Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind.

As I get older, my memories seem to be coming back to me - memories that I wouldn't have been able to recall a few years ago. It's very odd how that works, but remembering is a wonderful experience. Sometimes I wish to be young again, but then I realize that where I'm at right now in my life is just too wonderful. That said, here's a few memories I want to share with you.

1. I'd stay with my Grandma and Grandpa Curd every other weekend, and usually Saturday nights all three of us would chill out together in the living room, and my grandma would propose we have chocolate shakes - so she'd make 'em and they'd always come out just right - so delicious! Sometimes when I have chocolate milk, with just a little bit of chocolate - it tastes just like the shakes we used to eat together every other Saturday night. Yum.

2. My other Grandma and Grandpa Schneider (on my mom's side of the family) used to babysit my brother and I - so when we were over and it was a nice, sunny day we'd spend the whole afternoon outside climbing this one tree (the perfect climbing tree!), swinging on the swings, and playing in the giant turtle sandbox. Sometimes there'd be a few of us grandkids over - and we'd all be running around the yard having a good time. We had a lot of fun together.

3. My Grandma and Grandpa Curd had a HUGE garden when I was growing up (they still do). They had every sort of fruit and vegetable you could imagine! Pumpkins, pears, plums, tomatoes, snap peas, cucumbers, lettuce, apples, squash, onions, spinach - everything! My grandpa and I would just sit out there all day picking all the ripe vegetables and fruits (and mostly eating them!). We especially loved the snap peas, they were SO delicious! There's nothing like eating food right out of the garden.

4. Although my brother and I are only half brother and sister (different dads) we lived together since we were babies. We grew up in a town where there wasn't many children - mostly retired people and teenagers (odd combination, right?) As a result, we usually just ended up playing together. We'd often play imaginary games - sometimes we were sea animals. I was usually a dolphin, polar bear or penguin. I think he sort of stuck with the polar bear. Although Jacob's true love was dinosaurs - so he usually wanted to be a T-Rex or something. He's the best brother anyone could have.

5. My mom made a doll house for Christmas one year when I was about 4 or 5. It was the most incredible doll house. There were hinges on top of the roof so both sides would open up - that's where I stored all my dolls. It also had a little garage where I parked my little, pink Corvette Barbie car. I treasured it for many years - I do think it was probably the nicest gift my mother ever gave me.

6. The Milwaukee River was about a block away from my childhood home and my brother and I would go there almost every day in the summer. It was so beautiful. At the time there was a gorgeous little waterfall, which was actually a man-made dam, but we didn't realize it at the time. Our friends would come over and we'd be so excited. We'd say, "You want to go to the dam?!" - with such enthusiasm. The water was shallow in most parts, so sometimes we'd walk around in it with our jeans rolled up and try to catch frogs of fish. There was also a cute little island-like piece of land about 10 feet out, so we'd go there and play. It was an island of our own - a fresh water paradise.

I encourage you to share your memories with me, it's quite fun!

xo :-)