I grieved along with the rest of the nation, I thought back to my decision from the previous year and how I chose not to tour the World Trade Center simply because I was tired. And I regretted my action, despite the fact I did get to see other sights in New York City.

Of course, there's nothing I can do to turn back the clock. Even though a memorial now stands on the site where the World Trade Center once resided, it won't be the same building I viewed countless times on TV shows and vowed I would someday see.

Sure, I have other things I regret I didn't do. But this is definitely one thing that I can't go back and change. I do stop a lot more now when I'm "too busy" to do something and look at the Lego creation my toddler wants to show me or look at the scenery instead of just driving past.

So as you go through your life...your week...your day, stop to think about what meaningful thing you turn away or decide to forego, no matter how little it is. It might be a moment you won't have again.

Let's Do the Hula

I recently purchased the Memoir of Two Island Girls collaboration by Emily Merritt and Valorie Wibbens because of some of the Hawaiian elements and papers included in the kit. Most of my family was born in Hawaii, and we have lots of extended family there. So, I thought it would be great to use to scrapbook some old family photos. However, I haven't done that yet. 

Instead, I pulled a more recent family photo to use for a challenge at The Lilypad.

CREDITS

Memoir of Two Island Girls (Emily Merritt and Valorie Wibbens)

Fonts: PW01 Script and Stampete (title); Century Gothic (journaling)

I love that there was a little strip of "grass skirt" that I could use with my photo!

Mental Grit - Digi Dare #324

Another Digi Dare challenge - #324 to be exact. 

This was a tough challenge for me to complete. I had to think long and hard about the challenges I've faced in life and determine which one actually made me stronger or had a silver lining. And almost every single one that came to mind started with this particular moment (you can read the journaling after the credits):

CREDITS:

Purple Rain, Photo Masks #1 and Graffiti papers (Paula Kesselring)

Twiddle Twiddle, Wanderlust, and Build Your Own Butterfly (Pink Reptile Designs)

Today and Speechless alpha (Studio 68)
Misty Paint brushes (Lynne-Marie)
Font: Jenna Sue

The journaling reads as follows:

5 months of training boiled down to one day, one race.

I survived aches and pains soothed by Biofreeze and ice baths. I knew the physical injuries were all a part of the marathon training. And when the day of the big race arrived, the day I had dreamed of and dreaded simultaneously, I awoke with apprehension and excitement. I was prepared as much as I could be. Music loaded on the iPod, camera and phone in a fanny pack, portable water bottles filled with special liquid, Jelly Belly Sport Beans pinned to my running skirt... I had all that I needed to survive 26.2 miles of running.

Or so I thought.

It wasn’t until after the 20th mile that I realized I needed one thing that you couldn’t buy or pack. It was perseverance. About mile 21, the troublesome pain in my left foot was rearing its ugly head, causing me to limp along the course in tears. I wanted to quit. I cursed myself for making such an insane decision to run a marathon when I never even wanted to run a mile.

I thought about all the time, all the effort, all the pain that I had endured to make it this far - only a few miles away from the inevitable end and from accomplishing one of the craziest goals I’ve ever made for myself. I could NOT, would NOT, bail after 20-something miles. I COULD do this, I COULD finish, even if I had to crawl across the finish line. 

One of my team’s walking coaches, who could see me struggling with pain and frustration, called out to me as she passed. In seconds, she was on her cell phone. When she hung up, she said that another coach would meet me in less than a mile to provide some Biofreeze to ease the pain in my left hip and foot. She gave me a pat on the back and continued on.

At approximately mile 22, one of my team’s running coaches was standing off to the side, waving me down as I got closer. He handed me the packet of Biofreeze, waiting to make sure I was okay after the application. With the physical pain taken care of, it was up to me to push myself the remaining 3 miles.

Pain relieved, I had renewed determination, especially since I could see the finish line up ahead. I paced myself, wanting to RUN across the finish line, which I did - PROUDLY.

Although I didn’t know it at the time, that one experience in my life prepared me for other difficult situations to come in the next few years: the pain of childbirth, the stress over finding another job... Each time I come across a challenge, I now compare it to the pain and/or mental state I had on race day. After living through the agony on race day, I know that I CAN go on - physically and mentally. My body proved I could withstand a severe amount of pain. And my mental state demonstrated that it was indeed mind over matter.

As I was writing the journaling for the page, I found myself reliving the moment. I still feel some mental anguish over this memory and this day - enough to bring tears to my eyes.

I used a little bit of symbolism when I blended the background papers. The brick wall is a reminder of how I felt when I was limping along the course, wanting to throw in the towel. The butterfly signifies the freedom I feel knowing that I can withstand the mental capacity needed to complete a feat where your body and mind are fighting against each other.

