Photo Album Memories with Where Bloggers Live

This month’s theme for our Where Bloggers Live is photo albums. I swear Bettye comes up with the most interesting ideas. At first, I’m always at a loss for what I’m going to write about, and then I get caught up in the idea and get totally excited about it.
Even though this photo album looks plain from the outside, it’s filled with wonderful memories and stories on the inside.

Join me as I share some of my favorite memories below.

Quote of the day: “Life engenders life. Energy creates energy. It is by spending oneself that one becomes rich.” Sarah Bernhardt

I’m such a lover of old photos, yet are mine all organized? Ha, I wish. Yet I have a couple of old photo albums from my dad and from when I was a child. But my most precious photo album is the one my mother put together for me when I turned 40.
In fact, I had done the same thing for her when she turned 60 two years before that.

Looking back through this photo album is like a movie of my life, and truthfully, it reminds me of the quote above. Sometimes we don’t think we’ve done much in this world until we start adding up all of the friends, accomplishments, and events that have shaped us.

Beware, as an only child, this photo album share is a L.O.T. of me, haha! And I didn’t even share it all. But I’d love to point out some of the things that touched my heart.

BTW, my mom put this album together with a Creative Memories book (found on Amazon) and many of my supplies. I used to have a bunch of scrapbooking supplies because it was one of my creative outlets.

The Younger Years

Not only did my mom include photos and decals in my photo album but check out some of the narration and she even included a lock of hair.
One of her notes above says “Note matching purse.” That’s because my mom is a fabulous seamstress and used to make a ton of my clothes. With a matching purse no less!

Insider Story: My mom used to have a shadow box of my “Buffy curls” after they were cut off in 4th grade when I got glasses and they didn’t look right with the glasses. It was only when we moved here to AZ, 3 years ago, that I twisted her arm to throw it out. Too bad, they didn’t have Locks of Love back then.

My life in swimsuits started young obviously. If you look closely, you can see the “Orphan Annie” curls that I continue to struggle with.

Related post: Embracing my curls

The other outfit that I remember quite vividly is that blue “apron” dress that my father brought back from Switzerland for me. There was another one similar to it in red that appeared when I was older and I HATED IT. Why? I’m not exactly sure except it was so girly. And maybe by that time, I wanted to pick out my own clothes. (It’s the one I’m wearing in my 4th-grade photo below). By the time I did decide it was okay to wear, I had almost outgrown it. Typical.
Even though you see me in many girly things now, there was a time in my life when I didn’t like that.

School and Activities

You know, how you would get your photos taken for school every year?? Well, we laughed when we put them all together because, in the days when my mom would dress me, I was always wearing red. But from 7th grade on (not pictured here), I was always in pink. I’m sure some psychologist could analyze that detail.

As a kid, I was in dance and gymnastics and even learned to ride a unicycle (the proof is below). Although my friend Em has even done it as an adult (check out her video tucked at the end of this post)

My gymnastic career ended when I went off to college. My good friend did get a scholarship to college in gymnastics but I wanted to concentrate on my studies and was tired of hurting my body so much.
I did coach young kids at a nearby church, where I met a lifelong friend.

Friends and Family

Granted my family is quite small, but I love seeing these photos of friends because we are all still in touch.
It’s very touching that even though my mom and dad were divorced when I was 3, she included a page in my photo album dedicated to him (he had passed away by this time.)
You can even read the behind-the-scenes story of my family.

Related post: Tribute to my dad

And look how chubby I was back when I was 25!! It all started when I went off to college and gained that Freshman 20. Then the stress of dental school and terrible eating habits were huge factors. In fact, you may not even realize what a sweet tooth I had for most of my life. I think giving up sugar has been not only one of the hardest things I’ve done but also the most beneficial for my body.

Related post: My journey with healthy eating

The Best Part of My Life

I met my husband Rob when I was 38, and I can’t imagine life without him. He comes from an Italian family back in New York, and we would go back every Christmas while his mother was alive and take my mom with us. It was always such a wonderful holiday time.

So that’s the movie of my life until I was 40. It’s amazing to think how so much has happened and so much has changed. And now my life is splattered all over the internet.

While I don’t share the personal stories of my life in my blog posts, I invite you to join my email family where I share the daily happenings along with inspirational articles and even extra photos that don’t make it to the blog.

Where Bloggers Live

What is Where Bloggers Live? It’s kind of like HGTV’s “Celebrities at Home,” but…Bloggers! Who doesn’t like to peek behind the scenes and hear all about the personal backstories and interesting details? Go take a gander at everyone else’s stories about photo albums.
FYI, we don’t all post at the same time since we all have different schedules and live in different parts of the country.

Bettye at Fashion Schlub
Daenel at Living Outside the Stacks
Iris at Iris’ Original Ramblings
Jodie at Jodie’s Touch of Style
Leslie at Once Upon a Time & Happily Ever After
Sally at Within a World of My Own

The Series

Welcome to Jodie’s Touch of Style. I’m here to prove that it’s never too late to look great. Clothing and style are meant to showcase your inner personality. So let’s have fun and try new things.

It’s not just about me on this blog, but also about my mother and friend. We get to showcase not only different decades of life but also different body shapes and unique personal styles.

Find out more about all of us here. And make sure to join the email list where I include so much more.