Reminiscing

I have a bad habit of reminiscing. I do it a lot... More so when I'm alone. Melissa and I were talking the other day about one of her younger sisters. She mentioned that she'd done some stupid stuff when she was her sister's age (high school). I suppose I waited until college to be stupid. Melissa and I both agree that it would have been really bad if we'd both been stupid at the same time. Really bad. I can only imagine the trouble we would have gotten ourselves into.

I suppose I waited until college because I finally felt free. I still lived with my parents, but they knew no one where I was going to college - no little spies to tell them what I was doing. It was allll on me. Oh, I was a good girl for...the first year. I was still in my "shy shell" that year. Have I mentioned that I knew exactly who Joe was that year? When I started college, he was a year ahead of me. We were both in choir, except he was in Chorale and I was in the women's chorus. I saw him a lot... I also knew he was dating someone at one point. I knew the girl too. How's that for interesting? I even visited the church he went to once with my mom. I even said to her at one point, "Hey, I know that guy in the orchestra! His name is Joe and he's in Chorale." She said I should go say 'hi' to him, but my reply was, "No, he doesn't know me..." Oh how things might have been different...

By my sophomore year, I just didn't care anymore about what my parents thought/wanted from me. We fought pretty much all the time. At one point, my dad wanted to throw me out. That's when I was done trying to please them. As far as they were concerned I was on the "straight and narrow" after that. Little did they know. I didn't go crazy or anything, but I still managed to make some pretty idiotic mistakes.

Melissa and I. Post-stupidity for her. =P

Sophomore year of college... I did a lot of dating... I dated a guy that I'd had speech class with for about a month. During that time, I met a lot of his friends. After we broke up, I proceeded to date his 27 year old best friend. Not the best idea I ever had. But, he was a good guy. He was (still is) a Christian, caring, also a history major, he liked sports (bingo! for me =)) and as far as I was concerned at that point, he was a freakin' catch. Except for one minor detail: he was recently divorced. I don't have to tell you that my parents were less than pleased. But he was a charmer, so he passed. 

Our relationship was very...intense. Let's just leave it at that. Of all the stupid things I could do... *sigh* It didn't really end well... I was 19 and seriously immature. I was so incredibly mean to the poor guy. I'd been taught to retaliate. My parents wanted to hear nothing about him after the breakup. I got no sympathy. I was just angry all the way around, so I continued to send him emails. Oh, it was bad. You know the whole red-headed temper thing? Yeah... It's true. I'm fairly certain my anger was one of our many issues. 

Later - months later - I realized how immature and mean I'd been. We IM'ed on yahoo one night for a long time (after the breakup) and I was finally able to work through all those feelings and understand how he'd really felt. I'm not 100% certain about it to this day, but I believe we loved each other the best we knew how. In the process, though, we made some mistakes...things you just can't take back. Looking back, I'm kind of thankful for it all. If nothing else, I realized that his love was not the type of love I needed. I needed more. And I got it a little while later. After I was "healed," from the whole thing (and not yet dating anyone) I liked to say that he was my favorite mistake. If you can actually have a favorite mistake.

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A few days ago, Expat Girl posted a pic of Sunset Beach, NC. It's seriously one of my favorite places ever. Well, I just love NC as a whole. I don't know when, how or why it happened but NC found its place in my heart not too long after we moved there. Maybe it's the history; maybe it's the memories I made with Joe there; maybe it's the memories I made without Joe there; maybe it's the people who live there that made me fall in love with NC. Make no mistake, I am and will always be an Oklahoma girl, but NC has stolen my heart.

I first visited NC when Joe and I were engaged. We took a trip with his mom to look at apartments and interview at schools in the area. The only thing I got out of that trip was a new-found friend (soon-to-be sister in law) and a love for NC. We didn't get jobs and we didn't find an apartment. In fact, the apartment/loft/house we lived in, we leased without seeing it first. The owners are a family friend, so we got a good deal. That's all we were really worried about at the time. I think we really lucked out with that place, though.

I mean, can you really complain about a place as cute at that?! The garage and door on the bottom right were for the owners' use only. The door on the bottom left is the entrance to the living room. Then you go upstairs  where the kitchen, bathroom/laundry room and two bedrooms are. I stinkin' loved that place. We really couldn't complain about the view either. This is the owners' house, just about 50ish yards from the "back house."

We had plenty of space, a big yard for Jasper to run around in (when we got him), and landlords that were nothing short of amazing. Plus, we were like a mile away from my SIL, Anna, and Joe's grandparents. It doesn't really get much better than that. Oh, and WalMart, Target and ChicFilA were about a 5 minute drive. Yeah, I really miss that place. =)

I also miss Sunset Beach. I know you're thinking that I have plenty of beach to satisfy myself, but it's just not the same. Hawaii is great and all...but... Well, it's just not home. 

We did go to Sunset Beach for our honeymoon, but the pictures aren't on my computer and I don't feel like transferring them over. Sorry!  Rest assured that we did, indeed, spend 4 days there on our honeymoon. =) 

I hope you enjoyed my little trip down memory lane. 

Happy Saturday!