This is a totally random post that stuck in my mind and grew to the point where I was not going to stop thinking about it until I actually wrote about it, even though it's a little weird and will probably mean nothing to anyone who is not included in the memories- but hey, I write for myself, right?
Not to sound Oprah-esque, but it is about one of my favorite things- FOOD! Not just food, but memories, and probably more important, people, that are tied with foods- foods that evoke emotional ties. It never fails that I will eat something that reminds me of a certain time in my life, and then I begin to daydream and reminisce about who I was, who I thought I was going to be, and who I have become. Weird how the brain ties things together in our minds, right?
So here it is...the foods and the memories they evoke. Since I do not have pictures to go with the memories (I really need to invest in a good scanner so I can scan old pics and make hard copies, but I digress. Add that to the list of "when my kids are older..."), I will sporadically interject pics of the cutest kids God ever made! :)
1. The earliest food memory- Ravioli and my dad. I remember him asking if I ate the whole can by myself, and my mom saying "Of course, she's a big girl now!" I think I held my head a little higher that day.
2. Sour Cream and Onion Chips and my Papaw- he had a green, 60's style tupperware container that always set on his table that ALWAYS had those chips in them. The smell of them makes me think of him every time. Oh, and club crackers.
3. KFC- volleyball at Fairdale High School. They delivered to the school and there were many home games that we ordered it to eat before a game.
5. Allen green beans- my first physical fight with my sister Jessie. We were picking beans in a garden and we could not finish until the bucket was full. She got mad at me about something I said and SHE KICKED MY BUCKET OVER. It was war, and I won.
6. Peanut butter sandwiches, taco bell Doritos, and big red- every day after volleyball practice, I would walk to my friend Jenny's house and we would eat this meal. Before dinner. Oh, to have the metabolism of a teenager.
7. Frozen pizza, funjuns, and big red- as a teenager, most Sunday's after church were spent at my friend Amanda's house eating this meal that we picked up at the Pic Pac, and playing Paper Boy on Nintendo. Yes, the original Nintendo. Good times.
8. DQ ice cream- there was one right across from the church I used to attend and there were many trips across the road before and after church. It was in this church that I fell in love with Jesus and became a Jesus Freak. (little reference to the iconic DC talk there for those who aren't familiar with that phrase)
9. Powdered brownies and Frito cheese dip with Nacho Doritos- the second youth group I was in that taught me how to play Euchre and taught me what a relationship with Jesus was supposed to be like (not that the first church didn't- i just wasn't ready for that yet!)
10. Chicken n Dumplings- my cousin Matt who knocked my two front teeth out and used to torture me in my grandparents basement like only cousins can do- I remember vaguely being pushed around in a wheel chair at reckless speeds. He taught me to be tough and not put up with any crap! (Oh, chicken n dumplings is the meal that he always asked my mom to cook for him)
11. Pizza Hut- the hubbs proposed to me in the parking lot of the Pizza Hut in New Albany. I was with my sisters and he met us there after school and told me he had gotten something for me. I assumed it was a bag of peach rings because that was the candy I was stuck on at the moment. Boy was I wrong! It was also the first time Jessie broke the law...she had to drive home because I was shaking so bad. She had her permit, but I was not 21. Sorry mom! Anyway, when we later married and lived in our teeny-tiny first apartment, we ordered Pizza Hut every Friday night and played Scrabble. Funny how pizza is now my kiddos favorite meal!
12. Big Red- the foreign exchange student Luisa who came and lived with us
my freshman year of college who L O V E D big red gum- which they do not have in Germany. She became a sister to us during those months she spent shaking up our home!
13. Homemade biscuits- my mom. She would have flour up to her elbows while making this treat for our family. I have refused to make them thus far because someone else should learn some of her secrets too since I have most of them, but no one has offered so far, so I guess I'll eventually have to break down and learn the way and inherit the bowl.
Two last pics to even out the number (and it is ALL about things being even and fair at this point in Gracey and Thayne's lives. I have yet to break it to them that life is never fair, but I think I'll just let life show them that...)
She kinda looks like my mom in this pic...I think I may have 2 pics that my mom is NOT sticking out her tongue!
My mischievous little
man who makes me
smile every day!
So now that I am done writing a book, I think I'll go make a cake! (um...weddings, birthdays, showers.....)
Next, the Tour of Tears is heading towards my youngest sister, Katie's, high school graduation. Katie, the one that used to sleep on my belly when she was a baby while we napped together. The one I taught to potty train, shave her legs, and to play tennis. The one who Gracey imitates and is identical to in mannerisms, speech, and thought. The one who is graduating 3rd in her class and 
