And now...
Coco & Jamers, back then...
The LDS kiddos, today...
A few weeks ago I hopped in the car and drove back home for the first time in a long time. Not to Camarillo where my parents live now, but back to the streets where I rode my bike and first learned to drive, back to the school yards where I ran track and played softball, back to the neighborhoods we used to toilet-paper in high school and to the house where I spent the first 18 years of my life. Back to Orange, CA for my 10 year high school reunion. So good to be back. I know it's best to live life focused on today and what lies ahead, and not to dwell on days of the past. But sometimes it's good to reflect on the people and experiences that helped to get you where you are today.
After 10 years of being away, I loved seeing old friends and classmates and noticing, for the majority, how happy people were. Life hasn't necessarily been easy for everyone or panned out the way they expected, but it was great to see people in a good place in their lives, content with who they are, over the drama of high school, and just doing well. Maybe still figuring things out, yes, but just happy and doing well. And mostly, I loved seeing my girls. I had the best group of friends in high school, and while I've moved away and lived elsewhere since I first left for college, I still feel so fortunate and blessed to have each of them in my life. We still can get together after so much time and feel like nothing's changed. Girls just need girls. To have a few close friends can make all the difference in the world, and I'm so glad I had that during High School and still today.
If you had told me 10 years ago that I'd be in dental school and living in (and loving) Phoenix, AZ, I would have laughed. Funny what life can bring and how much can change in 10 years. And it's funny how much can stay the same.
I think I just found my new favorite weekend get-away. Sedona is about two hours from Phoenix, and we'd been wanting to explore 'red-rock country' since we landed in AZ two months ago. We drove up with the Bradys and spent the day jumping off cliffs at Grasshopper Point and slipping n sliding through the natural waterslides at Slide Rock. So fun. And Sedona is beautiful... the Phoenix landscape has definitely grown on me (yeah, never thought cactus was very nice to look at before... still working on that one) but that red rock against the mountain greenery was so picturesque. We're ready to go again soon, wanna come?
There go Scott and and my nephew Ben...
Here's my neice Emmy... her hair is rockin in this pic!
Don't ask me why I stick my arms straight out when I jump... probably not smart when you hit the water.
Love this picture... we're all doing our random knee-jerk reaction jumping poses... Scott looks like he's trying to balance on a tight-rope, Taralee flails her legs and does mini-kicks in the air, I throw my arms straight out like I'm trying to fly, and Emmy plugs her nose and just steps straight out.
