Midland, PA

When I was at my dad's, for my cousin's wedding, I went back to my home town, Midland, PA. I LOVE Midland! It is very small town. How small you ask? I grew up saying, Midland, PA is one square mile... I just looked it up and it says it is 2.2 square miles, of which, 2 miles are land and .2 water. There are 3,127 people. It had one school that went from Head Start (Created in 1965, Head Start is the most successful, longest-running, national school readiness program in the United States. It provides comprehensive education, health, nutrition, and parent involvement services to low-income children and their families.) 

to 8th grade, after 8th grade you went to East Liverpool, OH for high school. I have so many great memories from this town and would love to take everyone to visit! There may not be anything in the town but I have tons of great memories! I would move back in a heartbeat if the economy there was better and it didn't snow! I do think it's a great place to raise a family.

I don't know when this photo was taken but it shows you the size of the steel mill compared to the town. I guess that's where they get the two square miles... if you want a better view of the town you can google map it. Yes, the town is surrounded by nothing!

This is from the teacher's parking lot looking at the back of the school. You can see the steel mill in the background. 

We once had a petting zoo come and the animals were in the garage.

This is how close I lived to the school... they painted the wall red!

This is the same place, just a better view. Notice the power plant in the background.

Have you ever heard of a school that doesn't have a playground? Now you have! K-4th grades had recess here... All of those rooms have doors going outside.

These were the 4th grade rooms. We played a type of football using the wall. Notice the missing letters?

This is the playground for 5-8th grades. There was, for about a year, wooden monkey bars with gravel underneath.  We played gladiators, two people hung and tried to knock one another down... that's probably why they got rid of it! On the steep hill, we played king of the hill. The "kings" stood at the top while the other kids tried to make it to the fence without getting pushed down. I have gravel in my knee for playing tag football on the asphalt... key word TAG! You could say I was a tom boy....

This was between my house and the neighbors. There use to be a fence separating the two. Between the white house and brick house, you can see the left corner of Jeana's house. How convenient to have your best friend one street down?! I would just cut through the yards and hop down her back wall.

What happens when you live in a valley? You have a hill as a back yard. I'm standing where my baba lived (grandmother) and my house was two down. We would ride our sleds off the walls. You went off the higher wall if you weren't a chicken!

This is 8th street. I'm not sure if they do it anymore, but they use to block it off so we could go sled riding down it! Oh, but the cross roads were not blocked off! They had to watch for children...

Again, if you weren't a chicken, you started up the hill, making sure you didn't run into the pole!

This is the park. The high school use to be at the bottom but they tore that down a few years ago and it's an arts center now.

On the right of the park is the library.

I am a water baby! This is the pool that was my babysitter in the summer. The kiddie pool and locker room is on the right. The big pool went from 3 ft to 12 ft. There use to be diving boards. It did not have the playground. We use to tear up the bottom of our feet by walking, NOT RUNNING, around the pool all summer!

This is the "football field." It's at the VERY end of the town. There used to be a metal slide that burned, teeter totters that we could've killed ourselves on and spring animals that you always thought were going to break.

This is the baseball field that was added when I was probably in 5th grade.

I took this while driving into town. This is Industry and Shippingport in the background.

This is Industry Park. I played softball from k-7th grade here! Tons of memories!

In 1992 (I was in 2nd grade) I went to see A League of Their Own in the movie theater with Jeana and her sisters. To this day, it is one of my favorite movies! This song is so fitting...

This used to be my playground
(Used to be)
This used to be my
Childhood dream
This used to be
The place I ran to
Whenever I was in need
Of a friend
Why did it have to end
And why do
They always say
Don't look back
Keep your head held high
Don't ask them why
Because life is short
And before you know
You're feeling old
And your heart is breaking
Don't hold on to the past
Well that's too much to ask

(Long and movie versions only:)
CHORUS:
Live and learn
Well the years they flew
And we never knew
We were foolish then
We would never tire
And that little fire
Is still alive in me
It will never go away
Can't say goodbye
To yesterday
(Can't say goodbye)

Repeat chorus

No regrets
But I wish that you
Were here with me
Well then there's hope yet
I can see your face
In our secret place
You're not just a memory
Say goodbye to yesterday
(The dream)
Those are words
I'll never say
(I'll never say)

This used to be my playground
(Used to be)
This used to be our pride and joy
This used to be the place we ran to
That no one in the world
Could dare destroy

This used to be our playground
(Used to be)
This used to be our great escape
This used to be the place we ran to
This used to be our secret hiding place

This used to be our playground
(Used to be)
This used to be our childhood dream
This used to be the place we ran to
The best things in life are always free
Wishing you were here with me 

Sea Isle City 2009

I'm not in the mood to write... this is mostly pics! I spent the last week of summer in Sea Isle City with my nanny family. Overall, it was a good trip!

