A couple weeks ago, my brothers and I went to my mom and dad’s house to begin cleaning out the remainder of our things. I “moved out” of the house two years ago. I put moved out in quotes because I’ll be honest, I’m there a lot for dinner. I spend the night sometimes just to be there to hang out….and so I can have a good breakfast in the morning. I sometimes even go there just to take a bath. They have the most incredible whirlpool tub and there’s a TV in the room. It’s called the exercise room. It’s like the ultimate bathroom.  There’s a toilet (obviously), a big tub, workout equipment, and a TV. Watching a movie while taking a bath is at the top of my list of favorite things to do after a long day.

I had no idea how many things I had packed away in drawers in my room. I found notebooks from first grade through college, a Bio textbook from that time I thought I wanted to study bio, pictures of grade school friends, pictures of Justin Timberlake back when he had the fro. I had a picture of him taped to my door. He was lying down on a sofa. It was from Teen People. Remember Teen People? Yeah. I used to take out all the pin ups from that magazine and cover my doors with them.

Some of the funnier things I found were from 2nd grade. One was a picture of a nut and it said I’m nuts about math because it’s my favorite subject. I have always hated math, but I guess my second grade self loved it. It’s funny looking at things like that to remember who you were back then. I obviously have memories of being that young, but these notebooks and drawings reminded me of the specific thoughts I had at that age. It’d be hilarious if I could talk to my younger self. I would tell myself not to hold back and embrace whatever comes my way.

One drawing from my creative writing notebook from 2nd grade had people handing food to people on the ground. Underneath I had written, “when I grow up I want to be a gardener so I can grow food to feed the poor.” (I was a terrible drawer by the way, the things that were supposed to be people looked like corn stalks). Feeding the poor…that’s so noble of me. I’ve never even planted a flower, let alone seeds for food. Maybe I’ll start a garden this spring.

The next page had a picture of the Power Rangers and it said my favorite time of day was 5 o’Clock because that’s when the Power Rangers came on. Funny, 5 o’clock is still my favorite time during the week, but for different reasons….it’s when work is over and it also happens to be when happy hour begins. It’s 5 o’clock somewhere, right? I did ballet in 2nd grade (yup I was a ballerina). I didn’t like it and I remember I would run out afterwards to the car and tell my mom to hurry up and get home for the Power Rangers.

I also found my Confirmation journal from 7th grade. We had to write a journal entry every week….we addressed it to Jesus. It’s pretty funny to read. I read some of the entries and I didn’t remember being so reflective at that age….or at least I thought I was. I guess that part of me hasn’t changed….I still think I’m reflective and I tend to believe the stuff I think of is profound. The journal entries were addressed to Jesus. In most of the entries, I asked Jesus to help me be better a person and to help me be kinder to my brothers. I’m pretty sure every grade school confession I went to, I told the priest I was mean to my brothers. Story of an only girl’s life.

The journal entries also said how excited I was to become a full fledged member of the Church. I didn’t realize I was that excited. I’m a Catholic, but I admit, I’m not as good as I could be when it comes to going to church and participating. I went to church a lot with my parents when I was younger. Now that I’m older, it’s my choice to continue keeping up with my faith and I think I could get a bit better at staying involved.

I found some cards and mix CDs from old boyfriends. Those were comical.

I found a lot of cards from my college graduation. Stuff like that makes me realize how many people support me and made me miss college.

I found some pictures of friends who I don’t get to see all that often anymore.

These kinds of things are so important to keep, just to remind us of our past. Like I’ve said before, people get caught up in the moment a lot today, get caught up in the madness of the world. Our world is so fast paced now, and sometimes I feel like I’m just jumping from one thing to another and I don’t get a chance that often to take it all in. It’s good to get a chance to sit down and sift through memories to remind ourselves of our lives, the people and  things that used to make us happy, the people and things that currently make us happy. Cards, photos, drawings, journal entries, mix CDs, they are all reminders of who we once were and who helped us become who we are today. It fascinates me how we all grow and what facilitates that growth. It’s funny to see how interests change as you get older, from taste in music to taste in a significant other. If you’re ever feeling lost or confused, going back and looking at things like this can help remind you of who you are and who you want to become.

I found my 8th grade year book, which is hilarious. We had to write a paragraph about God’s plan. I wrote God’s plan was for me to become a veterinarian. That path changed! I was deemed most likely to become a WNBA star. My quote was, “What’s cookin good lookin?” My class award was most athletic girl. My nickname was Kitty Kat. Oh to be 13 again.

This experience was also cool because my brothers and I were all together again in our house. We do get together pretty often, which I feel very fortunate about, but I don’t know, that morning felt different. We were there without our significant others. We were going through our stuff. Reminiscing together. My oldest brother brought breakfast over for us….he’s such a dad now….it’s so funny. Hearing them laugh together under that roof sent my mind back to our childhood when it was just mom, dad, me and my boys. It was a fun morning. It’s going to happen again soon too because we aren’t done. We have way too much stuff. I’ll admit it, I’m spoiled.

I hate to get rid of things and I’m really glad that I am that way….even though it causes a mess sometimes. I get so sentimental. I did part ways with some things, but I kept a lot of stuff in a box…..just in case I feel nostalgic one day.