Things Remembered

WHOOOOHOOOO!!! This just in!!! We just got our exam grades back from the killer exams we had at end of term. Thank you Lord! I not only passed but also significantly improved my score from last time!!! But enough of that!

So I was sitting in class today learning about satellites, transponders and antennas, etc., and in all honesty, the presenter from NASA Glenn was great. He took a fairly boring subject and made it interesting and fun. Nice break from the Team Project (TP) Feedback Session we had the previous hour. Now, that was fun, but I’m in a decent mood and don’t want to go back to that. Suffice to say our team got a mark that in the realm of ISU and European grading systems falls into the category of “Very Good” so I’ll take it and spare you the rest of the related drama there…

Anyhow, I was making a card for my sister’s upcoming 14th birthday and I started listing cool things we’ve experienced and such. I realized that there are a bunch of really random but cool things I really appreciate about my town/family and thought I’d list them here:

Trails' Vanilla Cokes
Four Wheeling on “The Moon” (a dry lake bed near our home)
HumVee’s (broken or otherwise)
Dirt-biking
Sledding (on a shovel from the back of a truck)
Debbie Tsubota’s Cherry & Apple Pies (respectively)
Sharon Blevin’s Biscuits & Gravy
Hanging out at Sharon’s house as a kid when she was baking cakes and the warm freshly baked cut-off tops I got to eat
H.L.’s Accent and Invented Words
Hanging out in general with my amazing grandparents
Aunt Nanci laughing til we cry
Mom’s Roses
Grandma’s Christmas Cookies
Apple-Cran juice from Gram and everything else in her sweet drawer
Grandma’s Stories
Grandpa’s "Rain Dance"
Grandpa’s Hugs
Naomi’s Stories, Hugs, unconditional love and faith in myself and others she loves…
10 pm trips to Ridgecrest for Taco Bell after summer swims
TP and all of its creative uses
Fall Fest complete with chili cook-offs, pie auctions and costume contests
Dad’s Halloween/Birthday Parties
Mom’s Cookin’
Mom’s omnipresent & unconditional love for my person, her broad knowledge of Scriptures and the artful way she almost always places a pungent rose beside my bed when I return home from far away
Working on music that we’ve written with my mom in an empty church
Mom playing Ballade Pour Adelline and classical pieces while rehearsing for a wedding
The crazy peace that overwhelms my house when Mom sings
Movies with Jerm, Pete and Elroys
Laughing with Les till our sides hurt and then not even really remembering why…
Street Football
Car Singing
Sunday Potlucks
Shannon Ferguson’s Bear Claws
Babysitting the Elroy 5
Steven Soden’s big blue eyes, beautiful friendship and of course his mad football skills
All the kids/teens in our church and their beautiful, fun and wacky perspectives on life and the resulting joy they’ve introduced into mine
Mom’s 50th Birthday Party
Saxophone Wake Up Calls
NOT the way my mom lets Les jump on me or Bri throw hackey-sacks at my head to wake me up!
My Dad’s sense of adventure and unyielding dedication to his family
The way so many people in my town care for each other
The way they work together to make things special whether it's a wedding, birthday party or our education...
Swimming in Valley Wells & Langston’s Pool (Marco Polo)
Great Falls Trips
Mrs. Langston’s Catalina Salade
Late night talks parked in the middle of a street and nobody caring
Breyer’s Vanilla Bean Ice Cream
Camping in the Wash
Capture the Flag
FOURTH OF JULY FIREWORKS both the actual event and all the prep “work”
Mrs. D’s Sweet & Sour Chicken Wings
Cards at the Darlings
Family Camp with all its fireside talks, moonlit beach walks and time shared with precious people
Prank Wars
Afternoon talks on life, love or the Lord held in various living rooms across the span of my life
Bottle Rocket Battles
Nighttime Summer Bike Rides
Sunsets on the Porch with Dad
Summer afternoons on the porch with Grandma & Ruth
Spite & Malice Games
Gina’s Chocolate Cake, Rainbow Jello and allowance of our taking over of her living room on a constant basis
Mr. Haleman’s “visits” to the learning centers
Weekends home from college with my friends
Paintballing
Ditch ‘Em
Teens
Launching Rockets on the Lake Bed
The manner in which the Milky Way stands out against the pure black canvass speckled ever so perfectly with undeniably breathtaking stars that twinkle in coordination with your heartbeat to create a truly awe inspiring nighttime summer sky that when combined with the cool reprieve offered by the night from the oppressive sun is like nothing I’ve ever experienced…
Learning to drive in the desert
Hiking behind my house
That certain shade of purple that the mountains surrounding our valley turn just as the shade falls upon them and a moment before the sun sets in its golden glory transitioning into hues of pink and red before finally dipping behind to say goodnight…
Fly-bys over my house
B2 Bomber fly overs at 10 o’clock break in grade school
All 3 snow days
Exploring the Charcoal Kilns
Christmas Tree Springs
Exploring Old Mines
Any of hundreds of adventures with our Dads
The Old Building – Our Special Place
Building the Playhouse
The crazy cool pulley/rope system connecting the tree off the deck of my playhouse to another tree all the way across the yard and the Tarzan method of transportation to cover the distance…
Our Hot Tub on Cold Winter Nights
Desert Skiing
Indian Joe’s Trips

WOW! This turned out to be quite the list! And there’s so much more! I just got to thinking about all the things I love about home and I had to stand back for a second and think, “Man! God has been good to me! I’ve got such great memories, so many cool experiences.” I’m not homesick, but I do appreciate home and will be happy to enjoy it anew! So basically, for all of you punk kids still living there - and even the adults – Take advantage of what lies before you. There are so many possibilities for adventure right in front of you. And if you leave, there’ll be new adventures of a different sort, but don’t get so anxious to move on to the next thing that you miss out on crazy cool opportunities before you right now. Ok, ok, I’m not preaching, really! Just take advantage of our crazy home! Go rock climbing at the Falls, four-wheeling on the moon, hiking behind any of our houses or simply take a crisp evening walk and capture whatever piece of sunset you can get before heading in for apple cider by a hand built fire.

Talk. Laugh. Work. Love. Learn. Invent. Explore. Discover. Dream. Aspire. Do.

That’s all from me for now, all my love to all of you and wherever you call home!
Drink Deeply of the Beauty,
Brooke