Allow me to live in the past for a moment.

Today I was particularly reflective, a mood which only was magnified by hanging out with old friends and having a great time. While I am all about moving forward (especially in lieu of my last posting), there are many things and people I miss, good memories that I will always have. I decided to start thinking of a bunch off the top of my head and post them here. Hopefully some of these memories will bring back pleasant thoughts for you as well. Unlike my usual postings, this will primarily be in list form. If I tagged you in this note, you are relevant to one or more of the memories, which means I'm positively disposed to you.

And I still love the things I lost that brought me here
The things I hide behind to make up for the years
This is my heart, the rocking chair years
-"The Rocking Chair Years" by Day at the Fair

Things I Miss(in no particular order)
-Senior High Camp
-Bakers Square on 127th and Ridgeland
-Productive Fridays
-Countless rounds of Super Sudden Death in Super Smash Brothers: Melee
-Staying up all night retelling stories we've told hundreds of times
-ACSB AIM chats
-Rachael and Kim putting glitter on me and calling me Moonbeam
-Spanish 3, 2004-2005 schoolyear
-High school football games with Bob and Rob
-Aldo's Xena scream at Convention 2004
-Porch baseball with Heidi and Andy
-Convos with SJT
-The many sorts of conversations I had with Katie
-Whirlyball
-Junior Year Lunch with Brian Lyons, Murdock, Dirker, and Mike Nelin
-Talking up my Seahawks every Monday(and laughing at a certain older gentleman) in Latin American History
-Tuesday chats with Stacie while she was working downtown
-Tropicana Peach Papaya
-Random middle of the night phone calls from Shannon
-Core, the fact my guys and I were always put in the same small group, and the great leaders we had
-Junior High Church
-Being almost as close to the girls from Stone as I was to the guys
-Any class taught by Dr. Tuttle or Dr. Knowles
-Techno Tuesdays
-Wreaking havoc at Super Target with Nick (and bothering Liz)
-Yearlong poke battles and keeping things "HQ"
-Having a chapel buddy
-Learning how to drive with my dad
-Bowling and Pizza Hut with Dan
-SummerJam at PBC

Wow, it felt good to remember. I wouldn't be where I am today without these things, and without dwelling on them, hopefully I can use these memories to positively fuel me in the present and future. For the past is not to be discarded nor used as a crutch, but it is a resource for growth and learning.