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The Worst Year Ever? Its a Toss-Up.

Melissa Beene Ford/ Uncategorized

Hello friends! Long time no see. 🙂

I know I should post some Christmas pictures, comments on New Years and my goals and yadda yadda yadda, or maybe even pictures of my seven year old’s birthday celebration on November 1st and I haven’t even managed to do THAT yet, OR, better yet, pictures chronicling the joys and pains of the past 10 years of marriage that I planned to post on or around our 10-year anniversary on May 9th, which was…yeah, that would be 8 or so months ago…

But not having a decent camera is seriously hindering my blogging. I hate to just TALK. Who wants to get bogged down in a bunch of written facts without the pictures to go with it??? NOT ME…

So please understand that its not that I don’t want to show off my precious little family, my newborn niece, or our holiday memories….I’m just hindered at the moment, since Santa did NOT bring me the camera that I wanted. 😛 I’m limited to posting only pictures I can scan, or steal off the internet.

(I did get a Kitchenaid Mixer, though, so I’ll let Santa off the hook.
For now.)

So until Santa comes through for me, I’m going to go with an idea I got from one of my favorite blogs. Pioneer Woman asked her readers which was their worst year in school, and I thought about my answer and had a hard time choosing just one.

The first one that came to mind was Sixth Grade, which was BRUTAL because I was tossed from the innocence of 5th grade where red, yellow, black, and white are *ALLLL* friends, I had twist-a-beads and Izod shirts and the right winged haircut, and a teacher who liked me and good friends to spend the night with, to the lions den where I was suddenly 6 inches taller than EVERYONE, seriously built like Olive Oyl, gangly, awkward, and desperately in need of braces for my GI-nor-mous TEETH (I could have eaten an apple through a picket fence), *AND* to top it all off, I had the nerve to wear the same pair of pants twice in one week and Cavan made fun of me from THEN ON for “wearing the same clothes all the time.” All the Guess jeans, JAMS, and Kaepa shoes in the world never could cancel out that ONE blunder. I wanted to die. Literally. And Middle School never got any better for me after that, even after I got braces and a perm.

Then there was the 12th grade, when my beloved grandmother, who lived across the street from us, and two boys I had been to dances with ALL died within 3 months of each other, and I went to my first three funerals. All within three months…did I mention that? And oh yeah, I got badly dumped by my first real boyfriend. I mean, BADLY dumped, as in, he moved off to Dallas and didn’t give me his phone number DUMPED. One day, he was bringing me roses and talking about our wedding plans and telling me how much he looooooooooved me, and the next, POOF, he was GONE. I cancelled my plans to go to Texas A&M for this guy, and stayed at Harvard on the Hill (Tyler Junior College for you out-of-towners) because he wanted me to stay here, and within 5 minutes of leaving the old ball and chain behind he had a new girlfriend, and A&M didn’t want me anymore.

Oh yeah, the reason he was going to Dallas was to attend seminary to be a preacher. I can’t leave out that wonderful little detail. It wasn’t just an Average Joe who dumped me so brutally….it was a Man of God.

(If anyone who knew me in college remembers how I treated members of the opposite sex between 1991-1995, does it all become clear now? Do you understand now why I could never be seriously interested in anyone, much less a ministry student, and deliberately married a NON-MINISTER? Anyone care to psychoanalyze?)

So my worst year in school? Hard to say. But I think I’m going to go with 6th, because I recovered from my senior year. I still grieve over my grandmother, and probably think about her at least once a day, all these years later. But I’m ok. Life turned out ok for me, though I’m not a real Aggie because of a dumb, stupid, dumb decision I made to change my life’s plans for a stupid BOY, and I’m still sad about that…though I’m not a real Aggie, I’m ALL Aggie on the inside. It’s ok; I’ve got my B.A. from ETBU and that’s …. almost….as….good (ahem). And I thank God I didn’t marry that loser; I found the man of my dreams after I grew up a little. So my senior year, though it sucked, didn’t define me.

But 6th grade? I have to say I still haven’t recovered from that one. No matter how confident and hip and trendy I am now (yeah, I hear you laughing), on the INSIDE I’ll always be dorky Olive Oyl who doesn’t wear the right clothes and who never wants to smile for a picture because of my big honkin’ teeth. My closet and the closets of my girls are overstuffed to the point of clothing gluttony lest any of us EVER “wear the same clothes all the time.” You won’t catch US doing that, that’s for sure! I have a psychotic need to overbuy clothing for my kids so they won’t experience that humiliation. Its truly a sickness, I tell ya.

So now its your turn….what was YOUR worst year of school????

