1993- 30 Years in 30 Days

WARNING!!!! WARNING!!! WARNING!!!

I turned 13 this year.

I 100% have that awkward teenager look.

I don't even know what to do with myself.

In the fall of 1993 I started Jr. High when Bixby actually HAD a Jr. High. Now there are like 5 million different schools. A East/North/South...don't get it. I loved going to school at this point. We had lockers! And you had like 6 classes that you rotated. I was really excited because I had gotten to watch Jill do this for the past year and thought it looked/sounded pretty cool. I got my first C this year in Geography. I'm still REALLY bad about it. If you gave me a blank map of the world, or even the US for that matter....I couldn't get all the states correctly written in the spot.

Here's to 1993 and being awkward!

1992 - 30 Years in 30 Days

It's braces time. I got my braces spring break of my 6th grade year. It was such a strange feeling to have them on. Dr. Katz was my orthodontist. Lindsey White and I had the same one which was really odd since his office was all the way in Tulsa off of like 41st and Harvard. What are the odds of 2 girls in Bixby, OK going to the same ortho in Tulsa?! I didn't mind having braces after a while. I liked going every month to get new colored rubber bands. Depending on the season. Dr. Katz told me that I followed all the rules and didn't eat things I shouldn't, I would get them off in 2 years. If I did anything bad, I would have them longer. I didn't want them any longer than I had too so I was strict. No gum, pop, popcorn, biting into an apple, corn on the cob (that was hard during the green corn festival), taffy...all the good stuff. I had to stop. School was out and it was summer time. This was a really fun summer.

My Mom's sister's family lives in California and we flew out there to visit. That was my first time to go that far on a plane and to go California. We went to San Fran, did the whole trolley thing and fishermans wharf. All the hot spots. Alcatraz was the coolest.

Don't really have much else on this year. Just getting taller!

1991 - 30 Years in 30 Days

CHICKENS! We got chickens. This is me and my rooster Bud. I loved Bud and pretty sure Bud loved me. Look at how he lets me hold him. Showing off his rooster head. I miss you BUD!! You see....I was getting off the school bus one day and then came inside. I put down my book bags, etc and then went back outside to get the mail. Our driveway was gravel and a little longer than normal. I thought it was fun to run as fast as I could down the gravel barefoot. At that age, I didn't feel a thing. I try it every summer now, not running, just to see if it still hurts like it did last time I tested it. Wow! That hurts. Anyway, so I was maybe inside 5-10 mins and I take off outside to get the mail. There is this white stuff everywhere in the road. Like EVERYWHERE. Blowing the wind, it looked like a bag of peanuts had been dumped. I stop running and slowly walk over to it. It's Bud. Dead. In the middle of the street. A car had come by and literally destroyed him to pieces. Feathers Everywhere. I ran screaming back into the house. Threw myself on the kitchen floor. I was devesated. Oh'''' Bud. It was awful. But you know, I got over it and Bud is buried in our field somewhere. But I will never forget what those feathers looked like in the street before I realized it was my sweet/mean rooster.

On to summer time. I was really getting more and more into sports. I went to Camp of Champs that was put on by Coach Wallis. The best Coach in the WORLD. I really, really, liked having him teach me how to play. He was hard, but caring. He didn't just let you do things wrong just because you were 11. I remember I never wanted to let him down. I still think about how he made me push myself when I'm doing a Spin Class that I just don't think I can go on. Or running in a race that I want to stop and walk. I think, "I wouldn't stop and walking if Coach Wallis was here." I also was still doing Cheerleading. This was my last year. You will have to wait until 1992 to find out why it was my last year. Sports Pics!

I love how happy Susi (Doring) Preston is in this picture. Look at her. This picture sums up her personality to a T. So Cute! She is the one in the upper right hand corner in the air incase you can't tell.

