Memory Lane!

I finally got the chance last night to look through every page of the 3-inch scrapbooks Mom put together for me and Rachael.  What a fantastic gift!  Some of it is stuff she had scrapbooked along the way during our childhood, but a lot of it was things she had saved in a box that she added in while homebound with Covid a few weeks back.  Note the divider tabs marking each year - organized enough to pass a CHA notebook check! lol

My book includes so many gems... photos I hadn't seen in a while, notes from friends that we would pass in class, four very kind handwritten notes from Mrs. Sawyer (my 4th grade teacher), the Meadowood bulletin Mom saved from my first Sunday in "big church" (9-18-88), a calendar page with Mom's handwritten notes from the day I got saved (12-27-90), photos and a certificate from my baptism (1-13-91), my 3rd grade Student of the Week and Kindergarten "Good Citizen" awards - lol, a $3 prize check for my award-winning State Fair calligraphy (I would so love to go try to cash that in today - lol), Math Olympics and Spelling Bee stuff, various honor rolls and report cards, a teacher's note saying I’m doing well participating in class discussion “for a quiet little person,” my 5th grade poem being featured in various newsletters and presented to Governor Keating, (and other poems I wrote that year which prove they’re not all winners! lol), my college recommendation letters, piano recital critiques and ribbons, various character quality awards; pics from being a page at the State Capitol, achievement test and ACT scores, a cake decorating class certificate, my CSR and RPR letters, etc.  Then at the very back, there's a plastic baggie full of loose items like ribbons, pins, a $25 savings bond from 1997 (now worth $59 - yes, I checked - makes me hope there’s a bigger savings bond in my name somewhere), AND a stack of Polaroids Dad took through the building process of 9121 - amazing!!! ❤

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Long lost sister pics (the top 3 are from Spirit Week, and I love the one of us playing in the backyard)!

1st grade and 2nd grade pics ❤

It makes me happy that I still know the full name of every kid in my 1st grade class...

Top Row:  Chris McCool (he always won the candy bar sales competitions), LeighAnn Joachim (great tire swing pusher at recess), Tiffany Wilson (most popular girl in our class most years), Joey Wallace (became a LifeChurch worship leader), and Mrs. Susan Fowler (excellent; also taught Tman's 1st grade class). Middle Row: Johnny Patton (his mom loved me), Kathleen McNeil (a wonderful mom now), Connie Maliskis (my bestie that first year at CHA), Jordan Snyder (my homecoming escort senior year). Bottom Row: Tiffany Gable (shy and sweet; left CHA a couple years later), Jonathan Rogo (quiet and kind; my best guy friend that year), ME (front and center in my red Keds and my fav floral dress), Heather Tipton (my talent show partner), David Short (appropriately named, but handsome), and Bill Russell (funny and a bit of a troublemaker).  YAY, 1st grade friends! lol

A signature page from my Preschool class - love it! And a Christmas drawing that proves I've always found it necessary to take credit for my artwork. lol

My Baptism Day - I remember being so nervous! (Meadowood Church, Pastor Bob Rutherford, January 13, 1991)

I wrote a poem after the OKC bombing, and thanks to Mom and Miss White working on it, my 5th grade class presented it to Governor Keating (I look very dazed and dreamy in that group pic).  It was also part of the CHA newsletter, where they got my middle initial wrong - lame. lol

State Fair $3 prize check (BIG winner! lol), Awards Assembly, Pic with Representative Forrest Claunch (I paged for him at the state capitol that year), kind note from my SNU basketball camp coach, BFF note from Jennifer Diane Womble ("NIKE RULES!" lol), and me waiting outside on my first day of 2nd grade with Pascha and Heather!

ACT scores and official high school diploma!

The beginning of 9121!!! I so love that there's a Polaroid of Mom and I by the framing!

Rachael's Senior pics from Studio Art -- to me, it's the most alike we've ever looked!  P.S. I miss that hot pink Banana Republic coat!

A note from our brother-like friend, Mark (who got lung cancer and moved on to Heaven in 2016).  He and Rach would often "study" by copying my old homework and memorizing quizzes and tests from my old notebooks... they are welcome for all my hard work. lol  His note did make me laugh, though, as did his entire fun-loving personality!!  Looking forward to hanging out with him again someday!

A presh note from Rach to the firefighters after the bombing, her baptism day at FSBC, her preschool class with Miss Anne,  a kind teacher's note about her love of reading and delight in learning new things, and a class pic where Kate's fierce expression cracked me up (top row next to Rach)!

Rach, Blake, and me... a Christmas cousins pic!  This was the very best smiles we were willing to give that day... pretty sure the photographer had to work hard for this, as I've seen several other extra-solemn pics. lol 

That's all for this post.  What a fun and thoughtful 40th birthday gift from Mom (not technically for that, but the timing fits)!  I'm very grateful for these memories and for having them well-documented!!

❤ ❤ ❤