Bonfire Stories

Last Saturday, my Aunt Jerri pulled off a huge shindig. I like that word. Shindig. So I thought I’d use it. She decided she wanted the whole family to get together and have food and a bonfire at my grandma’s house. So we did. I have proof. There are pictures. My aunt Jerri his just one of many of my mom’s sisters. She did a great job of putting this all together. Kudos to you auntie.

First, we stuffed ourselves. We all brought a dish to share which included but was not limited to, sloppy joes (I feel sorry for my cousin Joe, because his name is Joe and there is a food nefariously named after him) and there was this cheese dip that I don’t  know how made it but it was yummy and Karen love this strawberry pretzel stuff that my aunt Ruthie made. I had a pepsi.

Really, I have a good looking family. Thank you very much.

 My mom took Dawson and was walking around with him and Karen’s kids and Shadow. So I stopped looking around to see if he was missing. At one point I hear mom yelling “there he goes” and sure enough. There’s Dawson running nefariously through an open field all by himself. Who’s gonna go get him? My aunt Ruth said to let him be. It’s obvious he wants his freedom! My cousin Jodie’s son went chasing after him and brought him back. Then I wondered. How far would he have gone? I think he would’ve kept on going! SEE YA GUYS!

 This is my aunt Bev, her husband Tim and my Uncle Chuck.

I have a good story about my aunt Bev that my sister Karen told us.. She remembers being young and going somewhere (she can’t remember where) with my Aunt Bev. She thinks they were delivering some treats called “snow on the mountain” to the church or something like that. ( for the record, I have never heard of a food dish called ‘snow on the mountain’ but sounds tasty). The snow on the mountain are wedged in tight between Aunt Bev and Karen. They’re driving along and aunt Bev SLAMS on the brakes! The snow on the mountain tumbles in to the crack of the seat. Forlorn, Karen looks at aunt Bev wondering what to do. Aunt Bev says “oh no! My Snow on the Mountain are down in the valley!” We all just died laughing. But Aunt Bev said she doesn’t remember that story. I love it.

Here’s a picture of mom and Dawson before he tried to win his freedom.

 “sisters, sisters… there were never such devoted sisters”…

Can you look much more alike than that? That’s my mom and my aunt Iney!

 This picture was taken before it really started to get cold. Then the circle got increasingly smaller. Until all of a sudden we had to kick people out of the bonfire.

Karen was full of stories! She told us another one that has my Aunt Ruthie very bitter. My grandma had this plastic bunny on a stake that she would stick in the ground around Easter time. The bunny had it’s hands in the air so it could hold something if you set it there. Every hear at easter grandma would have an easter egg hunt and hide an egg on the bunny altar. Karen found the egg there every year and kept it a secret so she always won the prize for finding the most eggs! How nefarious of her! I, of course, was not even born, let alone thought of and therefore never got to hunt easter eggs or send snow mountains to their death down in the valley. Instead, I got my teddy bear stolen from me by my cousin Ponsonby-Chmerkovsky when all I was doing was letting it swim! Good thing I don’t remember that bear.

 Ahhh… God intended families for good.

I have a good family.

The Nefarious Peacock.

I admit that the first time I heard the word "nefarious" I had to look it up in the dictionary. Actually, what I really did was type it into a Word document, highlighted it, and used the thesaurus to enlighten me. It worked. So here is my example of using the word nefarious which is now my new favorite word of the day) in context. Just in case at this moment you are only pretending to know what the word means, let me break out the thesaurus and enlighten you. Wicked, evil, despicable, immoral, reprehensible, disreputable.. all perfect adjectives to describe this nefarious peacock. Jason and I had gone to the Denver zoo. this was several years ago. I bought some popcorn and started eating it with no though whatsoever to any nefarious animals nearby thinking they like popcorn. This peacock must get a steady diet of popcorn. Rather than rising to the occasion as my knight in shining armor to save me from the clutches of the deadly beast, Jason took my picture. I did not share my popcorn with the peacock. And I lived to tell about it.