To this day, I can't bring myself to train for another marathon. But I know that I will run again when I'm ready.

One Night with Blue Man Group

Looking back through old photos is always an adventure for me. For this month's template challenge at The Lilypad, I chose a photo from my "single" days (i.e. the days before the munchkin). I had traveled to Las Vegas for a girls' extended weekend. We did the usual touristy things, including a show - seeing the Blue Man Group! Although I had attended a Blue Man Group show before, it had been about nine years between shows. With a group of girl friends, it was definitely a different experience. And this time, I got a picture with one of the Blue men!

CREDITS

Papers: Barely There, Acid Washed (Micheline Martin)

Elements: Artistic Bits – VDay, Painted Little Dots V. 1 (Micheline Martin); Happygram (One Little Bird); Wanderlust (Pink Reptile Designs)

Brushes: Keep Calm and Splatter On (Michelle Godin Designs)
Fonts: McEnneking
Template: April 2013 Lilypad Template Challenge (Amy Martin)
Additional Blue Man Group image and Blue Man Group logo from Internet

It was nice to pull these photos out of the vault. Sometimes I forget what my life used to be like. :)

The Music of My Life

Today a new Get Real Challenge was posted at Real Life Scrapped! I chose "music" as the theme for this challenge. And my new friend Sandra, from Studio 68, was kind enough to create the freebie and participation prize for the challenge.

The memory I selected to scrapbook was based on the song "Wicked Game" by Chris Isaak. It has a lot of meaning for me, and I've been wanting to record this memory for a very long time.

CREDITS

Paper: Lovestruck (Studio 68)

Elements: Lovestruck and Stamped Mess - Music of My Life (Studio 68); I Heart You (Michelle Godin Designs); Right Here Right Now (Pink Reptile Designs)

Fonts: Century Gothic (lyrics); CK Ali’s Hand (journaling); Bebas Neue (date)

Template: Forever and A Day (Che Yang) 

The journaling in the bottom left-hand corner reads:

"We met in Japanese class just months before you were scheduled to go into the Marine Corps for four years. We were study partners, but soon discovered we really enjoyed one another’s company. We could talk for hours about everything and nothing. So we started dating, knowing that we would only have a few months to spend together before you left. We had fun going to bookstores, eating sushi, going for evening walks, exploring San Francisco, hanging out with your family - just two friends having fun.

"But our hearts got in the way, and we fell in love - hard, head over heels love. One day, you mentioned the song “Wicked Game” was exactly how you felt. From that point on, I could never hear the song without thinking of your words."

Once I got this challenge prompt in my head, I started thinking of all sorts of songs that are significant to my life. Now I can't wait to do more "music" pages!

Join us for the challenge! I'm sure you'll find it fun!  :)

Lunch Time

Michelle Godin has several items for 50% off at The Lilypad today. These items looked like so much fun, I had to scrap an old photo from high school. (Note: I did include a few elements that are NOT 50% off today.)

CREDITS
Papers: Teen Scene – For Boys (Michelle Godin)

Alphabet: Varsity Chipboard Alpha (Michelle Godin)

Embellishments: IHeart You (Michelle Godin); School Zone (Kim Jensen)

Font: KG Seven Sixteen (Kimberly Geswein)

Friends By Choice

I don't do a lot of double-page layouts these days. But Zig Zag Scrap has one for their September monthly challenges. And, since completing the monthly challenges is a new goal for me (I'm trying to push myself to do more pages in general), I went ahead and jumped in. However, it was a bit harder than I anticipated.

I know that I started this layout at least a week ago, but I had to step away from it several times because it just wasn't coming together easily for me. The photo meant a lot to me - a graduation photo taken back in Dec. 1998 with me and four of my classmates. Those four women were part of the reason I even made it through my graduate program. And we had quite a story, despite only being together for about 18 months.

A couple of notes on the challenge: a double-pager, with one page that had no photos. There had to be journaling on one of the pages. Other than that, anything goes. So here is my entry for that challenge...

The journaling reads:

   We were strangers brought together by a school assignment. Three of us were from outside of the U.S. The remaining two were from opposite U.S. coasts. We had all signed up for the same group in one of our advertising classes - the Adventure Sport Group, which would work to target consumers interested in “adventure sports,” sports like rock climbing, bungee jumping, skydiving, etc.

     Although we had differences in ages, experiences (work and personal), and backgrounds, we meshed very well together, becoming fast friends. Our group was known for “fun” presentations that entertained our classmates, as well as our professors and the sponsoring company for the project.

