Creole Wisdom

Happy Birthday Blog, Chapter V: Today!

This July, I have been up to quite a lot, and experiencing new things:
•My second full month living in Provo, Utah. 
•Working as a reporter for a radio station, and loving being on the air.  Such a thrill.
•Taking two BYU classes, and checking it all out
•Getting a visit from mom, who I spent the 4th with
•Making plans for Claire's visit at the end of the month...
•Hanging out with Curtis (the elder who baptized me) for the first time in over a year. Weird to see him without tags, and being able to hug/kiss him without rules in the way...
•Finally adjusting to the hellish Utah heat
•Getting ready for fall with sorority and school plans
•I have short hair, am still 5ft 6, but covered in freckles thanks to the crazy sun!
•Learning to be independent and survive on my own in a new place...

And I think you've seen enough photos.

In July of this year: I remember to count my blessings and all the good things I have in my life.  Live in the moment, and keep my eye on the prize!

Happy Birthday Blog, Chapter IV

Last summer, another good blogging year my life in July 2007:
•July of last year was one crazy, social whirlwind
•I was working full time, hard hours 7:30-6pm at the daycare, but loving it and the paychecks
•In May I had joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and had made a new friend Jana, who had also gotten baptized.  We were like two peas in pod.
•Arlene came for her annual summer visit, and this time we headed up to a northern lake for fishing and bikini clad adventures
•I was called to be a Relief Society Enrichment board member, and took on my first calling with lots of creative gusto
•Of course there were boys, and I had fun going out on careless dates on weekend nights
•I have no memories of weekends at home, I was so stark busy with work, friends, church...

And here are more photos...

•Those crazy Mormon boys at one fun party.  We always were up late, loud, and laughing too much

•Arlene and I had our summer reconnection complete with fishing.  She caught tons of sunfish, and we named our fishing pride after ex-boyfriends ; ) We had such a great time staying up north and then down in my apartment in the city.  It was a perfect adventure!

•Jana and I at twilight at Minehaha Park after a fabulous picnic with her sister and her friends- we spent a lot of time at that park, and loved it.  Great place.

•One of my closets cousins, Gustave got married!  Mom and I ventured out to PA for the giant family event.  It was fun, and I work one of my favorite Anthropologie dresses-

•Dad took me on a fun trip to San Fran.  Having not been old enough to remember my first trip there it was fun to discover it again.  We had some good father-daughter times!

•Another later, but crucial moment: I had surgery for the first time in August.  I got my wisdom teeth out the same week serious remodeling started at mom's house.  I got to sooth horrible holes in my mouth to the sound of builders ripping out hard wood floors plank-by-plank and putting new ones down.  It was so loud, and I had to sleep on a a mattress on the floor in the cramped office, I don't know how I made it through... It was hard, painful, but the drugs managed to numb me quite a bit!

And I cannot believe it's been a year since all of this...

Happy Birthday Blog, Chapter III

Another year later, my life in July 2006:
•I had just finished my Freshman year at Sarah Lawrence, and happily transferred to a large school in MN to be closer to family
•Moved into my very first apartment in South Minneapolis (that actually ended up being a horrendous experience, but nonetheless lesson worthy!)
•Working at my first serious internship, the Minneapolis St. Paul Business Journal.  I loved it. 
•Commuted like a working girl each day from home on the bus to downtown with all the other Target, US Bank, Wells Fargo, corporate people.
•Managed to be creative and kept scrapbooking
•Signed up for sorority rush in the fall, and was imaginging that entire experience
•Took driving lessons (yes I didn't learn to seriously drive until 19!)
•I still have the long hair, but all that walking on college campuses caused me to drop a good 10 pounds
•Had made two very dear friends at SLC, who I was still in contact with, Jay and Arlene. 

More awful photos, just be kind, I was only nineteen!

•4th of July picnic with mom, myself, and the step-dad.  There were great fireworks that night, and I wore my Old Navy t-shirt proudly.  It was good to be home, and spending time in my MN stomping grounds

•We had record highs that summer, so Abby (my longest childhood friend) and I headed to the beach when it was something like 105 degrees!  There's nothing that can compare with Minneapolis' downtown lakes-

•Arlene came to visit me, and we had a fabulous time together.  We spend a good chunk of the time doing photoshoots, one of our friendship cornerstones, and we rode that horsies at the Como Zoo. 

