Spiel the Beans: School Days Memories

Welcome to Spiel the Beans! Shelly and I can't wait to read all of your posts from today - I just know there are going to be some great stories, fun memories and lots of awesome advice. I'm also excited to read everyone's letters from Andrea's Show and Tell series. 

I loved school and one of my prayers is that my kids have as much fun learning as I did. Here are some of my favorite memories through the years.... 

Kindergarten - Totally tackled and kissed Craig Schwartinsky on the playground. 

First Grade - Met my bestest friend in the whole wide world and happened to have the most amazing teacher ever. This was the year the Challenger exploded and I remember Mrs. Sadler turning off the TV and having us all pray.

Second Grade - Got my first and only "lick" in school. Jenni and I were bamboozled by a boy who was on trash duty that told us we could throw our trash under the table at lunch. So we did. AND HE TOLD ON US. 

Third Grade - I had the most awesome outfit ever that year. Pink mini skirt and white shirt with a tiger face on front. So amazing. 

Fourth Grade - Mrs. Sadler, my 1st grade teacher, asked me to be one of her special helpers, so I got to go to her class once a week and read to the little kids and grade papers. 

Fifth Grade - New campus way out in Rosenthal. It was just 5th and 6th graders and I thought that made us so cool. 

Sixth Grade - The spring musical. I still know all of the words and most of the dance moves and made one amazing Hatfield. Or was I a McCoy?

Seventh Grade - First year in junior high, first year as a cheerleader. First school dances, first real sports competitions, first time to really feel like I was growing up. 

Eighth Grade  - Our girls basketball team went undefeated in district play. We had the best time, made the best memories and grew up to be some pretty amazing ballers. 

haha - that's actually my junior year - the two middle rows were some of my teammates from 8th grade. 

Most of my memories are full of goodness. Life wasn't perfect by any means, but I really feel like a lucky duck to have grown up surrounded by the people I had in my life. I went straight to the source of my memories, my senior book, and thought about some of the things I'd tell myself...

Keep being you... 

I had such confidence in high school. Growing up in small town gave us the freedom to do it all, and I did. Band, athletics, cheerleading, student council, you name it... I was in it. I feel like I was just "me"  - that I did things that made me happy and not because anyone else wanted me to. I didn't feel a pressure to be anyone but the person that God made. Sure, I had my moments of insecurity, I had my doubts on an outfit, or a boyfriend, but overall, I think I did a pretty great job of just being myself. Loud, crazy, obnoxious, confident, silly, sassy... me. 

Watch your mouth

This may or may not still be an area of growth for me - ha! Words are a powerful tool, and you can never take them back. You can apologize, you can try better, but you can't erase them. My mouth got me into the most trouble when I tried to stick up for people, to fight the good fight, to defend, but it wasn't always my place. Be intentional with words.

Surround yourself with good

I had the best group of friends growing up. We weren't all perfect, we got into some stupid trouble, we did dumb things and made bad decisions - BUT - they still are some of the most special people in my life. They helped shape me and define me. They held my hand when I was scared, cheered me on when I was nervous, drove me home when I was... (kidding)... we grew up together. And in a weird way, I feel like we still are... just growing up. Pick your friends. Pick them wisely. You will be better because you surrounded yourself with the people that made you do so. 

Get to know your teachers

This wasn't so hard in our town - we had the same teacher for multiple classes. They were our cheerleader sponsors and student council advisors. They came to every game and competition. I love that our teachers let us have fun. The key was that we gave them respect. We could joke around and laugh, but we also knew when it was time to get down to business. We had a mutual respect for each other and because of that, we all had fun. 

Join a team

Any team! Again, we grew up small...so we were on ALL THE TEAMS, but that doesn't have to be the case. Do something that forces you to really count on someone else. I wasn't the best player on our team - but I hustled and my teammates could depend on me to give my best and I could do the same. And remember... life's battles don't always go to the stronger, faster man... but sooner or later the man who wins is the man who thinks he can. WE CAN!

(How on earth do I still remember that?!)

By now you are probably aware that we liked band in Robinson. I've only posted about it 383 times. This year. This team was a force fueled by pride and driven by hard work. We never lost a single competition during my time in school. We didn't want to let each other down, so we showed up at 7am. We came back at 7pm. We marched and played and twirled. We knew that we represented something bigger than ourselves and that made all the difference. 

Girls can do anything

My senior year was (I believe) the first time our student council executive team was comprised of all women. I was so excited to lead this group that year, and we really did some pretty cool things for a bunch of high school teenagers. 

Never give up on your dreams

Although the car situation is a tad bit different. And I'm not a CPA...I'd say mine came true.

Well, that was fun!

Now it's your turn to tell us all about your school days! Please place a link back to your specific post URL and not your blog homepage and use the hashtag #spielthebeans on other social media!

Please place a link back to both hosts in either your post or on your party page so that others can link up too. It's a party, try to visit at least 2 other posts and show them some love!  This is the fun part! Be inspired, inspire someone else - don't just link and run!  

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ps. We are also both on Snapchat and pretty darn funny. You can find Shelly @queeninbetween1 and Katy @Katygking 

And don't forget to keep spieling the beans... 

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