Here's Week 5! This week is a little focused on technology, but that's okay! It's definitely a part of life now, and the way that people who grew up in the 1980s or 1990s (or before that) interact with it is VERY different from how children on 2000 or 2010 interact with technology! I also wanted to have some more historical prompts, so I added some of those too! 

Week 5: 
29. What do you remember the most about your maternal grandmother's house? 
30. Describe your first cell phone experience 
31. What is one of the most awesome forms of photography that you have encountered?
32. Describe your first interactions with a computer. 
33. What was your first word? 
34. Describe a typical breakfast that your family had. 
35. Do you remember your first snow? What did you do? 

It didn't matter how bad it smelled, I would sit on the porch ledge, behind that tree, and watch traffic go by. I would bring toys out onto the porch and play with them, and it was almost like having a little club house. I could sit on the porch, behind the tree, and watch cars go by. 

That tree isn't there anymore. But that spot on the porch is. Now, I sit on the porch as an adult and watch cars go by. I still think about playing behind that tree when I was a kid. 

Here we go with Week 4!! I had a really hard time picking which one I wanted to do. My English (and History) background kind of made me want to choose 22. But I also LOVE LOVE LOVE number 25. So, to solve the problem I decided to go with number 27! 

Week 4: 
22. Picture analysis - find an old picture and describe it. 
23. The first family member that you ever researched 
24. Favorite book genre (mine’s mystery...and trashy romance!)
25. First movie you saw in theaters
26. An interesting place that you’ve lived 
27. Your favorite ice cream flavor! (And Why!) 
28. Your earliest memory 

My favorite ice cream flavor is pistachio. Kind of a random pick in the middle of winter. Here's why: I remember going to an ice cream social at church when I was little. My grandparents were very involved in our church family at the time, so they always participated in the serving lines at nearly every social functions. Sometimes there would be get-togethers after church, sometimes at lunch (Good Neighbor's Lunch), and randomly throughout the year - and when I was a child I almost always went with them. 

This particular event, my grandfather and a few other people from church made homemade ice cream. Grandpa loved to make his food in different colors and flavors that people normally wouldn't eat (like pink mashed potatoes, green pancakes, etc.) So this time, he made pistachio ice cream. IT. WAS. THE. BEST. ICECREAM. EVER. 

I confessed to him the other day that I think about it from time to time, and I remember it being DELICIOUS. So, this past year (for my birthday), my mom made homemade ice cream. Pistachio. It was wonderful. 

When I see pistachio ice cream, I remember going up to my grandfather at that ice cream social. I remember the way the table was set up at church; my grandfather standing on one side of it, scoop in hand. I remember the brown bucket from the ice cream maker that he had the ice cream in, and leaning on the table to see what was inside of it. It's not just the flavor of that ice cream that makes it my favorite. It's also the memories that I have of that ice cream social. 

Okay! Here is Week 3 on time! 

Week 3: 
15. What was your most dreaded school activity (school play’s, P.E. - and why?)
16. When was the first time you’ve ever flown? Where did you go? 
17. What was your favorite road trip that you’ve taken with your family?
18. A story about your maternal grandmother 
19. Your favorite urban legend growing up (or horror story). 
20. Your most beloved holiday tradition 
21. Your favorite picture of an ancestor


This week I've chosen to do 18. A story about your maternal grandmother. I feel like its fitting since I chose to do my paternal grandmother last week! 

She said that in order to afford her surgery, the family had had to sell a cow. I remember being so amazed at this information. I couldn't believe that my grandmother hadn't had a car when she was growing up. After all, everyone had cars in the 1990s - didn't they (I had just figured out how to spell Caravan and had learned that the word applied to more than just my mother's Dodge van). I knew that surgery was expensive, but I thought it was funny that selling a cow had brought enough money to pay for her medical bills. 

So here are the next seven suggestions - sorry that they are a week late. I had a thought on Thursday that I needed to post them, but it has been a CRAZY week!! 

8. A vivid memory of your paternal grandmother 
9. Describe a beloved family activity 
10.The organization of your childhood room (and what you thought about it)
11. What did you want to be when you grew up? 
12. What do you remember about your childhood best friend (how did you meet, what were their favorite things to say or do?)
13. Name one adventure you’ve had
14. Name one prank that you’ve pulled on a younger sibling. 

After she married a preacher, she wrote music to go along with his sermons. My paternal grandmother also wrote me (and my sister) a song about my name. When we would visit her, I would ask her to sing it to me - and she would. Our family would gather around her and the piano that had once been in her parents house. Sometimes, I would sit next to her. She always made a big deal about performing my song for me. I've got her sheet music now, and whenever I look at my song, I can hear her singing it. 

So I found an NPR article that described a recording of a World War II radio program. In this recording, a woman was able to hear her father's voice for the first time - she is now in her 70s. I had to share! How amazing! 

I've decided to ATTEMPT to write 365 genealogical journaling prompts. You might  be curious as to why I want to write them. I'm an awful blog writer and I often scramble to find something inspirational. So, this is a desperate attempt at self motivation! Every week I will present 7 (SEVEN!!) potential prompts, one for each day of the week. It's my hope that by the end of the year I'll actually be able to come up with 365 of them! 

In addition to listing the seven, I will also do one (at least one) too! Hopefully, this will be exciting (and enlightening) instead of becoming some kind of technological burden. Sheesh. 

The List: 
1. Describe an awesome heirloom 
2. Favorite family recipe (and the memory associated with it!) 
3. Favorite memory with a great-uncle 
4. Funniest (or silliest) memory of a cousin
5. Throwback Thursday 
6. A story about your first pet 
7. Your favorite childhood toy (and why!)

My pick: 5. Throwback Thursday (because today is Thursday after all)!