Tuesday, September 16, 2008

My Past, Revisited (Again!)

I'm in a bad mood today, so I think I'll tell you about my college days.

See, my van has been acting a little off. It's not that old, and still under warranty, so my van is something I never have to worry about. Unless I'm on a road trip with friends. But my point is, my van is dependable. There are a lot of things I can't count on. The moods of my 3 year old, for instance. My kids remembering their lunches. My husband's day off actually being 'off'. But my van, well, she's there for me. A few days ago, she started kind of hiccuping when my AC was on. Today she had a seizure on the way to pick up the carpool kids. We barely made it to my mom's house to drop off Blade for his guitar lesson. My van was making funny noises, like something was loose under the hood, and shuddering. I took my parents car, dropped the kidlets off at their homes, and my beloved van is getting towed. And I have a nasty hole in my craft room ceiling. I just discovered that this morning. So it's been a bad day.


I think it's a great time to relive college.
Ever had a really, really bad boyfriend? A creepy, mentally ill boyfriend who thinks it's his god-given duty to call you to repentance if you sneak out at night with your roommates to buy pickles during finals week?

No?

Good for you.

You were smarter than me.

I spent a few years pondering exactly what part of this usually sensible girl would be attracted to that scenario, and I decided that I liked the romance of giving someone an extreme makeover. This guy really needed it, and I decided I was just the girl to help him! I ended up giving him the 'heave ho' when he was on his mission, and he's still trying to stalk me on Facebook. As in, just a few days ago. Fifteen years later. Creepy, huh?

That was my freshman year at Ricks College. With the exception of Mr. Creepy Boyfriend (who ended up being a cop, oh the irony!) Ricks College was the happiest place on earth. I had a ball! The dances, the dunes, the caves, the bridges to jump off of. The trips to Salt Lake City in the bed of a pickup (thank goodness for the camper shell!) The late-night talks with roomies. I would love to relive those days. I only got a few pictures from my dad's the other day, but here they are.

I'm home for Christmas, and one of my family's favorite games is 'hide and seek in the dark'. We take it very seriously, as you can tell from the dark clothing. Looking at this picture now, I think the leggings I was wearing as pants must have been a bit thin. I hope I was wearing a long shirt or something! Ah well, the lights were off most of the time.
Here I am in my beloved U2 shirt with my mom for mother's week. That was a blast! My hair was shoulder length when I left for school, and here I'd just chopped it.Here it is, even shorter! I think this picture was taken in the Snow building. Anyone else play sardines in the Snow bldg? Could there be a better place to play that in? After hitting the books for 4 semesters, I decided to transfer to a University in my hometown.

I couldn't believe it. I'd been in a town just swimming with eligible guys, and here I was returning home, single. I had withered on the vine. I was an ancient 19. I was pretty worried. One of the first things I did, was go to a single adult dance. Who did I find there? Tons of people who were old when I started going to youth dances! I'd left my beloved room mates behind, and moved back in with my parents to get old.

There was a spark of hope, however.

A certain hunky blond babe was just returning from his mission. Oh what luck!





(seven months later)






Here we right by the bench I was sitting on when he proposed to me. It's in a grove out in front of the Seattle temple. I'll tell you the whole story another time. It's a thrilling tale, and I'm still in a bad mood.
I was looking through pictures of us on a boating trip a few days before we were married. I won't show them, because it almost made me weep. My legs were slender, tan, and had no unsightly veins. My stomach was concave. Sniff. Well, in less than a year, I went from that, to this:
Eek!
We have now officially entered the decade of pregnancy. That's something to cheer me up, the decade of pregnancy is over! Woo hoo!

Update: I got my van back in a couple of hours. My spark plugs were shorting and arcing and making the engine misfire. New wires, and we were good to go. I just wanted you to know, in case you couldn't sleep, worrying about poor Earlgirl and her carpooling woes.

15 comments:

Home of the Muddy Kids said...

Yeah, remember how Mr. Creepy-pants was back at Ricks when I got there? He came over to my apartment because he wanted to go through pictures of you, your wedding, and your baby. Yikes. I, of course, rubbed it in a little... "He is SO good for her. Isn't their baby just the CUTEST! They are such a beautiful couple, aren't they?" *Snicker*

SkinnyJeanGirl said...

I miss Ricks college days. And you didn't really attend Rick's unless you played sardines in the Snow building. I miss everything about those days. Especially the book burning at the dunes after finals were over.:)

Anonymous said...

Here is what I remember about your time at EWU - when a certain blonde guy came back from his mission and the undeniable joy in your voice (I believe the exact quote was "Oh Baby!"), your wedding reception and you telling me you were pregnant with your first child when I believe you were working at a bank - I think you told me as I went through the drive through! But, what still makes me laugh was our shared Cultural Anthropology class, taught by Dr. Ross. It was a lecture about sewage pharmacology and Dr. Ross was telling us that your own urine was sterile to you and could be used for medicinal purposes. You leaned over to me and said something akin to "You have a cut? Here, rub some crap on it". I still giggle when I think about that!

EarlGirl said...

Ah, that does sound like something I would say! He's the guy that we laughed so hard over because he looked like a goat, right? Yeah, working at the bank drive through, making a mad dash downstairs every time I had to throw up....those were the days.

Sarah said...

Hey you--how fun to catch up and see your cute little fam. You're a great writer by the way!

Sarah said...

Hey you--how fun to catch up and see your cute little fam. You're a great writer by the way!

Jana said...

Oh to be so young and in college! Those were the days! I would have liked to have known you back then. I think we would have been good friends.

Anonymous said...

I liked the 7 months later part, John and I didn't wait long either, met In April and married in December :)

That's a beautiful wedding picture, I like your dress.

I am looking at past pictures too, mainly my hubby's, because mine are still buried in some box and can't find them. :(

Too many moves: from Italy to NY, from one house in NY to another, then when we got married I boxed all my stuff again to move just across the street, and then moved to WA leaving most of my stuff in NY, I was reunited with my stuff in 2004 when my parents moved here, but I guess I never made the time to look for my pictures.(sigh)

I only have one album with some of my toddler years.

Anonymous said...

First, I want to read about the engagment and wedding. By the way, I liked the way your dress looked.
Second, I cannot stop laughing at you in that dress at the graduation. Flowered prints never go well with the 10 1/2 month mommy to be.

Sleepless In St. George said...

loved ricks....what about walking (sliding) home from Brolums (sp) and having them deliver your groceries! Craigo's Pizza? Loved it...and hardly recognized you in the prego picture!

Jenn said...

Those were my too thin leggings and we ended up getting in a fight about them when you ripped the butt open! I paid for those!

EarlGirl said...

First of all Jenn, I sat on a pokey object. The rear that you made fun of was not the offender here! And yes ladies, I put on a monstrous 64 pounds. The funny thing is, I thought I looked fantastic. I believed it when people told me I was all baby!

Anonymous said...

You did look like you were all baby. It just happened to big a really big baby. You don't look like you gained much anywhere other then the middle. There would be no way you could be one of the women who give birth and do the whole "I didn't even know I was expecting".

Jodi said...

I loved reading about your fun college days! I wish I could find my photos of them! Probably buried somewhere getting all acidic from the old albums that were like that!
Did you get anymore fun photos from your dad's? Can't wait to see them! That is freaky he is stalking you on facebook!

Jenny said...

I love your see through black spandex pants. I can totally relate to wearing something like that... The only difference was that I did it for a dance routine in front of a full Kirkham auditorium. You would think that a coach for a BYU-I team would have you wear something modest, wouldn't you...