Day 143- Happy Fourth!

Howdy!


            Happy Fourth of July! I hope you've spent a wonderful and glory filled day with your loved ones like I have! Seriously. Today has been awesome, especially since it's my last full day at home for a really really long time. That's right...I'm going back to camp! I'm completely and utterly excited to go back, ah! I can't believe it's already time for me to go! Time really flies bye! So while I'm gone for six weeks try not to miss me too much, hopefully on my off times I will be able to fill you in or spout some kind of thought...we shall see. I promise absolutely nothing. except that I will be having a blast and that I sincerely hope you have a wondrous summer!

HEY WANNA MAIL ME WHILE I'M AT CAMP?!?!?!?
Well golly gee! That sure is sweet of you! Here's how you can email/mail me!
To email me:
2014staff@cho-yeh.org
Put my full name in the subject line! 

To Mail me a letter:
Erin Langford (The Best Counselor Ever)* Optional but lets be real its true
Camp Cho-Yeh
2200 S. Washington Ave.
Livingston, TX 77351

God Bless!

Memory #143

         I wish I had some kind of super awesome fourth of July memory to share but to be entirely honest, I don't really. My fourth of July's are awesome to me, but they usually consist of my family friends, Da Dugans (Hey Margie) buying fireworks (When they weren't banned) and we'd huddle in our cul de sac crossing our fingers and praying that they weren't duds. I guess this would be a good time to talk about my beautiful car. The love of my life. 

In case you were wondering the red bug is my car not the one I'm holding. Just for clarification. That beautiful barbie car I'm holding is the car my my mom bought for me when I was a little girl and it was the one barbie thing that I will never ever give up. When it became the time for my parents and I to discuss what car I would get, I will admit the Beetle wasn't the first on my list. Originally my mom and I always talked about getting the Toyota FJ Cruiser, I don't really remember why but that's the car we decided to obsess over for awhile. Then randomly we both came to the conclusion that we didn't like that car anymore and I don't know how we ended up talking about it but we decided that the perfect car for me was the Volkswagen Beetle. (Much to my father's dismay) My mom passed away before I got this car but she was definitely there for the decision process. This car came out of nowhere and I'd like to say that my mom helped me out because my dad was being to stubborn to get me 'right' car! Haha

Happy Fourth of July and Summer! I hope to be able to post during the summer and keep you all updated but please! Feel free to email and write me!

Love always,

Erin 

"Day 142"- Summer Slump

Howdy!

      Hello. Hi. Its been awhile. I guess its time to be honest not only to myself but to those who read this blog. I've hit a point where I don't feel inspired to write everyday. Sounds weird, right? I can't fully explain it, because I still think about my mom on the daily. Like for realz. But when I think about actually sitting down to write a blog post I am filled with anything but enthusiasm Especially after I've missed a couple of days already. I was talking to my lovely cousin the other day, to celebrate her birthday and graduation...since I missed both of them, and I came to the conclusion that I'm just not really inspired to write. I don't know if its because of a lack of schedule in the summer or that I know very soon that I'll be back at camp and won't be able to write posts anyways. OR WHAT. I don't know. Everything is up in the air. That being said I do intend on writing a full 365 posts (or more) of memories about my mom, but it might not be daily. I might write 15 in one night because, hey who knows maybe I'm crazy feelin really up to it. But right now writing these posts haven't been fun for me to write, which sounds selfish but in all honesty that was kind of the point of the blog. I'm glad other people have been helped through my blog but at the end of the day I started the blog to help me remember the good things. And hey I can't speak for ya'll but it has helped me.

      So this is not a good bye speech by any means, I fully intend to dazzle you with 365 memories of my awesome mother. But I'm coming to terms with the fact that I might not have the motivation or enthusiasm to do one every single day, at least for now. I hope you understand and can bare with me and my unruly schedule. Also ya'll gotta remember...I am my mother's daughter. I may not have been blessed with her wit but I sure as heck was blessed with her procrastinating skillz and what not. So thanks for sticking around and not forming mobs outside my house demanding that I post on a normal schedule. You rock. So without further or due here is a long awaited memory. And I'm not promising that there will be a post tomorrow. I'm 20. I don't even know what I'm going to eat for dinner and its 7 o clock.

*Also my computer is being super haywire so I can't access my document full of memories or post any pictures. So there is another reason to my laziness in the posts department...sigh. First world problems.

Memory #142

            The summer after my seventh grade year my girl scout troop decided to embark on this super special awesome trip. This trip would basically entail going to the birthplace of the girl scouts/founder in Savanna, Georgia and wait for it...Disney World. Yes! Disney World. When I found that out I begged my mom to go, and then of course when she said yes I begged for her to come with me. Because of course I couldn't go without my best friend...right? To give you a quick back story about this trip, it wasn't a trip that my troop decided to do it was a trip that multiple troops in our area could go on, our whole troop didn't end up going. In fact I think we had an odd number and my mom ended up being the only adult from our troop that went. Which was good in our books, because my mom was the cool mom. On the charter bus I remember I initially sat with one of my best friends but eventually ended up sitting by my mom and snuggling the whole way with her, probably against her will too. 

         The first night in Georgia we stayed in this really nice hotel and my mom surprised us with a bunch of different prank items! Which included, fake cockroaches, crime tape and wait for it...fake poop in a can. Yeah. My mom brought that. At this hotel the girl scout directors would check all of the rooms before leaving to whatever activity we had planned for that day, so we got to work to leave them a little surprise. First we put fake poop in the toilet...because where else would you put that stuff...we stuck cockroaches on the toilet seat and lastly we put crime scene tape on the bathroom door. We had one hang up though. The fake poop was AWFUL. It smelled awful and it ended up clogging our toilet. Hahaha jokes on us? We might have gotten in a little trouble and my mom was pretty embarrassed but seriously that's probably my most memorable memory from that trip. 

     I also remember that night two girls in our troop were super busy calling their "boy friends" to hang out with us, so my mom called us in her room to sit on her bed as we made up funny acronyms like, "LMNOP" which stands for "Like my new orange pants?" and other really random weird things. Totally random but those are the two things I remember about that trip to Georgia. (Also that was my first encounter with a talking street lamp, fun times) 

Love always,

Erin

Day 141-Sueño del Mar

Howdy!