And now I have another story. This picture was taken after I graduated from college. I had just gotten back from my first trip ever to Florida. I had gone as a chaperone with a youth group. While we were there we got to spend one day at the beach. It was windy that day, overcast with no sun getting through the clouds at all. As a matter of fact, I remember being a little chilly. I had on a t-shirt, a pair of shorts and I was barefoot. I sat on the beach the entire time talking with some of the kids from the youth group. Later that evening, I noticed it was becoming increasingly more painful to walk. Thankfully, we were heading home the next day. Not only was I sunburnt on all exposed portions of my skin, but, when I got home and went to see the doctor about my feet, I found I had gotten 2nd degree burns on them. So I zoomed in on the picture of my feet and cropped. Sure enough, I even got a doctor's note to go to work barefoot for the next few days. How exciting is that? IN case you're wondering, I'm running out of pictures to post of Dawson. Guess I better get on that.

While I'm at it..

Look what I can do! 

I grew up doing puzzles with my mom. First you've got to get all the straight edges out. Then you pick out the easy parts. Then you let your mom do the hard stuff. That's how it worked for me. Mom, look at the legacy you left for me. I can do the easy part AND the hard part of a puzzle now! I will interject here that when I was sick and tired of this puzzle, Jaosn stepped in and helped me finish even though there were only about 100 pieces of the 1,000  and what did he do each time he found a piece that fit? "Bam! I'm just like Emeril! I'm the best!" I was too tired to argue. However, the picture below of the second puzzle (which was actually the first one I put together) is a puzzle I did all by myself! No help from Emeril wanna-be husband! So ha!

What else can I write about puzzles? Oh I did want to mention our obstacles! Puzzles are not easy to complete when you have cats. Because cats think they have earned the right to be in the center of all your attention. I'm not sure when that instinct came from but it's false. Don't let them fool you. They don't have to be! So, there were many days when mom nad I had put hard earned work into a puzzle just to find out that Subito had decided to sleep right in the center of it, leaving puzzle pieces lost in her wake. But we overcame and conqured! Nothing could get us down! We completed the puzzles!

And finally,

I just wanted to post this last picture because I can't believe it's real. Jason's aunt and uncle spotted this license plate and took a picture of it for me. THAT'S MY NAME! Who else in this whole wide world could possibly have MY name?! that's just crazy. And I can just see by what little there is, that the butt of the car that license plate is on, is quite cute! So the owner, if she does happen to be JOY DAWN, has good taste!

The Good 'Ole Days

The world seems to have so much more color now than it did in the 70's & 80's. Don't ya think? I'm sure these pictures have faded somewhat, but back then everything was hippy orange and yellow. Not bad colors but not chartreuse or periwinkle. The picture to the left of Jason-he and his cousin Chad aren't that far apart in age. And obviously when they grew up, their parents had decided to send them off to church camp to meet girls. Which they did. I don't know why they didn't get an early start and send them off at this age. Clearly the good looks and charm were evident then as well. Though a bit hairless.

Here is a picture of me with my great Grandma Brown. My mom's grandma. There's not a whole I remember about her except I seems she smiled a lot. I know my mom told me that she used to think she locate water in the ground by taking a stick and when the stick trembled you know you had found water. Mom, am I making that up? I do know that everyone in the big town of Rome City knew who she was because I've seen pictures of her at this age when she was on a float in a parade (most like Chataqua Days) she was the stuff! I do notice from this picture that she doesn't have blue hair. When did old people start decided to get their hair done with the blue tint? Or was that a fringe benefit of getting your hair permed?

Here is a picture of Jason with his grandpa Janke. He is Gloria's dad. She says he was a GREAT dad. And look! Jason has a real Red Radio Flyer wagon! Jason's grandpa passed away when Jason was very young, but he still has good memories of how he spoiled him. I've gotten to see home videos of Jason when he was a baby! And grandpa Janke was usually the one filming. Jason has told me that he can still remember some toys he bought him when he was younger -like a small gas engine airplane that you control with a string, like a kite. Which I believe Jason said he had to take it apart to see how it worked. Why do little boys do that? Leave the toy together!

Here I am sitting on our old green couch with my stylin outfit. Blue and white striped long sleeve shirt with accenting blue and black plaid pants. I'm not gonna guess that I wanted to dress myself. Surely I had fashion sense back then. I'll bet my sister Nita dressed me. She used to make me say funny words too. Like vinegar. I will say that I wish I still had the blanket that's covering the back of the couch. It had "silkies" on it (silk edge around the blanket). I'd hold it and suck my finger.

