Monday, February 05, 2007

Even More Memories.

Thank you for strolling down memory lane with me. I am having such a hard time with this last batch, deciding which wonderful portions of my life I should include! Thanks to the Father above, Giver of all good gifts. . . including our beautiful memories!

35. Birthday parties for C.S. Lewis (both years), which you can read about here.

36. The musicals we did in our youth group in high school -- "Let's Go to the Rock" (in which I had one of the le
ad parts, and had to "rap" a song with Chad Edgington), and "Who Me?" (in which I starred as the evolutionist science teacher, and horridly sang a solo. . . and otherwise attempted to harmonize with Mandy on the other songs). Boy, do I wish I had some pictures of those events!

37. Meeting Valerie Tripp, the American Girl author. I read her first book when I was 8, the same year she wrote it. 20 years later, I had the honor of introducing her in front of the huge gathering of American Girl fans! She was delightful!

38. Planting a functional and gorgeous garden behind my little apartment in Illinois. I hope whoever lives there now appreciates my herbs!

39. A fun-packed weekend at Donette's in Normal my freshman year of college. She and her roomies (Melissa, Heath
er, and Mary) were helping me mend my broken heart by inviting me to all their "girl's nights out". Those memories make me want to bust out singing Alanis Morresette. Remember, Nettie?

40. A road trip to Atlanta with Josh and Anna (first year I was married). The reason we went there now seems rather shallow and wasteful in my mind, but it was one of the best times ever! And we think we saw Al Gore. :)

41. My college graduation. . . this may sound proud, but I was so happy to graduate Magna Cum Laude, because it was a goal I had set for myself in the beginning (all gifts from His Hand!). My family, friends and teachers were all so warm and encouraging to me on that day!

42. Cherry pie making with Anna and Misty from start to finish. Step #1: pick the cherries from the Hewitt's trees (r.i.p.). Step #2: pit the cherries while watching "The Happiest Millionaire". Step #3: make th
e world's best cherry pie for the 4th, complete with Anna's amazing pie art -- one year it was D.C. with fireworks overhead, I believe.

43. Hearing my sister Emily sing her gorgeous T.I. song "Come Home." She has such a sweet and perfect voice, and I was just so proud of her!

44. Catching the bouquet in my brother's wedding when I wa
s 18. Janet (my sis-in-law) threw it right to me on purpose, and that was sort of the start of our really tight friendship. I love that Janet!

45. CEF trip 2006. What a lot of hot days (sounds fabulous right now) working so hard outside and swimming, and hiking and killing ugly trees (we were supposed to). And an abundance of merry-making and all-
around silliness in the evenings. Pictured here are the cap-gun bandits.

46. (If you went to MBBC, don't kill me for putting) Lice Fest '99. It truly was one of the most horrible thing I'd ever gone through at that point, but it was such a tremendous time of growth for the girls in the dorms. I remember Sarah came in and "disinfected" my room one night while I was working security -- little did we know that Lysol doesn't do a thing to Lice! (but thanks for the thought, Sar).

47. Pretty
much every moment of ri"donk"ulous craziness with my sis-in-law Kari. One time stands out, especially, when she came to stay with me while I was student teaching in Ft. Atkinson (little shout-out, Mark!). She is terrified of cats, and the Z's had a big one, Zumba, which I had to sort of hide from her, because she really is so petrified. Kari also likes to CLEAN, and we decided to totally organize the Z's kitchen and front room, but Kari goes a bit far (I'm sure you're shocked, if you know her) and was pitching tons of stuff! It looked GREAT in there, afterward, but I honestly don't know if the Z's were able to find everything! Oh my word, make me die laughing! That girl probably threw away their bills and things! I can't believe this psycho is going to be a mother! (I'm so happy!)

48. The relief and peace that came after I humbled myself and made things right with a girlfriend of someone very close to me. I had held a grudge against her in my heart for over a year, and I didn't really want to mend things, but the Hound of Heaven sought me out, and wouldn't let me just leave it alone! Thank goodness!

49. All the Bible studies at Kirby's house in high school. I trace my theological growth straight back to that humble abode. I am so grateful that Kirb invested in us that way, teaching us to see and savor Jesus Christ and adore His Word as our final authority. I can still quote the Bible Creed (holla back if you can, too!). Kirby was such an excellent balance of challenging friend and encouraging authority to us, which few kids ever have -- and it made a world of difference to me, and my walk in grace.

50. Okay, mush-ola, but I think I have to put my first kiss. The first person I ever kissed was my husband, Josh! If you can stand the details, read on: I had never kissed anyone before, and we had been "courting/dating" for about a year, and I decided I was ready (he had been for a while) when he told me he loved me. I was 21 years old, which seemed so old at the time! Still, I hold it as quite a precious thing that he was the only one I ever kissed! :)

Well, a million more memories flood my mind, and a million more are waiting to be made! To all of my new friends and readers (Grace, Kevin, etc.), I look forward to building memories with all of you!



17 comments:

Gretchen said...

Okay, #51, road trip with Pastor Joe and Jill to NC for David and Sharon's wedding! What a beautiful time of fellowship together reading scripture, praying conversationally and listening to John Piper's poetry on CD (a new discovery of Josh's at the time).