          So I had a whoopsie and packed my laptop up before posting something...story of my life. Nothing new. I guess I should also say that my family and I drove down to Port Aransas today...Surprise! Asombroso! That's surprise in spanish...woohoo putting that knowledge to work! Yikes anyway we are settled down and I'm attempting to fish in the morning. What is my life. Who am I? These are not things I do lol but when in Rome Port Aransas...right? Anyways I have two posts to catch up on so lets goooo.

Memory #141

            So we're at Port Aransas so I ought to give some beachy Port A memories, right? If you know my family you know that we have had a tradition of going to Port A the day school gets out for a week. Every year. Without fail. My parents have an extended group of friends that they have kept up with since high school that all goes as well. So its basically like a giant reunion party. Its awesome. Anyways there are many memories pertaining to Port Aransas. I remember when I was in middle school and I was way more interested in shopping and eating rather than hanging out the beach. Unfortunately the people we went with were the opposite. Especially my dad. He didn't leave the beach until the sun was leaving. It was awful (to me). Luckily my mom was into doing these kind of things with me. So there were many a times that my mom and I would sneak away from the tent caravan of the beach where my dad lurked and out into the town where we could eat and shop. Which are in my top 5 things of enjoyment. Basically these were just more special mother daughter date times that I craved because boys are gross. In fact I would say that's the thing I miss the most about my mom not being here anymore. I miss her especially when I go on these old routine type of trips, I guess because it becomes more apparent that she isn't here. 

WOW THAT GOT SAD I'M SORRY ITS LATE AND I'M TIRED. I do miss my mom but obviously I know she is always with me and that cheesy sentimental way that I adore. 

Love always,

Erin 

Day 140-Kid with a Schedule

Howdy!

            Hey! Look! I'm on time...haha wow. Anyways I've had a busy day. Primarily studying for Spanish which is just going my way. At all. I study daily for this class and I'm getting no where with it. Super frustrating. So prayers to just pass this course would be greatly appreciated! I just now realized how crazy my summer has been and how crazy its about to get. So I feel like this summer is just going to fly by like no other. Yikes. Hope you're enjoying your summer like I have!

Memory #140

                When I was in kindergarten my mother made sure that I was participating in every little thing that I could. Not kidding. In Kindergarten I was not only taking ballet lessons but I was a girl scout and a soft ball player. All in the same year. I remember also that these things tended to all fall on the same day. So my mom would pick me up from school drive me to the dance studio where I changed into my leotard and tights to dance, and my mom would have to stay because one I was afraid that if she left and I got stuck in the dance room no one would come save me (lol) and two there was really no point of leaving because the studio was so far from our house and she had to take me to my next appointment anyways. So after dance my mom would hand me my soft ball uniform and I would change in the Dairy Queen, that was so conveniently located next to my dance studio, while my mom ordered dinner for us. Then after I had scarfed my early dinner I would go to t-ball practice. I'll have you know that I was so great at t-ball that my award at the end of the year was "Best accessorized" my mom was sooooo proud of me. After T-ball I would throw on my girl scout vest and my mom would tote me along to my girl scout meeting.

           All in one day. So I take this moment to thank not only my mom but other moms who do this kind of thing every day for their kids. I mean I know my mom is the one who signed me up for these activities but she did it because she knew I would enjoy it and I did. I have many a fond memory of being afraid of the dance room and asking for my mom and also running away from the t-ball...but also of eating at DQ with my mom without Sam lol. Sam. Good times.

Love always,

Erin

Day 139-Happy Father's Day!

Howdy!

             Ok back on schedule...for now. ha. Its Father's day! I guess I don't love my dad at all because I didn't post anything on facebook...yikes. Well here is my official Happy Father's day post to all father's out there...but especially my own. You ok I guess.

#FAMILY

Memory #139

                       I only have one memory about father's day, so that's what I'll write about today. You know tis the season? Every year my mom would always ask my dad, "What do you want for father's day?" Because heck who even knows? My dad would always without fail answer, "Anything but a tie." If you know my dad you would also know that the man does not wear a tie ever. Only on weddings. That is the only time I have really seen my father wear a tie. Every year it was the same thing, "Anything but a tie." No other useful tips or clues. Just as long as it was not a tie. So guess what my mom decided to get him as a father's day gift? Not just a tie. But the worst tackiest ugliest tie we could find. Because obviously what other option do you have? I remember driving down to Goodwill with both my mom and Sam as we hunted for the ugliest tie we could muster, which we spotted pretty quickly. I then remember giggling the whole ride home and then more so when my father opened up his beautiful tie. He loved it. So much. So very much. So happy father's day! If someone asks you what you want...tell them or you'll end up with an ugly tie. Haha. Happy father's day!

Love always,

Erin

                  

Day 138-Terrible Child

Howdy!

         
               I tricked myself into thinking I posted yesterday haha jokes on me. The forever question of this blog shall now and forever be, "Will Erin post today?" Yikes. That's what being disconnected from the technological world for two weeks can do to you...Shucks anyways time to catch up...again

Memory #140

                  My last memory was about a time I did something terrible and then Sam got blamed and I never suffered any repercussions...so I actually have another similar memory because apparently I'm a terrible child with terrible ideas. This is also another memory that I never got caught...see I was pretty much a great child so when I did do things I didn't caught...that's how you do it folks. Anyways when Sam and I were little my parents got us a computer to share, if memory serves me correctly I believe that the computer didn't have access to the internet so we just played computer games on it. We loved playing computer games they were basically our prized possessions. Forreal. Not even kidding. Anyways I guess Sam did something to me one day and I wanted retribution for his wrongs and I guess I didn't get any from the higher authorities so I took it upon my own hands to right the wrong committed against me. What did I do? I took Sam's computer disks and scribbled all over them...with crayon. Yeah. Each and every one of them. 

          I thought I had gotten away with this for multiple years until like 5 years ago when I guess my guilt laden conscious finally broke and needed to come clean. I confessed to my mom of my tragic deed and she looked at me flat faced, shrugged, and said, "I already knew that." This lady knew all along that I had done something so terrible but let me get away with it. What. She probably knew that me feeling guilty for so long was a better punishment than any other type of grounding or anything. Moms know everything. This memory proves it. sort of.

Love always,

Erin the terrible child

Day 137-The Toilet Queen

Howdy!

