Forty & Fabulous–part 2

Yesterday I began the daunting task of sharing 40 life events in celebration of starting this new decade. So without further delay here is the next installment.

11. July 1984 – I became an aunt at the ripe old age of 12! The morning after the twins were born there was a double rainbow in the sky. I think God put that there just for them.

12. May 1986 – One of my sisters got married the same weekend as my 8th grade dance. While I was excited about my sister getting married, I was still missing my first big school dance.

13. 1987-1988 – I was on the Oviedo High School dance corps. Oh the memories of wearing an all orange uniform and heavy green eye shadow. Yeah, you try being a blood red redhead and pulling off ALL orange! Ack

14. 1988-1990 – I played clarinet on the Oviedo High School marching band.

15. 1990 – Senior year of high school and finally graduation.

16. June 1990 – My first real job working as a secretary for an insurance company in Winter Park, Florida.

17. June 1990 – As part of a graduation gift, my girlfriend & I flew out to San Francisco and stayed for a week….by ourselves. I still can’t believe my parents let a 17 year old girl go without supervision. We had such a great time!

18. 1991 – I moved out! Need I say more? 18 years old, employed, going to school  in-de-pen-dent! Woo Hoo

19. August 1992 – I moved to Tennessee and began classes at Carson Newman College. I met, what became, my best friend the first week I lived there. I met her on a double date and we were trouble from then on. haha

20. August  1993 – My daughter, Lauryn, was born! Read about it HERE

Forty & Fabulous

So today I celebrate my 40th birthday!

Everyone keeps asking me if I feel old but honestly I don’t…until you ask. LOL My wonderful family & some pretty sneaky friends threw me a surprise party and made many of my pinterest dreams come true but I will share their wonderful party skills later. Lauryn was asked to come up with 40 life events to put on a board and said she struggled a bit with this so I thought I would share he first 10 today.

1. Summer 1972 – No I wasn’t born but apparently I cut short a fun family camping trip out West while still in my mother’s belly. My mom and oldest sister flew back home to Florida while the rest of the family drove back.

2. December 17 1972 – This would be the day of my birth

3. August 1977 – I started kindergarten and my teacher was Mrs. Bellhorn. This was extra special because she taught both my brothers and my sisters.

4. September 1978 – My first piano lesson at Rollins College. My teacher, Mrs. Hunting, burst in the room and without looking up blurted out something about redheads being mean (she was a redhead). What she didn’t know was that sitting at one of the pianos in the back was an extremely shy redheaded girl.

5. 1978-1979 – We would drive up to my grandparents house in Waynesville, NC and I would play with Bonnie, the girl next door. She had a strong southern accent; a cat named Pepper and a dog named Bern-a-de-atte (can you hear the twang?)

6. Summers – Every year our family spend a week or two at New Symrna Beach. We lived 45 minutes away but I swear it would take forever to finally get there!

7. Summer 1981 – My siblings were much older and beach vacation often ended up being mom and I there the whole week while everyone else popped in and out based on work and school schedules. This included my dad. This one trip we had bought a yellow Hawaiian Punch inflatable raft to ride the waves and dad took me out as far as I dared and we spent the afternoon riding the waves.

8. 1983-1986 – Joined the Jackson Heights Middle School band and played the clarinet

9. September 1986 – I gave my mom a black eye! Yup you read right. I was in 8th grade and I  accidentally hit her in the face with a tennis racket.

10. 1986 – I can’t remember which month but in 8th grade I was Student of the Month.

Walk for Lupus - 2012

Spring is in the air and May is fast approaching. For our family, this means tons of birthdays, the end of a school year, and our annual Lupus Walk. The piedmont chapter of the Lupus association has made a fun interactive website for the Wards Walkers and we would love for you to leave us a comment or write on our Facebook page and like our page!

In my blog I have shared our personal walk with lupus and how it has affected our family. I am proud of both my sister and my daughter. For me these are the faces I see when I think of lupus. I have watched them persevere and accept what God has given them with grace and dignity. I am blessed to walk for lupus alongside them.

Every year, we have had a great time preparing for this event. The first year three generations of Ward women walked with my daughter as she dealt with the knowledge of this chronic illness. I still get choked up thinking of how special it was to have her surrounded by her friends and embraced by wonderful women. We made a full weekend out of it, including a spa day and cook-out the night before.  We tie-dyed tee shirts and made hats with the butterfly hand drawn on them. The second year was more quiet, with graduation the following weekend, we decided to make our walk just a family event. We made tee shirts with our own Wards Walkers logo.This year we are ready to walk again and do not know what to do!

Do we create a new logo for our walkers? Just wear the same color? Or be boring and have no team spirit. Let me know what you think. Leave a comment on our walk page or on our facebook page!