This picture I have named "The cheater" because Jason told me his dad did his science fair project for him. Greg, is that true?! As you can see, he has a fascinating display of Indian spear heads. Which Jason said he and his dad would go out in the corn field and find. More so his dad because Jason has ADD and staring at the ground with the patience of Job is not his forte. Jason said he got a ribbon on this little project. Now I think I see it. It's the green one on the right hand side that says "Next year, do your OWN project".

Here's me with my Sunday School class at church. I remember this day because I remember wearing this dress to hang my special ornament on the Christmas tree up in front of the whole church. Which equaled to be about 15 people including the pastor. Unless I wore that dress EVERY Sunday, in which case, I have no clue which day this was. But the little girl on my left is named Amy and the little girl on my right is named somebody. I can't remember her name. But I'm pretty sure her mom dyed her hair. Not really. I just made that up.

Lastly is a picture of Jason with his sister Jenessa. Jason didn't tell me where they are but you can tell it's fall time and it's pretty! Jason saw this picture and he said "you can tell Jenessa is mischievous". Jenessa, what do you have to say for yourself? All I know is, in this picture Jason thinks he's the stuff! With his spiked mullet. Okay he doesn't have a mullet here but he used to!
Aww... how fun going back through all these pictures. I hope you enjoy them as much as we did.

SherBear

Right around this time of year, thoughts of my sister Sherri start crowding my mind.

I miss her.

She was 10 years old when I was born. I have fun, great memories growing up with her. For a while she and I shared a bedroom. There were nights when she didn't shave her legs and I'd yell at her because her prickly hairs would stab me. And some nights when I couldn't fall asleep, she would get out my smurf eraser, whom she named Malcolm Marvin McIntosh. My sister Nita said she got that name after a little boy that my mom used to babysit who had no depth perception and couldn't pour milk. Sherri used to have me walk with her down our long driveway before she would get on the bus. I'd be in my footie pajamas. She was also the one who let me try a cigarette when I was 5 years old because she let my friend Phillip try one. I turned blue and started coughing and she had to carry me inside and made me promise not to tell mom or dad.

I got to be in her wedding and I cried and cried when she left for her honeymoon because I thought that meant she wasn't going to be my sister anymore. Then she came back and eventually she and her husband lived with mom and I for a while and I figured out she was still my sister because we argued just like we did before she left.

This is her with me when I was Dawson's age. She looks like she should be the picture on the carton of hostess cupcake boxes or something. I, on the other hand, should be on the cover of Cutes Baby Magazine!

After she had the girls I was the prime babysitter. One time I lost Felicia. I couldn't find her so I ran down the hill and saw her walking down the road carrying a duck. Oops. I guess I lost her twice because another time I found her crawling up the hill in the sandpit we had in our back yard. I never lost Shadow!

She chipped her front tooth when she fell on the sidewalk one day. Evenutally she got it fixed. She's got some Farah Fawcett/ Charlie's Angels hair goin on her highschool pic. Her nickname was Bear and I can't remember how she got that nickname. But she did own a dog once that she named Bear and it ran sideways.

Funny how the little things become so important when all you have is a memory.

My dear sister... I miss you.

Small Group

Jason and I are involved in a small group bible study through our church. There are 6 of us couples that meet every second Sunday each month. This past Sunday we had small group at our house.
This meant several things:

1. The house must be clean. I was not about to have any of our church friends find Jason's dirty, holey underwear lying around.
2. The gues bathroom needed some work. I can't have my friends pooping in a room with no pictures on the walls or pretty decorations to look at.
3. Dawson had to be occupied all afternoon before guests started arriving so that he wouldn't trash the house before they got there.

Well, on the second rule.. we did fix up our bathroom. I'm so excited because it ended up looking really nice. It's one of my favorite rooms in the house now and I'd rather pee in there than in the master bathroom. Here are some before and after pics:
BEFORE

AFTER

 























I love our small group. The are so fun and the best part about it is how much we laugh! some days I just really need to laugh. One of those moments came when Dawson decided to crawl up behind Jaoson on his Powerwheels tricycle. He just giggled and found that so funny. Here is a picture.

College Memories

First of all...

Do you remember our kitten from the previous post? Belle? Well, look what I found! Taht's right, this was during her weekend with her daddy! Hmph.

