8 Pictures I Love

When I first took on this 2 page spread from my "10 Things That Define Me" album, I was ready to give up before I started. I love ALL MY PHOTOS! How could I pick just 8? That's the main reason I've left my album unfinished for over a year! UGH! Luckily there are few things that gnaw at me more than something left half-finished. It bothers me more than the small problem of not being able to choose 8 photos!

Then it hit me!

I LOVE ALL MY PHOTOS! So... I could just pick any 8 and it would work, right? You can't argue with logic like that. I pulled out an album at random and started flipping through.

I found a picture of me, as a toddler, sitting up on my parent's pantry getting into the bowl of plastic fruit (did you have one of those bowls sitting around your house growing up, too? Who didn't? LOL!). I've always laughed at this photo because my mom always told me what a mischievous monkey I was as a small child. I've got a couple of those running around my house, too. But what struck me as I looked at this photo this time around was this fact. My mom loved me enough that she stopped what she was doing, grabbed her camera, and snapped a photo of me in the midst of making mischief. I was her 6th child, and I can believe how busy she must have been (I can imagine just from my own experiences!). Yet, she was present enough in that moment to think to capture it on film. I love her for that. I love that, even though I'm adopted, we are so similar that way. I hope I can be like my mom and remember to be there in the moment, and to see it for what it is - a memory being made!
The second photo, above, I chose because it was taken on our drive home from Waterton, Alberta on the day my husband proposed to me. He had a wonderful plan to propose to me as we took in the beautiful view at Waterton - but, being totally ignorant of his well-laid plans, I innocently invited my best friend along (after all, I was staying at her place in Cardston - why would I ditch her?). So, his plans were put on hold, but not forgotten. He later proposed back in Calgary, as we went on a late night walk to a local hill overlooking a mall parking lot fair grounds where beautiful fireworks exploded in the air above us. It was perfect. The perfect beginning of a near-perfect life together :) That photo - taken by a sign with his name on it - will forever remind me of the innocence of youth, and how even though so many things change, the important things stay the same. AND it's a photo that represents the "Lyndon Road" I was starting on! Okay - that was a groaner - so indulge me! LOL!

Photo number 3 I love because it was snapshot of my first layout (and so far my only) being published in my favorite scrapbooking magazine! It was such a giddy experience to see my own layout in print. It was like a drug - it only made me want to see it again! Funny thing is, I haven't submitted anything since then. I mean, why try to strike gold twice? Could it really happen again? Maybe I'll try to use a similar photo for NEXT year's "8 photos I love!"!


Photo number four I chose because when I saw it, I felt like it captured how Lyndon makes me feel. I don't know how to describe it other than perhaps to say, I feel more like me when I'm with him. It's like a security blanket where I can just relax and be 100% genuine Bobbi. I still wonder, sometimes, what it is about me that makes him look at me the way he does, or makes him love me like he does. All I know is, he does! And I love it.

Photo 7 I included NOT because it's a gorgeous photo in and of itself, but because it signifies growth for me. It proves that I've matured enough to realize that capturing the moment is more important than capturing the "perfect" photo. JJ hacked off her bangs. So be it. I became my mother in that moment and grabbed my camera to start snapping away. Already her hair is growing back and like Marie Osmond has said, "If you're going to laugh about it later, you may as well laugh about it now!" I'm laughing.

Photos number 5, 6, and 8 I chose because they remind me how fast time is flying and how one day I'll blink and my little girls will be going on their first dates, complaining about early morning seminary, yakking on the phone WAY too late, fighting over shoes, and lipstick, and EVERYTHING, coming home to tell me that she said "Yes" to that handsome young man she's been dating. I'm going to turn around and they won't be there with their wide eyes wanting me to hold them, telling me I'm their bestest mommy, showing me the drawing of, i think, a rainbow so I can hang it proudly on the fridge. I want to grab time in my fingers and squeeze so tightly it can't drift past, but still it does. The photos remind me of why I love taking photos, capturing memories, and scrapbooking them so when time has passed I can remember the smell of their baby shampoo, the sound of their girlish giggles, and the sight of innocence personified.

If you could choose 8 pictures you LOVE. What would they be and why? Blog idea? Oh, I think so. =)