     Even after we finished our project, we all remained close friends, going shopping, having dinner, and studying together. Making it through our graduate program was quite an achievement for all of us, and we definitely had to capture the moment just before graduation ceremonies started since we were split up based on program specialty.

     This is one of my favorite photos of all of us and definitely the one with most meaning.

CREDITS

Papers: Noted (Pink Reptile Designs); Tranquility (Jeanelle Paige); Good Reads – Torn Papers (Aprilisa Designs);

Embellishments:  Noted (Pink Reptile Designs); Tombo (Ninigoesdigi); Here There and Today (Studio 68); Crisp Mornings – Add-On (Sherri Tierney); Summer Lovin frame (ZZS Designers)

Alphabet: Noted (Pink Reptile Designs)

Mask: Paper Tear Holes 2 (Jeanelle Paige)

Fonts: Turtle Club (title); Shelter Me (journaling, Kimberly Geswein)

Lil Biker

As soon as I saw the new collection Pedal Pusher from One Little Bird, I thought of some old pictures of my nephew learning to ride a bike. These photos were sent to my mom, and I borrowed them at some point to scan them, as well as the captions written on the back by my sister-in-law.

I really wanted to include the notes from my sister-in-law since she passed in May 1989. So I used her written scans as the journaling for this layout. I decided to "tape" her handwritten notes onto the journal card. The journaling reads: "Just after he learned to ride without training wheels." And she put his name, date, and age (5 1/2 years) in the upper right corner.

I can finally add this to my family scrapbook!

CREDITS

Papers: Craft time for Boys (Juliana Kneipp); Annino Solids (Michelle Martin)

Embellishments: PedalPusher (One Little Bird); Wishy Washi - Eclectic Set 1 (Splendid Fiins)

Template: PressPlate No. 15  (Paislee Press)

Visiting Japan

I have waited 20 years to scrap these photos from my visit to Japan. Truthfully, it's not exactly what I had in mind when I decided to put these in a scrapbook. I was going to do the traditional route, including bits and pieces picked up during my travel. I can still do that - once I find where I stashed all the mementos I collected! (I've moved a few times in 20 years...)

In the meantime, the photos were available because I had scanned them quite a few years ago. But they sat on my hard drive, just waiting for me to DO something with them. And now, here they are.

A two-page digital layout highlighting my trip to Japan. It seems so, so...small. But, at least I can get the guilt of not doing anything with them off my shoulders.

One thing I ran into while I was trying to scrapbook this was the lack of Japanese embellishments available. I ended up having to find stuff on the Internet, but even then, it was hard to find anything that was scrap-ready. 

CREDITS

Papers: Kokeshi (Samantha Walker)

Embellishments: Anemone flowers and gingko leaves (downloaded from Internet); Taste of Asia  - Japanese maple leaf and flag (Britt-ish Designs and Sahlin Studio); Nostalgia – ticket (Yoshiko Utsunomiya); This & Thats – blue tickets (The Tattered Pear)

Stitching: In Stitches – Red & Cream (Robyn Meierotto)

Mask: Scalloped Strip (Katie Pertiet)

Template: Press Plate No. 27 (Paislee Press)

Fonts: Karate (title); Century Gothic (date); KG Seven Sixteen (journaling)

I also scrapped one of the photos from Japan with a quick page that I found on Two Peas in a Bucket. There really wasn't any room for this photo on the two-page layout, so I figured taking a shortcut for this one wasn't too bad.

CREDITS:

Template/Quick Page: World Traveler (Sande Krieger)

Font: Baby Boston

Maybe these two layouts aren't exactly what I had in mind, but at least I know that I've captured the moment!

The Finish - DigiDare Challenge #289

The DigiDare Challenge for this week was about sports - hating them, loving them. I thought about this challenge for a few days, trying to decide what point in my life to tackle. Considering I'm not an athlete, I don't have a lot of sports photos. But then I decided to go ahead and try the dare anyway, focusing more on capturing feelings. I'll admit most of my effort went into the journaling for this particular layout.

The journaling reads:

"I've always disliked running. Yet, at 30-something, I suddenly decided to train for a marathon. I have no idea what I was thinking. All I knew was that I wanted to get in shape, and the only way I would ever run a marathon was if I trained with a team. So, in April 2008, I took my friend Elaina to a Team In Training meeting held on the Nike campus, and we ended up signing ourselves up for our first marathon in San Francisco in Oct. 2008. 5 months to train to run 26.2 miles (gulp!). That was one of the craziest moments of my life.

