Last weekend had to be one of the best weekends ever! It started out with our baby girl being crowned Homecoming Queen at Friday night's football game! I am so very proud of her. She is not only beautiful on the outside, she is so beautiful on the inside. I am not just saying that because I am her mom, you can ask anyone that knows her. She really is!! We couldn't be prouder of the wonderful young woman she has become!
My camera was giving me fits, so I did the best that I could with my cell phone.
My cup runneth over.....
Saturday night, my mom, our friend Kasey and I went to the Jason Aldean/Luke Bryan concert at Klipsch Music Center in Noblesville. The sunset was beautiful that night!
The 3 of us waiting for the show to start. It was the best concert that I have ever been to. Those guys rocked it out! I WILL see them again!
Kenny Chesney has a song called "I Go Back". It's about how hearing a certain song can take your mind back to a certain place or time. There are so many songs that take me on a trip back in time with my brother, Trevor. Tomorrow will be 15 years since he passed away. Music plays such a huge part in my memories of him. When you lose someone, memories are what get you through the pain of losing them. Even the most insignificant memories, become big memories. Even the things that may have been aggravating or even the things that may have made you mad, become treasured moments. You wrap those memories up like fragile glass and store them in your mind and in your heart. These are the songs that remind me of HIM, not his death, but his life. These are the memories I have stored in my heart.... In Kenny's words "Everytime I hear that song, I go back".
Alvin and the Chipmunks "Christmas Don't Be Late"-http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bzN_WOKC8rk. This song takes me back to Christmas in July when we were kids. Trevor loved this tape so much he played it over and over and over again. Even in July, yes I said July. It was annoying! It drove us crazy! But he loved it. I can't hear it now without going back to our living room in the trailer that was off the road on 55. Of course nowadays I usually only hear it at Christmas time! :)
Eddy Grant "Electric Avenue"-http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IuwxZSIS__4. All 3 of us kids loved this song. I remember yelling the lyrics as I was jumping into our swimming pool. This song continues to provide laughs to us. You see, Trevor added another line to the song. He insisted it was actually in the song, it wasn't. He said the song said "We gonna rock down to Electric Avenue and then we'll take it higher. In the Country". And his "In the Country" was a twangy shrill sounding mess! So, we did what we always did and made fun of him. I think this may have triggered his rage the day he decided to pick up a hatchet and chase us with it. Luckily, Travis and I were faster runners than him, so we got away, found a good hiding place and lived to tell about it. I really think he was mad enough to use that hatchet on us that day!
Michael Jackson "Thriller"- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hG6oy46qKE4. Trevor was terrified of this song. Vincent Price's talking part just about sent him over the edge. So, what did Travis and I do? We played it over and over again. We were mean!
AC/DC "Big Balls"-http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gJ3tqIukBKg. We found Dad's 8-track tapes. This song made us giggle hysterically! My mom didn't see the humor in little Trevor going around singing about having big balls. She also didn't think it was funny when we found the Cheech and Chong 8-track tape. Especially when we repeated it word for word!
Da Bears "Super Bowl Shuffle"-http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-Smh4_tXOM. It PAINS me to admit this, especially since the Colts season opener is against the Bears tomorrow, but, we loved this song! This song not only reminds me of Trevor, but also my Memaw. It got big around the time we were going to Michigan that year. Memaw hated this song, but she knew how much we loved it, so she let us listen to it everytime it came on in the car, which was a lot at that time! Of course, she complained the whole time it was on, but she left it on for us. She was right, it was a stupid song! GO COLTS!!!
Hanson "MMMBop"- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NHozn0YXAeE.This song just about caused World War 3 between Trevor, Ryan and Allen one time. No, Trevor did NOT like this song! Hated it! Despised it! And the younger boys loved it. Yes, Ryan Dill, the biggest music critic I know, listened to Hanson! Trevor finally got sick of hearing it, so he stole the CD and hid it. Sharon walked into screaming, yelling and total chaos. I was standing the kitchen tuning it all out. Frankly, the screaming and yelling was better than listening to MMMBop one more time!
When Trevor hit the teenage years, we didn't quite see eye to eye on music. I was more into hip hop/R&B and he had started listening to Grunge/Alternative. I found that stuff quite annoying at the time and since he knew I was annoyed, he played them over and over again. I guess that's payback for torturing him with Thriller. The following were the worst!
