15 years ago...

I graduated from high school.  Well.. in I did in May of 1996.  I thought we would have a class reunion this summer so I've been waiting but got nothing so I guess maybe in 5 years we'll do another one.  Either way it's been having me think about the good old days... well not so good.  For some reason I didn't really like high school.  I think most people have a love or hate relationship and I would prefer to never go back.  It wasn't that bad.. not sure why I feel that way, I just do. 

But I nabbed some pictures from my high school year book.  And along with those pictures I will tell you a bit about myself, my past.

Jerad is my step brother.  We were in the same grade but we have different birth parents.  His mom married my dad after our own birth parents divorced.  I have had him as a brother since I was about 5 so for the most part, he has always been my brother, in my memory.  We did NOT get along as kids but we get along now for the most part.  He liked to pick on my as a kid and usually got away with it.  (On a side note I have an older "birth" brother the same age as my "step" sister so they were also in the same class.)  My maiden name is McCulley... how odd to think of that as my name.   It just so happens that Jerad and my last names are in alphabetical order so we also got pictures next to each other...  as a kid I probably hated that.  (but it did make for easy scanning for this little project.) Look at that "look" on my face, doesn't that have Harlie written all over it?

This was just a random picture of me.  I'm guessing I'm ten or so.  

Who are those young pups?   This is one of my favorite pictures ever taken of me. 
There are only a few out of hundreds that I actually like, this is one of them.  Rene' is a family name.  My (birth) mom, myself and Harlie all have it as our middle names.

This is actually really funny on a personal note.  My parents (dad and step mom) made the album.  This does not surprise me, nor anyone else as they were pretty involved... not just in our lives but everyone else's as well.  My dad is on the far right and my step mom.. well she's the only woman in the picture.  Man, they look young here (they were probably close to my age now (39?)!)  In case you are curious, my brother is in the picture as well.  This was a cross country meet, he was and still is a runner.

I played volleyball in high school and loved it.  I was not very good but I really enjoyed it and worked hard at it. I know I look ridiculous in this picture but it's volleyball so I had to include it.

I was class treasure... my brother vice president.  Gotta love the shirt.. in case you can't tell it says "ATTITUDE".

I also acted in a few plays in high school, played the clarinet then bass clarinet a few years, did shot put in track, and I  was flag twirler one year.

Graduation day!  Funny story.  I actually did not get my diploma on graduation day.  I was a bit of an alcohol drinker in high school and we took some along on our class trip.  I got called on it (after the fact), I plead guilty and served community service time.  I had to complete my community service before getting my diploma.  Hmm.. what an odd memory.  I'm still a bit angry at my school for making such a stink of it after the class trip was all done.  I felt like if it was a problem it should have been dealt with on the trip.  I think I felt wronged in the situation... even though I was wrong.  Hmm.. odd to think about this memory.  Not sure how I feel about it now.    

Side note:  I moved out the week after I graduated.  I moved up to Cedar Falls to live with my step sister, and then in the fall I started at UNI.  That was one of the hardest summers of my life.  I could NOT find a job and I used a lot of graduation money to pay rent.  My sister couldn't get a job either so we almost killed each other on a few occasions as we had spent way too much time together.   We did have some of those "we're insane" laughing gas moments.

Another random picture of me. I think I was dressed up for Halloween.  There is actually a guy (my boyfriend at the time) next to me but I didn't feel the need to share his picture. 


A few facts from the past:

1. I went to Tri-County High School in Thornburg, IA
2. According to my year book, I had a graduation class of 24 total people
3. One class mate has died (from a car accident about a year out of high school)
4. I worked at a restaurant doing dishes.  I did some babysitting but didn't enjoy it.
5. I was not a Homecoming Candidate (this was very sad for me)
6. I took Spanish 3 1/2 years.  I always wanted to take drafting but didn't. (I thought I wanted to be an architect)
7. I drank a lot of alcohol in high school but I never drove under the influence and I never did anything I regretted/stupid.
8. I did get in a really bad car accident my senior year and I will admit I was intoxicated but the driver was sober (the driver was being crazy on gravel roads). He flipped the car and we landed upside down in a gravel pit type thing. Lucky to be alive.  
9. I had about 4 boyfriends in high school but no real love or anything too special.  Although they bring up memories or feelings.
10. I grew up in the country but my dad didn't farm.  He built culverts and now own his own business.
11. My birth mom lived in Iowa City at the time and I often visited her every other weekend (she lives in Florida now). 
12. I have 5 siblings.  1 full brother, 1 step sister, 2 step brothers - these were all in one family.  I also have 1 "half" sister.  We have the same mom but different dads, and she and I didn't really grow up in the same household.

Other thoughts:

• As I glanced through and looked at some people in our school I'm amazed at the judgements I made on them.  Certain names come to mind such as "prep" "dirty" "jerk" or "dork".  It saddens me to know I made several judgements in high school, and I'm sure I still make them today. 
•  I looked at the teachers and I can't remember about 1/2 of them.  Even ones, I'm sure I had, I don't recognize their face or name. 
• Things that happened during my senior year:  OJ Simpson trial, Oklahoma city bombing (I don't remember this), Christopher Reeve had his accident, the 1st Toy Story comes out (really, that movie is that old? ), Friends runs it's second season, M&M's add blue as a color, and Got Milk ads were started.