it brought me back.

It isn't like me to post a blog without pictures, but that's sort of what this blog is all about. So, yesterday as I was packing for Colorado, I get a call from my boss at Bath and Body Works. "Shaylee, are you okay? You were suppose to be here at 6." I glance over and the clock and it reads 6:09.

I hate those moments.

So I quickly exclaimed, "I'll be there in 30 (minutes)!"
Because I was packing, my room was an utter terror of a sight! And I knew if I didn't put everything back, my darling husband would wake up from his nap in the guest bedroom and have a heart attack. So, I'm stuffing clothes in each drawer, throwing things around, hurrying to get out the door.
When I finally got into work, it was 7 PM. Yeah, Florida traffic kind of sucks... but I don't blame the traffic, I blame myself for forgetting. It's hard to remember where I'm suppose to be at what time. And sometimes I wonder why I'm always tired and ask David if there is something wrong with me - sometimes I'm so tired I can barely function. But hey, it's good practice for my kid-filled future, right???

While I was working I came across an old fragrance called Pearberry. Hm, this scent sounds familiar, I must have used it when I was young, I thought. So, I did what always answers any question of mine: I smelled it. And that's when the memories came pouring back into my head.

I was 13 years old. I admired this girl in my grade so much that I literally wanted to be her. We had similar interests, she treated me kindly (she was one of the only at Irving Middle School, I can tell you that much), and we both happened to be smokers.
I know some of you reading this are laughing at the thought of me smoking, but I shamefully have to say that when I was my sister's age I was smoking behind my parents back, thinking I was cool. I think we've all been there before.
Anyway, to cover up the fragrance of cigarette smoke, we use to lather pearberry lotion on ourselves like it was nobody's business.
I could still smell it (I smell everything - God quadripuled my keen sense of smell when He made me), but I guess it fooled everybody else.

Well, eventually that all came to an end when my mom decided to pick out clothes for me one Sunday for church. Yeah, I was 13, and my mom was still choosing my clothes... apparently I couldn't dress myself very well back then. Lo and behold, while she was looking in there, she came across an ashtray of cigarettes in my closet from when I last smoked in my room.

I became a goody good after that day! Haha no, in all honesty, I knew it was wrong and it certainly wasn't helping my singing voice in the troubles it was already enduring through puberty, so I quit. I didn't realize how hard it would be to quit, though. There were a few times in high school where I wenmt back into it, but now I can proudly say I haven't touched a cigarette 2 years. I'm so glad, too!

There's no point to this story, other than I have a great sense of smell and I love how God created us to link certain fragrances with memories of our past. To this day, whenever I have something special happening, I change my perfume, scented lotion, etc so that one day I can smell it and it can bring me back to my past, the good and the bad!


Sooooooo tomorrow I will be here:

Finally home sweet home.
MANY pictures to come!