Meridian High School Class of 1998 Reunion: Part 1

This was quite an exciting weekend! We had so much fun with all of my old classmates from Meridian High School. The weekend started off with a “Meet & Greet” at the 127 club here in Meridian. Now many of you know that I am not the kind of person who enjoys going to bars but I decided to go in case any of my close friends needed a DD to get home or whatever. So I met with Clarissa, Kristina, Joey and others. We had a good time. It was very hard to visit with everyone considering how loud the music was but it was nice to see those who only came to that event. I left about 11:30pm because I was so tired. Apparently, it was a great idea because at closing time, there was a fight outside the bar and Justin Slappy ended up getting arrested. Clarissa was trying to get home and got stuck in the middle of it all. A bit too crazy for me…

Flashback Friday (belated)

This was such a hectic week that I forgot to post my Flashback Friday edition for this week. So here it goes:

Since this week is all about remembering the high school days, here's a photo of three of my closest friends in high school: Jessika Walker, Kristina Boegeman and Jennifer Kelley.

Thankful Thursday

A wonderful husband who treats me so well... I never imagined that a relationship could be so good. He's such a loving caring person and will do anything for his family. I admire him so much.

A Happy Healthy Son who makes me smile, laugh and love him more and more every day. He's constantly learning new things, new words etc. In fact today I swear he said "I love you too." It made me want to cry... He's not my little baby anymore..

Family that has always been there for me no matter what. I'm so thankful that my family lives relatively close... some we wish lived a little closer (Hint Hint Mom McQ). Even though there may be a few miles between us, we're close as ever at heart.

Friendships that will last a lifetime... I can honestly say that I'm so excited for the reunion because I am still in contact with so many people from back then and to be able to have us all together again in awesome!

A trip down memory lane...

Pack your bags 'cause we're takin' a trip down Memory Lane. I know, there are a million tags out there, but I thought that this would be a fun one. My bloggin' buddy Misty decided to do a memory post about her fond/crazy/funny/spectacular memories of the people on her blogroll. I will be listing my favorite memories of my blogroll buddies....and here goes:

1. Most people on my blogroll are considered to be my lifelong best friends.

2. Someone on my blogroll used to work with me at Tom's Food Markets in Traverse City, MI.

3. Someone on my blogroll is having a baby.

4. Someone on my blogroll has some amazing recipes.

5. Someone on my blogroll is a woman that I only know from the blogging world but feels like a friend I've known for years.

6. Multiple people on my blogroll live in Northern Michigan. One lives in Utah.

7. Someone on my blogroll works with me at the Ada County Sheriff's Office.

8. Someone on my blogroll helped me lock her brother outside naked when we were like 13 and he was 10 or 11.... We threw his underwear in the tree and totally embarassed him. We got in trouble for it later but to this day, he remembers it.

9. Someone on my blogroll was one of my best girl friends who we all went to the senior prom together.

10. Someone on my blogroll was the little sister of one of my friends in school and now she's one of my best friends too.

11. I've gone out singing karoake with someone from my blogroll.

12. Someone on my blogroll loves shoes more than I do.

13. Someone on my blogroll is coming to town this weekend for our 10 year high school reunion... I can't wait to see her! I can't believe it's been that long since we hung out. :)

14. I've been to a Savage Garden and a Shaggy concert with someone on my blogroll.

15. Someone on my blogroll has been to many slumber parties at my house.

16. Someone on my blogroll was dating the same guy I was and that's what made us friends.

Well, I didn't realize that this would be so time consuming. So, if you have yet to see a memory that we have shared together, don't worry, there is more to come. Anyone that wants to guess who I am talking about, go right ahead. So, tag to everyone that would like to do this post.

To Be Continued....

Memories

I saw this idea from Sarah's blog and thought it was really cute.

Here we go:

1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I have together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!