•Okay, so this feeds into August a bit, but it's crucial ya'll it's crucial.  On 8/8 the bad boyfriend moved out to MN so we could be in one place.  It was a huge move on our part. And for two nineteen year olds it's a bold move, and hard.  I spent time running around the city finding him an apartment and helping him get into school.  It was a lot of work, I was shocked we pulled it off. 

And so another summer passed and I kept up with the entire blog thing...

Happy Birthday Blog, Chapter I

I really love a blog birthday.  It makes me all nostalgic and causes me to laugh at how the old Creole Wisdom would read the Creole Wisdom of today.  I love to believe that I have come a long way, and I suppose that is for you readers to judge.  Meander though my archives if you please.  But here's a walk down memory lane...

Happy Birthday number Three to my little blog!

(Photo a la flickr, and cupcakes from Wuollet Bakery, naturally)

leaves

So, I started my classes.  I'm only taking two, but so far they have been really great.  I am so happy that I decided to take a genealogy course.  I am one of those people who just marvels at history, my past, and family trees.  I am envious of those who can trace their ancestry back generations.  But, with the hope of this class I might someday be one of those lucky people-

The leaves on my family tree are made up of people who I come from.  Some I know, and some I do not.  Some are white, and others are black, but they all have one thing in common... me! 

I may not know everything, but I do know some.  I am lucky to have inherited my paternal grandfather's giant collection of photos (which I am slowly scanning in to my macbook pro).  These are a few favorites:

(Left to right: Uncle Vincent, Dad, and Aunt Barbara.  Location: Pinewood Avenue, Toledo, Ohio.  Date: 1957?)

Sergeant Willie B Harris (my paternal grandfather, and fellow photographer!)

babysitting stories from hell

I was reading on a few blogs about horror babysitting tales, and let me tell you... I have a few of my own! Among all the wonderful families I've cared for over the nearly 7 years I have babysat/nannied there have been a few odd experiences. So, the worst ones:

•I was a sophomore in high school. The subdivision I lived in had tons of kids, and really nice, sweet, laid back families. Except one. Always, always the dad would pick me up. Kind of awkward. Kind of weird. However, that did not deter me from making my $5.00/hr so I could buy hair product. The bad part was the mom's dietary restrictions on the kids... it went on and on, and was actually unnecessary, and not very safe for growing kids.  She would eliminate entire food groups, and not for allergic reasons. So, after an entire school year of dealing with that I decided to tell her I couldn't work for her anymore. It was not good, she screamed (yes, screamed) at me on the phone about it. Yikes. Did I mentioned she also was mad when I eat some of their peanuts one time? Whew!

•The bronxville alcoholic mom: so sad. I would get over there and already three empty wine glasses would be in the sink. At three in the afternoon. I took care of this family several times a week, and hardly did I ever see this mom eat, but she always had a wine glass in her hand! One time she was driving me home, backing out in the driveway, and was so tipsy she hit a tree (at a very slow speed, but hit it none the less). From then on her husband drove me home. If your reading this Jay, I hope you're laughing.

•Another crazy bronxville mom: this woman had me come over on Saturdays to just help her out a bit, one of her sons was Autistic, but very high functioning. After working for them for a week she asked me to move into their guest room. Kind of strange, since she knew I wasn't looking for a place and had a dorm anyway. She also put her entire family on a crazy diet and used a horrible excuse to do so, "my friends have always said I'm thin, and now I guess I'll be getting skinnier!" She and her husband also had some pretty weird exchanges in front of me. He was not happy about living in Bronxville, as she had insisted on moving there because she was a SLC grad. They would have the most curt conversations, and it made me feel very awkward.

I am happy those days are done! The daycare does have its share of crazy families, though...

sunday perfection

When I write my book on how growing up/living in/loving Minneapolis I most certainly will mention something that must be a part of every Minnesotan's experience: The Lutheran Church.

You see, Utah is to Mormons as Minnesota is to Lutherans. 

I was raised Catholic, yes, but Dad was raised Lutheran and when I was with him we would go to this wonderful Lutheran church in the heart of the city. It was a magical place where I spent the entire Sunday (including during the service) upstairs playing in the nursery with my other friends.  It was a fantastic nursery- stocked full of vintage metal cribs (think, The Orphanage), but no babies to fill it. The hallways of the old connected school were lined with speckled linolium, and desks of the 50s sporadically filled empty class rooms.  A gang of friends and I, mostly my buddy Sam and myself would run rampage through the connected school, but did end up in the sanctuary for the good stuff (like lighting the candles in white robes). 

