Family Musings

After a couple of years, some things, like this post, just become tradition. So it is without further ado, that I show you our year in calendars, courtesy of The Shabby Shoppe . (Here's a secret about the next 4 desktop calendars... I made them for this post. Seems like I got busy again and didn't have a chance to do them in a timely manner. Oops!) (photo credit: K Barber Photography ) Here are links to the 2010 and 2009 calendar reviews.

I love to change the background on my laptop every month using the free desktop from the Shabby Princess blog. They are always gorgeous and help me show off my girls. As I said when I shared the 2009 desktops, posting these like this allow me to see how my family has changed over the year.  Apparently I skipped June. Or I misplaced the file. (Mom, do you have a June desktop?) And I know I skipped October & November. I was barely on the computer during that time. And I picked up my camera about as frequently. I suppose their absence says something about our family too. We were busy being together! (Photo credit for December - K Barber Photography ) Do you use any free scrapbook templates?   I'm always looking for consistent, quality sources that are free. Share your link in the comments.

I am a junior in high school (16 years old) which makes my brother a freshman (14 or 15 in this picture). This is when we lived in Deltona and he sang in the show choir (yes, he was a gleek!). The wrist brace was from an injury with the rifle on the Reflections color guard . And I would be remiss if I didn't call your attention to my purse, sitting on the swing. Awesome, isn't it?!

My brother, Nick, and I at Easter in 1980 something, maybe 1983. It was the same year my Uncle Joe got married and this is what we wore for the wedding . My mom made my flower girl dress. Pretty awesome isn't it?!

As I did last year about this time, let me share with you the desktop calendars I use on my laptop each month. This is a good way for me to review how my family has grown over the last year. Each picture in these calendars comes from something that happened the month before. I couldn't make a decision about which picture to use for September, so I made too and let the family pick which one they wanted for their computers. If you like these and would like to make your own, just visit The Shabby Princess blog for the January 2010 desktop. These are great to send to family so they remember just how cute those little ones are!

We are now at the end of my journey through the scrapbook my mom made for me as a bridal shower gift some 11 1/2 years ago.  Here are the last two pages from my wonderful book and they are all about my husband, Bruce. You can see there was a time when he actually had hair, and I had bangs! Yikes! What was I thinking? Bruce and I went on a lot of dates to Disney because it was free (his dad works there) and there were a wide variety of things to do. One thing we rarely did though was go out to eat. I can count on the 2 fingers the number of times Bruce took me to eat at a restaurant (not counting meals at Disney). Yep folks, 2 times. That is all it took to court me. And, one of those times was the night he proposed. We went to Chili's. Yummy. Since one of the reasons I am sharing the scrapbook here is to tell some of the back story to the pages my mom put together, I thought it would be interesting to share how Bruce and I met. Bruce is a way better story tell (he really sh...

College! While my mom didn't actually come to college with me, she managed to know all my friends names and favorite foods, and made sure to include them in this scrapbook that she gave me and that I am now sharing here. The group of friends I had in college were great. Actually, they still are! In this first picture, I can say that I am still in touch with all but 3 of the people in it. After 11 years I think that is pretty good. Though, I have Facebook to thank for that. Without Facebook I would't know where at least 2 of them were. You may be wondering what BSU stands for. No, it isn't the initials of my college. BSU stands for Baptist Student Union, the student organization I spent the most amount of time with during my days at the U . And that girl next to me, her name is Amy. She went on to become the Maid of Honor at my wedding. And then we lost touch. And now we are back in touch. Thanks Facebook! I was surrounded by talented people in college. Some of them g...

Missions has always been important to me. I went on a couple of trips with my youth group as a teenager and continued that when I went to college. After my freshman year of college, I applied to do a 10 week summer missions trip through the FL Baptist Convention. They sent me to South Dakota with 3 other students from USF. I was the lone UM student  that summer. Before we left, there was a commissioning ceremony at Lake Yale, a Baptist campground in FL. This is where I met Christian and Matt of my team. Vickie couldn't make it, so one of her friends stood in for this picture. I'm the short one in the group. I was very blessed to have so many people who loved me come to the commissioning service. In the top picture on this page are my friends Michelle and Mandy from high school as well as a former Sunday School teacher, and youth group leader. Oh, and my mom is in the picture too. :) My summer in South Dakota was a mixed one. Fortunately, my team got along really well ...

And now we get to my first semester of college. Glorious times. (If we all agree to ignore my adolescent complexion that is!) This first page to commemorate my time in college features a letter I wrote to the editor of our school paper. In it, I responded to an article by some guy named Snell who basically had a skewed, worldly view of what love is, and tried to say love was a physical thing (if I remember correctly). In my letter, I shared what the Bible said about love in 1 Cor 13 and that true love could be found in a relationship with Jesus. I thought it was pretty cool that they published my letter, being a lowly freshman and all. Then, I eventually realized, the editors pretty much published any letter the got (which was not very many). College is like being between a 'rock and a hard place.' Or so the cartoon strip at the top of this scrapbook page says. On our way down to Miami (yes, I am a UM graduate), we stopped at Cracker Barrel for a big breakfast. Cracker Bar...

Ahhh.... high school graduation. This is supposed to be a major milestone in every individuals life. And I guess it was in mine, though I was already looking far, far ahead to college. My Aunt Viola came up along with Uncle Joe, with his wife Gwen and their two kids, Amanda and Kyle. And as could be expected from my family and youth group, there was a big party for all the graduating senior. I don't remember whose house this was at (maybe her name was Dory?) but we had a lot of fun hanging out in the pool and eating yummy food. In the bottom picture are (from L to R) Stephanie Aho-Banguilan, Jason Spencer, me, Mike Hardy(?) Michelle Messer (now Taylor), Joann Mitchum (now Hardy), and Johnny Mitchum. Believe it or not, I still keep up with at least 3 of these friends from high school. Oh, and if I don't tell it, then I know Bruce will... funny story about the floral shirt I am wearing. Bruce says that shirt is one of the reasons he fell in love with me in 10th grade. A...

So now we get to relive my Sweet 16 party. We always had good parties at my house during my middle and high school years. And my Sweet 16 was no exception. There were at least 50 people there and I am not particularly embarrassed by my clothes or my hair. What a nice surprise for me! Our family friend, Sherry Moriarty , made the cake, as she had done for my previous birthdays. My mom asked everyone to sign the paper on the front door with birthday wishes, but I don't have it anymore. Our back patio was home to countless ping-pong games over the years. And at night, with the screens, it was a cool place to hang out. I don't remember many of the gifts I received that year, but there is one that sticks out especially in my mind. Bruce had been invited to my party but couldn't make it due to work. But, he did give me a gift at school. It was a silver necklace. I never knew someday that we would be married, but I still have that necklace, almost 16 years later. Half ...