On the first day of training in May, I almost quit because I couldn’t run half a block. I was in tears by the end of the first block. I felt like a failure. But Elaina kept me from quitting. We trained for the next 5 months, in rain and unbelievable heat, up and down hilly streets in Portland and Vancouver, across flat stretches that went on for miles and miles. About 2 months into training, when we were starting to run half marathons (anything over 13.1 miles), I developed pain in my left foot. I went to a chiropractor, used inserts in my shoes, did special exercises, and iced, but the pain kicked in every time I ran over 13 miles. Yet, with the encouragement of my teammates and my own determination, I kept at it. The longest training run we had was 21 miles, and I didn’t even complete it since my foot was hurting so bad, the coach pulled me off our training course. 

When it came to race day., I was so scared I wouldn’t make it to the end. But somehow, even with the pain that was unbearable around mile 21 and had me in tears, I couldn’t give up. I had come so far to do this, trained for so many months, and I was going to finish, even if I had to crawl across the finish line.

And I did finish. I even ran across the finish line."

CREDITS

Template: Flight Plan 5 (One Little Bird)

Papers: Scenes from Real Life (One Little Bird); Here There (Studio 68)

Embellishments: That Unforgettable Moment (2am Designs); Here There and Today (Studio 68); Scenes from Real Life (One Little Bird)

Fonts: KG Seven Sixteen (journaling); Capture It 2 (title)

Family Heritage Month at DSP

Yesterday, when I posted the family layouts I was working on, I had no idea Digital Scrapbook Place was celebrating Family History Month on their site. Most of the layouts posted in their gallery feature photos much older than the ones I have, but I'm working on trying to get a few older ones from my grandparents completed on layouts. No matter what, at least I will have some of the family photos documented in some way!

Now, are you looking for some vintage items to add authenticity to your vintage and family heritage layouts? Check out these resources...

Courtesy of F/Stop Spot

World War II Ration Stamps from F/Stop Spot
Great stamps from 1943 scanned carefully. There are a variety of stamps available at this page. Also at F/Stop, there are high-resolution envelope covers to use as background or embellishments.

Courtesy of The Graphics Fairy

The Graphics Fairy
One of my favorite sources for vintage art! You never know what you'll find when you do a search. There are photos, labels, and art for just about anything. It's even fun just to peruse the site.  :)

Courtesy of Fenderskirts Vintage

Fenderskirts Vintage
This site has more "recent" vintage clip art. 

Fuzzimo
Not everything at this site is vintage, but there are some cool freebies, like these old air mail envelope images.






Obviously, this is not a comprehensive list of vintage resources, but just a few I've found recently or peruse on a regular basis. I hope you'll find them helpful!

Family Heritage Layouts

Over the last week, I've become focused on digitally scrapbooking some "old" family pictures. Granted, these photos aren't that old, taken in the1970s and 1980s, but I had to start somewhere!

Christmas 1986 by cyranoscrap

This particular layout showcases some old photos from our family Christmas in 1986. The photos aren't very good, but they still capture a memory that is special to me.

Credits:

Papers: Vintage Christmas (Persnickety Prints)

Embellishments: Vintage Christmas (Persnickety Prints); Scenes from Real Life (One Little Bird); Everyday Life and Serendipity (Gina Cabrera, Digital Design Essentials); The Weekender (Paislee Press)

Title: Bits & Pieces (JM Designs)

Title Numbers: Techno Girl (Pixel Gypsy)

Fonts: Pea Olson

Here's another layout of a family gathering taken at a park...

80th Birthday by cyranoscrap

Credits:

Template: Press Plate No. 19 (Paislee Press)

Papers & Embellishments: Scenes from Real Life (One Little Bird)

Font: Orator

And one photo of my mom and her siblings:

The Villanuevas by cyranoscrap

Credits:

Template: Press Plate No. 2 (Paislee Press)
Paper & Embellishments: The Weekender (Paislee Press)
Fonts: Century Gothic (journaling, date); CK Maternal (title)

These layouts may seem a little plain, but I've been trying to keep them as simple as possible since I want to put them all together in a photo book for family members to purchase. Besides, I don't know of any other family members who have documented any of these events yet. I might even decide to use the photo book as a great Christmas gift for each family. It's never too early to start thinking about holiday ideas!

My Baby Squiggy

A comment about how the little guy looked like Squiggy was the start for this digital layout. I used Echo Park's "Happy Days" collection - love it!

Baby Squiggy by cyranoscrap

Flashback to the 90s...

