Katie the Scrapbook Lady

Memory Monday: Cutting the Cake

With my brother’s wedding just six days away, I can’t help but turn to thoughts of my own wedding more than 22 years ago. When I was discussing wedding cakes with my brother, I thought about our own beautiful cake covered with real flowers. We cut into the cake at the end of our reception and did the traditional exchange of feeding each other a bite of cake. We were nice about it and didn’t smear it all over each other. It might have been the only bite of food that we ate at our reception. We had a very nice buffet of food, but we were so busy with pictures and guests that we never got to sit down and eat properly. I do think we grabbed a few little bites at the end, but it’s sort of a blur.

I was taught that it was traditional to save the top layer of your wedding cake in your freezer and then eat it together on your first anniversary. I’m sort of surprised we actually did that because we only had a small freezer in our first apartment. We kept it for an entire year and tried to eat it on our anniversary, but it really was disgusting. When I asked my brother if he was going to do the same, he said “no, we will just make a new cake for our anniversary” – which totally makes sense since they are both culinary students. In retrospect, I wish we had just gone out for cake on our first anniversary.

Think about the weddings you’ve attended (your own or someone else’s) and jot down your memories of the wedding cake. What type was it? Did you get to eat any? What traditions have you observed when it comes to wedding cakes? What would you do differently if you could do it all again? Fun things to think about on a Memory Monday!

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Memory Monday: Stuff you think you can live without

Back in the beginning of February, I packed up a lot of our non-essential items and put them into storage so I could get our house ready to sell. This was a great exercise to do because as I went to put things in boxes, I had to really evaluate if they were worth packing, storing, and unpacking. I ended up donating several carloads of stuff to a local charity, but I also kept a great deal of our belongings as well. I thought about what we could live without for the next 4 months and I felt like I did a pretty good job of figuring that out.

Of course, I was wrong on a lot of counts. In all fairness though, I never would have anticipated that we would end up needing the following things:

• Bundt cake pan – I can’t remember the last time I made a bundt cake and I thought I would be fine to live a few months without the pan. I didn’t want to get rid of it entirely because it’s a nice stoneware pan from Pampered Chef and it makes beautiful cakes. Wouldn’t you know that just a few weeks after I packed it, my neighbor called to ask if she could borrow it?
• Patriotic hat – Seriously! I thought I was safe putting this one in storage from February-May because who dresses up for the 4th of July during that time? I had no idea that my daughter would start attending a school that would have a “spirit week” event where one of the days the theme was red, white, and blue, and they were supposed to wear hats!
• 2002 Olympic berets – Again, saw no need for these but the above event was the catalyst for my daughter asking where they were once I told her the patriotic hat was packed.
• National Parks passport book – As we were not planning any trips to national parks for the next few months, I thought I was fine to pack this. Naturally, my husband has wanted to show 2 people the book since it’s been in storage.
• Lightbox – this one is my bad. I didn’t realize that my daughter was still using it. I thought no one had used it in years. Also, she’s taking a drawing class at school and has needed it a few times.
• Tie-dye sprays. Surely, we wouldn’t be making any tie-dye shirts in the near future? I ended up buying another set of these so my daughter could use them on an art class project.
• Lego minifigures – ok, I should be able to live without these guys for a few months, but I’ve really missed them! I only kept 4 of them out and I wish I had just a few more for some photo opps I’ve thought of.

 

The good news is that we will probably appreciate all of these items a lot more now that they have been on a storage vacation! I keep telling hubby and the kids that it will feel like Christmas when we unpack our POD storage unit. Have you ever put any of your items in storage? Did you miss them? Do you have boxes that you have never unpacked? (looking at you Mom) What do you think you could live without?

All interesting things to think about on a Memory Monday!

 

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Learning to drive

 

My daughter is currently learning to drive and I’m spending quite a bit of time showing her the ropes. She’s still at the beginning of this journey and is only driving on residential neighborhood streets so far, but it’s still very exciting for her. It’s still a bit scary for me because there are so many more risks coming her way now. Still, I think I’ve come to the acceptance stage that most parents come to when they realize it would just be nice to have another driver in the house to help out. While I don’t really like to drive (especially on the freeway), I decided that I better step up and be a good teacher to her. I want her to be a good driver and she is going to need some defensive driving skills when she hits the major roadways. Utah drivers have a bad reputation and I really can’t say anything to change that. Maybe it’s that way most places now? I can barely stand to drive on a few of the freeways now though because people don’t seem to understand following distance and going the speed limit. Everyone is in such a rush and they seem to think they own the road. But, I digress….

What I’m really thinking about on this Memory Monday is my own driver’s education. Surprisingly, I have very few memories of that time. I took a driver’s ed class in school and the wrestling coach was our teacher. All I remember is watching movies of horrific things that happened to people who didn’t wear seatbelts and driving around in circles on the driving range. I have vague memories of some driving practice time with my Dad. I know I never went out with my Mom for this because that would not have worked for either of us. In fact, it’s still a little hard to have her in the car when I’m driving because she tends to make some comments like “you could have gone like 6 times there” when I hesitate to turn. lol!

