Category Archives: Memories

Progress Report: 96 in 1096

Posted in 96 in 1096, Memories, Music by

Back in May, I started my 96 in 1096 list. I won’t go into details, but you can check it out here.

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Since Kyle and I are in the process of buying a house, we’ve slowly started decluttering our possessions. As it turns out, we have a lot of junk! I figured it would be a good chance for me to knock off one of the items on my 96 in 1096 list: Put my old CD’s onto the computer and get rid of the CD’s.

I didn’t put all of my old CD’s onto my computer, because I really don’t think my hard drive could handle it. I did, however, select a couple gems off of a few different CD’s and was done with it.

It was actually quite amusing looking at all my old CD’s. I mean, how can you not chuckle when your very first album was this:

Oh Nick, how I swooned for you!

I was such a huge fan of the boy bands: Backstreet Boys, N’SYNC, 98 Degrees, Five. And then there was Savage Garden, Ricky Martin, Spice Girls, Aqua … The crazy list of tweeny pop goes on! Then in high school, it was all about the rock and rap. I had Eminem, Ja Rule, Limp Bizkit  and more.

All of my old CD are going to goodwill, as is a collection of various other goods. It felt good to declutter a little bit!

Do you remember what your first album/CD was?

I Remember in the Summer…

Posted in Family, Growing Up, Life, Memories by

… My brother and I used to spend everyday at the pool up the street from our house in the summer.

… I would ride my bike downtown with my Dad and we’d get ice cream.

… We would spend hours by the river, fishing and swimming.

… My grandparents would take my brother and I camping.

… My parents would let me make a mud puddle in the garden and play it while they picked veggies.

… Nothing mattered except for the fact that I wasn’t in school for two amazing months.

Image found here

What’s your favourite memory of summer when you were growing up?

Flashback Friday, Part 2

Posted in Family, Flashback Friday, Life, Memories, Photos by

Last week I flashed back to my memories with my grandparents on my Dad’s side of the family. This week, I’m flashing back to my Mom’s side of the family.

I’m fortunate enough to have amazing memories with both my grandparents and great-grandparents on my Mom’s side of the family. My Nana and Papa (my great-grandparents) lived in Palm Springs, California, so I didn’t get to see them very often. They would come up every summer to “escape” the heat in Palm Springs. (Apparently it gets hotter than the summers here, which is ridiculous) You can see the road on the other side of the river from my grandparents house and my brother and I would wait and watch by the window for them to drive along.

My Papa was the one who got me into playing the piano. He played the organ (and accordion!) and I remember sitting beside him on the bench and “play” along with him. When I got better, I remember my mom getting me to play for him while she placed the phone on the piano so he could hear me. The one time we travelled the Palm Springs to visit (and go to Disneyland), I remember him calling me a mermaid because I was constantly in the pool, splashing everywhere.

This was during my first Christmas.

My Papa passed away when I was in Grade 5 or 6. I didn’t really react much then, but I miss him a lot now. I think that if he were still alive, I’d still love playing the piano.

My Nana was amazing in the kitchen, as any grandparent should be. I remember her collecting apples and apricots from my Grandma’s trees and making the most amazing applesauce and apricot jam. A couple years after my Papa passed away my grandparents moved her up to Kamloops so she would be closer to family. I visited her as often as I could and even fulfilled my promise that when I was old enough, I’d take her to the casino and we could play the slot machines. She always had Canadian Club (a whiskey) right before dinner and would make me check her breath to see if the booze smell was noticeable.

She slowly fell ill and because she didn’t have medical coverage in Canada, my Grandma had to take her to Washington so she could get the help she needed. A couple weeks after her 90th birthday, she told the attending nurse that “Tomorrow’s going to be a good day.” She passed away in her sleep that night. I miss her terribly and wish I could’ve spent more time with her during the last few days in Canada.

I was either 16 or 17 in this photo

My Grandma and Grandpa are both amazing people. From travelling to Calgary, multiple camping trips and family get togethers, they are amazing, devoted Grandparents and have nothing but love for all their kids and grandkids.

During my high school graduation

The concluded my Flashback Friday for this week. Happy weekend everyone :)