Officially caught up! How about that storm from last night?! That was scary...Not going

to lie I was super scared. The last time I remember being in a tornado watch was when I was in second grade. I remember my neighbor's tree fell on their house the wind was so strong, so I guess this one wasn't nearly as bad as that one...Good times. Oh and I guess the Spurs won...so yay basketball? lol anyways I hope you are safe and sound and content with the basketball world...yeah. Also can we just talk about that since its June that the blizzard of the month is s'mores and that just so happens to by my favorite blizzard of all time...so if you haven't gotten one yet. Go. Enjoy. You're welcome.

Memory #137

                     So I'm about to get real with ya'll, because today I unveil my deep dark not so secret secret. It happened when I was younger and it makes me laugh now but lets just say Sambo would not find it funny. When I was in 2nd or 3rd grade, and Sam was not in school yet...I think, the only way Sam would go to bed is if he had a video playing in the background. And it drove me absolutely nuts! I could never go to bed with his video playing because it distracted me and then I would wake up the next day really tired. So I had to come up with a game plan to stop this, that you know didn't involve asking my parents to get Sam to quiet down at night...because that would make sense and I'm not a very logical child. I knew the only way Sam would be stripped of his television privileges is if he got in trouble. Before Sam was in his room, and before my dad came to tuck us in and make the toilet check to see if Sam had flushed (because boys are smelly and gross) I went into Sam's bathroom and grabbed the first bottle of stuff I could find and I squeezed out the contents onto Sam's toilet seat...Yeah. That was my grand scheme folks. I was brilliant. Really. It's kind of embarrassing. Anyways my dad made the check and Sam got in trouble but that wasn't enough. I did this for three days straight. I kid you not. On the last day Sam's TV privileges were revoked and I got my first good night of sleep, surprisingly enough. I guess my sense of guilt hadn't been completely developed at that point.  Pure evil mastermind right here. 

           Anyways so I kept this dark and dirty secret to myself for at least eight years until one day I randomly told my mom. My mom was completely shocked but she wasn't even really mad. She did inform me that they had to replace the toilet seat because whatever I had put on the seat permanently left a mark. I kind of remember her just making jokes at my expense because lets be honest that was a pretty terrible plan. I think my mom was more embarrassed of my plan than me actually enacting on my plan. For awhile she called me the toilet queen though and those were some interesting times. Leave it to my mom to be more distressed about my type of execution of a plot rather than being distressed that I even attempted to seek revenge on my brother. 

Love always,

Erin

Day 136-Those Summer Nights

Howdy!

     
                                           Almost there! Then we will be on a normalish schedule...right?

Memory #136

                      My family has never really been one of those families that always eats dinner around a table together. That sounds bad but really we were just never home all at the same time or we all sort of do our own individual dinner thang. That's just how our family rolls and that is ok with me. Every once in a while, especially in the summer, my mom and dad would spontaneously decide we were going to make dinner together and then eat together outside. During these meals my dad would usually barbeque something and my mom would make the sides and sometimes she would surprise us and bring out a watermelon. These were some really calm and peaceful meals and some of the few that we spent where everyone was there and in a good mood. Definitely some good times. Haven't really had the same time of family meal since she's been gone, and they are definitely missed a whole bunch.

Love always,

Erin

Day 135-Play Me A Song...

Howdy!

ONE MORE AFTER THIS AND I'M CAUGHT UP!

Memory #135

                   Not sure if I have already talked about this already but I'm going to take a shot in the dark and say that I haven't. My mom learned how to play the piano growing up and adored playing the piano. In fact the piano in our house was a gift to my mom from my dad because that's how much she loved it. I wish I had gotten more into piano because apparently I have the fingers of a good pianist..sigh lost dreams. Anyways growing up there was a point in time when my mom attempted to give me piano lessons. Which is the only reason I can play Mary Had A Little Lamb plus some really super random nameless songs that my mom helped me learn to play. For like a month I remember coming home from school and excitedly running into my mom's office so that she would teach me how to play 'the bear song' or the 'little pony song'. Which I can still play to this day...thank you very much. 

                 These lessons, like everything else in the Langford household, fizzled out really quickly and were forgotten. Until my junior year of high school where my mom taught me one of those two person type of songs, that I have no idea what they're called but they're super fun. My mom taught me the easier lower part and she played the complicated high part. I remember my mom being so patient as my fumbling fingers tried to understand how they were supposed to move in time and getting pumped when I finally accomplished the medley. I loved playing that little tune with her and she probably got annoyed with how much I asked her to play it with me but she would always cave with a smile and sit on the bench with me. It makes me super nostalgic when I play that tune but its always the first thing I turn to when I sit in front of a piano bench. So if anyone knows the high part of the diddy I'm talking too, hit me up my mom says I'm solid at the lower part...hah!

Love always,

Erin

Day 134-More Chinese Food?

Howdy!

         I have pictures that I want to use on this blog buuuuut my scanner is not working so keenly at the moment so currently that is out of the question. I'll get working on it though and there shall be pictures and they shall be wondrous. 

Memory #134

           I have another foodie memory to share! Shocker. I've mentioned before that my mom and I's restaurant was this one noodle house place, which is true but before that it was the asian buffet place here in Austin called North & South China. Back in the day it was really good (now its pretty questionable, which is unfortunate) but it was a huge deal when my mom said we were going there. Like really big deal. Though I will admit there was definitely a period we went there a lot. Like a lot a lot. So much that a waitress knew my mom and I by name and the lady knew my birthday. We were tight. Sometimes after I had a doctor and dentist appointment I remember my mom take me to North and South China. These times were weirdly some of my best memories because since Sam was so young at the time I didn't get a whole lot of special 'mommy and me time' so these were the golden moments for me that made me feel super special. Again I just miss these kind of dates with my mom.

Love always,

Erin

Day 133-Baseball Queens

Howdy!

        I have a feeling I should stop titling these things as 'Day..' since most of these are not on the day they should be...whoops. I'm still not entirely sure what I'm going to do when I'm away for 6 weeks at camp! That is way to many memories to pre-write...yikes. We shall see but for now I'm getting closer to getting caught up woohoo!

Memory #133

                  A few years back Sam was on this baseball team called the Pirates, even though Sam was on multiple different baseball teams this particular one stands out the most. I was a freshman in high school at the time. Slowly getting over being weird awkward and more into the 'embrace the awkward and make it funny' stage, just trying to find my role in the grand scheme of society...or probably just in high school. Before I had never been comfortable with being myself around new people but it would be safe to say that at the end of this particular baseball season all that went out the window. It started out slowly, with just me quietly making up chants and songs about my own little brother each time he came up to bat, until my mom joined in and made them louder and more confident. Than with other parents in support of our silliness we started making up songs for each player when they came up to bat, which I rewrote the lyrics to the songs to apply to each individual player. We became the team that was always having fun and chanting and cheering loudly even when we weren't winning. 