In the distance, you can see Ocean City (in the middle) and Atlantic City (to the right).

Nothing like blue lips and sand in the ear!

They are putting sand back on the beach... 24/7. As we sat on the beach, a bulldozer would drive past...

It was a little windy...

An early morning walk on the beach...

This was my favorite thing about the week! Sitting on the deck, studying my scriptures with an ice cold glass of water! I LOVED it!

I took the boys on a walk and stopped to take a picture of Smile You're in Sea Isle City.

We went to Ocean City several days. There is a boardwalk and an amusement park... of course that's the kids' favorite thing!

Trying to be Elvis.

You can see Ethan and Joshua in the background.

This was one of my favorites growing up! It was The Log Run at Geauga Lake. The first day we went to the amusement park, Bill, Josh, Gab and Ethan all rode on this.

Ethan is a trooper! Josh is the one who gets scared... and Ellen as she worries about Ethan!

Gab and I about to be shot into the air... this is the only ride I went on. However, I love amusement parks! One of these days, I'm going to make it to Six Flags!

We went to the Wetlands Institute in Stone Harbor. First, we went on a "safari". Everything I want to write, I can't remember 100%! There was a marsh with one of the largest Laughing Gull populations in the world. A marsh only has water during a full moon and something else.... and no trees, unless it's disturbed. You could go to an observation tower which has a very tall spiraling staircase. I hate ladder type things! I did not realize how high it was until I kept going and going and going... then I had to go back down... which is the hard part!

Before we left, Gabrielle wanted to take a family picture. We were all loaded into the van... then they remembered.

25 Random Things

I posted this in Facebook and thought, why not post it here?!

1. I laugh at myself constantly... funny things I'm thinking, events that happen to me, stupid things that come out of my mouth... etc. I do think I'm a funny person. I also laugh for pretty much every emotion. If I'm nervous, scared, happy, confused... yeah I laugh.
2. I enjoy routine. Weekends throw me off track and if I don't go to the gym in the morning I'm more than likely not going to go so I am not a happy camper. I could tell you what I do m-f from 5:50-1:30 every day... very little variation. Unless the kids are off from school/camp.
3. I am a very jumpy person.
4. I love taking great photos! It may not happen very often, but when it does I'm very excited!
5. I erased the first response I had here because it was a little too embarrassing... Instead, you get to know that I named all of my baby dolls Icecube and that I was scared of ants. Also, I was almost kidnapped at Walnut Beach, my grandmother had scars on her arms from the woman... years later, my cousin dated the lady's son.
6. I want to be neighbors with my best friends/sister. I have an image of living on a culdesac with a central playground/pool area. I think it would be just lovely!
7. I am environmentally friendly. I will go out of my way to throw something into a recycling container. I had the family I work for start recycling paper products.
8. I am superstitious... thinking about writing something that has never happened and I don't want to happen makes me worry that now it's going to...
9. July 2008 was the first time I went on an airplane! I was 24! Within the year, I went on 10 flights...
10. I often start singing songs after hearing a phrase or even word that's in a song...
11. I love peanut butter! Reese's Peanut Butter Cups are my favorite candy. Reese's Peanut Butter Cup Blizzards are my favorite Ice Cream. (I love ice cream, especially soft serve!)
12. I'm a dreamer...
13. <-- is my favorite number! I have often used the number 31 because it's 13 flipped!
14. I love to swim. I went to the YMCA for preschool. My first crush was on either Josh Steele or a guy who worked at the pool named Smudge. I once got sunburnt so bad that my shoulder stayed florescent pink for about a year. I really don't think I'm making that up. I'd much rather swim in a pool than water that isn't clear. The first time I saw the ocean was spring break my junior year in college (21) I didn't go in the ocean until I moved to FL (22)
15. I'm not a big fan of chocolate.
16. I sprained both ankles on the night before graduating from college. My mother was not happy with me...
17. If I lived in the Pittsburgh area and could afford it, I would want Steeler's season tickets. I love them! I grew up watching them and would have friends over every Sunday to watch the games... if only I had friends in NJ!
18. My dad, sister and brother-in-law call me Al, which I sometimes use to sign things.
19. We had a lot of pets growing up. Out of all of those pets, I had one... which was never actually mine. It was a cat who came to our house one day and I fed a few times, named him snowball and then he "ran away". Then, in college, I had a dog, Tucker, that my father made me get rid of after I graduated. I still miss him!
20. I once ate a bouillon cube because I thought it was gum. I am a picky eater and I do not eat red meat. I once ordered off the kids' menu on a date... that does not score you points!
21. I am very competitive. I started playing softball (t-ball) in preschool. My tennis coach, in high school, made me sit in time out. (I don't think I listened)
22. I love ICE water. I hate when ice tastes bad! YUCK! I won't eat the ice in this house... and that makes me sad.
23. This has taken me way too long to finish! If I could, I would buy houses and flip them. I would go back to school for architectural design but don't see the point in getting two BAs instead of a masters. There are a lot of things I would go back to school for... I just don't know which one area I would get the most out of... this is the 2nd biggest stress in my life.
24. I want a white english bulldog with one spot. I am a picky person. I would love to live in San Diego, I love being tan! I've always wanted a stucco house... There were very few in the town I lived in but any time I saw one I wanted it! Then I moved to FL.
25. I wish I could wear contacts instead of glasses. If I don't have my glasses on, I just can't see very well. I have cysts and even with weighted contacts, they come off the iris (I think that's what it's called) They're also more expensive than regular contacts! Another problem, I can't take them out. You know when you first get them and have to sit down and go over how to put them in, take them out, clean them etc... I took a long long time to get them out... then when I got home, I would just rub my eyes vigorously until they fell out! I lost 7 contacts in 1 week... that was the end of that.
I'M FINALLY FINISHED!

