Vancouver

I've been feeling awfully sentimental around here lately. The Olympics have ruled our TV set for the past two weeks now, and I hate to see them end. Seeing all the beautiful sights of Vancouver has made me and my husband relive one of our big trips before children that we took to the Pacific Northwest/Vancouver/Whistler/Victoria BC back in 1998. It was wonderful.

So wonderful that I came home and created my first ever scrapbook. Yep. That's where it started for me.

Now, as many of you will recall, there wasn't much in the way of material back then, outside of your home based parties and all. This scrapbook stood out like a sore thumb, and I knew the size would accompany all my photos. It is a huge 15 x 15 album that is spiral bound. I know--you're jealous.

Be not afraid. Go, show the people your hideous first pages. Deep breath. They will be kind to you. We all had to start somewhere, right? We all had the sticker sneezes and threw it all together on the page.

Wait a minute. Is that an elk die cut?

Oh, and these. You know you want to scraplift this one, design team. Do you know how long I spent on this page? Finding the perfect pictures with no editing programs?? Hand cut, thank you very much. I know you're green with envy. Don't hate.

Know what it is missing? My favorite thing. I have a few sentences in the book. Not much journaling at all. Makes me sad.

While showing our three children the album and reliving the amazing vacation, I ask the hubs, "Honey, what was your favorite part of that vacation? Was it the trip to Victoria? The Capilano Suspension Bridge (where I had my first ever full-blown panic attack--a complete and utter nightmare where I clung to a rope for dear life for what seemed like an eternity--my hand to God, the truth), Gastown, Stanley Park? What is your fondest memory?

He stopped me in my tracks with his response. "I remember being at a Wendy's near Mt. Rainier when you were inconsolable because you thought you were pregnant and found out we weren't."

I had completely forgotten about that. I mean--completely. It wasn't until he reminded me of that memory that I recalled that happening. Little did we know that I would end up pregnant about 6 months later with our first child. We had been trying to start a family for a while and at the time, it seemed like an eternity. How could I have forgotten such a painful incident? And that was the first thing that came to his memory.

I'm so not into getting "caught up" with my scrapping, and I scoff at the idea of ever going back and re-doing any of my pages or albums. I couldn't even imagine--it just isn't me. But I have to say, I'm going to do a layout on our memories of Vancouver and that vacation, and what that time as a couple meant to us.

So tonight as we watch the closing ceremonies together as a family, I'll be reflecting on all this. That sweet man will inevitably drive me insane changing channels during the commercials. Our three kids will ignore our verbal requests to get ready for bed and perform their nightly routines. That "one moment in time" stuff really only applies to the Olympics, after all.

Or does it?