So- when it came time for the pastors of the church (a husband and wife) to retire our family was definetly going to find a seat in one of the old pews.  It was really interesting to go back and see a great place that had been etched into my memory.  Great people.  So Minnesotan.  Cracks me up.

Very elaborate sanctuary. This building was actually built in 1929 so it is fascinating to see how rich the materials are, despite the depression.  Yeah, I took a picture in a church, is that not allowed?

Later at the party... my delightful parents. I love how I captured them in their element: mom talking and dad smiling at someone. Good Sunday dinner, I think I might dream about the chicken I eat...

And what Sunday-Minnesotan gettogether is complete without squeezable, delectable babies?!?

I could just die!!!  I am going to make sure my future baby is as squeezable as that.  Most certainly. But in the meantime I'll just be resting on the couch after a superb meal:

the other side

I know that when I talk about my genealogy, I usually speak about my Creole heritage (dad's side). Well, what is more fun that mixed people who practiced voo-doo in gorgeous old New Orleans? Hm, not much.

Yesterday at my Aunt's home I talked with her a little about the German side. Turns out, that on that side I am part Dunkard and Prussian Aristocracy aka "Junker."

Here's a little about those people. Dunkards are a religious sect, similar to Mennonites. They dress like the Amish, but use all modern conveniences. They came from Germany and settled mostly in Pennsylvania (no shocker there).

A traditional, Dunkard church. The actual term "Dunkard" comes from the baptism practice where you were immersed three times (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit).
So, it was my maternal grandmother's father who was Dunkard. And he was obviously very strickly Protestant, and my grandmother still does not know how he ended up with a Catholic wife (her mother).

They are actually still around, but have only about 900 members. Turns out they have retreat and religious conference each summer, too.

Dunkards dress conservatively, and are sometimes known just as German Baptists.

All of grandma's dad's sisters stayed active and most likely married within the Duknard faith.

My grandmother's mother came from Prussian Aristocracy (I knew it was in my blood somewhere, now I have proof!) Ha, but they are not high royals, just lower-status ones who were quite militaristic. They are known as "Junkers" and were a very organized, hardworking, staunch people.

This group of people came about during the 11th century (according to Wiki). I think sometimes some of them may have purchased titles (think people on the French court during Marie Antoinette's time), but I am not positive.

Junkers were also faithful Roman Catholics, which is why it is interesting that my great-grandmother ended up with a Dunkard. But I suppose stranger things have happened.

This is all I know so far, as you remember, I am hoping to do more family history. I think I might start a binder for each of my sides and just compile information and hole punch it. As a history minor this fascinating to me.

the second time around.

It's funny to be a junior, again.

You see- entering the status of junior, or eleventh grader in my high school was a huge deal.  All throughout my St. Mary's career people built up junior year as hell year.  The year you worked your hardest, when classes would be at their most intense, and college application deadlines loomed.  Girls having emotional breakdowns in the bathroom during our ten minute morning "break" (more like break-ette) would be explained with, "she's a junior" or "she got waitlisted at Yale."  During freshman year I remained ambivalent.  But towards the end of sophomore year I realized that something wild, much like a hurricane would be knocking on my front door awaiting me and my 10 pound Northface backpack. 

And what do I honestly remember?  Not too much.  Long, long hours at my desk upstairs in our bonus room.  Getting my honor roll certificate after finals were done. But mostly I recall days skipped with Alyx to bake cookies, wanting nothing more to get to college (I hung a Barnard poster in my bedroom for months), eating lunch everyday at pizzicato near PSU with Annalise and Hannah, driving Sundays in the rain to Art House for scrapbook supplies, and doing the inevitable:

Oh my goodness gracious! My how styles (and faces of people) have changed.  Do you know how siked I was about those Making Memories stamps?  I used them on nearly every layout I made!  Oh and the tiny clips, what fun ; ) I look at those cute ladies and love that I can place them now, on their own journey into the real world all thanks to the magic of Facebook.

This junior year the books are back out and with a vengance I haven't seen since 2004.  After a four hour library trip tonight my memories of what it means to have strained eyes are returning.  This should be an interesting ride.  At least by May, it will be my last time as a junior.