Weezer "Buddy Holly"-http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kemivUKb4f4. He used to sing this one to Bryson. Only he changed the lyrics to "Ooh-we-Ooh, I look just like Uncle Trevor". Thinking of that just makes me smile!
Nirvana "Smells Like Teen Spirit"- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTWKbfoikeg. Trevor loved Nirvana. I couldn't understand what they were saying.Heck, I still can't understand what they are saying! The last gift I ever bought for Trevor was a Nirvana t-shirt. Jordan has it now. He shares a little bit of his Uncle Trevor's music tastes!
Green Day "When I Come Around"-http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8dh9gDzmz8. Actually I secretly liked this song, but their album was called "Dookie" and I just couldn't like a band that called their album "Dookie"!
Beck "Loser"- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YgSPaXgAdzE. He taught Bryson to sing this song. I didn't laugh. My little blond haired, blue eyed two year walking around singing "I'm a loser baby, so why don't you kill me" was bothersome! Trevor thought it was sooooo freaking funny!
Even though I hated these songs at the time, if I hear them come on the radio, I crank them right up and sing along. All except for Nirvana, I still crank it up, but I don't sing along since I still don't know what they are saying! I am usually grinning from ear to ear. They make me think of my little brother. On occasion, they have triggered some tears. Yes, "I'm a loser baby, so why don't you kill me" has made me cry once or twice.
The other songs have been silly or funny reminders of my brother. This next one is a different story. This song brings me pride. Everytime I hear this song it takes me back to Parris Island, South Carolina on October 18, 1996. That was the day Trevor graduated from boot camp. I can not express how proud I was of him that day. I saw a Trevor I had never seen before. He was proud and confident. I loved seeing him like this. And when I hear this song, it normally brings me to tears. Not sad tears, but it fills me with pride and takes me right back to that day. Semper Fi!
I love you and miss you so much little brother!
Friday we went to the Waterfront Park in downtown Beaufort. The Waterfront Park is one of my very favorite places in the world. I spent a lot of time down there when we lived in Beaufort. Bryson and Jordan used to love playing at the park. We walked around the Waterfront, then went through some of the shops downtown. And of course had to stop for ice cream! That evening we went to our friends Ken and Ken's house for dinner. As always that was super fun! Especially after a few glasses of wine!
The kids got a kick out of the this homemade boat
Hey look! It's Jordan! Actually looking at the camera!
Good "ol Dusty with his squinty eyes. His poor eyes are super sensitive to the sun. Bry says he's been ruining pictures since 2000- the year he was born!
The kids and Johnny. What a bunch of goofs!
Such a beautiful park!
The Woods Memorial Bridge coming into downtown Beaufort from Lady's Island.
The old houses in downtown Beaufort are just gorgeous!
Mom, the kids and I
Bry had been whining because she never got a birthday cake this year. Uuummmm, she was never home! Anyway, Ken made her a cake and surprised her with it when we went to their house for dinner. He makes the best pound cake I have ever eaten! They couldn't find any candles, so they put a tea light candle on it. We all got a good laugh out of that! So, Bry got her cake after all, 23 days later. And the next night on the dock, someone was letting off fireworks over the water. She's a 4th of July baby and used to having fireworks for her birthday. This year because of the drought in Indiana, we weren't able to have any fireworks. So, in the last 2 nights of vacation, she got her cake and her fireworks.
Saturday, we went into town and did a little school shopping. We were only going to have 2 weekends left before school when we got home and my brother's family was going to be in town the first weekend and I also had a wedding that weekend. And shopping the last weekend before school starts is always chaos! Plus, Bry had some Rue 21 coupons that she needed to get used before they expired. And shop, she did! The boys grabbed a couple of shirts, then fussed at her to hurry up. There is no rushing Bry to hurry when she is in shopping mode! We got the shopping all done, then we stopped at Steve's grandma's house to visit with her and his aunt for awhile. Luckily, we got to see his grandpa for a few minutes too. It is always great to see them and catch up. After that, we headed back up to the house. Our friend Chris came up and we drank more wine and hung out on the dock. We didn't want to go in that night knowing we had to head home the next morning. It was such a fun week. It always is. Looking forward to next year!
Wow-Another Jordan pic!
And another one! He was fishing something out of the water. Some kind of weird light bulb.
After we take Bryson shopping, we always get a fashion show
And another- she was super excited about those boots!
