Time is flying by

I swear, I was just taking down my holiday decorations a little while ago and now, somehow, there are only 10 more days of school. Where did this year go?

Everyone I meet who has a child older than mine says, “You better soak up every minute…You’ll blink, and they will be heading off to college.” And what I’m starting to realize is they’re absolutely correct.

My daughter turned seven this spring. She got her ears pierced. She competed her first balance beam routine. She’s speaking a second language. And she’ll be a second-grader in a few short weeks. And my son, he’s five now. He ran his first 5k, scored his first hockey goals and is graduating preschool. And he’s more than excited to be a big kid and start kindergarten. They’re both growing up so fast.

I know I’m not the only parent guilty of getting caught up in our lives, in that nose down in the minute-to-minute details and planning of it all that I forget about some of the little things along the way. I find I have to remind myself to look up and “smell the roses” a bit.

And what I have found is that this year has been the year of the little things. Soaking up the moments of snuggling, running to the bus stop, doing our homework on the swing set, eating cereal at 8 p.m., and nightly giggle fests while watching America’s Funniest Home Videos. All those moments weren’t necessarily big events or in the plan, but they are the little things that I’m starting to realize I will miss once my kiddos are “too big” to spend time that with mom and dad, or just too busy. And looking at our schedules, those days are fast approaching.

So take a moment, or better yet, make a few moments this summer that you’ll remember because those are the memories that carry on for a lifetime.

Here is to my Stanford girls.

What do they say...is it your high school years or your college years that are supposed to be the best years of your life. I think if I had to choose, it would be my college years. This is not to say that I would want to go back but I did make the most of my time at Stanford. I was on scholarship for my first 2 years and then I gave up my NCAA eligibility to take money before the 1992 Olympics. From that point on, I was writing the checks to pay for my hefty tuition bill every quarter. Every time the bill came, as I was writing the check I would ask my best friend, Heidi, why am I writing this check? She would quickly repy, to have the wonderful friends you have met.

She was right! I was more than lucky and it was more than worth it. Oh yeah, and the education wasn't half bad either :)! But what I loved most about my experience at Stanford was the humbling environment. I came back from the Olympics and it was no big deal. There were people excelling and winning the equivalent of a gold medal in every field. There was greatness all around and everyone was celebrated. I loved that.

My friends were the best part of my college experience. I met Heidi at the end of my freshman year. Her and 2 other volleyball players, Piper and Dani, soon joined us 3 swimmers, myself, Laurie and Lea as roomates for our sophomore year. It was fantastic. We were all very focused on our sport, our studies(some more than others) and our fun(some more than others). But we also made time to just chill. I remember a few nights when we would turn the lights off and Laurie would play DJ. We all loved U2 and she would turn on "One". It will go down as one of the most relaxing moments of my life. We were all there together calming our busy selves to just enjoy the moment. (that is a moment I would go back to)

My 15 year college reunion is one week from today. All of my friends will be there, many with their hubbies and their kids. I was all set to go. Hotel reservation in hand when my plans changed and I got a job. When they told me I got the job, they didn't tell me the dates, but deep down, I knew it would be over my reunion weekend. I am so very sad that I won't be there. I was looking forward to the football game and the dinners but mostly I was looking forward to hanging out with and absorbing the stories of the women that have made such an impact in my life, my college friends.

For those of you who went to college and/or had a fantastic experience you know how rare it is to get back on campus and relive a few of those awesome moments with your grown up college buddies. The great thing is that in the wonderful group of women that I am so lucky to call my friends, we have a stellar organizer named Annie. Every year she gets us together for a girls weekend. Reunion is our girls weekend this year but I know I will see them all next year, hopefully with a little(maybe a lot) of Chardonnay!

I guess I will set will look even more forward to my 20th! Good thing we don't get any older. And I just for the record, I think the best years of our lives are in front of us.

My favorite pictures!

Do you have favorite pictures? If you do, have you looked at them in awhile? Are they up for everyone to see? Ok, if you answered yes to all these questions, you are awesome. If you didn't, I want to encourage you to get your memories out so they can shine. I have mine up in my room. Granted, they are constantly in need of a little updating and I have to get on a few more but all and all, I have some great memories to look at everyday.

Let me be clear, my "room" is my office. It really is my room to do with as I please. I love that. Aside from my kids section in the corner and their scattered toys and papers, it is all mine. The walls especially. I have some memorabilia on my shelves from my swimming days. The Honda Sports Award, my 92 Olympic Swim Team rugby shirt and a few signed balls and gloves are a part of my collection. But what I most treasure are my pictures.

Of course I have pictures of my wedding day. It was a special ceremony with only 22 people in attendance. We were/are so happy. And, damn we look young (it was only 4 years ago!!!). On our wedding day, we took a picture of our feet with my bouquet in between them. Since then, we have tried to take pictures of our feet on every vacation. We have one with all four feet in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. So fun.

My favorite pictures are all in one big frame. It is one of those you can buy at TJ Maxx where the matting dictates what size picture goes where. This one fits about 34 pictures. I tried to include everyone in my family. My favorite one is of my mom, dad, brother, aunt and friend Heidi. Someone caught their reaction just as I had won the gold medal in the 200 butterfly at the Barcelona Olympics. It is truly amazing. You can actually look at if for minutes. Checking out the detailed expression on each person's face. There is also a picture of my mom, Skye and I on our first trip together. I remember my mom was sooo nervous about helping me with her. She hadn't been around babies in awhile. She did a wonderful job, of course. There are pictures of my grandparents, cousins and my brother and I as little kiddos. The most precious one of all is of Skye and I right after she was born. Literally, I think she was only about 15 seconds old. She is looking up at me so sweetly and innocently and I am beaming at the camera. Pictures really do say a million words.

So here is my point. Don't put it off any longer. I ususally go on shutterfly to get them printed out. Don't make it difficult for yourself. If printing your own takes too long, chances are you won't ever do it. The idea is to get your most special pics in frames so you can glance at them all day long. So you can constantly remember your most important moments and people. Why wait?