As We Go On, We Remember

As a high school teacher, I have been able to watch the excitement build every June as seniors get ready to take their last steps out the doors of the high school and onto the beginning of the rest of their lives. I find mostly sheer happiness with the seniors at my school. They can't wait to be out and on their own, and often times they have already been "checked out" for several months prior. The final bell on their last day is pure relief to both them AND their teachers.

As a senior in 2002, I remember it all very differently. Pure joy wasn't the feeling of that last day. It felt more closely to pure dread. The final 30 min of school, somehow we all mangaged to get out of class, and a big group of us stood arm in arm in a big circle in the main office. We all were crying (girls and guys)....like really crying, remembering it all, sad to see it end, scared to part the walls that kept us together, unsure if we really wanted to leave our friends and start all over in an unknown college or university. We listened as our principal Mr.Brooks stood in front of us and gave an announcement over the loud speaker of his excitement and encouragement to us seniors. We knew he loved us. It was never student against principal with Mr.Brooks. As the bell rang, the hallway filled with more tear stained eyes. Everyone was crying, hugging, and hanging around. There was never truely a class like mine. I never felt hate for any other social group. Everyone really got along. The popular kids were a mixture of every part of high school.... the AP students, the athletes, the band members, chorus, school musical kids, student government. There were so many well rounded students in my class....it's inspiring to think back to how special it was to be a part of it. The Vitamin C graduation song was played over the loud speaker on that last day, which I just heard in the car. It's what sent me back and inspired this post. Here are some of the words...

"And so we talked all night about the rest of our lives

Where we're gonna be when we turn 25

I keep thinking times will never change

Keep on thinking things will always be the same...

As we go on, we remember

All the times we had together

And as our lives change, from whatever

We will still be, friends forever"

Well 25 has come and gone now, and that last day of school in 2002 is still very dear to my heart (and slightly comical on how dramatic we all were). My high school girlfriends are still my most cherished friends. They were all my bridesmaids. They all grew up into amazing women as I knew they would. I love that they are still a part of my life. I feel pretty darn lucky to have had such great memories in high school to where I didn't want them to end. I moved on to have great college memories, and great memories of meeting Jake and falling in love and now we are building wonderful memories of being a family (a growing family at that).

In 2 years it will be 10 years since I graduated high school. I am sure I will watch many seniors pass through my classroom, but I will always feel slightly bad for them, that they didn't get to be a senior at Arlington High School in 2002!

Linkin's Vet Appointment

Linkin has been limping a bit in the past week. We didn't want it to get worse and we of course didn't want him in pain, so I went ahead and made an appointment for him at the Vet. Since I was working, it was Jake who would have to bring him in.

Now....what you have to know about Jake is...he really tries to get things right, but often, things don't go right for him. He always puts others before himself, and is pretty awesome all around

With that being said, I was crossing my fingers that everything would go well with the appointment, that Jake would go to the right vet, ask about the costs before paying some crazy amount of money, that a tree wouldn't fall on Jake's truck keeping him from getting there, that he wouldn't be robbed in the parking lot of the vet etc. Well, I have to say. I was impressed to hear that everything went smooth. They gave Linkin some medicane, and said they didn't think it was broken. YEAH!!!!

So...4 hours later. I am driving home from school, and I get a text message from Jake.

"It was the right foot right?"

OMGosh! lol. I was laughing so hard because...no, it wasn't the right foot.....it was the LEFT FOOT that Linkin hurt!!!

ahhhh. I love him. All of him. You would think the owner and the vet would have been able to figure it out, but nope. Nothing like going to the vet to get a perfectly good foot looked at!

:o)

Memorial Day 2010

Our little Nelson clan headed up to NY for Memorial Day to spend time with family and a day at Whaley Lake (one of my favorite places in the whole wide world!) It was a great day with family, jetskiing, relaxing, watching Zoey enjoy the lake and of course the ambulance coming after an accident with one of jess' friends ripping apart their knee after going off the rope swing! It's always something when people are around us! lol. Joel is ok though and home recovering from knee surgery! linkin and jake after a ride on the jetski!

Zoey saying Hi to everyone!

Hanging out with Grandma!

Loving the FREEZING Cold Water!

Sporting her Red White and Blue for Memorial Day!

DC With Friends in March

In march we had some visitors! Phil and Crystal came from boston. Devin came from Utah and Amanda came up from Virgina. They all wanted to see some sites and we were happy to tag along. Chatting at the museum. Where is Crystal though?

Devin and Amanda! Perfect for each other!!

Zoey so happy to be in DC! What a good looking hubby I have!

Some cuddle time in the heart of DC

I love my little family!

Zoey 7 1/2 months

What a fun little girl we have! Zoey is all about exploring, discovering and being independent. She loves her mommy, daddy and Linkin, even though Linkin pretends to have a little temper tantrum every time she touches him (I see you wagging your tail Linkin!!)

Zoey now has 2 teeth! The first one was pretty rough coming in (at least for me and Jake!), but her little smile is so cute with those two little teeth poking out!

Zoey is standing all over the place. Not on her own yet. (I don't think she thinks she can, even though she totally can. lol) She has mastered crawling. When she crawls toward you laughing and smiling the whole way it is the best thing in the world!

When you sing to her, she thinks you are so silly! She kind of waves hi......really good at the waving, but I don't think she knows what she is doing it for, other than being totally fun!

She LOVES other babies! Good thing we have one on the way!!

She said dadada a few times, but no mamama yet. We are working on it! lol. She could talk for hours to herself while she plays. It's quite amusing.

Bath time is the best thing in the whole wide world for her! She literally plunges her face into the water from a sitting position. She just loves the water. Jake can dump a whole bucket of water on her head and it doesn't bother her in the slightest! She splashes around and just plays and plays. We can't wait to take her to the lake this weekend and see how she does. She hasn't tried cold water yet!

Jake and I were brainstorming the other night..."how can we keep her like this forever?!" Jake thought, 'Maybe we can freeze her?' She is just so fun right now. I can't imagine what the next few months will bring!

Jake dresses Zoey for church to match him! :o)

Playing

MY FAVORITE FACE

This is the happiest little girl! It takes all my energy to not wake her up and see that little face every morning before I leave for work!! (Jake would kill me!) I love my Zoey! Don't you?

Love Our Pediatrican

Ahhhh.... I love people who are good at what they do. Sometimes it seems like we live in a world of SO SO and it is so annoying. Well, I just love Zoey's pediatrican, Dr. Cohen! She is just a wonderful loving person. She makes a fuss over Zoey every time she sees her and always just lets me talk talk talk at her check ups. She always makes me feel like such a great mom. Whenever I have an issue, I just call up the office, tell the secretary, she gives her the message and Dr.Cohen calls right back to give me advice. Often she just calls in a perscription for me without me having to go all the way down there. I love it!
Today she even asked me how I was feeling. She remembered I was pregnant! She remembers everything. Asks me about how our traveling went or whatever we recently did.
If anyone is in need of a great pediatrician, I would gladly give you the number to her office!