Ok - so this has to be one of the most embarrsing years for me to blog about. You can tell in the picture posted with Bud that my teeth are very...pretty. I look like I have vampire teeth, which I guess now would be ok, but back in 1991?? This is the year...of.....the headgear. Sigh. Yeah...I did it. I look back and I can't believe I did this. For those who don't know what headgear is or have blocked this year of my life out of your memory too, it is a medival toruate device that is used to help ones teeth get straight before having braces put on. Think of the dorkess thing in the world, and then x 10. That is me in 1991. So I'm going to go ahead and post this wonderful picture. It is me and all my glory on Christmas Morning. As you can see I got my leather jacket, my boots, a sled, Jenga, and looks like an Ant farm in the background. I'm pretty sure the book says, "Ant Rancher's Handbook". Oh' and don't forget the blue sweat suite I'm wearing. You know that was a open up and put on right away outfit.

1990- 30 Years in 30 Days

Ok - I'm not going to lie. I'm really getting tired of doing this, it is a lot more work than I thought. 1990 I turned 10. Started the 5th grade. Was still playing basketball and made the 5th grade cheerleading team. I was an awful cheerleader!!! I couldn't do a jump to save my life. I was so clumsy. I knew I sucked, hahahahhaah. But I really enjoyed the clothes and being with my friends. I had Mrs. Webb as my teacher. I became really good friends with Lindsey White that year! I remember we made this fashion book with many outfits, like it was a catalog. I also remember that year when the school thought it was time for the sex education. The boys went in another classroom and other girls came in ours. We watched this 1970's film on "why our bodies are changing". How any more akward could this be! And the worst part was when it was all over the boys come back into the room and no one wants to make eye contact. Such a odd day at school for a 5th grader.

1990 was also the year that we went on a family vacation to Texas. It was the old school family vacation where we drove. I remember us stoping in Waxahachie b/c it was such an odd name for a town. We then went on to San Antontio. That was so cool to see the River Walk and eat Blue Chips on a patio. The best part about being in SA was going to see the Alamo. This was around the time Pee Wee's Big Adventure was the rage. So we thought it was so neat to be there and of course we really wanted to ask where the basement was. But, being good children...we didn't. After we left San Antontio, my parents had a huge surprise for us. We went on to Rock Port Beach! Even though it was only the Gulf of Mexico, it was our first time to be at beach and not a pool or lake. I remeber us driving to our hotel and I'm not paying any attention. Just unloading the car. My dad asked Jill and me to come out on the deck. We walk out and he asks us, "hey...what is that?" and points to the beach about 2 blocks away. I can still see it. I couldn't believe it! I was at the ocean! We had so much fun playing in the water, building sand castles, and this was also when I got stung by a jelly fish. Those. Hurt. Here are some great beach shots. I love my Mom and Dad's look in these. Classic.

1989 - 30 Years in 30 Days

It's glasses time! Wow - those are nice and big. In 1989 I turned 9 and was in the 4th grade. I had Mrs. Vargas and my memory of her was that she was the first mean teacher I had. She would yell and names were written on the board. That's about all I remember of that class. Now 1989 was the first year I played Basketball. I loooooved Basketball. My dad would drive me up to the gym on a school night and we would have pratice. I really enjoyed it sooo much. That was how my whole love of playing sports beginning. Ok - I don't remember know much more from that year and I'm tired and it's Sunday night. Here are some pictures:

1988 - 30 Years in 30 Days

The cool thing about being born in 1980 is that it is so easy to know how old you are when a person says a year. 1982...I was 2. 1986...I was 6. 1988...I was 8!! I know this was 3rd grade and my last year at Brassfield. 1-3 was at Brassfield and 4-6 was at C.E. Gray. After that you went to Jr. High for 7-9 and then High School for 10-12. I remember us calling C.E Gray, C.E Gay when we were in Brassfield and then when we were in C.E. Gray we called Brassfield, BratsField.

Ok - so here is my school picture. I had Mrs. Cobb, 3rd grade. This was the year I learned cursive writing. Did I even spell that right? I don't know, but I remeber the writing tablets we had those dotted lines to write with. You would do lines and lines of t's or a's.

