Way Back in Time

So I told my North Carolina girlfriends I had a surprise in store for them a while back. Please forgive me for keeping you hanging for so long, but I think it will be worth the wait! I found these pictures, mostly from middle school, and couldn't resist sharing. We have an email chain between myself, Natalie, Sallie, Meg, Joy, Catie, & Cameron that we have been slacking on lately but for the most part keeps us all informed on our lives. We all live so far apart that it's really the only sensible way to keep in touch...and I just love it. So, without further ado, here are the pictures.


8th grade Washington DC trip. Sorry Nat, the photographer cut you out! I loved that sweatshirt.


Chaos soccer team stopped after our double header to watch the US Women's team play in Greensboro, I think? Then, we piled into Big Blue & headed home.


The "Jet girls" before the dream sequence in Roberson's "West Side Story". Hot.


Sal's Birthday Bash. In the Neumann kitchen. Such detailed party planners, complete with a construction paper placemat for the birthday girl. Any guesses on what age?


Catie & I all dressed up before a sixth grade dance. Either at the Fire Department or the middle school. Am I the only one that misses the beloved Skyland Fire Department? Good times.


Meg & I climbed the bleachers at a TCR soccer game at Appalachian. What a great pic!


8th grade. After a chorus concert. We were AWESOME singers!


The TCR girl's soccer team. I stopped on my way to Myrtle for Spring Break to catch a game & snapped this pic. The girls' were awesome that year! Can you name everyone? Whatever happened to Sumlee?

Ah. Cruise of '95. One word...DUNKER. I still consider this to be my favorite vacation of all time. Can we please duplicate the ridiculousness of the cruise in the Dominican, 2010?!

Well, I hope you enjoyed the show. A little walk down memory lane never hurt anybody! :)

It's been 10 years?!?!

A few weeks back we had our 10 year high school reunion. I submitted a bunch of pictures for the slideshow & need to share a few. They're just too funny & bring back lots of memories! Top to Bottom: Traverse City West Cheerleaders being filmed for a spot on the news; Ryan, Holly, Brandi, & Len on Spring Break in Myrtle Beach; Senior Prom Photo Shoot in my backyard; my best friend Ryan was a basketball player & I was a cheerleader; parties at the Barn (oh, the stories!); the boys & I headed to Windsor, Canada for a weekend where the drinking age made us legal; my girlfriends at Graduation. Enjoy!

Flashback

I have a little spare time this morning so I'm going all out with posts. I feel a bit guilty for not blogging much last month. So, here's a comparison from last year's Halloween & this year's. Last year, Ella was Halloween Minnie Mouse. Next year will be here before I know it!

Fall Colors

Last Sunday Rusty & I took a little trip out to Sleeping Bear Dunes to see the fall colors that our great state is known for. We were about 2 weeks past "peak season" so the drive out was pretty barren, but once we made it to the Dunes, the colors were a sight to see. There's a little drive along the Dunes that you can take with about 11 stops where you stop for pictures, picnics, or even hikes. The pictures I took of the bright yellows & oranges of the leaves on the trees that line the drive don't even do it justice. It was gorgeous in person. We attempted to have a picnic, only to have it start raining on us...3 different times! So, we gave up & ate in the car. On our way back into town, we saw a family of six deer hanging out in the road. They were checking us out as we slowly crept by. Despite the rain though, we managed to have a nice day. Check out the pictures and you'll see why they call northern Michigan "God's Country".

Wonder Woman

The day of Halloween was total madness. Ella went to preschool in the morning, walked in a parade with her class downtown. I worked. Left early to pick Ella up, made a mad dash home to throw on her costume, and headed back downtown. We met up with our friends Erin & Carter (he was a dinosaur) and trick-or-treated at the downtown stores from 3:30 until 5. 6 suckers, 5 tootsie rolls, 30 pictures, & 2 meltdowns later, we decided to head home & begin our journey down Washington Street. When we got home, Ella was intent on being Grammie's candy-passing-out assistant. The street filled up quickly with kids & parents lining up at houses to gather their candy. We decided to join them & made it for a total of 6 blocks...hitting up quite a few houses. Ella would run up to the houses, say "Dick or Deat", take her candy, come running back to me, sit on the ground, and check to see what she got. She did this at every house. But, she did seem to have a ball flying around the neighborhood, in typical Wonder Woman fashion!

Corn Maze

One of the best things about northern Michigan, according to my father, is the amazing sweet corn grown up here. It really is the best & he's from Iowa. They grow a lot of corn there. Anyway, so one of the bigger corn farmers up here decided to cut a path through his corn field, charge admission, & allow the public to stomp through his "Corn Maze". There were 3 courses, we only did 2. But, totalling almost 3 miles of Maze! Ella had a blast running through the corn, picking the corn, & eventually ditching her shoes to run barefoot. After we were finished, we stomped through the pumpkin patch & picked out 2 perfect, Ella-size pumpkins. Oh & did I mention it was 80 degrees in mid-October?? Yeah, that's pretty much unheard of up here. But, we were loving every minute of it!

Leaf Blowin

I remember when we lived on the lake when I was about 4 years old, the house being pretty much surrounded by forest and, during fall, the trees would sprinkle hundreds of thousands of leaves all over the yard. Dad would make piles that would tower over our heads, and BJ & I would barrel through them over & over until we would fall over from exhaustion. And, now, as most kids love to do, Ella has been treated to giant piles of leaves to jump into & takes full advantage. Not too mention, she gets to hang out with Ya Ya, her buddy.