Just couldn't leave that one out!

Sandy said...

I also have fond memories (and a few pics) of "let's go to the rock." were you around when we did our Old fashion love song show around town?? I was partners with Steve Benson, and then Brad, it was a fond youth group memory!

Sandy said...

Oh, and I totally am with you about Kirby's house, that was a great time of life.

MadMup said...

Wooo, Ft. Atkinson!

"Your" room still pretty much looks the same, except it's sorta the "grandkids room" now, so there's lots of toys all over it.

And Zumba was a great cat - sadly he is no longer with us :(

This has been a great series, Gret!

Sarah said...

Gretchen, what fun memories! I don't think I could come up with 50 memories--I am so horrible at remembering things. I was so proud to be included in a memory also (even though it had to do with lice!)
I just told Laura about when we first met Kari and she told you some huge story at a party at your house about me being pregnant (and I wasn't) and you were so upset that we hadn't told you first. :-)
She is so crazy! What a great mom she will be....

Donette said...

Gret, I'm with Sarah. I can't remember enough to do a post like this, but I have enjoyed yours! Maybe I'll do a top 10 memories or something!
I'm so glad you remember coming to my house in Normal! What a fun weekend that was! I will never forget our dorm sup talking to me about going home too often my freshman year and me replying, "This is how I survive college!" I had such good friends at home and it was great introducing you all to them. And I had forgotten about the Allanis Morisette music! Shameful for a MBBC grad to admit! ;)

Anonymous said...

Jack Kelly and Spot Colon are very disappointed that they didn't make the cut ;)

Amy

Gretchen said...

San, Yeah, I was in that the 2nd time around, led by Brock, and of course I was partners with Steve.

Mark -- I've wondered how my room looks now! I guess I'm cool with sharing it with the grandkiddies! They're really more there than I am. :)

Sar -- another memory (better) I have of you is when you colored me that picture of a moose on a scale that said "you've lost weight". HA HA!

Nett -- You did go home a lot. Why not, if you can?

Aim -- memory #52: watching and watching and watching and singing and singing and singing Newsies a million times over and over with Amy Miller! I don't think I've ever been so "addicted" to a movie before, or since!

Anonymous said...

Lice Fest 99 was awesome...do you remember the Lice Awareness ribbons I made? They were light blue. One girl asked me about it an practically burst into tears saying I was unfeeling by making it a joke.

Display Name said...

So you had an "herb" garden...
I'm sure whoever lives there now is enjoying your "herbs," especially if he or she happens to have dreds and wear a lot of tie-dye.

Unknown said...

Hey Gret...I love your fav memories posts! You have such a great memory with the details, I'm totally impressed! Quick question! Any tips on how to deal w/S vs. K (I hate to write their names on the off chance they could somehow see your blog)? Last Wed was a bit more challenging than normal. I haven't had much problem with S before, but Wed. proved to be a bit harder. Any suggestions would be much appreciated!!! Thanks much, Love Ya!

Gretchen said...

Geen -- yes, I do remember those, that was HALARIOUS! I think it was stupid how seriously people took it -- or how mean they could be!

Kev -- hmmmmmm. . . not sure I like what you're implying here. You missed it today when Terry was going on about his affection for wolves, and Mike and I were underhandedly mocking him by discussing our vision quests and use of Peyote. :) Okay, back to my herbs -- I can't imagine anyone with dreds and tie dye living in my small 800 person town, but then again my next door neighbors were this really cute couple who had huge mohawks. They mowed the lawn, dug in the garden and power-washed the house in their really tall mohawks.

Manda -- I'll be praying for them! Hope I gave you some good insights. ... those girls just need Christ!

Display Name said...

Peyote? Is that a breed of canine?

BTW, that was a different Heather, not the one we work with... I mean, with whom we work.

So Terry likes wolves, eh? That's funny. I can see him living in the woods, talking to the animals, figuring out directions by the pattern of moss growing on tree trunks, living off berries and guano. He prolly has some weird noise he can make to summon his furry friends. He sits around at night, talking to the spirits of his ancestors as they appear over his campfire. And Jeff was worried about YOU!

Gretchen said...

Kev -- you are unfamiliar with Peyote?? Do you read many books about Native Americans? Many tribes had their young men and women go on "vision quests" in search of their "Wyakin" (which would be an animal or spirit) that would give you secret insight to life, and henceforth your lucky animal. I told Terry the wolf was my Wyakin.

Yeah, I wonder which Terry is more like, a frontier man communing with the animal spirits, or Sith Lord in touch with the dark side.

Man, we better hope he never reads this. . . :)

Mandy said...

I loved your top 50 list! It was so fun reading all of them.
You are so much fun that your sure to have a lot to chose from.
I am very honored to have been in a few of them, and am so jealous of your new friends!

Anonymous said...

Gret,
I loved reading your memories! I can't wait to come visit you within the next few weeks! Love you!

Kari

Anonymous said...

I realize this is a little late (as are all of my posts!) but I just thought I should thank you for dedicating a whole memory to my singing for TI....that is very sweet and I am quite undeserving.
I SO enjoyed reading this and am happy to report that I share a lot of the same memories...I can't believe you brought it down to two camp OUTT memories! I would have really struggled with that one.
Here's to many more!
-emma