That's about all I really remember about 1988. If you want to get technical about it, the beginning of 1988 was the end of 2nd grade which I talked about in 1987. The spring of every year we had field day at school. It was the day out of the year that you didn't have clase but you walked to the high school football field and had track & field races. So in 1988 in Mrs. Sparks class we were the Sparks Spartans. OMG. I just remembered this. Brian Coody was in our class and his Dad owned the shop that did all the screen prints. And the Bixby Jackets!! Does anyone else remember this????? Oh' I had the Cheerleader Bixby Jacket, but that is until next year. ;) So, anyway our shirts we got made at the place that does that. I wish I could remember the name. It was something catchy, like Spartan Shop? Please, if you remember let me know. Here is the picture though from our field day and my shirt. (and my cool Coca Cola shorts)

1987 - 30 Years in 30 Days

This is a big year. This is the year I moved from Tulsa, Ok to Bixby, Ok. I was leaving behind the only house I knew. My only friends, school, all of that. I remember my parents driving us out to Bixby to look at the house. In hindsight, they had already bought the place. The drive seemed sooooo long. It was maybe 30 mins but driving out of Tulsa to Bixby back in 1987 meant at least 10 miles of nothing. Just fields and cows. I felt like I was moving to a new country! The house was on 10 acres and had a pond, creek, and HUGE back yard for Jill and I to play in. I was kind of excited. The front bedroom had a big chandler in it and I really wanted that room. Of course my parent's took it down when we moved in, but I was so upset it wasn't mine. They also ripped up the green shag carpet. Which was totally infested with fleas! It was awful, we had to bomb the whole house!! But afterwards, beautiful hardwoods were polished up and that was the house I call home.

Before we moved out there my parents had taken us to the Green Corn Festival that summer. Bixby is known for their produce, especially corn. Besides the wonderful corn that is bathed in butter and drips down your chin and arm, they also have rides and games. One of the games that Jill and I really liked to do was the turtle races. They draw circles in the middle of the street and you put your turtle in the middle. They cover them with a metal bucket, bang on it, remove the bucket, and then the first turtle to walk out of the circle wins!! Here we are at our first turtle race.

I'm hoping that is our turtle that is walking towards us. We started school in Bixby mid October 1987. I was in the 2nd grade and my teacher was Mrs. Sparks. I remember she had jet black hair and it was a true Beehive!! I was scared of her. I really liked my class, they were very nice to me as the "new kid". Brassfield in general was very nice. I was going to like Bixby and I was going to like going from the city to the country.

I remember eating at Simple Simons Pizza our first night moved into our house and then going to Super H and getting a blow pop as a treat. We NEVER ate out and to have candy!!! That was a special night. I really like having the memory seperation of anything I remember in Tulsa was before 1987. It makes it so much easier. Thank you 1987, I liked you.

My Alexander Day

I know before I have posted about the book Alexander and the Terrible Horrible No Good Very Bad Day. It's about this boy that everything that can go wrong...does. I kind of feel like this was one of those days.

I get to work and I already have 3 Voicemails. Normally I don't have VM like that unless it is after 9am or Monday morning from the weekend. Before I can even call one of the VM back I get an email from the person. I am literally plugging in my Blackberry to my laptop when my phone rings. I answer it. It is the same person!! Sigh, one of those days. I let them know I just got there and I'm trying to log into my system. They waited, I answered them. Everyone is happy. But it sets the tone for the day. Next thing I know it's almost 11am and all I have had is a cup of coffee. Get for my diet, but bad for my mental stress. I feel weak. I try to wrap things up to a stopping point so I can go grab a little lender and water. Haahahahaha, nope. Things keep coming in. I give up and my co-worker Deb and I laugh, and joke with each other by saying, "Whhhhhhhhhhhhhat!?" when we need to ask questions regarding info. She makes me laugh. Shout Out Deb! She stopped by to see how I was doing after she had lunch and scared me. Literally. I was so focused on whateer I was doing (don't remember) that she touched my shoulder and I jumped.

It is almost 1pm. I have a meeting at 1pm and I'm starving. Blue Mesa catered lunch for another meeting and it was release so I grabbed some salad. My meeting at 1pm called to say they would be running late...a little bit of relief as I sat back in my chair. Oh' not for long! The rest of my afternoon went the same way.

