Pieces of Mae: Memories

Showing posts with label Memories. Show all posts

Monday, March 25, 2013

Day 25: Describe Your Location - 31 Day Blog Challenge

When I look out my window I see the street that knew my bike tires well as a little girl. At the end of our street is what we referred to as our "Dead Man's Hill." It is the hill that slopes steeply down the bluff we live atop right up to the creek that feeds the marshes and wetlands we overlook.

A few blocks away is the street I grew up on, Mae, and I still carry the pieces of my life there with me every single day. My stomping grounds included the forest behind my parents house with countless brooks that led to the creek and marshes. If we weren't in the street playing with all the kids on the block we were down in the woods building forts, exploring, hiking, even hunting for Indian and Revolutionary War artifacts that our parents made us turn over to the local State Museum. We didn't need toys in this neighborhood, we had such big imaginations.

Summers on Mae were the best times so it's no wonder I settled so close to where I grew up. I have always loved the location as well. We are halfway between New York City and Philadelphia which we frequent often and minutes from Princeton (where I also work). We can get to the Jersey Shore in under 30 minutes. We have 127 miles of gorgeous Jersey coastline (not to be confused with MTV's portrayal). And there is so much history at our fingertips.

I may be in the suburbs in an extremely overcrowded town but our piece of land is very secluded, tucked away in a quiet neighborhood that overlooks some pretty amazing sunsets. We are surrounded by such a culture rich environment that it satisfies our every thirst.

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Monday, March 18, 2013

Day 18: Where Are You Happiest? - 31 Day Blog Challenge

I find that I am happiest two places. I'm a joyful happy when surrounded by family and friends I love so dearly. And I'm a peaceful happy when I immerse myself in nature.

Don't let my stilettos fool you, I'm a nature girl by heart. I grew up surrounded by my large family and we most often found ourselves surrounded by nature. Whether it be in my own backyard that overlooked a vast wetlands of marshes and thick woods or the many vacations we took to different State and National forests. Inserting our large seven person family into such an even bigger National Park like Acadia really threw perspective in my face. We were like tiny ants in this vast mountainous gorgeous park that was swallowed up by the ocean on all sides.

To this day Maine is still one of my happy places because it's impossible not to see all of nature's beauty when you are there. From the ocean to the rocky cliffs, from the mountains covered in flora and fauna to the dark night sky penetrated with a million stars that make up the milky way, beauty is everywhere you look in Acadia. People are happy places too, like my family, because wherever they are with me I'm happy. And when they're in Maine with me its pure bliss.

Hiking Cadillac Mountain = Happiness

Exploring Otter Cliffs with my daughter = Happiness

Exploring tide pools through young eyes = Happiness

Picking wild blueberries in this field overlooking
Jordan Pond and The Bubbles = Happiness

Eating lunch on these cliffs after a long hike enjoying THIS VIEW = Happiness

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Join the 31 Day Blog Challenge!

Are you keeping up with the challenge? Head over to Fabulous Finds by Tiffany to link up and read about where other bloggers are happiest. Or you can check out my past Blog Challenge posts here:

Tuesday, March 5, 2013

Day 4: Best Childhood Memory - 31 Day Blog Challenge

All of my favorite memories of childhood have happened in this blue Plymouth Voyager. Oh the places we went in that minivan. We drove everywhere. Our family vacations consisted of the 3, 4 or 5 of us kids (depending on the year in the 80s) packing into the back of the van like sardines smashed between our luggage and camping equipment Griswold style.

My inability to stay put for too long has come from a childhood of road trips, vacations, weekend getaways that occurred bimonthly. My best childhood memories happened when we were all together. We drove up the east coast, down the east coast, and slightly westward at times. Every time we reached our final destination we would inspect the front grill to see how large our bug collection was.

This van shuttled us to countless State and National Parks, Civil War Battlefields, Monuments, Beaches, Amusement Parks, the list goes on. On one jaunt the van earned a new bumper sticker that said, "This car climbed to the top of Mt. Washington." It wore the sticker proudly along side of the vast collection of stickers from everywhere we went.

The van housed every conversation, every fight, every thought, every memory of every family vacation during its time with us yet we have so few pictures of it. This picture is my favorite. My two brothers and I (and soon to be 3rd brother in my mothers belly) are enjoying a picnic lunch in a park or at a rest stop on the way to some fabulous destination to make memories.