           My mom and I got really spirited on that team, and as corny as this might sound that season gave me the confidence to be myself more openly around everyone. You would agree if you had witnessed me at camp...yikes. My mom would be one proud lady.  

Love always,

Erin

Day 132- Making Up

Howdy!

             Wow. So I've had a lot of things on my plate and its been a real shock coming back from the camp world. I haven't completely gotten back into the swing of things. So camp...it was a real blast. I made a whole ton of frands that I already miss and I became life guard certified...which is a real fun story if you ever get the chance to ask me about it...real good one. Definitely had my first meltdown of camp on the edge of the pool, ha good times. For reals though it was awesome I got to try a lot of different things that were super outside my comfort zone and I got to figure out more about the person I want to be and that is really awesome. So anyways I'm going to catch myself up as best as I can, so lets go!

Memory #132

                 Today my dad is having an office party, which means that there is no lack of alcohol lined up on the counters of the cabana. As I was meandering around the cabana my eye spotted a bottle of some kind of strawberry alcohol of sorts and it got me thinking about a time during my junior year. I think it was during my high school's prom, that I never went and have absolutely no regrets of not going. (In case you were wondering) Anyways I remember that I was bored, because I hadn't made any plans to hang out with any of my other friends who weren't attending prom, and mopey probably. So my mom stepped in with an idea. I don't remember what we did preceding the event I'm about to foreclose but most likely we saw a movie or shopped like the shop-a-holics we were, it doesn't really matter. I just remember that this was also the night I felt that my mom saw me as one of her gal pals and not just her daughter. My mom told me that the first wine she ever drank was this Strawberry Hill stuff and she then told me that if I was interested we could get a bottle and I could try it out.

            How could I pass that up? So my mom was once again the cool mom who went out and bought a bottle of the 'finest' Strawberry Hill wine ever and poured us some glasses. I remember not being a fan of the win but drinking at least half of my cup just so that I could have a reason to sit out in the cabana with my mom giggling and being down right silly and then also having some real life conversations that I still think about to this day. That was the first and last time I will ever partake in drinking Strawberry Hill but my memory of the time makes up for the torridness of it all.

Love always,

Erin

UPDATE: WHY NO POSTS HAVE BEEN GOING UP

HOWDY!


           I AM SO INCREDIBLY SORRY FOR MY LACK OF POSTS! Since I've gotten back from camp I have been swamped with stuff to do and then right as I was going to post everything tonight we get a dang tornado warning...So hopefully I can get caught up and get back in the swing of things! So sorry and stay safe!

Love always,
Erin

Day 131 - Taco Salads

Howdy!


              Still playing catch up! I will update ya'll on camp stuff when I'm done with this!

Memory #131

This is a super incredibly random and short memory but it popped into my noggin today and I thought I'd share it anyways. My mom used to do this diet every once in a while where she wouldn't eat carbs, I remember these times distinctively because these were also the times that we would get mildly obsessed with taco salads. (Which is why if I'm being rushed at a Mexican restaurant I always get the taco salad) My mom liked getting them because she could eat everything in a taco salad...except for the shell so I would always feel guilty when I started nibbling on my shell. I remember in college station once we were waiting around for some reason at night in my mom's car and we were starving. It was like 11 at night I want to say so my mom drove us to a taco cabana and we ordered taco salads and then she parked facing an abandoned restaurant. We sat there in the dark and ate our taco salads. It was real chill.

Love always,

Erin 

Day 130- Whoopsie Daisey

Howdy!

        Hi I'm back from camp! I've been extremely exhausted and stressed. Why? Because as soon as I came back to the real world I realized I had to do a crap ton of online stuff for Spanish...wooo yay so I apologize for the delay and I will be making up the posts....starting now.

Memory #130

       Well Sam is officially done with school so its pretty much summer time in my household, even though I've been done for over a month now...whatever so I guess I'll post a vacation type of memory. Why not? I don't remember when this particular memory happened, I mean it happened during my junior year of high school but I don't remember why we went down to my cousin's house or exactly when (I guess I could figure that out by using Facebook but I will leave that to mystery because it doesn't matter) Anyways I remember traveling down to my Mansfield cousins (As we like to call them around here) and staying with them for a night or something. When we got there it was around lunch time, mom and I were hungry and Sam was straight up hangry (hungry + angry) so they took us to this place called 'No frills grill' or something. Upon getting there we found to our utmost amusement a quarter machine that didn't pop out candy or stickers...no this one shot out...wait for it...STICK ON MUSTACHES. Who comes up with these things? You better believe my mom started shelling out quarters for us to be able to accessorize ourselves. This is seriously probably one of my most favorite memories and guess what? There are pictures.

These pictures make me smile. I hope they make you smile.

Love always,

Erin

Day 129- Uncle Ted's House

Howdy!

I'm coming home tomorrow!! (: I'm sure right about now I'm dreading having to leave my camp family and back into the real world but I will be excited for the rest of the summer!

Memory #129

                How about another Uncle Ted story? That's a hypothetical question because you don't really have a choice in the matter...for the most part. After Uncle Ted's original purpose was cancelled the big question became "What do we did with him?" but my mom had plans for him, as always. For awhile Uncle Ted just say idly at the dining room table as if he were waiting for a meal to be delivered and for the first couple of months it would freak me and Sambo out to see someone in there but eventually I got used to that, which is pretty lolzy. Then my mom decided that Uncle Ted needed to get out more, (lol to my mom's line of thinking) so there came a time that in middle school when my mom would come to pick me up after school there would be a man sitting in the front seat. IT SCARED ME EVERY SINGLE TIME. I wouldn't see him until I was about to open the door and then my mom would laugh at me because she was so proud of herself. Basically I would have to sit in the back so that Uncle Ted could sit in the front. What even. 

             Another thing my mom loved to do, that my dad hated, was to stick Uncle Ted in our living room as if he was a part of the family and enjoying the comfort of our lazy boy. My dad was always the first to wake up so when he would exit his room and turn on the living room lights Uncle Ted was always there to startle my poor dad in the morning. My mom got a kick out of it but eventually Uncle Ted was asked to evict the living room and go sit tucked away in my mom's office as a permanent client. Until my parents built the pool house in our backyard which my mom dubbed as Uncle Ted's house, where he still lives to this day. 