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Comments

  1. Steph says

    January 9, 2009 at 4:41 pm

    hhhmmm. i’m gong to ponder on this post and get back to ya.:)

    Reply
  2. Connie says

    January 10, 2009 at 3:24 pm

    Ah, so can relate. I don’t know if I could pick ONE year either. I was never even a cute child. I didn’t get even somewhat not-ugly until I was in high school. And boys…blah….I’d rather erase it all from my memory. <BR/><BR/>Embrace your thirties….it’s gotta be better than all of that. <BR/><BR/>Sorry about your grandma and friends. 🙁

    Reply
  3. Matt and Meredith says

    January 11, 2009 at 5:00 am

    Haven’t had time to read your blog lately, but I LOVE it when I do. You make me laugh!!!! You are such a good writer! I saw one of your comments on Steph’s blog when I was leaving her a comment and decided to swing by! : ) You are sooooo funny! <BR/><BR/>Glad I’m not the only one who was traumatized in middle school.<BR/><BR/>I had 2 boyfriends who dumped me horribly. One was in 6th grade

    Reply
  4. callie says

    January 12, 2009 at 11:19 pm

    Oh Melissa honey. We had practically the same 6th grade experience!! We moved to a different school district in the middle of the year. I remember my first day at the new, smaller school like it was yesterday. I proudly wore my new Guess overalls (stop laughing…I&#39;m 99% sure you had a pair too). The girls were all jealous of my fashion 😉 sense and the boys were all a head shorter than me! I

    Reply

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About Me


Hey there... I'm Melissa! Texas girl. Mom to three + one goldendoodle. Believer. Old house fanatic. Creating a happy + healthy home with purpose is my passion. I'm so glad you're here!

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I don’t know who’s big idea it was to strip 80 I don’t know who’s big idea it was to strip 80 years of paint off of this door down to the wood and start over… but that person has no business starting new projects. 😅 My neighbors must have thought this project would never end. *I* thought this project would never end. 😰 If you’re thinking of doing this yourself? Just don’t, ok? Throw the whole door away and buy a new one. 😂🤣 Just kidding.  Old house weirdos like me… we can’t just do things the easy way. Anyhoo… after some trial and error, @sherwinwilliams Celestial is what I landed on, and I have to say… I like it. Periwinkle-ish blue looks great with the yellow house and will look even better when the azaleas are in bloom. Was it all worth it? That’s not important right now. 🤭 Will I do this all again in two years? The magic eight ball says… without a doubt. 👏🏻 I’ve already picked the next color. #gluttonforpunishment #somefoolsneverlearn #oldhouselove #oldhomelove #makinghome #southernliving #gardenandgun #azaleadistrict #tylertx
Spring in the Azalea District makes the winters in Spring in the Azalea District makes the winters in an 80-year-old house completely worth it … what broken pipes, icy hardwood floors and drafty windows? 🤔 I forgot already. #comeonspring #azaleadistrict #tylertx
Happy Saturday ☀️ Happy Saturday ☀️
Salt Lake City is always magical ✨ Salt Lake City is always magical ✨
2022 had its highs and lows for sure, but scrollin 2022 had its highs and lows for sure, but scrolling through my pics from the last twelve months made me realize how blessed and content I am. Prosperity, love, and peace have been ours in abundance, in spite of the pain of losing my dad. The second picture is the last picture of him… the last time I saw him. 💔 But God has been good to my family this year and 2022 is ending far better than it began. 😄 #2022inreview #thanksforthememories
Who wants a Christmas tour of my home? 🙋🏼‍ Who wants a Christmas tour of my home? 🙋🏼‍♀️
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That’s it. That’s the tour. (Slide two). 
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It’s a new trend I’m starting: bare Christmas tree. Lowe’s tag still attached (so quirky and unexpected)! Christmas ornaments still in boxes. Coming soon to an Anthropologie window display near you. 
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Every year I think, “next year I’ll do better. Next year I’ll have it together.” And then, here we are on the SIXTH Christmas that we’ve been in this house, the sixth Christmas I’ve dragged our chaotic bunch of Christmas mess out of a chaotic garage I still haven’t unpacked from our move six years ago. 
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Maybe this year is the year I’ll organize it all and put it back neatly so that by Christmas number 7, it will be smooth sailing. People will flock to my social media to see how I’ve pulled everything off SO PERFECTLY. Next year will be my year. 
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Seems every year there’s less and less bandwidth for all these things. There’s more grief and stress, less money. More demands, less grace. 
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I put this sign on the wall in my office so I could keep it in front of my eyes: Love. Joy. Peace. And all that. I am SO unlike Jesus most days. So lacking in all of these character qualities. And that’s WITH waking up most mornings and spending my first 30 minutes with God Himself. 
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How lost would I be without that? Geez. I can’t fathom. I REQUIRE being transformed by renewing my mind every single morning, and even then, responding to people and life with love, joy, peace and patience doesn’t come naturally. 
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It’s the goal, though. 
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This weary world needs that from us Believers during this season, more than ever… even more than an Anthropologie-window-display worthy Christmas home tour. 
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I’m working on both.
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