By 5pm I was starting on a file that I realized I needed help with a VLookup. Everyone is gone, it is close to 5:30pm. I take a chance and call my boyfriend, on the 6th floor. He is still there. yes! I explain to him what I'm doing and he mentions he just packed up and is leaving...he will come upstairs to take a look. Preston stayed up there for at least 2o mins listening to what I was trying to get and him explaining how to get there. Once I understood what I needed to do he left and I continued finishing my work. We have these things at work called Above & Beyond that you can give to someone if you feel like they went Above & Beyond to help you with your work. However, I don't feel like one coming from me to my boyfriend of almost a year would get approved. So that was a bummer, b/c he really did help me!! I would have had to wait until tomorrow to finished unlike I did tonight and sent the data to our broker. :(

I then leave work and can't wait to take a shower. When I am closing the shampoo cap it sprays back into my face. Right. Into. My. Eyes. I yell out loud. I have never done this!! That really hurts. Hands full of shampoo and soap in the eyes. I don't know where the rest of this night is going, but it is going up! But as of now....

This is my Terrible Horrible No Good Very Bad Day.

1986 - 30 Years in 30 Days/http://storiesbyashe.blogspot.com/

1986!

1st Grade is here! G-R-I-M-E-S Elementary....I can't believe I still remember that song. It was our song to my elementary school in Tulsa. I started 1st Grade with Ms. Redyke that year. I thought she was the coolest teacher. I remember on the chalk board she had everyone's name listed. If you got 5 stars you got a package of SKITTLES! A whole package. You didn't get a star for just anything, it had to be something really good. Maybe that is why I love Skittles so much?? Who knows, Jill loves Skittles too and she didn't have Ms. Redyke. I found my "school" book last night which will make this waaaay more helpful. Apparently my favorite subject was Math...which makes me laugh as I can't do Math to save my life!

The most thing I remember about 1986 is I got my Cabbage Patch Kid named Julie Elizabeth. I remember going to OKC to visit Grandma Stone and walking down the long tall aisle of yellow boxes. There were so many!! As soon as I saw Julie, I was happy. It took Jill forever to pick out Micheal. She always takes her time though. Here is a picture of Jill and me having a lemonade stand on Lewis Ave. You can see Micheal next to Jill helping us sell.

Does anyone else remember Get In Shape Girl? It was workout stuff for little kids. And we wonder why we are so self aware of our bodies.

Woooo! Pretty sure I was just moving my wrist back and worth, not really "twirling" it. Nice Outfit.

1985 - 30 years in 30 Days

It's 1985!!!

I turned 5 years old this year. I still don't remember much at this age. Just playing a lot. I do know that I went Sparks. It is the first stage of Campfire. I loved it. This picture is taken on the front porch of my house in Tulsa. I know this was 1985 b/c it says it on the back, but I look so tall!!

And, I'm impressed to say I remember everyone's name! From left to right starting in the back. Jenny, Me, Carrie, Tracey's Mom, now front row, Kathryn, and Tracey!

1985 might be the year my sister stuck the berry up my nose and I had to go to the emergency room. That's right. Remember how I said back in 1982-1984 I would do whatever she told me? Still did in 1985. She somehow got me to think it was "ok" to stick a berry up my nose and then she would pull it out with a stick. Sounds wonderful, right? Oh dear. You can imagine what happened. It got stuck. She frrrrrrrrreaked out and told me not to tell. Of course I didn't tell and we just went in the house. Well, of course my parents could see something was stuck up in my nose! Finally the truth came out and off to the hospital I went. I do remember them holding me down and white curtians all around me. I didn't understand what was going on! I remember being scared. They finally got the berry out, no side effects. Thank Goodness! When we got home my sister had a sign that said, "Welcome Home Sarah". I think I was gone all of 2-3 hours. She felt bad....which you should have Jill! :)

1986 is a good year. My last year before we moved. I am starting to remember things at this age, so should get better!