Love always,

Erin

Day 128- Uncle Ted

Howdy!

Coming Home in three days!!

Memory #128

                    This next story is a two parter and kind of involves the camp I went to and also my mom's awesome and wonderful prankster alter ego. Our first experience with this camp was so awesome that both my mom and I knew we were going to try and attend again the next year but with even more ammo up our sleeves. My mom immediately started planning for awesome and fun pranks (and above all else-harmless) that we could have for next year, when my mom got excited about something there was no stopping her. Not even when you pointed out that there was a whole year before we would really need to worry about getting supplies for camp pranks, there was no stopping her. My mom was also obsessed with the movie Weekend at Bernie's. If you don't know what I'm talking about look it up, watch it, love it, repeat. My mom came to the conclusion that the best prank prop ever would be. A stuffed mannequin...by the name of Uncle Ted. If you've been in our pool house, you will know that Uncle Ted lives there because my family is strange. 

                      This is Uncle Ted, my mother bought, clothed and named him. The name Ted is derived from a period where Sam thought it was hilarious to refer to everyone as Ted instead of their real name. Strange family. I know. There are a lot of really good memories that I had with Uncle Ted and my mother that I will get into probably tomorrow or at a later date but the original purpose of Uncle Ted was to be used as a prank for Camp the next year.Unfortunately we never got to take Uncle Ted on his camping adventure because of a death in the family but don't you worry we got plenty of use out of Uncle Ted. Uncle Ted is a hilarious and excellent reminder of my mom's humor and a lot of the goofy things that my mom used to do with him.

Love always,

Erin

Day 127-It Turned Into a Ballroom Blitz

Howdy!

Coming Home Countdown: 3 more days!

Memory #127

                     Yesterday I mentioned that my mom encouraged my cabin to embrace our inner rebels and prank the boy cabin. Which was awesome and our cabin definitely bonded even if it was a silly frivolous prank. This prank however set off a domino effect that was unforeseeable and chaotic. One day during camp there was an impromptu meeting for the counselors/chaperons, which meant that I had to be separated from my mother for an hour, woe is me. It also meant that all of the kids were really and truly unchaperoned, and that my friends should leave an unsettling feeling in all of you. I remember looking out my window and all of a sudden being filled with fear as I realized an army of stinky teenage boys were heading towards the girls cabins carrying WATER BALLOONS. ALL OF THEM. Then it got worse as a row of girls wielding cups of ice emerged from the girl's cabin side. Oh. The. Humanity. The girl with the braid and I decided to team up and try to reach the adults before madness ensued. Bravely we ran out of the safety of our cabin and through the unknown towards the adults. 

           I remember interrupting the adults meeting and seeing my mom and instantly feeling relief. I'M SORRY THIS STORY SOUNDS SO CHEESY BUT THIS IS MY LIFE. Long story short the prank war got stopped before ice was hurtled at people, some water balloons were lost and some people were drenched but unharmed. Also I would just like to point out that my mom initiated a prank war.

Love always,

Erin

Day 126- Cool Mom

Howdy!

I like this picture, it embodies camp and my mom's spirit. Don't you think? 

Memory #126

                   Don't fret I have more camp memories to share! This camp that we attended had daily theme nights, where you would decorate your cabin and then the directors would come by and decide who had the best cabin that night, and whoever did received a prize of ice cream. (High stakes) I remember my mom decided to go above and beyond and buy all of these decorations so that the gals and I could have fun and also maybe win some ice cream. I remember thinking that she was the coolest mom ever, and all of the other girls saying the same thing and I remember being so stinkin proud that I got to be the daughter of a cool mom. Anyways the first night's theme was country themed and we went with Jamaica and boy was our room decked out, including Jamaican music playing in the background because my mom was awesome. We definitely won first that night and got the sweet sweet prize of ice cream. 

         So the next night we were totally going to outdo ourselves...until my mom inspired us to come to the conclusion that pranking the boys was way more important. We all snuck out to the boys cabins and decorated their doors with all things girly, pink and princess...because we were fantastic prankers. It took so long that by the time we got back to our cabin we didn't have time to decorate our cabin so my mom came up with idea to bribe the judges. We made a giant poster that explained our predicament. It basically said "We didn't decorate our room because we were to busy pranking the boys please accept this dollar as a bribe." My mom told us it was a brilliant plan and we followed her lead. At judging time, you'll never believe that we actually got second place...because of our silly bribe. Thanks to my mother. What a role model. lol

Love always,

Erin

The daughter of a cool mom

Day 125- Camp Jealousy

Howdy!

How can I be stressed when I'm completely disconnected from technology and the outside world?

Hopes and prayers that I'm still having a good time!

Memory #125

         Five more days until I'm back from camp! How exciting! Which means I only have to prewrite five-ish more of these blog posts, which is very time consuming I find. Hurray! I thought for the next couple of posts I would talk about the one sort of camp experience I had with my mom. When I was in middle school my church had this camp that other churches attended as well in Kerville and my mom suggested that I go but get this. I refused to go unless my mom promised that she would go as well. I was that kid. So my mom agreed and went along as a chaperon on my cabin as well...I tell you I was not like other kids. When we got there  my mom and I were the first ones to our cabin so we decided to quickly set up our own beds. My mom had specifically gotten me sheets for my bed but I hadn't brought a blanket. Luckily my mom brought an extra blanket but I ended up snagging the quilt, that I have to this day, that she had planned and wanted for her own bed. Again my mom was nice enough not to say anything and let me steal her quilt. 

       Then the other girls arrived at our cabin and we all instantly became best friends, because that's what happens at camp. I was having a blast at camp, then night time came around. This girl told me that she went to bed every night with her hair in a braid so that her hair wouldn't get tangly when she slept at night, so she asked my mom if she would braid her hair for her. Let me tell you what kind of child my mom had to deal with, because I crack myself up on how silly I got. I got like super de duper jealous that my mom was braiding other girl's hair so as soon as she was done with that girl I made my mom braid my hair as well. lol I was really bad at sharing my mom, also I'm ridiculous. 

Love always,

Erom

Day 124- I Would Have Gotten Away With It Too...

Howdy!

 I've been at camp for a week now and I still have a week of awesomeness left. 

Hopefully I'm doing better than this dude!