2. Next, if you'd like, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you!

Friendships, Sadness and Strength

Do you ever really sit down and think about friendships and realize that some of your friendships are so strong that you just can’t imagine what life would be like without them? I find myself tonight reflecting upon a friendship and illness. I found out today that one of my lifelong friends has cancer. It is in the beginning stage and right now, we don’t have a lot of information. She will find out more later in the month as to the procedures and treatment that she will need to fight this awful disease. It sounds like since it was caught early, she shouldn’t die. But what if she does? I’ve been great friends with her almost my entire life. We’ve had so many conversations about raising families together, seeing our children grow up together, etc. I am deeply saddened that such a sweet person has to go through that battle and what she must be thinking in her head. I don’t want to be selfish but it makes me want to spend as much time as possible with her in case the worst happens. I’m trying to think positive and think that if someone is going to beat it, she will. She is one of the strongest women that I know. She’s always been there for me when I needed her and I’m going to be there for her. I don’t care what it takes. No one should go through that battle alone. I can’t even imagine what she must be going through, what she is thinking and what her fears are. I’m sure she’s scared and wondering why this has to happen to her? The cause of this kind of cancer is not known and apparently, the number of women with this cancer has grown drastically in the last 10 years.
I’ve never really had a close friend die. It’s always been an older family member, etc. So when I think about what it would be like if she wasn’t here, how it would feel to bury a friend and how I wouldn’t be able to see her anymore, it makes me want to ball my eyes out. So I’m sitting here with a million questions and wondering what the future is going to bring… I just pray that I can be a strong enough friend to help her get through this battle and when she beats it, we can sit back and feel peace with it. She’ll be in my prayers constantly…

Flashback Friday (By popular demand!)

So I know it's not Friday but its technically my Friday at work so I'm going to post this anyways. I have received multiple emails asking what happened to the Flashback Friday episode so I promise that I will be better at posting in the future... So here it is:

This photo is of my two best friends who live in Traverse City, MI: Sarah Lennon and Amanda Adams. These two girls were my very first friends when I moved there. We worked together at Tom's Food Markets. They are sisters and I always felt like I was a third sister. I miss you all so much and can't wait until I can come see you.

Recipes passed on from a friend...

Kimberly’s Banana Pudding
5 Bananas, sliced1 14 oz Can Eagle Brand (Sweetened Condensed Milk)1 Large Cool Whip1 Large Instant Vanilla Pudding3 Cups Whole Milk1 Box of Vanilla Wafers1 tsp. Vanilla ExtractTrifle Bowl or a REALLY deep dish (much prettier in a trifle bowl)Directions:-Put entire box of Vanilla Wafers on the bottom of a deep dish.-Take can of Eagle Brand, 1 tsp. of Vanilla Extract & ½ of the large carton of Cool Whip and blend it all together.-In a second bowl, mix instant vanilla pudding & 3 cups of Milk.-Fold the two mixes together by hand (the pudding mix & Eagle Brand mix)-Pour HALF of this mixture on the layer of wafers -Put all of the sliced bananas on top of the layer of pudding mixture-Put the other half of the pudding mixture on top of the sliced bananas-Finish with the other half of the Cool Whip on top.- Chill and Serve!
Notes:I have found that this recipe makes a bit too much pudding mixture, so when I get to the step after layering the sliced bananas, I do not use the entire other half of the pudding mixture. Since I don’t like for it to be too sweet, I use a little over ¼ of it. Just make sure you taste it, and modify it according to your desires.

Mini Cucumber Sandwiches Recipe
Ingredients:1 8-oz package Cream Cheese, Softened¼ cup of Sour Cream¼ teaspoon Salt1 teaspoon fresh chopped Dill¼ cup finely diced sweet Onion20 thinly sliced white sandwich bread slices1 Large English Cucumber (seedless cucumbers) or 2 Cucumbers, thinly sliced20 thinly sliced wheat sandwich bread slicesDirections:-In a medium mixing bowl stir the cream cheese and sour cream until smooth. Add the salt, dill, and diced onion. -Spread the cream cheese mixture evenly over the white bread slices. Top the cream cheese mixture with one slice of cucumber, then top with the wheat bread slices.-Slice the sandwiches in half diagonally or cut with your favorite cookie or biscuit cutter.-Store in the refrigerator in an airtight container up to 3 hours before serving. -Makes 20 Servings.
Notes:I buy Pepperidge Farm “Very Thin Sliced” bread in the bread section of the grocery store. This brand has both white and wheat varieties and they fit perfectly together for this recipe (buy one loaf of wheat and one loaf of white) Sometimes I add one really thin slice of turkey if I am serving them around lunch-time. Using a really sharp cookie-cutter or a biscuit cutter makes them look the prettiest!

My current book

A friend told me about this book and said that she thought I might find it interesting. Well, I'm still in the first chapter but so far, not understanding why she though I would like it. We'll have to see what happens in the next few but I sure hope it gets better...

The Cheesecake Factory experience...

Yes, that's right. We finally had the opportunity to have the Cheesecake Factory experience! As any of you who have been there know, it is some of the most delicious amazing cheesecake I've ever set my eyes on. Roger had the shepherds pie and I had the beer-battered fish and chips which were delicious as well... Then he had the White Chocolate Raspberry Truffle cheesecake and I had the Banana Creme Cheesecake. Both were very good but very very sweet. We ended up taking home quite a bit of the food. I do recommend it to those who haven't been but be forewarned: it's quite spendy!