This post is just me rambling on about family, and it will probably be boring to most of you.
Christine had never seen my wedding pictures so I got them out the other day for her to look at. First picture is left to right- Michelle with her daughter Nicole standing in front of her. She was married to Scott Keeler years ago. Becky with Catriona (my sister in-laws daughter) in front of her. Ashley is in front of me. Second picture is Kim on the left (she surprised me by flying in from Hawaii to come to my wedding) I was so excited to see her. On the right is Nicki. Kim and Nicki went to school together in Gig Harbor. I first met Nicki when I was 16. Third picture is my dad, my half brother Jim and half brother Keith. They are both older than my mother and I am younger than all of their children. Kara, my niece, always called me Aunt Joe. It would drive me crazy. (you know I love you Kara)
The only picture I have of my dad and my two half brothers as adults. My dad passed away four months after my wedding. I rarely see my brothers. We went down to see them three years ago. It was the first time they had seen Christine. I do keep in touch with Keith's (the one on the right) daughter Kara. My mother's sisters, my brothers, and some of my brother's kids still live in Lewiston, Idaho. My good friend Becky (in the first picture on the right with the kids) and her family live in Clarkston, Wa. which is just across the bridge from Lewiston. I think back to when we moved to S.L. when I was 8 years old. My parents wanted a business where they could be home together. They looked at several motels in several towns. Before we moved to S.L. they worked opposite shifts so they didn't get to spend much time together. We would go camping on the weekends and take our horses. When I was 5 years old I rode our horse Pepsi across the meadow. I had never gone faster than a walk. Without any warning he broke into a gallop. I dropped the reins and held onto the horn for dear life, screaming all the way back to the camper. My parents were not worried at all. I wasn't worried about him bucking me off, I was worried about falling off. You would think after that incident I wouldn't want to go any faster than a walk, but just the opposite happened, there was no stopping me.
I didn't realize when we moved to S.L. that we would have to be home ALL the time. The motel was our income and someone had to be there at all times. My mom and I got really tired of it. We rarely went anywhere together as a family. I learned quickly that having a motel was a lot of work. I would help my mom clean rooms, do the laundry, mow the grass (which I loved doing because I could tan at the same time) and check people in. The rooms were $14.00 per night for two people. My dad refused to raise the price. We were the cheapest motel in the county. My parents thought about moving to Australia when I was a baby. The company my dad worked for was building a plant there and they wanted him to manage it. My mom was fine with moving until she checked into the location. We would have been out in the boonies, and she was worried about being so far away from town in case of an emergency. I sometimes wonder what my life would be like if we had moved there. I do know that if we had moved I wouldn't have the awesome friends that I have now or my amazing girls. From what my mom has told me, the location in Australia made S.L. look like Bellingham, I guess our house would have been the town. Growing up in S.L. was o.k. I had so much fun with my friends when I was in elementary school, but around 8th grade things started to fall apart. I honestly did not enjoy school and I didn't try at all to do well. In 9th grade all of my friends started moving away and by the end of 9th grade they had all moved. It was frustrating because I wasn't interested in hanging out with the kids that were left in my class. Believe it or not S.L. did have cliques, and I was never a part of that, so I didn't have friends. I was one of 8 kids in my graduating class! There were 5 girls and 3 boys, crazy isn't it. The 4 girls in my class were in their own little world/club. My mom always used to tell me that being alone and lonely was much better than hanging out with the wrong crowd. I'm so glad that my girls have so many friends. It's really important to have friends in high school. From 10th through 12th grade I was definitely going to school just to see my boyfriend. My parents did not like the two boyfriends I had between 10th and 12th grade (one of them being Ashley's dad) and the truth is neither did I. I just didn't want to be alone. It was all about what my mom had told me before, that being alone is better than hanging out with the wrong crowd/guy. If I had chosen not to have a boyfriend I would have been alone, but better off I'm sure. Hindsight is 20/20.
