Fun Quizzy-like Thing

My life in a nutshell at...

15 years ago: I was 3, almost 4. I lived here here in Norman in one of those ugly beige box apartments across the street from the duck pond. I was getting used to having a little sister and we were best friends by then, of course. I couldn't say my Ls; they'd come out as Ys. I loved being tickled. I loved being outdoors... riding my tricycle, going to the duckpond, going to the parks to fly kites or play on playgrounds. My favorite thing in the world was swinging (hehe, still is one of my favorite things). I didn't like chocolate then... my theory now is that I had one too many pieces of chocolate with peanuts in it, so that tainted my view of chocolate in general. I've always had the most wild imagination and I used to pretend to be everyone BUT Rachel... but it was more than pretending for me, it was REAL. I was Handel (the composer), Christi Yamaguchi (sp?), Beauty from Beauty and the Beast, Prince Eric from the Little Mermaid (don't ask me why...), my mom, my mom's friend Lori who played the trumpet, and anyone/anything else that caught my eye. I was ESPECIALLY Clara, from the Nutcracker. I put on my little dancing leotard and tutu and danced for anyone and everyone who would watch. I knew the entire Nutcracker ballet by heart, pretty much.

Ten years ago: I was 8 years old, almost 9. I lived in our first house in Shawnee. I had just seen the Star Wars movies for the first time and was rapidly on my way to being obsessed. I was crazy about Amy Grant but was just discovering two bands I would soon like much, much better: dc Talk and Jars of Clay. I missed my jazz dance classes terribly from the year before and I loved to rock it out in my room (when Hannah or Mom weren't in there with me). I was so painfully shy that mom had to drag me kicking and screaming to my first choir lesson, and even afterwards, though I admitted I loved choir, I was too shy to talk to anyone there. I had a pet hamster named Harriet and I loved her to death. Hannah and I would spend the day playing all sorts of pretend (what had changed?). A typical day could include a singing concert, a meeting with Hannah in our "secret clubhouse" (behind Dad's chair in the study) for one of our many "secret clubs," a lunch over which Hannah and I would pretend to be from different countries, going outside to climb trees, a treasure hunt, a mission to go exploring in the park behind our backyard, swinging on the tree swing out front, playing with baby dolls, reading dinosaur books (and fantasy books, and picture books, and well, books in general), attempting to teach myself Greek or Hebrew, and putting on an evening performance of Cinderella for our parents, in which I played Cinderella and Hannah played... well, everyone else.

Five Years ago: I was 13, almost 14, in 8th grade. I had recently moved back to Norman from Missouri. I had just gone to Student Conference with the youth group and I had had an absolutely wonderful time. I loved Wildwood and the youth group and really felt for the first time in a long time that I belonged somewhere. The month before, I had finished making an awesome half-hour movie parody of News 9, called News 1552, with Hannah and our friend Michelle. I was still pretty crazy about Star Wars, but my Dad was reading aloud to us every night the Lord of the Rings (we were on Return of the King), and I was starting to have a new passion as well. I was hearing rumors of some Lord of the Rings movies to come someday in the future. I wanted to be a Jedi Knight. Dad telling me I was like Arwen (in the books; again this was before the movies) was to me one of the most wonderful compliments. With friends and outside of home I was having a wonderful time, but at home I wasn't doing so well. My family is really close and was doing awesome, but my allergies were horrible, and overall my health wasn't doing too good. I was depressed and suffered from panic attacks almost every night. If I remember right, for long periods of time I wouldn't be able to sleep without someone with me, but I've tried to block most of the memories from my mind. I got really a lot closer to God through all of this, and I was growing a lot spiritually.

Last year: I was getting close to being 18, and I was feeling the effects of nearing the end of my senior year. I was so busy with dance, choir, school, scholarships, college applications, senior class, church, etc. but I was loving it all (okay, except the college prep stuff). God had given me a lot of close friends, which was awesome. I was crazy about dance and praising God through it (still pretty much am). I was far enough away from graduation that I wasn't too scared about college, yet, but just close enough that I was starting to dread change. I was afraid of growing up and losing who I am. I often wondered whether I was doing something for the last time. I don't think I knew for sure whether I was going to OU or somewhere else. I was scared to death of losing my friends and leaving my family and my church and my dance studio, if I were called to go somewhere else. That semester was the beginning of a long roller coaster ride for me, that lasted throughout last semester and maybe is possibly still going on, of crazy times of insane happiness and deep depression. God was teaching me the meaning of joy, I think.

Last month: January... I was really happy!! I actually don't think I ever got depressed that month which is a record for the past year, hehe. It had been almost a month since Stephen and I got together and I was thanking and praising God for it every day (still am). I was excited to see God's plan and He was bringing me so much closer to Him. I was just starting my second semester of college, and finding that it was a lot easier than the first!! Oh, and I decided to become a support staff for the jr. high youth group, which was really an awesome fulfilling of a dream for me. I also started going to an AWESOME college group Bible study!!

Yesterday: Yesterday I slept in, and then went to school early and did homework. I didn't have choir so I had an extra hour to relax and do more homework at the union until I walked over to my French class. It was FREEZING COLD!!!! I remembered right when I needed to leave that I had too complimentary tickets for my choir performance to pick up (that was supposed to be tonight, but it was cancelled because of the crazy icy weather). So I ran all the way over to Catlett to pick them up and then walked really fast all the way across campus to my car and got frostbite and a headache from the wind that must have been 10 degrees below zero, lol. I got home a few minutes late for my dulcimer student's lesson, but she got there really late so it was alright after all. Had a good lesson and then practiced my choir songs for awhile. Went to the dress rehearsal for the choir concert, and it went really well. When it was over, I looked outside and was REALLY glad that I hadn't driven there and Dad had dropped me off! The icyness had begun. (So no concert tonight, but that's alright because I got to watch Riverdance with my family and play a board game. Yay!)

Next week: School. Dance. Church. Life. On Thursday my family's going to New Mexico for a few days, and Sara and/or Lora had better be staying with me, lol. On Friday I might sing the national anthem with my choir at an OU hockey game. On Saturday I have the choir spring retreat that lasts all morning and afternoon, and then... POLKA DANCING in the evening with the youth group!! YAY!!! But all in all, next week should be another week with ups and downs but lots of glimpses of God's amazing grace and beauty.