A Trip Down Memory Lane

Each time we visit our alma mater, it's a trip down memory lane for Mark and me.  We hold a special place in our hearts for the university that brought us together, and there are many wonderful things about WFU that make it feel like home each time we return.  Some of our favorite things about Wake Forest, then and now:

 Festival on the Quad: 

It may be an annual family event for us these days, but we had many parties and celebrations on the quad during our college years, too.

WFU Athletics:

True and loyal fans, we always enjoy cheering for WFU athletes, and have dreams of future scholarships someday:

The Deacon Shop:

There's never enough WFU apparel in our house, and we picked up this cute little kid as a souvenir:

Wait Chapel:

-After all these years, and seeing it literally thousands of days and nights, Wait Chapel still takes my breath away.  This majestic symbol of our university served as a backdrop to our family game of catch and races on Friday afternoon. 

The Demon Deacon:

There are smiles, high fives, and hugs all around each time we greet our beloved mascot!

Campus:

I know that I am biased, but I think that Wake has one of the most beautiful college campuses that I've ever seen.  I love the red Georgian brick, the pristine landscaping, the multiple outdoor areas to sit, read, and study.  Our children made themselves at home as we walked around campus, proudly donning their WFU shirts:

I was exactly half my age when I lived in this freshman dorm!

View of Reynolda Hall at night.

Here's an interesting tidbit about our recent trip to Wake Forest. 

We realized that Luke is now closer in age to the current freshman class at WFU than Mark and I are.

Yikes.

The funny thing is that when I look at students, I completely lose perspective of the age difference.  How can they be so much younger than me, as I am certain that I look exactly the same as when I attended Wake?  Perhaps it is because everyone that I’ve met here has been about this age (18-22), and so time seems to freeze each time I step onto campus and enter “the bubble”.  Maybe the smells, the sights, and the sounds of WFU are all so familiar and comforting that I am lost as memories rush back to me, and this nostalgia transforms me into a younger version of myself. 

And then, the following true story occurs.

After spending a gorgeous afternoon on campus, our family approaches our parked car.  Seeing our license plate, a student leans his head out of the driver’s window of his nearby car and shouts, “Hey, where in South Carolina do you live?”

“Greenville,” I reply.

“I’m from Charleston,” he responds.  “I was trying to figure out who you guys were…”

“Oh, you don’t know us,” I call out, momentarily flattered that he mistook Mark and me for peers. This totally validates my theory that we haven’t aged at all since we have graduated.  Somehow I overlook that I have two kids (and a dog) in tow, and am buckling them into car seats in our family SUV. 

“We’re old…” Mark banters. 

“Well, you’re not that old,” the student laughs, and drives away.  I am left standing in the parking lot, contemplating what just happened.  Did he mean, "You don't look old enough to be parents," or was it more of a "You're not as old as my grandmother," type of sarcasm there? 

That's the beauty of returning to a place that you once called home.  It's easy for the last 15 years to effortlessly slip away in your mind as you walk down memory lane.  For a moment in time, you are young and innocent again.  And then your illusion is shattered, and you are jolted back to the present in an instant, when Mr. Charleston reminds you that there’s nowhere else in your life that you’d rather be.  Old and all. 

Dear old Wake Forest, thanks for a great weekend of family fun.  How blessed are we to reap the gifts that you have given us, over and over again, as we share you with our children!     

Old Enough to be President

 

Luke is at that wonderfully innocent age where he loves to ask people how old they are (and in a  kindergartener's mind, the bigger the number, the cooler you are!).  Ever since he read a book about the presidents earlier this year and learned the minimum age requirement for the job, he has been ecstatic:

"Mommy, you are going to be 35 on your next birthday!  That's old enough to be president!"

 

And somehow over the past few months, this has transformed into, "My mommy is turning 35 and is going to be the president!"

 

We hated to squelch that enthusiasm, so we made sure to celebrate my birthday with lots of presidential fanfare this year.  Mimi came to visit last weekend and we kicked off my birthday week with a trip to the zoo.  We love seeing how much Kiko, the baby giraffe, has grown each time we visit:

 

The kids helped Mimi bake my official birthday cake, and were quite helpful with the icing (and taste testing!):

 

 

 

My Chief of Staff and Vice President of Gift Opening also made sure that all of my presents and cards were approved:

 

 

 

Our family celebration last weekend was only the beginning, and we drove to one of our favorite places on Thursday (my actual birthday).  Daddy was recruiting for GE at Wake Forest (and Luke had Fall Break), so we tagged along and spent a wonderful few days in Winston-Salem.  We had my birthday dinner at the Village Tavern, which is my favorite restaurant, and shared the day together as a family, which was a special gift.  Although I may be old enough to be president now, my birthday celebrations this year were truly fit for a queen!

 

All Things Fall!

 

It's fall, and the return of many of my favorite annual themes.  How I adore the color palette of this time of year, and the bright orange pumpkins everywhere!  Luke was especially excited to go to the pumpkin patch earlier this month and scout out the perfect pumpkins for our front porch.  First he checked to see how much he had grown since last fall:

 

 Next, he carefully selected the absolute largest pumpkin of the entire group and claimed it for his own.  Fortunately, we were able to convince him later that a rounder, smaller pumpkin would be better for carving into a jack o'lantern!:

Our smiling, happy little ghost has come a long way from the days where he didn't want to smile for the camera, and seems really grown up lately:

Speaking of grown up, Leah and I were asked to come help with a fun fall project in Luke's kindergarten class last week.  The children were completing an apple unit, and we helped them to bake apple turnovers.  As I set up the ingredients, Miss Leah made herself right at home with the big kids and participated in all of their morning class activities:

 

Eating her apple turnover!

 

Leah even snuck into the class photo, and all of the kids loved her.  We had such a good time that we are going to help out regularly in the class, and Leah has been asking me when she gets to go to kindergarten again!

Luke is on the right side of the photo in the orange shirt, and Leah is in the row right behind him.

We also went to the zoo recently, where Halloween decorations are already displayed in preparation for Boo in the Zoo next weekend.  The kids made us laugh with their imitation poses:

Mimi, Leah, and Mommy.

 

As they say down here in SC, "Happy Fall, Y'all!" 

Go Deacs!

 

It's football season, and we've been faithfully cheering for our Wake Forest Demon Deacons!  Even the cutest fans in the world can't seem to bring our Deacs to victory some weeks, but they certainly give it all they've got!  Last Saturday, Luke and Leah spent most of the morning lining up (hundreds of) their stuffed animals along our catwalk, so that everyone had prime seats to watch the game on our tv:

We may not have the best football team this year, but it's indisputable that our cheering section is #1.  Go Deacs!