Memory #124

              To continue my web of illness and emergency room visits I would definitely need to include my string of hoax sickness that may or may not have happened in second grade...during a specific class. I attended Naumann elementary when I was in second grade and it was also the third school I had been to thus far. I was once again the new kid, which wasn't a big deal because I was kind of use to it at that point. Anyways within a month of me getting acclimated to the new school and whatnot my mom started receiving phone calls from the school's nurse saying that I didn't feel good and that I was requesting to go home. At first my mom was sympathetic and accepted my requests. Until they kept happening more and more frequently. She also started noticing the  time of every phone call. My mom slowly pieced together the situation that was going down. She noticed that after she did pick me up I suddenly became better and that the nurse called the same time every day. 

           My mom foiled my plans, she realized quickly that I was trying to get out of math class by faking ailment. It got to the point that whenever the nurse called my mom would just ask, "Is she in math class?" and if the nurse said yes my mom would tell the nurse to let me go back to class. Man she was a smart lady. The nurse visits didn't stop though, my mom was starting to get concerned. One day after school my mom picked me up and took me to get a frosty from wendy's, which is my favorite in case you were wondering, and asked me why I was trying to skip math all of the time. When I wouldn't immediately answer she asked me if I wanted to get a tutor. I wasn't exactly sure but my mom went out the next day to find me a tutor so that I could feel more confident in math class and I eventually did, thanks to my mom. 

Love always,

Erin

Day 123- I'm Not the Only Clumsy One I Swear

Howdy!

Still out adventuring! Have yourself an adventure too!

Memory #123

              So if you think my mom ever took on the role as mama bear with me you have not seen her when Sambo got hurt. Sam was definitely my mom's baby boy. This one time Sam and I were goofing off in the game room playing some game or watching television, I don't know but we had these bean bag chairs that we were sitting in. These bean bag chairs were pressed up against our coffee table, so that we could lean on them but be propped up so that we could see the TV. (What a kid thing to do) So there we are goofing off upstairs when Sam starts getting up and then throwing himself at the bean bag chair and we were both laughing as if this was the funniest thing that could ever have happened. I was still laughing so Sam took that as a sign to continue throwing himself at the bean bag chair but this particular time the bean bag chair slipped out from underneath him and he ended up smacking the back of his head on the coffee table. I screamed, he screamed especially when blood started to appear. You better believe my parents were racing upstairs. My mom immediately ran to my brother, full of panic and full of that mother instinct. I remember that when Sam came back with staples in his head my mom informed me of Sam's super cool status because he now had metal keeping his head together. Which I instantly believed and then I was jealous that I didn't have staples in my head, which is a really weird thing to be jealous about...

Love always,

Erin

Day 122- Mommy daughter outing?

Howdy!

Just because I enjoy Rumi quotes and well its camp inspired?

Memory #122

               This is next story does not involve broken bones but it does involve a certain somebody by the name of Erin Langford taking a trip to the ER by her frantic and loving mother. This story is actually from my junior year I believe. It was a late Thursday night when I was plagued by a fever and pain in my lower abdomen. As a paranoid child with access to WebMD I immediately thought it was possibly appendicitis. My mother, who was much more level headed than myself, brushed it off and told me to take an Advil. Three hours later I was still in pain, so my mother decided to take action and took me to the ER. Where we had to wait forever, so we sat there making jokes about what ailment I was possibly dying of, we had a real grave sense of humor in case you haven't noticed. After a while the doctor came to see us and started doing the usual poking and prodding to figure out what was up with me. We immediately ruled out appendicitis so the doctor suggested a CAT Scan. Which lead my mom to post this picture...

This is just a reminder of my mom's silliness. In case you forgot about it. We were going a little stir crazy as well because we had been at the hospital for four hours. After the CAT scan was done the doctor told us that I had a gall bladder infection...hurray! Since it was 5 am by the time we got back and I was on heavy duty meds my mom was nice enough to let me skip the next day...and the day after that and then some to recuperate. 

Love always,

Erin

Day 121- This Little Piggy was Purple

Howdy!

Memory #121

         Continuing on from my toe story, after I was finally whisked away to the hospital the doctors taped my pinky toe together with its neighboring toe. You know...because it was at an irregular angle from my foot. After I got my toe taken care of the doctors told us that we would have to come back to see how my pinky toe was doing/get them re-taped or whatever. So after a month or two of hobbling around on a icky hospital type of sensible shoe to help with the healing, my mom took me back to the doctor to see if my toe was any better. When we got there they peeled off the tape on my toes something wasn't right. The doctor left the room and I started getting nervous. "What do you think is wrong?" I innocently asked my mother to which my mother responded in a grave tone, "I didn't want to have to tell you but they have to remove your toe completely." WITH A COMPLETELY STRAIGHT FACE. I BELIEVED HER. WHY WOULDN'T I?! So I sat there in despair and agony waiting for the doctors to come back so they could severe my toe. My mom waited 15 minutes to inform me that she was joking. I ALMOST CRIED. WHAT THE HECK MOM.

         So the doctors came in and informed us that it was a good thing we came in that day because if we had left the tape on any longer something would have happened to my toe. You see when they put the tape on, they put it on too tightly and consequently made my neighboring toe purple. SO I MIGHT HAVE HAD TO LOSE THAT TOE MOM IS IT FUNNY NOW?! Yes. Yes it is. 

Love always,

Erin

Day 120- Toes

Howdy!

Wouldn't that be nice?

Memory #120

            Writing memories in bulk is difficult and tedious, I apologize if they start getting skimpier and skimpier as the days progress. I will try my best not too! The next bone I broke was my pinky toe...at least this is the first time I broke my toe. I think I broke it when I was in fifth grade. Around this time my mom started getting involved in our neighborhoods Bunco group/also just really enjoying bunco in general. So this one time my mom decided to have a bunco party with basically all of my friend's moms and then I was allowed to have all of my friends over to have my own kind of party upstairs. My brother and father were to have a boys night out so as to escape all of the estrogen that was going down at our house. In my little party, that was being held in my room, there was about 12 different girls all different ages and all super hyped up on sugar and excitement since we were around other people. We decided to start playing typical girl party games, so basically we started playing truth and dare. (Duh) Anyways we were all pretty tamed at first, "Wear this hat and dance", "Run in my brother's room with said hat and dance again", and so on and so forth. On one of these fateful dares it got the whole group so pumped that we all had to race out of the room so that we could witness it. On our way out the door I got caught in the stampede of estrogen and tripped over someone's leg and did a little 360 turn action...which basically left my pink toe at a 90 degree angle from my other toes. (gross visual sorry)

           So I come hobbling down the stairs, surprisingly not howling, and found my mom, who instantly panicked. Luckily my father had come home, so of course he could take me to my hospital, right? Wrong. My father found no reason as to why I would need medical attention. Reminder that my pinky toe was at a 90 degree angle from my foot. So my dad made no jump to action. My mom came back to harass my father so that he would take me to the hospital. It was my mom's logic of, "How are we supposed to put shoes on our child tomorrow?" that my dad finally took me to the hospital. So thanks mom, without you I would have a weird toe still. (P.S. I love you dad but your immediate action should've been to whisk me away to the hospital just saying)

Love always,

Erin

Day 119- Nail Art

Howdy!