Here is Grover!!

1982-1984: 30 Years in 30 Days

So....When you have a weekend, and it's super busy...and then you get sick...one kind of forgets about their little "daily" blog of my life. And since I didn't work yesterday, I am super busy today. Here is 1982-1984 in fast pace.

I loooooooooooved my sister. (still do) Thought she was the coolest thing in the world. Anything she did. I wanted to do as well. You can tell by the pictures I copied her every move. This was also the time in our lives that we got Grover! Our beloved cocker spaniel. He was named after Grover from sesame street. I will have to find some pictures of him. We lived down the street from Nick and Claire Blackman. We played all the time. I loved running across the yard to go to their house. I fell in love with the movie The Wizard of Oz. Oh' I loved watching that movie. And Annie! I think that is when I started watching Annie.

1981 - 30 Years in 30 Days

Here I am! 1981. This is the only picture I have to download for 1981. I got my first stiches this year. ON MY FACE. I didn't realize it until today, but I have never seen any pictures of myself after this accident. I have no idea what a 1 year old looks like with stiches. And the fact that probably the majority of people never knew this....is good as I don't have a visable scar. Whew. I'll get to that downfall in a bit. Let's see, what was I into this year?

I LOVED my sister's room. I loved to play peek-a-boo and patty cake. Again, still some of my favorite games. Who doesn't love a good old fashion game of peek-a-boo? I really enjoyed going swimming. Not sure if this means I was "swimming" or if I just liked to be put in the plastic tub in the backyard. Just say's I like swimming. I was a talker too! I called my sister Gill instead of Jill and when the doctor told me to stay in the examining room I looked up at him and asked, "why?". Now comes the evil toy box story:

Jill had this wooden toybox in her room that was pretty cool. We still have it at my parents house. It is big, solid and can be used as a bench. The lid open's up but does not stay on it's own. So one day, Jill is looking in there for a toy (she is 3) and I am in her room, naturally. As she is looking, I make my way over there and pull up to view inside the box to see what she is doing. Jill finds the toy, grabs it, and let's go of the heavy, solid, wooden lid. Right.On.My. Head. It hits me right on my eyebrow and splits it open. Yuck, I don't even like typing about it. I had to get 2 stiches across my eyebrow. It is right on the brow line so you can't see it unless you look realllllllly hard. Oh' I'm getting grossed out typing this. I have to stop and rub my eyebrows. Every time I go to get my eyebrows threaded the random Indian lady always stops and says, "that hurt? you have scar." YES IT HURTS LADY, HURRY UP! Oh' it grosses me out. On to something else, fast.

My first birthday was at home with my family and neighborhood children. Typical cake, ice cream, etc. I got this wooden puzzle that is in the shape of my name, still have that. For Christmas that year I got my Strawberry Shortcake tricycle. I really remember that, kept it for many years.

Well, that year wasn't very exciting except for my 1st accident. There are many more accident's in the next couple of years that mysteriously involve my sister.

1980 - 30 Years in 30 Days

February 14, 1980

Awwwwww, aren't I just the cutest thing. Baby Sarah. Here I am! 1980. I was born in Hillcrest Hospital in Tulsa, OK to my parent's Jane and Jeff. I have one older sister named Jill who was just 6 days away from turning 2 years old. I like to joke that I was born on the 14th, my parents got married on the 19th, and my sister was born on the 20th. All in February...just different years. :)

My mom woke up around midnight on the 14th and knew it was time to leave. My mom wasn't in labor long with my sister so getting to the hospital fast was top priority. My Grandmas Gibson came over around 3am to stay with my older sister Jill. By the time my parent's got to the hospital I was ready to be here! I didn't even wait for my doctor. Dr. Mulholland was who I was suppose to be with, but instead Dr. Babb was there so that would do. I was born at 4:42am on Thursday, February 14th, 1980. I have always loooooooved Thursday's so now I know why! I weighed 6lbs 90z and was 19 inches long.

