30 days to 30: day 16

i started high school in my 16th year of life. one of the things that reminds me the most of my freshman year is whenever i hear lovefool (by the cardigans) or i love you always forever (by donna lewis). those songs played pretty much non-stop. we read romeo and juliet in english class and we tried to convince our teacher to let us take a field trip to see the movie with leonardo dicaprio and claire danes. she wasn't having it.

i watched the videos of these songs. i hadn't seen the donna lewis one before and it is pretty much the lamest thing ever. 

30 days to 30: day 15

ok, i know i haven't been keeping up with my blog as well as i should. it's been pretty busy with thanksgiving and such, but keep checking back because i will be adding posts for each day. p.s. i found my newborn hospital pic from when i was only 12.5 hours old:

today i made a cootie catcher/fortune teller. i learned to fold those little squares of paper back in middle school and made them all the time. it was fun to be creative thinking of good and bad fortunes. for my fortune today i found out that i will win publisher's clearing house sweepstakes. turns out krystal will marry a shiekh. not bad.

what's your fortune?

30 days to 30: day 14

i remember being super excited to turn 13. it meant i was real teenager, not a kid anymore. in actuality, being 13 wasn't all that great. puberty and middle school collide to make this one of the most awkward times of life.
to top it off, around this time was when the wards in tracy were reorganized and my family wasn't in tracy 2nd ward anymore. it meant i would no longer go to church with the kids i had grown up with: alanna stiborek, christina pace, spencer campbell. it was pretty devastating. i remember crying at the meeting when they announced the new ward boundaries. it took quite awhile for me to adjust to the new ward, but eventually i did and i got to know some of the greatest people who have influenced my life for good: bishop riddle, brother sherrill, sister states, kelsey noll.

30 days to 30: day 13

in my 13th year of life i was in 7th grade. i went to monte vista middle school and most days my brother would ride the bus from south school across town and we would walk to save mart where my mom worked as a rep in the video rental department. part of her job was getting the videos ready to be rented. every week we would get the new releases delivered to our house on monday and i would try to watch as many as i could before they had to be in the store on tuesday. i watched a lot of movies.
one of the good ones, that i now own myself was what's eating gilbert grape. it came out in 1993 so i watched it for day 13. you pretty much can't go wrong with leonardo dicaprio and johnny depp. leo was nominated for an oscar and golden globe for best supporting actor for his role as a mentally handicapped teenager. juliette lewis was also really great in her role as gilbert's nomadic love interest, becky. i don't really know why i like this movie so much but it's one that has stuck with me.

30 days to 30: day 12

here would be a good time for an ode to TGIF. you know those family-oriented sitcoms that aired on friday nights on ABC. i absolutely loved to watch them all and i would look forward to fridays so i could watch full house, step by step and family matters (or urkle, as we called it) with my family. it was something we all could agree on. my siblings and i anyway, i don't know if my parents really liked those shows, but they watched them with us.
remember this?!

30 days to 30: day 11

as a kid i absolutely loved pizza (still do). anytime someone asked me my favorite food, the answer would be pizza. krystal and i were in disneyland again today and we ate lunch at pizza port. i had a very grown up version, though with pesto and chicken. unfortunately, i was so busy enjoying my food and checking out the cute bus boy to remember to take a picture until we had pretty much devoured it all.

in 4th grade we were asked to volunteer to work in the cafeteria. we would help set up and servce the food. they paid us with a free lunch and i would always try to get a turn on pizza day. although the pizza was sub-par, it was pretty much as good as it gets for cafeteria food.

1992

30 days to 30: day 10

ok, so technically i didn't go to disneyland during my 10th year of life but it just happens that i was in disneyland for this day and i think if i had the choice as a kid, i would have gone to disneyland every day.
i was five the first time i went to disneyland and i have so many good memories.

 

here's a picture of me and ashley on the king arthur carousel in fantasyland. i remember that while we were waiting in line i picked out what i thought was the prettiest and best horse and i was so excited when i got to ride it.

everyone is a kid in disneyland. here are some pictures of krystal and me having fun on our thansgiving in disneyland.

jack skellington and sally

pirates!

rapunzel and eugene

our thanksgiving feast at blue bayou

sleeping beauty castle all lit up for christmas

the boss

30 days to 30: day 9

as a kid raised in the lds church, turning 8 is a big deal because that's when you get to be baptized. i was baptized and confirmed a member of the church of jesus christ of latter day saints on december 31, 1989.
it was a really special day and i remember feeling really happy and warm inside because of the choice i had made. all my family was there to share my big day and after my baptism i got to wear my beautiful new dress that my mom and i had shopped for.
at that time, i didn't fully understand the covenants i made but i don't regret the choice to be baptized. i try to live my life every day so that i can receive the blessings that come from being obedient.