Friday, July 21, 2006
My two half brothers and my dad. The text is just me rambling on, I'm good at that.
This post is just me rambling on about family, and it will probably be boring to most of you.
Christine had never seen my wedding pictures so I got them out the other day for her to look at. First picture is left to right- Michelle with her daughter Nicole standing in front of her. She was married to Scott Keeler years ago. Becky with Catriona (my sister in-laws daughter) in front of her. Ashley is in front of me. Second picture is Kim on the left (she surprised me by flying in from Hawaii to come to my wedding) I was so excited to see her. On the right is Nicki. Kim and Nicki went to school together in Gig Harbor. I first met Nicki when I was 16. Third picture is my dad, my half brother Jim and half brother Keith. They are both older than my mother and I am younger than all of their children. Kara, my niece, always called me Aunt Joe. It would drive me crazy. (you know I love you Kara)
The only picture I have of my dad and my two half brothers as adults. My dad passed away four months after my wedding. I rarely see my brothers. We went down to see them three years ago. It was the first time they had seen Christine. I do keep in touch with Keith's (the one on the right) daughter Kara. My mother's sisters, my brothers, and some of my brother's kids still live in Lewiston, Idaho. My good friend Becky (in the first picture on the right with the kids) and her family live in Clarkston, Wa. which is just across the bridge from Lewiston. I think back to when we moved to S.L. when I was 8 years old. My parents wanted a business where they could be home together. They looked at several motels in several towns. Before we moved to S.L. they worked opposite shifts so they didn't get to spend much time together. We would go camping on the weekends and take our horses. When I was 5 years old I rode our horse Pepsi across the meadow. I had never gone faster than a walk. Without any warning he broke into a gallop. I dropped the reins and held onto the horn for dear life, screaming all the way back to the camper. My parents were not worried at all. I wasn't worried about him bucking me off, I was worried about falling off. You would think after that incident I wouldn't want to go any faster than a walk, but just the opposite happened, there was no stopping me.
I didn't realize when we moved to S.L. that we would have to be home ALL the time. The motel was our income and someone had to be there at all times. My mom and I got really tired of it. We rarely went anywhere together as a family. I learned quickly that having a motel was a lot of work. I would help my mom clean rooms, do the laundry, mow the grass (which I loved doing because I could tan at the same time) and check people in. The rooms were $14.00 per night for two people. My dad refused to raise the price. We were the cheapest motel in the county. My parents thought about moving to Australia when I was a baby. The company my dad worked for was building a plant there and they wanted him to manage it. My mom was fine with moving until she checked into the location. We would have been out in the boonies, and she was worried about being so far away from town in case of an emergency. I sometimes wonder what my life would be like if we had moved there. I do know that if we had moved I wouldn't have the awesome friends that I have now or my amazing girls. From what my mom has told me, the location in Australia made S.L. look like Bellingham, I guess our house would have been the town. Growing up in S.L. was o.k. I had so much fun with my friends when I was in elementary school, but around 8th grade things started to fall apart. I honestly did not enjoy school and I didn't try at all to do well. In 9th grade all of my friends started moving away and by the end of 9th grade they had all moved. It was frustrating because I wasn't interested in hanging out with the kids that were left in my class. Believe it or not S.L. did have cliques, and I was never a part of that, so I didn't have friends. I was one of 8 kids in my graduating class! There were 5 girls and 3 boys, crazy isn't it. The 4 girls in my class were in their own little world/club. My mom always used to tell me that being alone and lonely was much better than hanging out with the wrong crowd. I'm so glad that my girls have so many friends. It's really important to have friends in high school. From 10th through 12th grade I was definitely going to school just to see my boyfriend. My parents did not like the two boyfriends I had between 10th and 12th grade (one of them being Ashley's dad) and the truth is neither did I. I just didn't want to be alone. It was all about what my mom had told me before, that being alone is better than hanging out with the wrong crowd/guy. If I had chosen not to have a boyfriend I would have been alone, but better off I'm sure. Hindsight is 20/20.
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