Bell

I don't have a super clear memory of the house on Bell. Again, the front door led right into the living room, with the kitchen to the right, and a hallway at the back that led straight down, to all the bedrooms. I'm pretty sure it was a three bedroom house. I don't remember where any of the bedrooms or the bathrooms were located. One thing I do remember is singing the Articles of Faith in the living room of that house. Again, it's funny what memory can do!


We left Corcoran after two years, as my dad had been hired as a teacher in Turlock, California, where our family would stay for about 18 years. (Such a record!)

Candy and Movies

The fence to our backyard backed up against the lot of a gas station/convenience store. So any time we got our little fists around any money, we’d slip over to the store and buy candy. I don’t think it ever occurred to us to ask Mom if we could. We were always playing outside, and we were not restricted to our yard. (It was a different world back then, for sure). So it didn’t seem like we were doing anything wrong. Although if my kids did anything like that today, they would be told that under no circumstances should they ever do that again.

Corcoran was just a crazy place to live, and honestly, I am so glad we got out of there when we did. A memory that horrifies me to this day has to do with the movie theater. This movie theater had been out of business for a really long time. I don’t remember it ever being a functioning theater, in fact. It was a block or so away from the convenience store behind our house, so it was very easy to get to, and we got to it a lot during our bike rides around town. Sam told me that some guy was playing movies and was letting people in for free. Again, why it didn’t occur to me that we should check with our mom first is completely beyond me. We probably went to the movies 3 or 4 times, free of charge. I don’t know who the guy was, if he owned the place or just figured out how to get in—no earthly idea. And I really can’t tell you why the movies didn’t really phase me or disturb me once, I think I wasn’t really paying attention (maybe?), because the movies he played for us were the Death Wish movies. Seriously!? How in the world could anyone with a brain play movies like that for a bunch of little kids??

Baptisms For the Dead

When I was 12, I got to go on my first trip to the temple to do baptisms for the dead. Living in Corcoran, our temple was the Los Angeles temple. I remember that we fasted before we went, and broke our fast after we were done with our temple work. I only remember being in the temple, I don’t remember anything from before or after. We got to do 11 baptisms each, and fewer confirmations than that.

I also remember going one time to the Oakland Temple when we lived in Turlock, and I’m pretty sure those are the only two times I ever got to do baptisms.

French Braids

I remember that my Aunt Sheryl came to visit us a lot when we lived on Jepson. And one of my favorite things about Aunt Sheryl coming to visit is that she would French braid my hair. I thought French braided hair was the best thing in the entire world!!

I always wanted to learn how to French braid, but lacking a youtube tutorial in the mid-80s, I just really had no clue. Then one day, I was at my friend Heather's house, and someone was French braiding someone else's hair. I found out that day that I could be told all day long how to do it, and it would do me no good. But if someone showed me, and I could watch it being done, I would pick it up super fast.

Actually, the fact that I had had it explained to me a million times before probably made learning by watching a ton easier, so there should still be some credit given to the telling.

Anyway, I practiced and practiced and practiced, and I eventually became great at French braiding my own hair in lots of different ways. And now that I have two daughters, those skills come in very handy!

Hearst Castle

One summer, the youth in our branch took a trip to San Simeon California, where we toured Hearst Castle.  

I really don’t remember a whole lot about this trip, except that when we were out by a pool, the ground around the pool included some solid gold tiles, and the tour guide joked that they always have to pay attention in case anyone is tying their shoes for too long.

I also remember that we all brought our lunches, and we ate sitting on a pier at a beach.

Fishy

 

 

One day my mom was making chicken nuggets for dinner. I'm sure there were probably peas and mashed potatoes to go along with it, but chicken nuggets were the main deal.

 

We sat down for dinner, said the prayer, and started in. I dunked a chicken nugget into my ketchup and ate it, and it was just what I expected. But some of my nuggets were a little bit...off. Had they...gone bad or something? They didn't taste freezer burned, and I  just couldn't figure out what it was. I kept eating, and some of my chicken nuggets were normal, and some were just not right. Not to the point of gagging or anything, but what was the deal??

 

I found out later that there hadn't been enough chicken nuggets for everyone, so my inventive mother got out some breaded fish and cut it into nugget looking shapes, and just mixed them all in together. (It really does sound like something I might do as a mom today). But my feeling on the issue was this--at least TELL me there's fish, because fish taste a ton better dipped in tartar sauce than in ketchup.

 

Ha ha ha ha ha!!

 

~~~~~~~~~~

 

Why do I not like fish? Well, it's fishy. I don't like fish. I used to eat fish sticks and stuff as a kid (as mentioned above, but also the right way, with tartar sauce), and I also used to eat tuna. But there is just something that I really don't like about fish. It's been years since I've even had any desire for tuna.

 

In point of fact, it's all seafood. Fish is fishy, and other things are, well, insecty. I know that's not really a word. But really, it's the perfect non word to describe what I'm talking about. Lobsters look like giant scorpions, kind of. And let's face it. Shrimp? It's like huge maggots. Sorry for that mental picture my friends, but facts are facts. And anything that's not fishy or insecty is slimy.

 

Every once in a while my mom makes fish. When I was a kid, it was filet of sole. Now don't get me wrong, my mom is a fine cook. I have never had a problem with my mom's cooking, even if I don't always agree with her choice of food to cook. But once or twice I walked into the house, and that fishy smell overtook me and I thought I was going to DIE. Filet of sole is nothing but fishy.

 

There are people who will say, "How do you know you don't like it if you've never tried it?" That is a fair question, I will admit. I myself point that out to children. But for me and the fish/seafood thing, it's not about taste. I really don't care to ever know how shrimp tastes if it looks like a giant maggot, thank you very much.

 

The Adamsons

My favorite family of all in Corcoran was the Adamsons. They had 7 kids, so a lot of their kids were friends with me and my siblings, because their ages matched. The young women in their family at the time were Heather and Tricia. Their mom was one of our Young Women leaders (maybe the president?)

Attached to their house was a separate apartment, and this is where the missionaries lived.  This picture was taken one night when I was sleeping over.

Elder Honrubia, Heather, Me, Janessa, Tricia

This picture is me helping out at Jared Adamson’s birthday party. I’m not sure why, I’m sure I was just over playing with Heather at the time.