Off to the Beach!

I spent the first ten years of my life growing up in the Alaskan wilderness. It was amazing and every child should be so lucky! Then we moved to Washington. Needless to say it was not comparable for me. I felt lost in a big city. It was scary and there were strangers....it was Bothell.

Fortunately almost all of the rest of our family members followed us down to live here as well. It was not long after that we began to take family outings to some of the more beautiful places to find a little bit of that wilderness we had reluctantly left behind. Places like Deception Pass, Kalaloch, Ocean Shores, and Kayak Point, soon became our summer rituals.

Being a rather large family, we always decided to bring our own food rather than stop along the way to hit up a restaurant or a fast food place. My mother would fry up a bunch of chicken and make a large potato salad in addition to picking up pop and potato chips at the grocery store. But the best thing of all was my grandmother's sandwiches. She would make her specialties of course....peanut butter and onion with a layer of butter and Liverwurst with onion. And I couldn't get enough. I'm not sure what possessed a ten year old to crave a peanut butter and onion sandwich but I did. They were so good! The menu was the same for every trip and none of us gave it a second thought.

My grandmother passed away around 9 years ago and I don't believe we've really had an outing like we did when she was still alive. I'm thinking about planning a trip later in the spring early summer. Looks like I'll be bringing the sandwiches!

Community

Everett Community College is a community.

I sit here in the cafeteria and notice the diversity. People are studying, laughing, listening to music. It feels like I'm actually a part of something bigger than me for once. We all have a common goal of furthering ourselves to be the best we can along our path. This is what holds us together as a group.

Some are learning to become nurses, others majoring in math, and are learning a trade such as welding. There are so many different areas of study but they all begin with learning and succeeding. We value that we are able to be here getting more of an education. We all have different life situations and perhaps did not think it possible that we could be here.

Although we are at a college there are still many of the same characteristics you would find in a high school. There are still the cliques. You have the rockers, the smokers, the preps, the nerds...you still hear the same type of gossip.

I only fit into this group in that I need to provide for my family and getting a degree will better assist me in this need. It's good to be a part of this community to be able to learn about others and their life situations. To be able to share in a moment of it with them even if I don't know them on a personal level. It's a great sense of accomplishment for all of us.

What's in My Wallet?

I must start off by saying that I am not one of those women who carry the sum of their life in their purse. I have a purse - yes, just one, but I rarely use it. I like to travel light so I use a wallet. It's a Fossil wallet I bought at Macey's about 4 years ago now. It's black genuine leather and has little dents in it from when I dropped it out my pocket onto the gravel driveway then proceeded to back over it with my car. It has everything I need in it, except money. Go figure.

I generally just keep the basics in my wallet. I have insurance cards for each of my three children, my drivers license,debit cards,random business cards,restaurant stamp cards,Starbucks cards, a Safeway club card, and a few gift cards. One thing I find very interesting in my wallet is the presence of two hotel key cards. I have zero recollection as to where I got them or what hotel they are from. Ahem, don't let your imaginations run wild here...or wait... go ahead, and then tell me your ideas. Maybe I'll remember! I think anyone who found my wallet would just assume that I like Starbucks and that I take care of my children but otherwise not anything extraordinary.

What anyone who found my wallet would not know is that I have a great sense of humor, I'm divorced, I love the sunshine and my favorite colors are purple and yellow. They also would not know that I'm going to school to better myself for the benefit of my family, that I'm doing everything I can to keep afloat. I'm also dedicated to my friends and do anything within my power to support them and make them feel important.

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