Young and Sweet, Only Seventeen

Day 10. A picture of the person you do the most crazy/strange things with.

Honestly, this one took a great deal of pondering because while I may act like a total goofball, I generally reign myself in before I do something over-the-top crazy or strange. Don't get me wrong: I'm always up for adventure and I like to spray my coworkers with air cans, conduct covert operations and belly crawl through the brush just as much as the next person. I usually stop myself before doing something too out of control such as purchasing a train ticket to Baltimore, calling out of work and traveling to MD for a specific, 5 minute task and then heading back home (on the day of a major ice storm...). Hey, I plotted it out the day before and stopped just before clicking the "Buy" botton on the Amtrak website - don't judge!

All that being said, the strangest things I've done usually involved an idea formulated with or by my cousin. Even though we don't spend much time together at this point in our lives, growing up she was definitely my companion in doing crazy and strange things!

The picture above is from our 30s-40s decade costume party during the summer of 2009. My cousin and I are 2nd and 3rd from the left in the front row.

The picture to the left is us outside of the State House in Boston, MA (right at the start of the Freedom Trail!) on our day trip from summer 2009.

The picture below was taken on our church Youth Group Retreat in PA during the fall of 2005.

Some of our strange and crazy escapades during the years have included celebrating Christmas in July, complete with caroling to several friends and family members from church (and boy was it stuffy caroling in such hot weather with scarves and hats while wearing flannel pjs!), making daily anonymous phone calls one summer when we were much younger in order to get our friend to come swimming with us (he always knew it was us calling, but we tried anyhow), gathering to watch the "sunset" over Newark Bay...great view of the oil refineries and cranes...and somehow getting too caught up in a game of Dutch Blitz to realize that the sun was setting until we completely missed it lol, and getting Sarah to go on her first roller coaster, Rolling Thunder, at Great Adventure and watching her scream like a maniac even though it was a small, wooden coaster with maybe a 30 ft. drop at it's most intense moment.

Just a couple of silly cousins enjoying their status as peculiar treasures and looking for joy and humor in the most mundane of circumstances! H's for life...<3

"You are the dancing queen, young and sweet, only seventeen

Dancing queen, feel the beat from the tambourine - oh yeah!

You can dance, you can jive, having the time of your life

See that girl, watch that scene, dig in the dancing queen"

("Dancing Queen", ABBA)

It's Something Unpredictable, but in the End It's Right

Day 9. A picture of the person who has gotten you through the most.

Definitely both of my parents. I've given them plenty of ups and downs, particularly after graduating high school (and probably giving them more downs than reasons to be proud), but they do their very best to encourage me in walking with the Lord, making wise choices and living in a way that does not result in many future regrets.

This picture is actually from my high school graduation party in 2005. God has blessed me so much by giving me the family I have and allowing them to be such wonderful parents and spiritual leaders. They have taught me most of what I know about God, the Bible and our Christian faith and I am so very thankful that they are not just my parents but the ones I can confide in about my concerns and thoughts. I love them so much (even when I'm being petulant and bratty lol)!

"Another turning point, a fork stuck in the road

Time grabs you by the wrist, directs you where to go

So make the best of this test and don't ask why

It's not a question but a lesson learned in time"

("Time of Your Life", Green Day)

Forever Young

Day 5. A picture of your favorite memory.

This is a picture of our New Year's Party...held on January 2, 2005. We kicked the year off with this tremendous wacky party - the first in a line of funky gathering ideas during the end of our senior year in high school and the breaking up of Our Gang as people began going away to college.

We watched the ball drop, ate a fabulous meal and drank lots and lots and LOTS of sparkling cider.

An absolute success and fun time for us all. I miss those days when life was a lot simpler but the dumb things that came up seemed like the end of the world. God put us together and had our lives cross for various reasons and I really can say "It was the best of times, it was the worst of time". Here's to an awesome group of friends through high school and to the ones who got away, we miss that bond and keep you in prayer.

"And when you finally fly away I'll be hoping that I served you well
For all the wisdom of a lifetime, no one can ever tell
But whatever road you choose
I'm right behind you, win or lose
Forever young, forever young
Forever young, forever young"
("Forever Young", Rod Stewart)