Tie-dyed Shirts!

Several months ago, maybe even last year, we had an enrichment about talents. My friend Ali did a demonstration on how to tie-dye t shirts. So, I've been wanting to do this for a while! I'm so happy with the end results and I just want to make more shirts!

First you get the shirt damp.

Then you jab it with something and twirl it into a saucer.

Add the dye to the different sections and let it dry over night.

Rinse it out, take off the rubber bands and you have yourself an awesome shirt!

... or two

...or three!

I have to wash them before wearing them! I will do that in the morning! :)

Jersey Shore

Yesterday, we had a YSA activity at the Island Beach State Park. Jayme, Lisa and I wanted to go early to just relax and enjoy the beach. We got there around 11:30 but it closed because it was full. So, we went to Seaside Beach until 2 (when the activity started and the park opens again). I enjoy swimming in pools... or where the water is clear! I did go swimming, but I'm always nervous! We went to Island Beach State Park and helped set up. Let me tell ya, the walk from the parking lot to the beach is through sand dunes and is not fun! After we were done setting up, Jayme and I decided to go swimming. We were out in the water, I'm jumpy as it is, and about 4 or 5 creatures are swimming 2 feet away from us! I scream SHARK and we got out of the water! Jayme didn't believe me that they looked like stingrays. She only saw something a little pinkish and thought I was crazy! So, while I was on shore, I was telling this kid about them and we looked out and, every once in a while, you could see them swimming! We continues swimming and eventually I asked a guy what they were. He said, he thinks they're skates which are in the stingray family. He wasn't sure and was definitely going to look it up. Today, I called the park to get an answer, the first lady didn't know so I asked for the nature center's number. The guy there informed me that they are indeed skates and they are harmless. The skate is related to sharks and rays. It can range in size from one to three feet. Its flat body is white underneath, and its top colors vary from light brown to dark brown with black, roundish spots or bars. The skate is commonly found near shore in the summer, and you may see them riding the waves from the beach. Their skin is rough and prickly, but the thorny tail does not have a stinger like their ray cousins.

President Glidden

This is just a quick thought... I saw my last post as President Moulton and thought of my freshman year in college. It was the first day of college and the students on my floor met in the mod. (The common area for 1/2 (1/3, depending on your building's setup) of my building.) The RA was discussing what the agenda for the day was. First, we had to go to the convocation center, where President Glidden would address us. One of the girls got so excited and could not believe that President Clinton was going to be welcoming us to Ohio University!

This brings back another memory... after the welcoming ceremony, we "marched" from the convo. center, up a hill, (which I can't think of the name of the road) and through the Ohio University Gateway. (It's known as the Campus Gateway. When you walk through one way it says, "SO ENTER THAT DAILY THOU MAYEST GROW IN KNOWLEDGE, WISDOM, AND LOVE". Then, on the other side, it states, "SO DEPART THAT DAILY THOU MAYEST BETTER SERVE THY FELLOWMEN, THY COUNTRY, AND THY GOD".)

When you got to the top of the hill there were tubs of drinks in front of a building. (I am sad that I can't remember the names of things!) Courtney, whom I met that day, wanted a drink and I said I'd get it for her. I had to climb over a railing and while doing this, I fell backwards. Thank goodness a kid caught me before I hit the ground! Yes, everyone in the freshman class was around! That could've been so much worse!

President Moulton

This picture didn't post for some reason... so here ya go! He's awesome!