Sunday, September 7, 2008

Growing up in a Small Town...

Most of you know that I grew up in the tiny town of Malad, Idaho - population less than 2000 (at least while I was growing up.) I can honestly say that I loved my childhood in a small rural town - of course, I knew nothing different. But growing up in rural Idaho is interesting...here is a list I found on a High School Buddies Blog - they are all so true! I could relate to almost every one of them! Thanks, Nichole!!

"You know you're from Malad when..."

-Your last name is either Hess, Evans, Williams, Thomas or Jones.
-You are mostly Welsh.
-You are the shortest of all of your friends.
-Your favorite adolescent activities were pumice jumping, playing Sardines, Rambo or toilet-papering.
-You went to school with at least four of your cousins.
-Your schoolteachers were your friends parents.
-Your schoolteachers confuse you for your older siblings.
-Your parents are either farmers, schoolteachers or work at Hess Pumice, La-Z-Boy, Thiokol or Nucor.
-As you drive you have the urge to wave at people in passing cars.
-You are slightly suspcious of traffic lights.
-You laugh when people don't understand four-way stops.
-Drive a car from the previous decade and was probably previously driven by your older siblings.
-You knew everyone in your graduating class.
-Know gossip about your friends before they do.
-Miss the mountains when you leave home.
-Use words like 'borrow pit, 'jockey box' and 'sluffing school'.
-Samaria isn't a place in Israel, Saint John isn't a Catholic saint, Stone isn't another name for a rock, the Summit isn't the peak of a mountain...
-You've had the same haircutter, doctor or dentist for your entire life.
-You knew some of your teachers by their first names and may have had their #s in your phone.
-You have hiked to the M.
-You remember the time that school and church was cancelled for a week because of the flu.
-You remember the pipe bomb that was diffused in the courthouse parking lot.
-You laugh at all the "Lotto-Day Saints" that come up from Utah to play the lottery when it gets huge.
-You miss Paula's Sandwich Shop.
-Whenever you come home you have to eat at the Drive-In, the Dude Ranch or Tillie's just to make the trip complete.
-Your summer jobs were provided by the city or county (cemetery, parks, lifeguarding, road crew), or worked on the family farm or on the sod farms.
-You've had some of the same friends since Kindergarten.
-You go anywhere and someone knows somebody from Malad.
-Your parents are best-friends with your best-friends parents.
-You had a specific parking spot at the high school.
-You could find your parents pictures in the old school yearbooks and the senior class pictures in the halls of the high school.
-You've learned, from sad experience, that the weather in Idaho can change with the drop of a hat.
-You have no qualms with playing in the rain.
-Humidity kills you.
-You have one rockin' farmer's tan and your lips are always chapped.
-Know what 4-H is and have entered a project in the county fair.
-Once a year you go to Lagoon and the State Fair.
-Compare the 4th of July fireworks with the previous year and the result is always different.
-You love the unique festivities in Malad like The Welsh Festival and the Christmas Parade.
-On the last day of school you rode your bike to school, had a waterfight or went swimming.
-A Friday night isn't fulfilled unless you cruise Main Street, hang out at the corner or eat at the Drive-in.
-You've become adept at entertaining yourself no matter how bleak and boring your situation may be.
-When you leave home you realize that not everyone is as awesome as people from Malad."

10 comments:

Pedaling said...

i think we should all have such a childhood and wonderful place like that to grow up.
love the pics and bond you share with your sisters.
very nice.

Melissa said...

Loved it--thanks for the link to Nichole!!

Sarah said...

Why is everyone short in Malad???

Staci said...

I wish I could say I was from a small town..what's cool and fun to say about Orem:( Always love your posts!!

Elder Quinn Kay Longhurst said...

GREAT POST! I had a friend who couldn't believe I grew up in a small town...she said, "I've heard that there's nothing to do in a small town except get pregnant!" She was dead serious and I just about laughed to death!

Red Bed Head said...

I say borrow pit, and people around here look at me funny.

LehiLeavitts said...

On the first day of class last week one of my students said something about "sluffing" and another student just looked at her and asked what she was talking about. It was a little funny, but true... Mike hadn't hear of it either before he came to Utah.

Troop 2531 said...

I'm from a very small town also.. and it's hilarious to see there are alot that are the same.

Connie said...

Life doesn't get any better than that!

Rane said...

love the post. people think i'm kidding when i tell them i'm a farm girl. ahhhh good times.