My Salad Days....

Salad Days: an idiomatic expression, referring to a youthful time, accompanied by the inexperience, enthusiasm, idealism, innocence, or indiscretion that one associates with a young person

Friday as I drove home from work, I called my mom to see how her day had gone plus I have to admit I just missed her and wanted to hear her voice. Before I knew it I was pulling into my driveway and my mom left me with a ridiculous idea, "You should put on your old cardigan and head over to your school carnival...I can get it out of the closet if you like." Now we all know she was joking and it sounded like a really lame idea, however I found myself actually considering it. Not the cardigan however, but the idea of going back to my elementary school where I spent 9 years of my life seemed very appealing.  Oddly enough I had plans with my best friend Lorrie the next day who I met in elementary school....how perfect for us to take this little trip down memory lane.  I sent her a quick text just throwing it out there and without hesitation she agreed it would be a good time. So I then sent a text to my sister in law and said, "Shelly (my alter-ego during party time) is insisting we go to the St. Columban School Festival!!!!"  After joking back and forth, I not only had convinced my parents and my best friend to go, but also my brother and his wife who also are Colt Alumni.

So we headed over to the carnival, not quite sure what to expect.  It definitely was MUCH smaller than we remembered, and it seemed a bit more cheesy.  The last time we had set foot at this place was when we attended the school many years ago, Lorrie tried to convince me she hadn't been in 10 years, I laughed and said No my friend it's been 15 years.  She gasped and said, "OH MY GOSH YOU ARE RIGHT!"  Hahaha oh man does reality bite sometimes. We ate good food and got some drinks and decided to walk around to check everything out.  We walked and talked about the memories of what boys we rode what rides with and how it was such a BIG deal then.  I even attempted the hopscotch still painted so neatly on the pavement in my high heel boots while holding a glass of chardonnay.....my brother told me, "Shelly shouldn't be attempting hopscotch right now!" Haha I proved him wrong!  Lorrie wanted to walk to the softball field which had been dedicated to her dad, Gary for his commitment to the schools softball team.  Sadly the team has not been active since her dad stopped coaching and the field was pretty much dead, but there hung the sign on the backstop:

It was pretty cool that Lorrie was able to see it.  Her dad is VERY enthusiastic and knowledgeable in baseball and softball.  He was my coach for many years and although his intensity was too much for some, his love of the game was extremely motivational and inspiring.  He hasn't changed to this day.  I saw him last weekend at his youngest daughter's wedding and he says to me, "You know we have practice right after this right?"  I just laughed.

Aaron and Cara talked about their memories on the ZIPPER ride and my dad immediately went to the ticket booth and bough the four of us tickets to go on the ride.  We all were a bit hesitant because let's face it we are 15-20 years older than we were last time we attempted this ride and we had just eaten.  Yet at the same time we really did want to revisit the experience.  I must tell you I don't think I've laughed that hard in a VERY long time...it was that nervous fun laugh that you get and you just can't stop and you have tears rolling down your cheeks.  Getting on that ride brought me back to my childhood days, and it was like a sudden flashback of 9 years of memories, some of which I had forgotten until that moment. I took Aaron and Cara's picture in front of the ZIPPER which is only appropriate...they met in elementary school, went to high school dances together and married each other just this year. To think it all began with the ZIPPER (haha I have to chuckle at that for a few reasons):

It's moments like these that I realize how life passes so fast, how it's full of surprises and sometimes just how some things DO last forever.  Who knew when I met Lorrie in elementary school we would still be friends this many years later, who knew my brother and Cara would end up married many years later?  But here is where it all began...back in the day where we began to mold and shape into the people we are today.  I'm glad we decided to turn a joking idea into an actual serious pursuit of a random good time down memory lane....

Sometimes all you need is to go back where you came from, to figure out how to get to where you are going!

New Season...New Life

November already...wow time just keeps flying by faster every day and I've realized no matter what I try to do, there's no stopping it or slowing it down for that matter.  The clock ticks whether we want it to or not.  Life moves forward day by day and before we know it another year has passed. We now move into a new season full of holidays....Thanksgiving, Christmas and then the bringing in of the New Year.  This is typically my favorite time of year when the leaves are changing from green to beautiful colors of orange and red, the smell of fireplace fills the night air, the mornings are crisp and it's a time of gathering with friends, loved ones and family to celebrate the holiday season. This year I have a bit of a hesitant excitement for the holidays....I still love the idea of it all but this time around I do come to terms with things that have changed.  I guess on a day to day basis it's easy to forget or busy yourself with things so that certain realities don't float around you.  But as the holidays grow near, I find myself fast forwarding ahead envisioning the NEW reality that I will live this year.  While this is my first holiday season (lump in throat) "single" admittedly in twelve years (no I'm not divorced, I am just that girl that's always been in a relationship), I find that while I will have a small void in my heart, my world will be 100% filled with the core of who I am and who I have come to be:  my family, my friends and new life.

My family means more to me than I can express in any blog. It's full of tradition, amazing unconditional love and support, and so much happiness and faith that it's almost overwhelming. Not many people can say that about their family or can say that they were lucky enough to be raised in such an environment that you almost feel you don't need anything else. 

My friends, well, you already know about them.  They pretty much make my life complete....they are the sisters I never had.  Each one of them through good and bad, laughter and tears have given me so much in their own way...whether its just to sit and laugh at things that nobody else on the outside would find funny, or whether it's dancing in the parking lot no matter how stupid we look, or maybe just a good movie night letting me pour my heart out and know I won't be judged...but instead hugged.....My friends are my extended family, they are the sisters I was meant to have.

And this year I found myself appreciating things at a much more intense level, looking at things in a different light and just trying to reinvent my life, who I am and the outlook on my life.  Sure I envisioned myself in a completely different place by this time of year, at this age....but it's called hope and faith and I have it.  I know things happen for a reason as cliche as that statement is but it's so true. I find myself singing to a different song, dancing to a different beat and walking a different walk.  I find myself being engulfed by the celebrations of new life through my best friends new additions, I find myself toasting to new life journey's at the weddings of long time friends and find that every day I experience I continue to grow and become someone that I never imagined but am completely proud of.  That's my ultimate goal in this life....to know that at the end of the day I did everything I could to the best of my ability.

Sometimes the littlest things bring the GREATEST hope and faith and happiness and they don't even know it.............

"Harlow Brezeale"

 

"Devan Buchanan"

"Gretchen Padron"

 

"Charlotte Verst"

 

"Emma DeFries"

"Layla Swain"