Thirteen Things about My Childhood
And each one is a fond memory!
1. We almost moved to the Philipines but instead we moved to VA from GA when I was 5. I grew up in Altavista, VA at a christian conference center that my dad started back up after it had sat empty for a few years...therefore, I was the "camp director's kid."
2. My dad was also a pastor...therefore, I was the "pastor's kid"...except he traveled doing conferences rather than being the pastor of a specific church. 3. My mom worked alongside my dad at the camp - cooking, cleaning, bookkeeping, etc... - but was home with me and my brother too! (we lived at the camp so that was convenient!) 4. The camp had a "ranch side" where we had as many as 40 horses at a time. I had my own personal horse, Ghalii El Monieta. She was an Egyptian Arabian and absolutely beautiful! We bred her and had Ghailaa El Monieta who followed me around like a puppy dog! I miss them! I taught horseback riding lessons and we did trailrides for the campers and the general public. 5. Our house was built in the early 1900's and had a tin roof, didn't have closets to speak of, only had a/c and heat on the first floor and we shared one bathroom that didn't have a shower but it did have a beautiful pawfoot bathtub. Doesn't sound too bad til you consider that we always seemed to have someone living with us! 6. Our "chores" weren't split along typical gender lines - my brother and I both did all of the following: vacuuming, sweeping, dishes, mowing and weedeating the yard, cleaning stalls, dusting, taking out the trash, and whatever else needed to be done. 7. I went to school 30 minutes from home and rode the bus so we were out the door really really early and then when we got home, we typically walked the almost mile long driveway back home! 8. My dad made some paddles that were about 18 inches long and about 1/4 inch thick to give away as part of a sermon illustration (I think) and the leftovers are what we got disciplined with. Many a paddle was broken on mine & my brother's backside! Mom still has one hanging in their house! (and no, it wasn't child abuse!) 9. I had always been taller and "larger" than everyone else but I grew about 6 inches one summer between 6th & 7th grade...I'm 5'10" now and I don't think I've grown any since that summer. It took a long time for me to be comfortable in my own skin and for the guys to catch up with me! I got a whole new wardrobe that year though! 10. I played volleyball and basketball in middle school and high school. In 7th grade, one of the basketball referees tried to help me out because I was so clumsy and when I was graduating high school, he happened to referee my last game which happened to be the Championship game which we won and I got MVP honors. He didn't fail to remind me of that game in 7th grade when I couldn't hold on to the ball! Oh - my dad coached my team 10th-12th grades! 11. My first kiss...well, okay...to protect the not-so-innocent...I won't tell you about this one. *grin* You just never know who's gonna read this! 12. My parents named me "mandy" because they thought it was somewhat original but I was surrounded my "mandy's" my entire life...one of my closest friend's name was "mandi"and she lived with us for a summer and we worked together too, I played volleyball and basketball with a "mandy" and we looked somewhat similar on the court and we worked together for several years, and my best friend's sister's name was "mandi" - Mandy's everywhere! 13. And my favorite thing about my childhood (and this remains to this day) is that my mom and dad loved us enough to discipline us, teach us right from wrong, tend to our wounds both physically and emotionally, celebrate our successes and teach us who our Heavenly Father is so that we could come to know Him personally. | 