Is this picture not the cutest thing ever? 

Memory #119

             The next part of the fingernail saga...so my finger wasn't exactly broken but my finger turned purple. It was real gnarly looking. I had to keep my hand in a splint thing but it kept my finger on display. Most people would have been appalled by their finger's grossness but I thought it was the coolest thing ever. I remember I would show it to people all of the time and my mom got sooooooo embarrassed. I don't blame her. I'm still pretty embarrassing to be around. Anyways so there wasn't much anyone could do about my finger looking gross until the finger healed. Which happened in good time...but before it did my fingernail fell off. The whole thing. So like most normal people I threw away the nail and went on with my life and let my nail grow back, right? Wrong. My mother would have loved that, unfortunately she ended up with a super special child. 

  

          This girl came up with an even grosser way to embarrass her poor mother. Which was to obviously preserve the disgusting nail that had fallen off my finger in a plastic baggy and show it to everyone as if it was my most valuable and prized possession. My mother tried everything to get me to dispose of it, shopping sprees, candy, etc. but none of those things fazed me. I continued having my show and tell on the road. Then one day I woke up in horror to find that my precious nail was not where I had left it. Which I came to realize that my mom, after all her other efforts had been thwarted, snook into my room after I had fallen asleep and disposed of the nail herself. I actually never knew this until she told me when I was older and could handle the tragic reality of my nail's fate. 

Love always,

Erin

Day 118- Unlock the Car, Please

Howdy!

                  

Memory #118

                      Continuing on with the breaking bones (sounds like a television show lol) the next bone that I broke I believe was my finger? Maybe. Anyways this story is definitely a two parter type of story. One lovely Saturday when I was but a wee second grader my family had gotten invited to a birthday party of one of our family friends. I guess my father and brother drove in a separate car because I have no memory of them in this memory but anyways I remember driving up with my mom to this persons house. We both got out of the car and my mom started walking to the house. I don't remember how this next part happened but basically I got out of the car, closed the door and somehow I caught my finger in the door. It was another one of those moments where I hadn't instantly grasped the concept that my finger was in pain, so at first I just started at my finger in shock. Since my mom heard my door closed she locked her car and kept walking. Which is when I realized that my finger should not be shut in a car door, which is when I also started to panic. I reached to open the car door which was of course locked now. So I started screaming and my mom at first was annoyed to see the hold up, she then turned to look at me now confused. She eventually translated my panicked shrieks and unlocked the car door, rushing to my side.

            After we got my hand out of the door, we again rushed to the hospital. I don't think my finger was  completely broken but it definitely hurt and it was definitely not normal. Which is why I started teasing my mom that it was her fault that I got stuck in the car, because she locked me in with my finger still lodged in. My poor mother. Having to deal with a clumsy and dramatic child such as myself. I guess I made life interesting? Also I turned a nice Saturday where we were supposed to attend a party into a party at the ER all day. Sorry mom!

Love always,

Erom

      

Day 117-Please Sir, Can I Borrow Your Markers?

Howdy!


       I'm currently at training!! Woo! Hopefully I'm having a great time and not being awkward! That would be stupendous...Since I'm away at camp and have no access to wifi or computers these posts (hopefully) are on a schedule and should post for me while I'm away! Hope you're having a good weekend!

Memory #117

                          I'm going to start this camp theme with my very first broken bone story! Out of my entire family I am proud to say that I'm the only member who has ever broken a bone. Shocker? Probably not if you've ever met me. In fact I have officially broken three bones and unofficially broken my pinky toe about 10 times or more...but that will be for another day. This story is how I broke my arm. One nice and sunny day my mom sent me out to our background to play on my playground. I remember playing out there for at least an hour before I decided to practice the brand new craze that had been going around my kindergarten. What was this new craze? You know, walking down a slide...that's meant to be sat on...you know normal typical things. (Seriously where do kids come up with these things?!) So anyways there I am slowly walking down the slide, feeling all confident and cool (because what's cooler than walking down a slide? Nothing. duh) and then all of sudden I lost my balance and my body decided to test out gravity and slammed against the earth. 

        I remember at first just feeling shock and then the realization that my arm was hurting came so at first I just laid there and cried...and then I finally stood up to make my way to our back door but there was an obstacle...our deck's gate. Without the use of my right hand I couldn't open it, so I decided the best option was to just stand there and scream until my mother came to rescue me. When my mom came bursting out those door, relief flushed over me instantly. She quickly opened the gate and basically dragged me out to her car, no questions asked. I remember when they started the process of putting on my cast, I was dreading it but my mom got super pumped and started showing me all of the colors I could put on my cast (Because moms rock) we finally picked out a rainbow one because...why not? My mom was also the first one to sign me cast. Then came the next obstacle. School, especially since my right hand was constricted by a cast. I had a hard time opening markers and usually ended up opening them with my mouth which ultimately ended up with no one wanting to share their markers with me (Go figure, no one wants to share with the girl who bites their markers) I remember being really bummed out by this but one day I came home from school and my mom had bought me a brand new super deluxe pack of markers. Which is pretty exciting, especially for a kindergartner.

Love always,

Erin

Day 116- Start of Campness!

Howdy!

Well I'm officially off to camp! 

Memory #116

             Since I'm in a rush, as usual, here's a picture she took that represents her humor well!

These kind of photo shoots happened a lot with my mom lol

Love always,

Erin

Day 115-Last minute!

Howdy!

I definitely thought I already posted yesterday but I had not and now I'm rushed because I'm about to head out to go to camp training! AH! AH! I'm so nervous but really excited! So wish me luck and I hope you enjoy the posts for this next two weeks as I'm gone!

