I remember this trip like it was yesterday.
Which really means I don't really remember it at all.
I can barely remember what I did yesterday.
When was yesterday?
See what I mean?
However, I do remember this was a surprise trip for all of us kids. My dad's job held their yearly "get together" at Carowinds, and we didn't know until we were pulling into Carowinds parking lot.
I miss times like these, when life was in a more "care-free" vein. We could do things together without having to arrange schedules and re-arrange life.
We all looked so young and ... dare I say it? Homeschoolerish. I can't believe my mom let us go out in public like this! Dear Mom, I know we were teenagers, and we probably wouldn't have taken any advice, so then was a good time pull out the "I'm the Mom do so" card. I can't believe I actually walked around in PUBLIC like this!?
Before leaving home. We were excited and didn't even know where we were going!
Evan, Weston and Autumn posing with Scooby Doo Characters
Mom, us girls and Velma
Weston was less than thrilled about riding the kiddie ride. Tough buddy.
The whole Fam. I used to not care about what I wore. Can you tell?
I don't think he was uber excited about this ride :)
Whitewater Rafting with friends from North Carolina & Alabama
Riding a roller-coaster for the first time EVER (Ironically it was the Batman ride. Make sense)
Watching not One, Two, Three but FOUR of my friends marry their best friends. Also being a Bridesmaid (for the first time) in one of the above weddings Saying good-bye to a woman who was as close as a grandmother Running not ONE, but TWO 5Ks
Getting my Kindle Fire + MacBook Pro + iPhone 4S (Not in debt for ANY of those! Woot!) Seeing my second Guide Dog pup and her Handler Raising my seventh, and challenging guide dog pup, David
Getting to see friends out of town friends almost every month this year, forging new relationships and maintaining old. :)
Yesterday i came across a channel on YouTube called Story-Corps. The videos were animations of peoples memories, that they had recorded at Story Corps, one of my favorites of the whole series, was this one by Joshua Littman and his mother Sarah.
I LOVED the idea behind Story Corps and have been inspired to do my own, with my own family if I can. That would make an AMAZING mother's day present.
(For next year)
(without the cool animations)
Anyways it got me to thinking of different memories I have of my mom growing up.....
Looking back at the "ripe old age" of 21, I wish I could have appreciated my mother a little more growing up, I wish I hadn't been so stubborn/rebellious, I wish I would have pitched in more...
Having my own house and living things to take care of, I suddenly realize what a big job having SIX children was, not only that, but caring for the house, and homeschooling all.of.us.
And honestly homeschooling with her was a lot of fun, we watched Tadpoles grow into frogs (and then die from the worms that were in the dirt we placed with them) on our kitchen counter....
We captured at least one Praying Mantis a summer, to feed and care for. We even had a fish or two..(who also promptly died.)
I can remember one time, when I was 8 or 9, she woke us up excitedly one more, telling us to hurry and get dressed, as there was a surprise waiting outside. At this age, the desire to have a dog was an all consuming thing, and since she didn't give us any other hints as to what the surprise was, all I could think of was we had gotten a new puppy!
I can remember being soo excited that my fondest wish had come true, and couldn't believe we had to eat BREAKFAST before we could go see what it was.
I can still feel the crushing disappointment I felt, when mom excitedly showed us the seeds we'd planted a couple of weeks before, were starting to poke through the dirt. It wasn't until years later, that we told her why our enthusiasm didn't match hers.
The thing that impresses me most about my mother, is that she never complained about us kids. Never. At least not in my presence.
As a more mature teenager, adults seemed to forget my age when they started spouting off about their own kids. I heard so many parents complain and gripe about their kids, then follow it up with an "Oh but I love them"... yes I can tell by the way you are disrespecting them, and their privacy by airing their dirty laundry to the first willing ear.
I've seen other parents, be little or talk down to their children, or play the favorites card, or be downright hateful to their kids...in the name of parenting.
My mom (and Dad) never did that; sure they had rules and restrictions we were expected to follow, but they treated us with respect...even when we really didn't deserve it.
If you had made a career out of whatever you were passionate about when you were ten…what would you be doing?
Though I can't pinpoint the exact date, it was most likely right around age 10, that my obsession with animals had started. I can remember going to the library and checking out book, after book about dogs, dog training, dog breeds, dog stories. I wanted a dog so.badly it was unbearable at times. Its funny now, to think of my obsession with dogs at the time, simply because a few years prior to this, I was deathly scared of them. Makes me wonder if I wanted one more so because my childhood friends Brittany and Jeffery (siblings), and Warren and Wesley (brothers) had both gotten puppies recently. Brittany, my best friend at the time, had gotten a Boxer puppy named Durango and the "W" brothers a Golden Retriever mix named Ralph. Who knows. I remember leaving little notes around the house for my parents trying to convince them to let me have a dog! It was to know avail. Meanies. But in the meantime I dreamed of becoming a dog trainer, or even a veterinarian,I really had no REAL preference..other than it had something to do with dogs.
One time I can remember, my mom came into our room one morning, all excited about a surprise she had to show us. We were half asleep, but when she said this "surprise" was indeed alive, I can STILL feel the intense excitement I had that perhaps, FINALLY, I had gotten the puppy I had longed for. My sisters and I jumped out of bed, and went through our "morning routine" as fast as we possibly could. Going through ideas of what we would name said puppy, if that were indeed the case. Who knows, I might have prayed and asked God to please, let us get a puppy!
You can imagine our disappointment to find a pot full of budding seeds, we'd planted a couple of weeks earlier. I can still remember rushing outside, and looking around for the "live" surprise. I can still remember faking my "happiness" that our stupid plants were blooming. My heart was broken.
However I didn't give up hope, and it 2002 - Miss Bubbles came to live with us! We were such bad dog owners at first, but the dog is still alive, and in reasonable health. Poor Dear. At least her last years will be lived out in relative peacefulness. Grins.
Bubbles would really like me to leave her alone, so she can get back to her nap.
It wasn't until 2006 that was finally able to "fulfill" my dream, and in a completely different manner than I'd even thought of. That's when I saw my first guide dog puppy. We were at a 4-H Achievement Night, were all the clubs gathered together and we gave awards for different programs we'd done through out the year. I, at the time was ...probably Secretary of our county and rushing around, attempting to make sure everything was were it was supposed to be. I was standing in the middle of the auditorium where the event was being held, and see a woman walk by with a 4 month old, black lab puppy wearing a vest. My curiosity was peaked, and I was dying to go over and find out why she had that dog in here, but alas my duties called and I wasn't able to find out any information. As soon as the event was over, and the photo taking had ceased, I streaked for the "dog lady". I was surprised to find my mom had reached her first, and had already gathered information. I nearly fell over when she turned to me and said these magic words: "I was thinking we might get involved in doing something like this." Truthfully I really didn't know WHAT it was the lady was doing, but I did know if it had anything to do with dogs you could count me in! Long story short 4 years later, I'm still "living my dream". From my first guide dog puppy, to multiple jobs at Dog daycares, shelters, working as a trainer for a local service dog organization, as well as volunteering as a puppy raiser for the Guide Dog Foundation. Yeah, its a little crazy to actually get to do, what you wanted to do as a child! Granted I'm not getting paid to do it at the moment...but volunteering is just as good..or better even!
Me meeting my first guide dog pup Jake.
And that, my friends, is my story. What "career" goals did you have as a child? But here's the real question: 12 dogs later...do my parents regret getting me my first dog?