I was thinking about this photo and thought I'd post it. (Yes, I might have posted this before for a Flashback Friday, but heck, I can't remember!)
It was taken on my 23rd birthday, in my temporary cubicle (which was decorated by my co-workers), while working in Santa Clara. Those days were some of the best I've had. After all, who doesn't look happy at 23, being single and in a large metropolitan area where there are lots of fun things to do and people to meet?!?!

Thriller is 25 and Talking About Music

Remember the song Thriller from Michael Jackson? It turned 25 years old today.

That fact just makes me feel old! I remember listening to that song in high school and how it was played at the dances. I'll admit that I never learned the actual dance (which is in the movie 13 Going on 30) back then, but it would be funny to learn it now.

And speaking of music, I woke up this morning to the DJs asking listeners to share stories about songs that remind them of a very specific memory. I've always found this topic very interesting, especially since I have lots of songs that remind me of specific memories or events in my life. For instance...

Wicked Game by Chris Isaak always reminds me of Matt. The lyrics are a bit haunting to me since it reflected our relationship at the time. I think we both knew there was always something bigger than both of us.

Don't Go Breaking My Heart by Elton John and More Than Words by Extreme brings back memories of my old roommate, Fiona. She always wanted someone to sing Elton's song to her--said that it would be the guy she would marry--and as for the Extreme song, we used to sing it together in harmony every time it came on the radio.

Classic Beach Boy songs, like Help Me Rhonda or Be True to Your School or California Girls, bring me back to my freshman year of college, specifically when me and two of my friends, Nancy and Lillian, would go workout at the Rec Center before dinner. When we got back to the dorm, Lillian would bring her boom box into the showers and blast Beach Boys songs while we cleaned up for dinner.

Truly by Lionel Richie was the song that I slow danced to with my friend David (whom I had a HUGE crush on at the time) during our sophomore year (it might have been early in our junior year) of high school while we were attending a dance at the State Hospital. (Don't get the wrong idea here--one of the clubs we were in used to go to the State Hospital and put on dances as a community service project. Only the patients that had "good behavior" were allowed to go to these monthly dances.)

Africa by Toto was a song from freshman/sophomore year of high school when me, Mary, and Brenda (whom I was no longer friends with my senior year) used to pretend we were part of an air band. I think Brenda was percussion, Mary was guitar, and I covered keyboards.

What a Fool Believes by the Doobie Brothers takes me back to riding the bus to middle school in seventh grade. My friend Valerie had written up a copy of the lyrics for me, and each time we heard it on the school bus, we would sing along. To this day, I still turn up the song each time I hear it on the radio.

Kiss Me from Sixpence None the Richer is a fun memory of Brian, who used to make up lyrics to fit the song. When I hear the song now, I still think "Green beans, oh how I love to eat them..." (Heck, I even had a hard time remembering the real name of the song when I typed it in just now!)

Escape (The Pina Colada Song) by Rupert Holmes is a really fun memory right now since Kathy and Jen are keeping a running toll of how many times we hear the song in a month. So far, the total count is 3. I'm not really sure how this got started, but every time it comes on the radio, Kathy calls me or Jen sends me an email.

And the list goes on... How's that for a Flashback Friday (and yes, I really need to bring that back!)?

What songs spark your memories?

A Trip Down Memory Lane...

In preparation for my heritage scrapbooking class this spring, I decided to take some pictures of where I grew up in my hometown. I stopped at my elementary schools and high school, along with the two houses I lived in while growing up. So, this is a bit of a Friday Flashback...

It was odd to see the very first house I lived in, so different from what I remember...so small...so shabby. It is definitely in need of repairs now. It's just that the house seemed so much bigger when I lived in it.

I don't remember what color the house was, but I know it wasn't white with teal trim. There's a picture taken long ago of me and my younger brother sitting on the steps in a couple of Hawaiian print outfits that were specially made for us. The outfits were hideous!

Some things are just better left in the past, such as bad fashion, don't you agree??? ;)

The high school, which seemed uglier than usual...The marquee that my senior class donated to the school as our class gift was missing. I thought I saw it a few years ago, but it wasn't present when I stopped by today. I'm wondering if it was damaged by vandalism sometime in the last couple of years. I know that it was an issue before.

One of the elementary schools I attended...
It's really different from when I attended it years ago. However, the time capsule that we buried under the school sign might still be there. I can't remember when it was supposed to be opened. Maybe 2000? Maybe 2010?

And finally, while I was waiting in the car for my sister-in-law and niece, I decided to try my hand at a little product photography... This was the only one that produced the results I wanted. Just imagine that it's supposed to be a close-up in a car brochure.

Ahhhh...practice, practice, practice--no matter what the subject, right?

Enough blogging for now. Have a great weekend!