Throwback Thursday - A Look Back at My Graduating Senior

My daughter finished her last day of High School yesterday and while gathering things for her upcoming graduation, we took a photographic trip back in time. It was Friday night, I was tired and I was slightly annoyed that she needed to upload childhood photos right then and there because it was all due by midnight.

Fortunately, I have a DVD full of photos I took from 1999-2003. By the time we perused the collection (over 1100 taken), I was no longer tired or annoyed at my daughter - I loved seeing and remembering all the fun times, the toys, the outfits, the friends and how they've all grown up.

Some of my favorites:





I'm pregnant with her brother in this photo.




As a little girl, I celebrated a birthday with a similar bunny cake, so she needed one, too!


Her love of horses started early and never waned.




I love the kitty cat on her top....



So now, that little girl has grown up and no longer rides little ponies. She rides big horses:

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Fifteen Years Young

Yesterday was the boy's fifteenth birthday. Oh, how fast the years pass!

From this little tyke (at seven days old!):


To this big guy:


The ideal birthday? Sleep in until noon, head over to your friends' house and play Minecraft for an hour, then head home for a round of golf with your Dad. After golf, play football with more friends, then go to dinner with friends.


It's a tough life, isn't it?

My personal highlight of the day - unabashedly singing duets with him in the car after dropping off the last of his friends. It's one of our "mother - son" activities - we cue up the Glee Version of Journey's "Don't Stop Believing" and belt it out. He doesn't quite sing on key, and he doesn't care.

And neither do I.

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Chicago in 2003 - Throwback Thursday | 3

Our first day trip to Chicago, to celebrate the end of Summer.
We departed early on the Amtrak train. Riding the train was a treat - we ate breakfast in the Dining car and spent most of the trip in the observation train, where the windows curved along the sides and roof of the car, giving the occupants a lovely, unobstructed view of the landscape.

You Can Barely Tell, but my Little Boy is Wearing a Fish Tale Shirt - Perfect for Today's Visit

We visited the Shedd Aquarium that day.

Yes, We Broke Down and Bought Her a White Seal Stuffed Animal - She Loves Animals

It was a fun day trip, but our experience with Amtrak was a little frustrating due to numerous delays (the track is shared with freight trains, and they get preference). In subsequent years, we opted to drive to the Chicago suburbs and take the commuter train into the city instead. Still, I'm glad we took one trip on Amtrak - there is something nostalgic and romantic about a true rail experience.

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Long Time Friends - Throw Back Thursday | 2

I had so much fun digging up old photos for last week's #tbt (Throwback Thursday) post of my daughter's first day of school compendium, I culled a couple extra photos.

This could become a weekly feature here on the blog!

Background - I bought my first digital camera in 2003, a Nikon Coolpix. I finally organized all the photos from 2003 - 2010 onto one external hard drive, but most have not been imported into my Lightroom Catalog and uploaded to Flickr. My Flickr stream is up to date starting in 2009, so there are many gaps between 2003-2009 that I can fill.

Before 2003, I sent my film into a company called Seattle Filmworks, who offered a negative scanning / digital archiving option. Seattle Filmworks no longer exists, but it was bought out by Shutterfly and all of my photos from 1998 - 2003 are archived there. I opted to have a CD burned and transferred the files to my trusty (and backed up) EDD.

In short, I have several years of old photos to look back upon, and I really treasure all of them.

Enough with the blabbering, here are two treasured photos for Throw Back Thursday:



That's my daughter and her good friend, some ten years ago. The great thing - they are still good friends today! Both girls were at the house on Monday, getting ready to film their ALS Ice Bucket Challenge together (they threw the ice water on each other - it was quite funny). Of course, I had to show them this photo. I will take another photo of the two of them before the end of the school year.

Then there's this photo, taken in 2004:

Our kids with kids of our good friends, Dave and Dawn. Scott and I met Dave during our first year out of college when we worked for GE Lighting in Cleveland. We got to know Dave's future wife, Dawn and our lives have paralleled each others since. They live in Michigan and while we don't see each other in person all that often, we keep tabs on each other via Facebook.

In 2010, we traveled to Italy (sans kids) with Dave and Dawn and had a blast. Whenever we connect with them, we pick right back up where we left off - a mark of a true friend.

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Regarding Friendship

I've returned from a trip out east which included my 25th college reunion. Because I grew up in Massachusetts, I still feel like I'm "going home" each time I travel there, and we visit quite regularly - we fly into Boston, get to experience the Boston traffic and visit the city if we have time. Even so, we don't typically drive into Cambridge or MIT. The last time I was on the MIT campus was three years ago, and while that visit was nice (read about it here), is wasn't nearly as fun. The difference two weekends ago was the addition of old friends, which made me realize those friends are what made the visit so special.



