Then and Now

Christy over at The colour 4 posted a "Looking Back" thing on her blog today, and I wanted to give it a try! She posted some specific points from the past, like 10 years ago and 5 years ago. We're supposed to think about what we were doing back then, and reflect on how much things have changed.

Sounds fun! And I even found some photos to supplement.


10 years ago: March 24, 2001
I was finishing up my sophomore year in high school. I was still discovering myself and who I was inside, and was quite uncomfortable in my own skin. I didn't have a boyfriend, although I had quite a few male friends, one of whom was Jon. I danced at the same studio where I had been attending classes since I was 3, and I was cheering on my high school's JV team, as well as an all-star team in the area.

Would you believe, my skin really WAS this clear!
I didn't do any retouching.

5 years ago: March 24, 2006
I was finishing up my 3rd year of college. I was dating a guy who I loved, but we didn't work well together. We knew it almost from the very start, yet we continued to date for almost 3 years, fighting each other and the truth until the bitter end. (This took an emotional toll on me and always left me feeling very empty and alone. Separating from him was like a breath of fresh air.) After living on campus for 2 years, I had moved back home and was cheering for a college-level team.




1 year ago: March 24, 2010
I was finishing up my Master's degree. I was dating Jon and we were so happy, even though I was anxiously awaiting his proposal. I knew it was coming, I just didn't know when. I was living on campus again, but I was miserable, and couldn't wait to move home. I was working part-time in the same job where I am now working full-time.




Yesterday: March 23, 2011
I worked most of the day, and was supposed to have class, but it was canceled because of snow. I was able to go home and have dinner with Jon, sloppy joe's over rice instead of buns and snap peas for a veggie.

Today: March 24, 2011
I am working all day. When I leave here, Jon and I have an appointment, and we'll be having dinner together again (which is a rarity). We're having mushroom barley stew in the crockpot. We are less than 5 months away from our wedding!

Tomorrow: March 25, 2011
I'll be working all day, as usual. When I come home, Jon will be out with his friends, so I plan to spend the night at home, writing a paper. Dinner will be pizza, because there is a place right by us that has great prices, tastes delicious, and delivers for free!

Twisted Fate Photo Challenge - Broken

This is a broken Silly Band. A colleague of mine had a nephew with brain cancer. He sadly passed right before his 6th birthday. At the wake, they put out a basket of blue Silly Bands. They asked everyone to take a Silly Band and wear it in his memory because he loved them, and his favorite color was blue.

I wore mine until it broke.

Black and White Wednesday - The BEACH

Black and White Wednesday is run by Lisa over at
The Long Road to China.



This beautiful view is from Sherwood Island State Park in Westport, CT. It's not really an island, more like a peninsula. It is the only shore park in all of Fairfield County, and it is one of the oldest parks in CT. I LOVE the beach, so I LOVE the beach parks. This one was no exception! There is also a nature center here. However, the most memorable part of this park was the Living Memorial. There is a spot in this park, on the very edge of the peninsula, where there is a direct view to lower Manhattan...

My fellow New Yorkers know what that means. 8 years and 10 months ago, on September 11th, 2001, the park-goers at Sherwood Island saw a column of smoke rising from the city. I can never imagine how scared and confused they must have felt, seeing the smoke and then hearing what happened.

That was a tragic event that deeply touched New Yorkers, from far upstate all the way to Battery Park, and still affects us today.

Thoughts on a Friday night....

Thoughts in my head that I need to get out. Usually, this sort of post gets listed as a 'draft' and just moves further and further down my list of posts as I publish other posts. But my little group of followers is pretty dedicated. So I figured, it's time to be open and honest.

Well, I'll try.

I mean, I don't have much going for me, blog-wise.
I'm not a mother,
I'm not a brilliant photographer,
I don't own my own business,
I'm not an aspiring writer,
and I'm not a devout soul trying to spread the Word.
I'm just me, just Amy.
(not Harry.)
And yet, I have followers.
So, I guess they deserve to get a peek into my mind.

I'll start with something semi-trivial.
I was supposed to write a paper tonight.
I have 4 days to write 4 papers,
but I totally slacked today.
Now I have to make up for it
by writing 2 on either Sunday or Monday.
Luckily, I have 2 shorter papers
that I can easily write on the same day.

Unfortunately,
because I didn't write at all today,
I've lost my groove.
I've been writing a solid paper a day
since this past Monday.
Breaking my stride really threw me off.
It'll be hard to get back into it tomorrow.

How can I
pretend to be happy
for someone
when I
wholeheartedly disagree
with that person's choices?

The past 19 years with my little brother
have been God-sent.
(Yes, being open in general
includes being open about spirituality.)
This 18-year reprieve has been such a blessing,
and I need to be grateful that we were given this chance.
But these signs, these sudden little symptoms,
they're not cool!
I'm really trying hard to trust.
But I don't want to think about it.
I want to shut my eyes to the possibilities
and just keep him the way he is.

I think that part,
what I just wrote,
was the hardest part for me.
I started this blog for me,
to get to know myself,
and to connect with my inner creativity.
But I have this feeling that
things will happen along the way,
and I'll need to spill my guts
to people other than my boyfriend.


And I already accepted the fact that
this has turned into MY LIFE'S blog,
rather than a simple creative outlet.

Sad face

I hadn't heard about what happened at SeaWorld 2 weeks ago, but Cammy just posted about it. I can't believe that A, it actually happened, and B, I didn't hear about it.

The whale show is, without a doubt, my favorite part of SeaWorld. Every time Jon and I have gone to the park, we've done both the daytime show and the nighttime show. Seeing the big "Shamu" (actually named Tillikum) at the very end was the part that took my breath away. He is massive! I always wondered why he wasn't featured more, and why no trainers ever went in the tank with him (like they do with the smaller orcas). Now I know.

I took this in August 2008.

If you didn't hear about it, read this.