Oh the Memories!

Tonight I've been sorting through literally hundreds of pictures (and these aren't even the recent ones!) searching for certain ones for a special project I'm working on. It's been a big task, but it's also been rewarding. It reminded me of some of the great memories I have stored up from fun times in my life.

I've always been the queen of pictures, ready with camera in hand to document important life events. I try my hardest not to shy away from having my picture taken either. Even though that means I have some not so great photos of myself, it also means I'm not absent from pictures of important family events. I appreciate that. In some ways it also helps me see how I've grown and changed.

Tonight I was reminded of the time when I only had a niece and a nephew. It seems like so long ago now, especially when I see how little they were in the pictures and how big they are now. Time passes crazy fast and before you know it, you have 12 nieces and nephews, or rather 5 nieces and 7 nephews. And they're growing up so fast. Some of them are on the brink of becoming teenagers. Scary! (If I wasn't technologically impaired, I would scan my pictures into the computer and post a few here, but, alas, I cannot.)

I also ran across many, many pictures from my college days. I'm not going to idealize and say it was such an easy time of my life, but it was certainly a time of growth, learning and discovery. I was so young when I started college as an 18-year-old freshman. Of course I didn't think so then, but I can see now that I was.

I was blessed to have wonderful roommates for the whole time I was at school. They become some of my best friends, and we made fantastic memories together. Some of our more memorable ones include the flour fight/snow dance in the kitchen (we still found flour in the drawers months later!), when my two roomies turned themselves into Texas Rangers and tied the rest of us in our living room, when we played a little "Sixth Sense" joke on our roommate (I'm not going to elaborate so you'll have to use your imagination) or when we played Trading Spaces with our home evening brothers. Ahhh, those were good times! Again, I would post a few pictures, but I am unable to at this time.

If nothing else, this little trip down memory lane has helped remind me that no matter what happens, I have been so very blessed in my life. It humbles me to even think about it, but perhaps that's what it's supposed to do. All I can say is that I'm so glad I had a camera to capture these memories on film. Now I can remember them for many years to come. (Yes, I realize this last part is sappy, and I apologize for that, but I can't help it. I think you can handle it though.)