I loved seeing my friends Amy and Deb. We were all Chemical Engineering majors (Course 10 for those familiar with MIT speak), which meant we logged hours working problem sets, studying for tests and running lab experiments together. More important than being classmates and lab partners, each woman provided a shoulder to cry upon, a listening ear and a beacon of support. We helped each other maneuver the years of transition into adulthood. We were missing one friend's presence - Robin. Robin, Amy and I traveled to Europe upon graduation and embarked on a month long adventure from the UK to France, Italy, Greece, Germany and the Netherlands. It's a trip I will never forget. Such are lifelong friends - we exchange holiday cards each year, attended or served in each other's weddings and watched our families grow.

We were Young Once

Close friends are special because it takes time to cultivate those relationships. Opening yourself to a new person leaves you vulnerable and open to rejection - at least it does for me. I estimate it took me at least three years once I moved here to really feel like I had a good group of friends and I am so blessed to have them.

Vegas, Baby! November, 2010

Friends are important for my kids and I love that each has a great group. Having the right friends is crucial in this crazy world they are growing up in.




This past year has given me more change in the friendship department than I really care for - one good friend moved away, another one is about do the same. I had new friends enter and friends disappear. Regardless, each friend has shaped and influenced my life. You never stop thinking about the close friends, any reconnection feels like they never left - you can pick right back up without missing a beat. Such is the mark of a special friend, with whom you can talk with about anything, who will listen and not judge what you have to say.

Special friends will do lots of crazy things with you!

CrazyK, 2011

Canoeing in the Rain - Turkey Run

Spelling Bee

Social Media sites (yes, Facebook and the like) make staying in touch with old friends so easy, but there is nothing quite like reconnecting with friends in real life, even if you have to travel across the ocean to do so.

Friends Reunited in Italy, 2010

College Roommates in the UK, 2013

Friends from Indiana - at the British Museum, 2013

Unfortunately, there are friends I will never see again - Tom and Ed, specifically.

Tom Murray, Summer 1988

Taken too early, but not forgotten.

"No Love, No Friendship can cross the path of our Destiny without leaving some Mark on It Forever" - Francois Mauriac

My friend, Kellie is moving away this weekend and we will miss her so. But we also know our friendship contains a special bond that is not easily severed. We will always be close in spirit. She posted this quote a few days ago.

“Close friends are truly life's treasures. Sometimes they know us better than we know ourselves. With gentle honesty, they are there to guide and support us, to share our laughter and our tears. Their presence reminds us that we are never really alone." - Vincent van Gogh

Reach out and be a friend, or reconnect with one today. You will be forever changed.

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Throwback Thursday - Bereft

Where had I heard this wind before
Change like this to a deeper roar?
What would it take my standing there for,
Holding open a restive door,
Looking down hill to a frothy shore?



Summer was past and the day was past.
Sombre clouds in the west were massed.
Out on the porch's sagging floor,
Leaves got up in a coil and hissed,
Blindly struck at my knee and missed.
Something sinister in the tone
Told me my secret must be known:

Word I was in the house alone
Somehow must have gotten abroad,
Word I was in my life alone,
Word I had no one left but God.

Bereft by Robert Frost

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Throwback Thursday - Windsor Castle

Last week's training session brought back memories of the last time I ran the class, way back in January, 2008, in the decidedly "cooler" location of Wales, UK. Friend Mark had just started in the role of IT Project manager for the system we were training on and the training torch was being passed from cohort number three, Anthony. Each training session brings along with it interesting travel adventures that serve as great fodder when reminiscing.

When Mark visited last week, I walked him through my LightRoom work flow and re-edited some photos I took from that 2008 trip. We both agreed that my new edit of Windsor Castle surpasses my 2008 edit when I was using Nikon View NX.



I wrote up a detailed blog post on our visit to Windsor Castle and Stonehenge, which may be read here: Visit to Windsor Castle and Stonehenge, 2008.

Here's another throwback photo from that visit - the training group participants. It's always fun to go back in the past.


I've been [slowly] going through my previous years' photos and incorporating them into my Lightroom catalog. This is quite a task as I have digital photos spanning back from 2003 and only started using Lightroom in 2011. Hopefully, I'll be able to incorporate more Throwback posts here in the blog.

Have a great Thursday!

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