Here is a picture of me with my Dad. Isn't he just handsom?! I love this picture of us. I'm so happy to be with my Dad. My parent's named me Sarah Jane. I got the Sarah from Great Grandmother Sarah Pipkin. The Jane is from my Mom's name. But my mom was named after her Great Grandmother Janje. That's right, that's a "j" and not an "i". She was from Holland. I'm Dutch! My whole family has our own set of little wooden shoes that we put out at Christmas. Really...we do. I sometimes wear them around. Keep waiting for the day I see them on a celeb and then I'm totally in with vintage wooden shoes. Sigh.

So - At this point, 1980, my family called me Sally. I had a cat named Vamp who was black. I was crawling by 5 months, sat alone at 6 1/2 months, and got my first tooth at 4 months. I was a mover. Saying "Dada", "no-no", and by the time I was 9 months old I had 8 teeth and long dark curly hair. WooHoo! Wish I could remeber this year myself instead of what is written in my baby book......It really sounds fun. I did nothing but eat and sleep!

My first Christmas alllllll the grandparents were there. I mainly ate the bows, oranges, and packing. Somethings never change I guess. I took a nap while everyone else ate real breakfast. I got my Holly Hobby toybox that looked like a trolley. I remember that!! It was so cool and it sat at the end of my bed. Do they still make toyboxes?? My sister had one....that will have to wait until 1981...that toy box was evil I tell you. Sounds like 1980 was pretty much a year of growing and being happy. My sister was 2 years old at this point and loved to teach me anything she could. Pretty sure those are cows in that book.

I love the old school pictures and our clothes. So there is the life of me in 1980. Tomorrow...My 1st Birthday!!

30 Years in 30 Days!! (stolen title)

My lovely friend Lauren will turn 30 a nice 2 days before me this February. Yesterday, the 12th, she started her blog of 30 Years in 30 Days. I just thougth it was BRILLIANT! For the next 30 days each day will be a new year. Starting with 1980 of course and going up to 2010. I just loved the idea and thought it was so creative so I stole it.

I too will do 30 Years in 30 Days. Starting January 14th, tomorrow. Some years maybe looooong memories of a blog, others will just be stories of what I know because of my Mother. Either way, a little flash of what I've been up to for the past 30 years and how I got to be not only who I am, but why.

I'm so EXCITED!

Chopped!

Does anyone else watch Chopped on Food Network?

Actually....does anyone else read this besides my friend Kristin? I didn't think so. I will restate my question:

Kristin, do you ever watch Chopped on Food Network? If not...you should. Preston and I watch it all the time and have become fans of this little show. We realized today how much fun we actually enjoyed this show when we were at Humperdinks having some drinks and watching football when we took turns coming up with ingredients. Ex: You have 30 mins to make a dessert. You ingredients that you HAVE to use are....

Marshmellows
Granny Smith Apples
and...
Jelly Beans

Go!!

Anyway, we got really tickled over this as we noticed Arugala (sp?), Riccota, and Butternut Squash were ingredients that made us laugh.

So....this will mean nothing to you unless you watch Chopped, and that is what you now need to go do. It's on Tuesday night. Chef Durbin....You have be Chopped.

Hello You New Year Youuuuu.

I have yet to have to write or type anything with a date. Not on purpose, just haven't had the need. Tomorrow is my first day back at work and ugggggh and I'm dreading it. I have loved and enjoyed my close to 2 weeks off from work. I went to lunch with several good girlfriends on different days and different venues. I tried to clean my house, HA, like that really happened. I took my Christmas tree down today. That was boring. I went to the Cotton Bowl with college and high school friends. That was fun! But we lost. BooHoo. Sooooooo, it is time to get back to work. First, I will do my traditional Failed Resolution List for the year:

2010 Resolutions

1. lose 20lbs (ok, you can stop laughing)
2. run the 15k Tulsa Run in October
3. paint my kitchen and 2 bedrooms
4. read more books
5. paint a picture, and frame it
6. drink less (stop laughing again)
7. cut debt by at least 50% - this is a must
8. visit family more
9. lose 20 lbs
10. lose 20 lbs

Ok - so that's it! let's see what happens shall we......