30 days to 30: day 8

my 8th year of life was when i started 2nd grade. this may not seem like a big deal, but it is because i got to be in mrs. watson's class. she was pretty much my favorite elementary school teacher. she taught me how to write paragraphs and about powers of ten and how to spell fluorescent (ok, i used spell check, maybe i didn't really learn that). she loved the giants! she was at the the world series game between the giants and a's when the earthquake happened. for halloween she dressed up as miss viola swamp (the substitute from miss nelson is missing). she was basically the coolest and funnest teacher a 2nd grader could ask for.

miss viola swamp

2nd grade is when i met my childhood best friend kacie corsaro. being invited to spend the night at her house was something i would look forward to all week. we would stay up as late as possible and watch michael jackson music videos and play super mario brothers 3. we would play on the playground every day and she would always share her junk food with me. she had a crush on buford kenton and i liked billy cadle. i have a lot of great memories from this time; it was really the golden years of my childhood.

2nd grade. sporting the spumoni.

30 days to 30: day 7

as a girl, i loved spending time with my dad. we’d occasionally go out on daddy-daughter-dates with. it was a great way to have some one-on-one time. i always felt special being able to go out, just me and him. no sisters or brother. for our birthdays, my dad would usually take us to 31 flavors for a scoop of ice cream.

for day 7,  i asked my dad to go with me on daddy-daughter-date, my treat! we met up with some friends at chili’s and had a delicious dinner. it worked out that krystal and her dad came too. we were celebrating his dr. appointment when he found out he had beat bone cancer. vanquished it!

it was pretty nice to spend some time with my dad. i had fun and i think he did too.

(erin, trent, and samantha were there too but i didn't get a picture of them)

30 days to 30: day 6

my 6th year of life was when i started pre-kindergarten. i was really excited to go to school like my big sister, jennifer. i was 5 when i started pre-k in january 1987.
i loved mrs. pedersen's class. she taught us the pledge of allegiance and how to sing america, the beautiful. we got to meet her husband, officer pedersen's talking police car. and i got to go to school with my good friend emmeline powell.
later in the year i started kindergarten. that was when i learned to read! that was pretty much the best thing ever. i also learned to write. my teacher gave me a special grip on my pencil so that, as a lefty, i'd hold it properly. kindergarten was also full of songs, i absolutely loved raffi's baby beluga; learning about dinosaurs, whales, colors and shapes; and plenty of playtime, in kindergarten my best friend was julie avila and we loved to do cartwheels on the playground.

30 days to 30: day 5

not much of great significance happened in my 5th year of life. i probably just spent a whole lot of time playing with my siblings, making mischief and figuring out how the world works.
i remember that i loved riding in the car to drop jennifer off at school. when we got back home, i would always want to unlock the front door. that was a pretty big deal for a 4 year old.
after we got home i'd watch what i thought of as my "soap operas," sesame street and mr. roger's neighborhood, before my mom watched her soaps, guiding light and the young and restless.
for some unknown reason, telly monster was my favorite character on sesame street. i also loved oscar the grouch, big bird, snuffleupagus, cookie monster, elmo, grover, bert and ernie...ok, pretty much all of them, but telly was my favorite. i watched some retro sesame street on youtube. here's a fun clip i found with telly and cookie monster and cookies!

here are a few things my mom recorded on the calendar:
may 1, 1986 is the infamous day that i cut ashley's and my hair with safety scissors. i remember doing it in our bedroom with the door shut. i probably knew i'd get in big trouble for it.
june 25, 1986 (ashley's birthday) i apparently made a tiny snowman out of clay and told my mom she could have it for free but anybody else would have to pay sixty-nine cents for the privelege of owning it.
july 18, 1986 ashley and i were caught "playing blocks" with bars of soaps in our parents' bathroom while we were supposed to be napping.
august 7, 1986 i ate all my dinner (this was added to the calendar at my request)

30 days to 30: day 4

4th birthday. new outfit and AWESOME new bracelet.