Sunday night Jason and I held our small group bible study at our house. He had gotten out some old pictures from college because he went on a mission trip to Jamaica while in college and one of the girls in our small group, Amy, was on that trip. After they all left, Jason and I sat down and looked through a bunch of his old pictures laughing!

Take for instance, THIS picture. I guess one of his roommates got this game in a care package or something? So all of his roommates would try it out and make fun of it. I'm laughing just looking at this picture. What a dumb thing to send to a college student. I can't quit laughing! There was also the day Jason had an earring. He said he kept it in for one whole day. Now I didn't know Jason when he was in college because he went to Anderson and I was at Bethel. After seeing some of his pictures and hearing the stories, it's probably best that way. Ask him some day about SUPER HYGEINE MAN.

My memories included sledding down the hill outside the Fine Arts center using a cafeteria tray. Watching "While You Were Sleeping" or "Newsies" every Tuesday with an order of Little Caesers breadsticks with my roomies Kate and Danielle. (see picture below) This picture was taken after we graduated and Kate was married and pregnant.

My roommate Mindy (below) blindfolded me and took me to Olive Garden for a surprise birthday party. Olive Garden has been one of my favorite restaurants ever since. She also had a stalker at Meijer where she worked and we nicknamed him and wrote each other funny notes about it.

I'd like to hear other college memories! If you read this post and you went to college and have funny memories I'd like to hear them. Please leave a comment!

Us.

so.. my inspiration.. i was looking at my friend ashley’s blog at her cruise pictures and that made me want to post pictures of our cruise and then once i found those pictures i found a bunch of other old pictures i wanted to post. i’m too lazy to use correct punctuation right now. maybe later i’ll be bit more  peppy. right now i’m picture crazy -if i post this picture with that person in it then i’ll need to post this picture with that person in it… anyway, it was fun going back through a bunch of these. so. first. We’re engaged! (I got a bit peppy there, did you see the capital W?

 Then we bought a kitten named Belle. I kept Belle during the week at my mom’s house and Jason got to keep her on the weekends. When Jason returned her to me after having her she would always be psycho! Running around and scratching things. So we had to give her away.

Then, we got married!

 No Barbie or Ken dolls were injured in the making of this photo.

For our 1^st anniversary we went on a cruise. I think with any of these pictures, to see it larger you can just click on it. But you have to hit the back button in order to back to the blog.

We set sail on the 1980's Miami Vice Carnival Cruise ship "Sensation" on August 14, 2004.

 Well, close to August 14th. I don't remember what day, just the week time frame.

Yes. I was fully prepared to go down like the Titanic.

No. I did not go down this slide. But I looked at it.

We spent the first day on the ship checking out the attractions offered to us. such as these:

Our room was small but we had someone to make an animal out of a towel for us everyday, so we didn't notice. Are you noticing the 80's theme  of the ship yet?

Lime green tables and striking purple signs!

One night I sang Karaoke but I was too nervous to sing by myself so I asked a stranger to sing with me. We sang " That's the Way it Is" by Celine Dion.

If I ever fell off of a cruise ship, I'd be really upset.

Of course, every ship has the night where you get all dolled up.

AND take a look at this spread! Food art!

 Who wouldn't want to go down this glass elevator-just like Charlie & the Chocolate Factory?

I had never played before and I didn't know what I was doing, but I learned that pulling the lever made things happen. I was no good at it so I didn't get addicted

We were on a five night cruise that went to Grand Cayman and Cozumel.

I wonder who took this picture and why they didn't tell me my tank top was headed north.

In the Grandest of the Caymans, we did an excursion. Just saying it makes me shudder. Excursion! We swam with stingrays:

I absolutely did scream internally. Then, they seemed so social and even seemed to smile, that I calmed to a mild discomfort.

 I have no clue if this picture is of Grand Cayman or Cozumel. Not that they all look the same.

One thing I do know. The islands have..:

We should move my dad to an island with Pepsi.

In Cozumel:

We snorkeled.

I was terrified of being eaten by a shark, and my mask was too big for my face so water kept sinking in and I thought I would drown. After the guided tour, we went back on shore where I got a new mask that fit and we went back into the water where I did not drown or get eaten by a shark but I did hit my knee on a spikey coral and I got a bruise.

I'd still move to an island, even after such a trauma.

I'd like to go again. Who's with me?