Memory #115

Since I'm running late, please enjoy this picture as a substitute

This picture came to my attention after my mom had passed away and it just really makes me happy. Its nice to have reminders of happy times even if you don't really remember the moment. I was about 5 when this picture was taken and I remember the trip but not a lot about it, just that it was fun! 

Love always,

Erin

Day 114-Yay, me!

Howdy!

           I'm currently pre-writing all of my blog posts for while I'm away at camp training! Let me tell you, it is a long and daunting task but I'm almost done and they should be pretty entertaining! Today I had the chance to have one last date with my gal pal, partner in crime, and second half Bailey Barton. I want to take this moment and brag about her because she is so stinkin awesome and I'm so so so blessed to have her in my life. Anyways she is the main reason I got inspired to go to camp and GAH I'm going to miss her as we both venture off into our different camps! Now on to your randomly scheduled memory!

Memory #114

      I mentioned once here I believe that when my mom get re diagnosed with breast cancer she also started getting more into trying to live a healthier lifestyle, primarily concerning with her eating habits.  One of the things that she started implementing and carrying out was her daily health shake. I don't remember what was in it but I believe it was a bunch of green type vegetables, protein and some awful tasting and looking vegetables. She would also include a scoop of peanut butter to reward herself for drinking that awful shake. Every morning she would make it for herself grimacing down at it, but with a lot of determination she would chug it down and triumphantly chant, "Yay me!" when she had successfully down the awful shake. 

             She used to tell me that she drank it so that she would be healthier, be able to fight the cancer and hang out with us some more (In her own words). This might seem like an insignificant story but to me it clearly reflects my mom's selfless and strength that she used daily to take on the daunting hurtle that is cancer. My mom knew how to celebrate the little things in life which is something I think we all stop doing until we are faced with hardships. This is your daily reminder to enjoy the little things in life before tragedy hits. 

Love always,

Erin

Day 113-Hunks

Howdy!

             Hope you're all having a great week! 

Memory #113

                   Today I was lurking the internet and I came across a bunch of funny twilight pictures, you know that silly vampire book and made-into-a-movie series? Anyways it got me thinking about my mom, odd right? Well there's a back story to why, I promise. I'll admit that when I was in middle school I read and liked the twilight series. Yup. Only because my best friend was really really really into the whole dark goth vampire thing and she really liked them...because now that I think about it I never handled twilight like I handle my other obsessions. Whatever I don't need to explain myself, I was young and dumb! Haha When my mom became a 5th grade teacher she decided to start reading some of the books her kids were reading to make sure they were appropriate/but also so that she could be cool and hip and so she ended up borrowing my books, shocker. Her opinion on them was much lower than that of my own, so I suppose we were the few during that time that wasn't all gaga for this silly love series. 

             Even though the book series, in our eyes, was kind of a bust when they came out saying that they were going to make them into movies we knew we had to see them. Why else do we read books anyways? (-MAJOR SARCASM, I PROMISE-) When the twilight movie premiered, all of my friends asked if I wanted to accompany them and I turned them down. Why? Because my mom and I had already made plans to see it together. Lets just say that the people around us did not care for our presence, since we were snickering and making immature jokes throughout the entire movie. (Typical) We thought we were so funny Probably cause we actually were. We ended up seeing the second movie together as well, this one we didn't see it on the premiere date (out of respect for the twihards) but we were dying to go see it because well...

         No shame. My 40 something mother was totally fine with being honest about her reasoning to go see this movie. I remember giggling as we sat in the Alamo draft house (Our favorite theater) waiting for Taylor Lautner (Shown above) to take off his shirt and when he finally did you better believe we were hootin. Haha! I know we saw the third movie together but I don't really recall anything about it, probably more obsession over the shirtless wonder here and making corny jokes. The fourth movie (The first half?) I remember seeing this movie right before it left theaters, in case you haven't seen this (Which if you haven't, don't. Go be a productive member of society) this is the movie with a super graphic birthing scene at the end. I remember that when this scene came up my mom and I became quite aware of the 10 year old girls in front of us, which made us even more uncomfortable that we were seeing the same movie as 10 year olds and we were being way more squirmy than they were. I guess we weren't mature enough to handle that beauty that is the twilight series....lol. The last movie came out in 2012...I believe but it was long after my mom had passed away so I ended up seeing it with my friends (Who rock) but it was kind of strange to not be able to finish out this silly little series with my mom.

Love always,

Erin

Day 112- The Dream Dog

Howdy!!

       I did something today!! Well I mean I didn't leave the house or anything but I did a lot in the house...that counts right? Yikes.The Camp countdown is now at four days until I leave for training! I have a lot I need to accomplish before then...like writing two weeks worth of posts for this blog! Lets do this thang.

Memory #112

                 Before we got my current pup, Sandy, my mom had talked about getting a Beagle. She absolutely adored Beagles, primarily because she had grown up beagles her entire life and thought they were just the best dog (Also they're stinking adorable). So my mother had become rather fixated on beagles for a while. So when her birthday rolled around I came up with the best birthday present idea ever (in my own mind). I think I was in elementary school around this time, so please keep that in mind ha. There was a phase where my cousin Sara and I were enthralled with Build-a-Bears. Seriously we were OBSESSED. Any chance that I got to go to Build-a-bear I definitely jumped on board. Which is why I have a tub of build-a-bear stuff under my bed. So I decided that the best present ever to get for my mom was a build-a-bear beagle. Instead of getting her an actual beagle because that would make sense. I guess I was pretty set on that idea because we ended up going through with it and bringing home Buster the stuffed beagle. 

          When we gave it to my mom she definitely appreciated the thought and loved it, but lets just say...I was way more excited about it and discreetly told my mom that I was taking Buster for a quick puppy play date with my other dog build-a-bears. She was very gracious and let me take it away, which humors me now. Leave it to me to take someone's birthday present within an hour of giving it to someone...Long story short I pretty much took the beagle build a bear to display with my other pups and my mom was nice enough to never question its whereabouts after that play date. Probably cause she knew I had it when I thought it was a secret that I had it. There must be some unspoken mom rule where you let your child believe that they are doing something secretive and unknown to your mother but in reality...THEY KNOW. Today I was cleaning up around the house and I found ol Buster still sitting among the other pups and it made me finally come to the realization that my mom knew all along that I'd kidnapped her birthday gift all of those years ago.

Love always,

Erin