Last week I directed VBS at our church, and I needed a box to keep props for our "photo booth" in. We have an old, gold colored trunk that belonged to my grandma that I thought would be perfect, so I cleaned everything out of it. It's where we keep all of our treasures from our childhood, which, for me means a few porcelain dolls and a pretty hefty stack of notebooks. I started to go through the notebooks, some of which date back to 1996.

Scott and I were laughing about how my handwriting hasn't changed at all, and about some of the things I said (when I first started going through puberty I logged how I felt every day for about a year, and drew corresponding pictures, LOL!) Also, I didn't realize what a list-maker I was then... have I changed at all? In a notebook from early 2001 I found some entries that I wanted to share. As a young teen, if I was being gloomy my mom would tell me to do things like "write down everything good that's going on" or, "write down everything you like about the person you're mad at"...etc. Well, I gave her such a hard time about things like that, and I never let her know that I secretly thought it was a very good idea... Why was I like that? I wish that I would have openly accepted her guidance. But I did take her advice. This is what was said in one entry:

Things I like about my dad:
* How he laughs like me
* How his ears move
* How he praises me
* How he is always eager to show me something new he learned
* How he speaks to me as an equal
* His leniency
* How he gets me special things
* His willingness to change
* How he asks for advice

Things I like about my mom:
* How she plays with us
* How she makes a joke about herself
* How she tells stories
* How she never gets mad over something ruined or broken because she knows it will hurt our feelings more
* How she teases my dad
* How she cares about her looks, but is not a conformist
* How she is never ashamed
* How she overlooks my flaws and sees only good in me
* How she shops

Things I like about Lance:
* How he laughs
* His sensitivity
* How he is willing to change for the better
* How he often understands how I'm feeling
* How he treats my sisters and I with gentleness
* How he's not afraid to ask for help
* How he wants to follow God

Things I like about Noelle:
* How she sings
* How she talks to me about things that are important to her
* How she wants to spend time with me
* Her energy
* The way she conquers tasks
* Her giving nature

Things I like about Natalie:
* Her sunshine
* How she knows when I need a hug
* How she will apologize
* How she is forgiving
* Her cute personality
* The way she remembers EVERYTHING
* How she tries to keep up with the older ones