Flashback Friday

Emily, Lindsay, Lynsey, me & Elise

This weekend we are in San Diego for my little brother-in-laws high school graduation - so that is the inspiration for today's Flashback Friday. I haven't been to a high school graduation since my own so it was fun to re-visit it with a different perspective.

Some things I remember about my graduation from Mountain View. I graduated the year 2000, which is just kind of a cool year to graduate from high school, at the age of 17. My sister came home from BYU for the occasion & brought her then boyfriend, Ryan. Before she could get him home from the airport though they were engaged. That in itself is a great story, but I'll let her share it. me, Jared & Elise -- we were all in the same ward

To be brutally honest I was a little bugged that Lindsey brought her boyfriend home & got engaged on my big weekend. It was my graduation & 18th birthday all in the same weekend & she stole the spotlight. haha...lame, I know. My mom did a good job of balancing the two! Anyway, we went to dinner before hand & then onto the graduation ceremony. My graduating class was HUGE...over 800, if not, 900. I sat next to someone I didn't know & yet we had both attended all 3 years there. I'm sure it was a joy for my parents to sit through.

I had a great group of friends in high school & it was fun to dig out these pictures & remember all the fun we had together. Jake, Tim, me, Jake & Steve

This picture in particular cracked me up. Here's the background story -- My dad & I made a deal that if I didn't kiss a boy until I was 18, he'd pay me $500. My friends found out about it & quickly tried to capitalize. Graduation was just two days before my 18th birthday & all the guys were trying to broker deals with my dad. They would tell my dad to pay them $100 & they'd take care of the rest. It wasn't uncommon for us to be at my house or anywhere in front of my dad when one of these guys would come up & pretend like they were going to kiss me & ruin the deal. I'd forgotten about that until I saw this picture.

Me, Lindsey, Ryan & Kevin

Back to graduation weekend -- I graduated, then went to the all-night grad party & then the next day went to the lake. I was definitely tired, but Ryan was in town with Linds & so we had to show them a good time. My mom needed someone to help her launch & load the wave runners, so I went. Ryan, who was still trying to make a good impression, literally almost sank one of the wave runners. Sooo funny. Not so much then, but seriously, it was funny. He flipped it over & so it was taking on all this water & we had to get it flipped back. In case you were wondering, it is very difficult to lift something in the water when you can't use your legs. Ryan was mortified, but that was the least of his concerns that weekend. I will not disclose any further details, but I will say it involved a plunger.

Elise & me

Elise, Karolyn, me, Betsy, Lindsey

The day after the lake my friends & I went on our Senior Trip to Cali. We went to Six Flags & the beach & tried to get our belly buttons pierced -- that was until we found out how much it was to get your belly button pierced. We went shopping instead. I also remember going to church on Sunday & Betsy & I told everyone we were twins. We seriously got mistaken for each other tons -- and 3 months ago someone stopped me in the grocery store STILL thinking I was Betsy! We had fun together & I'm so glad I had such a fun group to go through high school with. We were good kids -- obviously if we went to church on our senior trip! But really it was so nice to have friends that were always such a good influence on you! I remember when we met up with the guys at Six Flags & they heard of our plan to get our belly buttons pierced they came unglued! I don't know why they even cared, but I'm glad they did & told us not to.