1985 is the year my brother donald was born and that's what some of my earliest memories are about. i was about 3.5 years old when he was born. i vaguely remember my mom being pregnant and how excited we all were to have a new baby. i remember when my mom went into labor and we all drove to san jose so she could have the baby in good samaritan hospital where all of us were born. we stayed at my aunt kathie's while my parents went to the hospital and i remember waking up late at night to go to the hospital to meet him. after that we went home to tracy and grandma hanlon took care of us until my mom and brother came home from the hospital a few days later.
i was so excited to hold him for the first time and i remember sitting on the couch and having him placed in my lap. i had to be ever so careful and gentle.
my poor brother grew up with 3 older sisters who all tried to be his mom. we loved our baby brother. i thought he was the cutest baby in the world and i couldn't get enough of him.

donny wearing his blessing outfit. december 1985.

30 days to 30: day 3

the year from the time i turned 2 to the time i turned 3 is the year we moved to tracy. i have a vague memory of packing stuff into a moving truck/u-haul and a station wagon but i'm not sure if it's a real memory or not. the only place i really remember living as a kid is 1407 audrey dr.

here's something cute my mom recorded in Jan 1984: "Mommy, my tail (pony tail) is falling off! (after 'fiddling' w/it)--There, I put it back up."

3 years old. gotta love those 80s bangs. and the knee highs.

30 days to 30: day 2

the most significant thing that happened to me in my 2nd year of life was the birth of my sister ashley. i was only 18 months old, so i don't really remember it. she's just always been part of my life, just like my mom and dad and my older sister jennifer.

i loved growing up with a sister so close. i have mostly good memories of her and the things we did together. i remember that she was always nurturing, a little mommy.

growing up, my mom would keep track of milestones and cute things we did on the calendar. here are a few things my mom recorded from my 2nd year of life.
April 1983: Natalie says "Eee Eee" for Jenny
May 1983: Draws with left hand [i was already a southpaw at 14 months]
June 28, 1983: When I got home from Grandma's today and saw the baby, the first thing I said was, "Ah Baby, Ah Baby" [not sure if this is the first time i saw ashley, but it's clear i loved her from the start].

taken the day i turned 18 months. 10 days before my sister ashley was born. i can't believe my mom bothered to do this when she was about to pop. 

sisters november 1983. jenn, me, ashley. 

2 years old

30 days to 30: day 1

as of today i have 30 days until my 30th birthday. i decided (just within the last 20 minutes) that i want to do something each day until my birthday to commemorate my first 30 years of life. what, exactly, i will be doing each day is still formulating in my mind.
i thought i'd start today by sharing stuff from my first year of life. i have no recollection of this year so i'm getting a little help from my baby book. mom, if you're reading this, yes, i did go rummaging through your closet to find this.

here's a letter written by maternal great grandmother Lois Jordan Lake:

Dear Natalie-
Remembering the morning you were born —
In the wee small hours of early morning darkness Grandma Monica and I drove to San Jose — the long, weary, anxious days of waiting were over.
Your Mother and Father left for the hospital about 4:00 A.M. Jennifer came down stairs, wide awake. I told her to go back to bed and sleep awhile longer. She said, "Oh, no! Come and help me get dressed. We must go to the hospital, the baby is coming."
At the hospital we were all in a room just like a bed room at home. About 5:30 A.M. the nurse gave us all sterile clothes to put on.
Shortly after 6:00 A.M. I stood with Jennifer in my arms— a little round dark-haired head appeared and then an arm, waving as if in greeting to us all.
Jennifer in her eagerness almost shouted as she cried out, "There's the baby!" My eyes we[re] wet with tears of joy.
I thought of the majesty of creation—it was a Divine Moment.
You were welcomed into this Mortal World surrounded by those who love you most.
Great, Grandma Lois

thanks grandma lois for recording this. what a special thing to have from her.

i still can't believe i was born so early in the morning. it must have disagreed with me because if there's one thing i know about myself it's that i am not a morning person.

the cover of my baby book along with some coins my mom saved from the year i was born.



my hand and foot prints at 8 days.

my hospital, day of birth photo seems to have gone missing...here i am at 1 month. proof that not all babies are cute.



here i am looking a bit more adorable at 5 months old.