Changes.

Today was a normal Sunday. I went to church, had lunch at Stony Point with my friends, came home, took a nap, went to my dad's, and later went to watch a movie with some of the senior crew.

While I was at my dad's house, I took his camera and decided to really look at things. So much has changed since my childhood. The house itself is the same, but it's deprived of the life I once knew. I don't know, it's just really changed...

The facade; pretty much the only thing that is visually the same. However, if you were to go back in time about 10 years, you would see my sisters and I running around with the other kids in our col-de-sac. We would ride our bikes, roller blade, or play hide-and-seek until the sky was littered with stars and our parents yelled for us to call it a night; always.

Rarely were Jennifer and I allowed to ride our bikes to the end of this street; at least not without permission. I remember the one time I did, and let's just say that my dad was very intimidating standing in the middle of this road when I came back... I didn't try that again.

There used to be another sign that was also posted on this pole. It read, "Slow, children at play." I remember helping my dad put it up. He had to hold me so that I could put the screw in. That sign is gone now; kind of ironic because seeing kids outside playing has become a rarity on our street. It's sad :/

There used to be an extra part to the post. The wood that the mailbox is resting on extended further back, and there was another piece of wood that stuck straight up right behind the box. Candice and I used to climb on the extended wood and practice flying for cheerleading. She would work on her heel-stretches, and I would practice cupies and libs. And on the 4th of July, we used the straight up-and-down piece to nail down a "happy lamp." You lit the fuse and the contraption would spin around and around until it popped out into a lovely paper Chinese lantern. I kept that thing for months :)

The back-street behind our house. This was the street where I learned how to roller blade, Jennifer learned how to ride a two-wheeler, and we would create new tricks on our scooters.

This pile of wood used to be our playground set; including swings, slide, tree-house area, and trapeze swing.

The jungle gym; which I used to sit on top of and feel like I was king of the world. Now, it's being used to hang plants... strange.

A look through the back window; what a quaint little kitchen... right? As I glanced through the curtainless window, I realized how open our kitchen was; open for our neighbors to see us in our socialization. I wonder, then, if they noticed how much things changed when our household became broken...

And lastly, my old shared bedroom. This is what it looks like now; having not been used for a full-night's sleep in over three years. Before Jennifer left the crib, Candice and I shared this room. And after adding the addition, Jennifer and I slept here. The gloominess of this room is the complete opposite of what it once was. Picture this: bunk beds with Beauty and the Beast bed sheets, toys and stuffed animals scattered in piles all over the room, a single lamp atop my dresser that resembled a stuffed dog hugging its puppy, and a TV stand filled with books that supported a small television (no cable, of course). It was in this room that Jenn and I would build forts, play stuffed animals, pretend to be Power Rangers, trade Pokemon cards, play school, and hide our babysitter's Sailor Moon plushies.

I guess what I'm getting at is that time alteration blows my mind. The changes aren't noticed as you're progressively exposed to it, but seeing the way things presently are and remembering how they were so long ago is just odd. Yes, nothing in life is completely static. And I know that that's how it should be, but sometimes I wish I could catch a glimpse from the days of yesteryear; sometimes...

I know this post was crazy long! So if you read the whole thing, then I give you major kudos! I love you all :) Goodnight!