Look out world. I'm making a return.
My students were all riled up and excited as it was the last day before spring break.
Ah, Spring Break. In my formative years on that day I would be packed into a van on my way to Panama City Beach. I would be eating Corn Nuts and Milano cookies with Jenny, scarfing down my Grandma's chicken salad, and oooooh, the Girl Scout cookies. And I did it all while not worrying about my waistline.
Those were the days.
But then, as I was thinking about these things, I was also listening to a mix of 90's and 2000's pop music that was taking me back to the days of nothing to worry about but whether or not we were going to be able to win at least ONE softball game that season.
And that's what brought me to this list. A list of memories. A list of things that I miss.
***Disclosure: This does not in any way, shape, or form mean that I would change one single thing about my current life. It is totally done for nostalgic purposes. For me and you.
- The smell of the ocean in the morning (I haven't seen a beach in three years. It's not right.).
- Eating myself silly and not gaining one...single...pound.
- Dinner at Carla Porter's house before softball games. Fish sticks? Pork loin? Lasagna? You never knew what it was going to be but you did know that it was going to be yummy.
- Ashley (Fisher) Ernstberger running up and down the halls of our house making up the stupidest, most hilarious songs that one could imagine. I remember a particular one about a tornado.
- The salsa and cheese corn chips that they sold in the vending machines at WRV (I've looked everywhere for them, I don't think they sell them anymore).
- My 1996 Honda Civic.
- Destiny's Child.
- Jalapeno poppers from Honeybaker's.
- Incredible Yogurt.
- Sorority socials.
- Sorority sisters.
- Getting a sorority t-shirt for every...single...function. Now they 1) Don't fit over my big prego belly and 2) look a little creepy on an old-timer wannabe who just looks like she wants to be back in college when putting them on.
- It goes without mentioning, Puerto's.
- That feeling in the evening when you're still on the beach (or by the pool) in your bathing suit and it starts getting cold and you know you should go inside, but instead you just wrap up in a towel and savor every last minute of warm, wonderful, fabulous sunlight.
- My Nokia cell phone with the interchangeable covers.
- Miss America parties.
- Birthday parties with my families.
- My Mom's chocolate sheet cake (hint...hint).
- Mamaw's scrabble. And monkey bread.
- Mamaw.
- Thinking that driving to Terre Haute to get my acrylic nails filled was an absolute MUST. And the funkier the design on them, the better.
- The Backstreet Boys.
- Ja Rule.
- Mrs. Walton.
- My belly button ring. Which would look pretty disgusting if it made a reappearance right now.
- Long, full, curly hair that reached halfway down my back.
- Ashley (Bingham) Harroll kidnappings. You never knew where she would take you. And it terrified you.
- Ashley (Bingham) Harroll kidnappings of other people. Because you never knew who she was going to show up with at your house in her red 1978 Thunderbird. She could fit about 15 bodies in that car.
- Being able to fly down the side road in Switz City when you were late to school. And then they put in the speed bumps. And if you didn't hit your head on the roof of your car when you went over them then you weren't driving over them right.
- The anticipation of looking for a prom dress.
- America's Next Top Model rerun marathons with my Bethel roomies. (By the way, do you think that now we would watch 16 and Pregnant or Teen Mom instead? I say yes.)
- Driving to Chapter with my Bethel roomies while cranking the music and singing. Usually making up new lyrics to the song, right Allison?
- Dancing to Justin Timberlake at every...single...sorority function with Laura (Hoesman) Sienkiewicz. I to this day think of her every time I hear Dance With Me. And then I sing my parts and imagine her singing her parts. That's not weird, right?
- Being able to split a household bill with three other girls.
- Only having one room to be responsible for cleaning.
- Walking on campus when the weather was starting to get nice after a long winter.
- Don't laugh, but I would LOVE to have a panini from Woodworth right now. Turkey and onions with ranch dressing grilled just right. Yum....
- Wednesday night dinners with Jennifer (Porter) Hancock when we had just started dating who would turn out to be our future husbands. The conversations were classic folks.
- Summer league softball games
- Swimming so much that the chlorine burned your eyes and you had blurred vision.
- Running to TIS to find materials to make sorority paddles
- The Bethel house paddle wall
- Buy one get two free t-shirts from TIS
- Carrying my great big AOII canvas bag around campus
- Passing notes in class. They were always full of really intellectual material. We always talked about the class material. Promise.
- Living two blocks from both sets of Grandparents.
- Josta (who remembers it?
- Having a free gym at my fingertips 24/7
- AOII family dinners at Panera
- Being in shape. Like, really good shape.
Those are just a few of the things that I miss. We all have things that we miss from our pasts. It doesn't mean we want to change our present, it just means that we've had a really great life up to this point.
So, what are some things that you miss?
