IN MY SHOES

Confession: I love shoes.

I counted the number of shoes that are in my room today and discovered that I have 49 pairs. I have to justify this number a little bit by saying that there are a number of flip flops which really shouldn't count in the total but for the sake of accuracy I included them in the grand total. I also have to confess that I have more shoes stored at my parents' house. I obviously have a hard time letting go of shoes because they always fit. I have worn the same size since 6th or 7th grade and may have a few pair of shoes from back then. The real reason why I have a hard time letting go of shoes is because of the memories connected with them. I thought I would share a few of my favorite "shoe" memories.

These are a pair of Dr. Martens. Whenever I think of Dr. Martens I think of Junior High and High School. I have a vivid memory of wearing a pair of Dr. Martens to Junior High with tube socks and Umbro shorts. Shocking but true. These shoes are heavy too. Each one honestly probably weighs at least 2 pounds.

These are my Italian shoes and definitely my favorite. I got these shoes in a little town called Treviso outside of Venice, Italy. My luggage was lost on my way to Italy so I had a perfect excuse to buy some shoes. I ended up walking all over Rome in these shoes, literally all over Rome. We met some Rome natives for dinner and walked from our Hotel near the main train station past the Spanish steps to Piazza del Popolo and Pizza Re. The Pizza was worth the walk by the way.

These are a pair of Diesels I bought before my trip to England, Scotland, and France in 2007. The most memorable moment in these shoes came on my first day in London. We went from the Gatwick Airport right to Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey, Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament, The National Gallery, and Piccadilly Circus. We were on the tube on our way to Harrods. We got off at our stop and I had been feeling kind of sick since the National Gallery. Well rubbish bins are apparently scarce in London and I ended up loosing it in the hallway of the tube station. At least I kept my shoes clean.

These are my running shoes. I have been trying to wear them at least three days a week. I am up to five miles.

These are the shoes I wore in Las Vegas when Amy and I went to see Celine Dion in concert. We walked all over the mall at Caesar's Palace. Then we went to the concert and I ended up slipping off my shoes because they kind of hurt. Well my feet apparently got a little swollen during the concert. I slipped them back on and literally limped back to the car. Amy was also wearing a pair of heels, cute red Steve Maddens. Amy thinks that people probably thought we were drunk as we limped back to her car and I think she is right.

These are my most comfortable pair of flip flops. I was wearing them near Paw Paw, West Virginia this summer when I got caught in a rainstorm. Seriously the rain had more pressure than my shower head. Well I ended up running half a mile back to the car. My shoes were soaked and so was I. I have pictures from this incident but I'm not willing to share those.

These are my lawn mowing shoes. My best lawn mowing story occurred on July 24th. I started mowing my parent's lawn first thing in the morning. For some reason it seemed like part way through mowing the mower stopped propelling itself. I literally had to push the mower. Imagine me lunging across the lawn, not a pretty sight. So I stopped and decided to mow the lawn at my apartment and bring that mower up to finish my parent's lawn. Well I start mowing my lawn and one of the wheels falls off. I had a little melt down but handy girl that I am I grabbed the Anne's girly tool set and fixed the wheel myself. I also finished the other lawn.

These are the shoes I wore when I hiked the Grand Canyon rim to rim three years ago. As you can see I have not worn them since. I cleaned them off and never got the shoelaces back in.

These are my Chacos. They have been on many adventures. I wore them in the pyramids in Giza, in Hezekiah's tunnel in Jerusalem, and in the ruins in Petra.

These are the boots that I shovel my driveway and sidewalks in. I'm trying to get excited about wearing them again but I'm just not there yet. But, I can't wait to put on my snowboarding and ski boots.