in the moment

i've been thinkin...

 

about alex.   

he's a graduate now.  a middle schooler.

yep, i've been thinking.

 

because we went from this...

beginning of elementary school, kindergarten year 9/06

to this....

end of elementary school, fifth grade year 6/2012

in just six short years. 

 

oh, mY.

i've been thinkin'

about this blog... writing, taking photos, being in the moment and always finding the balance.  

this is my hobby.  i enjoy photography.  

i enjoy taking pictures and being the fly on the wall.  i enjoy telling stories.   my photography is a reflection of this-- the images i capture, give a peek into a brief moment of our lives.  they alone tell a story.

and i have always been the historian of our family... capturing events of our lives to record and save.

so, i take a lot of pictures, more than the average joe and there are times when the kiddos get tired of me pulling out that black piece of hardware to point their way.  but there is a method to my madness, i know that our time together is fleeting, the childhood years are flying by and these kids are changing so fast.  i have already forgotten so many moments, i just can't keep it all in my brain any more.

and then this moment happened....

on new years eve, craig and i got talking about our past celebrations but our memories were fuzzy. we were getting confused and had difficulty remembering so we pulled out the photo albums and started flipping through the pages.  there were new year's eve photos.... of us celebrating with college friends, of a ski trip weekend, of us at a new year's eve wedding, of us traveling to miami beach for the millenium, there were photos of cocktail functions and quiet dinners just the two of us.

we turned the pages and shared the stories with the kids. we answered their questions we reminisced together. we giggled at some of the images.  and we remembered these past moments together.  

when we were done and putting the albums away, craig turned to me and said, "thank you for taking our pictures."

 

 

i've been thinkin...

about craig.

so, i wrote him a letter today.  a love letter.

you see, tomorrow is january 11th.  

we met each other 22 years ago on june 11th.  then, we were married two years later on july 11th. and in just six short months, we will be celebrating our 20th wedding anniversary on the 11th.  so, you see, i've been thinking about the 11th...  

and, i've been thinkin' about our upcoming anniversary.

so today i read all our love letters.  when we were dating and newly engaged, craig worked on fishing boats in alaska for months at a time.  he was gone, in the middle of the bering sea, with only a few visits to port.  we wrote letters to each other - to stay in touch.  and when he was in port he would mail his letters to me and receive all of mine.  i have saved this stack of letters. and today i read the set dated january 1992.  

i loved reading craig's words and the emotion conveyed.  it immediately sent me back in time to those days of early love.  my favorite letter contained the words i spoke in response to his proposal.  i have a very strong visual memory of our engagement where we ate dinner, what i wore, where we were seated, champagne brought to the table, people watching us in the restaurant and all the emotions i was feeling at the time.  although trying to recall my response is just a blur.  but he wrote them down verbatum.  i'm so happy they are preserved within this letter for i could not remember my exact words--- except that of course i said 'yes!'  

so today i spent time reflecting on january 1992.  i spent time thinking of craig.  i spent time thinking about us. all day.  it felt good.  i need to do this more often.  as parents, our time is filled with the kids and happily so.  but it is also good to spend time on us.  so, i'm hatching a bit of a plan and...

it begins with a love letter written to craig that he will receive on the 11th.

i've been thinkin...

a new year has arrived- 2012

another year with family, friends, classmates, teachers, neighbors too of being and doing n' puttering along with many, many moments ahead.

but a few big ones have been rollin' around in my mind.  this year--

~ we will become a family with a middle schooler

~ i will be turning 45- does this mean mid life?? oh mY!

~ craig and i will celebrate our 20th wedding anniversary- so soon? oh mY!

but the really big moment ahead, do i dare even whisper it...

 

in this year of 2012, we will celebrate alex's cure date.

 

a big year ahead, indeed.