I wish I had pictures of me at age 16 learning to drive. I know I have one photo of me driving my Dad’s car so I need to dig that up one of these days and document the experience. My daughter has pictures from the day she got her learner’s permit, several photos of her driving my car, and even has a great app that helps her keep track of her driving time. It’s so much easier to record these type of everyday experiences now!

 

When did you learn to drive? Who taught you? Do you have any pictures to go along with the memories? Now is a great time to look for them and jot down some thoughts.

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Memory Monday: our first kitchen

When we got married in 1991, we were both full-time students in college and had very little money. We rented a basement apartment for $275 a month, including utilities. It was a pretty good deal even back then, but it was extremely small. The house was in a very nice neighborhood so we were surrounded by people who generally had quite a bit of money. It was an interesting experience for sure and we always have felt like it helped build our character as a couple. Struggling together and overcoming those struggles do a lot to bring you together (at least in the best of cases).

This kitchen certainly was a struggle for us. We would have been happy to stay in the apartment longer than the 15 months we lived there, if we could have just both fit in the kitchen at the same time. Or if we could have had a full size oven or stove. We called it the “Holly Hobbie kitchen” because it looked like a playset and not a real functioning place to prepare food. The Japanese wall hanging on the right, led to a small backroom where we put the nearly full-size refrigerator we finally had to break down and buy.

This room was sort of an extension of the impossibly small kitchen and it is where we stored my husband’s bike, our fridge, and a desk for studying. As you can see, we also used it for ironing. We did not have a washer and dryer and had to go to the Laundromat to do our wash. These were tight quarters for us, but somehow we were able to manage. We both worked long hours and went to school so we weren’t home all that much. We used to comment that we saw each other a lot more before we were married. It really seemed that way much of the time.

These two little photos of our messy kitchen and back room bring back a flood of memories. I’m amazed to remember that I tried very hard to cook nice meals in that kitchen. I remember one time that I made gingerbread in that tiny little oven and our landlord said the smell nearly drove him insane with hunger as it creeped up through the vents. It’s a good thing I took him a loaf! We loved the people we met in that area, and we had even hosted some double date game nights there. Good memories all around, but if I had to do it over again, I have to think that I would pick a little bigger place to start out. It’s easy to say that now, but at the time we were just grateful for low rent and a place to be together.

Do you have any pictures of your first kitchen? Could you describe it to someone else? I’m glad to take some time to think about these types of things on a Memory Monday.

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Memory Monday: Les Misérables

Sometimes when I’m forcing myself to find looking for a topic for a Memory Monday post, I just start browsing through old photos to see what sparks a reminiscence. This is the picture that jumped out at me for today.

Thanks to some photo editing, it looks nice and sharp, even though it was taken in 1989. I was in London on a study abroad trip and I’m young, skinny, and wearing a fun new teal dress I had bought just a few blocks away. I still remember this day very clearly because everyone in the group was so excited to see Les Mis. I hadn’t gone to a lot of theater performances when I was growing up and I really did not know much about what to expect. I knew a little of the story, but I had never read the book. Being students on a budget, we all had tickets on the 3rd balcony up. It was liking watching ants act out something and I really didn’t get a whole lot out of it. I remember loving some of the music, but it was hard to hear all the dialogue and I left with a feeling of disappointment.

When my husband went on a business trip to New York (around the year 2001 I think?), he saw Les Misérables on Broadway and came home raving about it. He had me watch a PBS special presentation of it because he loved it so much. I liked seeing the broadcast version, but I still didn’t “get” the passion that everyone seemed to feel about his musical.

Last year, (2012) we had the chance to see Les Mis live at the Utah Shakespeare Festival. We had excellent seats and the performance was completely top-notch. I had the songs in my head for months and I fell in love with the whole thing. We even went to see it again during our fall visit to the festival. In fact, I loved the actors and the production so much, that I wasn’t sure I wanted to see the movie when it came out in December. I just knew it could never compare and in some ways I was right. However, I also loved the movie! There were a few things I could have done without (poor Santa!) but I was able to enjoy the movie for what it was and not continually compare it to the play. I loved being able to clearly hear all the dialogue and I thought Anne Hathaway and the guy who played Mario were especially amazing. I still find myself humming the songs in my head quite often. 

So it seems that certain things make a difference in how enjoyable a theater experience can be, and I would have to say that a huge factor is what kind of seats you have. What if I had sat closer to the stage back in London? Would I have gained a passion for the play that I missed out on for so many years? Would I have read the book? I’m so happy that my own children got to see the best Les Mis ever (in my opinion) for their first experience. My daughter is supposed to read the book for school and I’m thinking of joining her. The book is always even better than the adaptations so I’m interested to experience that.

Have you read or seen Les Misérables (either live or as a movie)? What did you think of it? Are there any other influential theater or literary works that have had a big impact on your life? These are great things to think about and jot down on a Memory Monday!

 

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