Thursday, May 30, 2013

Theme Thursday: Self-Portrait

I was lucky enough to tag along with my husband on one of his working trips last month (one of the perks of being married to an airline pilot...if you're into the whole terrifyingly unnatural FLYING thing, which I am learning to finally enjoy in my old age--or if not exactly enjoy, at least do without feeling the need to write teary "good-bye/I hope I was a good mom/have a great life" letters to all of my children before I board the airplane).  My favorite captain was headed to San Juan, where he would lay over for a day at the oh-so-cushy Caribe Hilton Hotel right on the beach...and back at the ranch, the old nest was going to be as empty as ever...so I thought, What have I got to lose?

Best.  decision.  ever.

When we first arrived and got settled in our room, my thoughts as I looked out the window at the beachy nightscape went something like this: Why in the world do people spend thousands of dollars to fly here and stay at this hotel?  I mean, it's nice and all...but not THAT nice.

For the record, I was wrong.

It WAS that nice.  The next morning, the view out our window looked a lot more like a proverbial slice of Heaven than it had the night before.

And what was even nicer was that my husband and I were able to spend a whole day in Paradise, and it didn't cost us a dime for the air fare or hotel room.

We had to get some digital evidence of our magical day, to prove that it had actually happened and wasn't a figment of our imaginations.  Too embarrassed to ask anyone to snap some pictures of us standing near the beautiful, turquoise-colored ocean, we decided to take a couple of self-portraits ("selfies," I think the youngsters are calling them these days), with my husband holding the camera at arm's length.

Here we go.
Let's try that again, shall we?  (You're not trying to tell me something, husband of mine, are you?)

Much better.  Perhaps we should quit while we're ahead?

Third time's the charm.

Kids these days have so many photos of themselves, don't they?  When I look at the Facebook pages of my nieces and nephews, I am amazed by the thousands I see posted. My husband and I dated for three years in high school and then four years in college, before we finally got married about six months after our 1980 college graduations; yet from that seven-and-a-half-year time period, there only exist about as many photos of the two of us together as you see on this very page.  I wish now that we had more!  If only easy-peasy digital photography had existed back when we were a little more plastic-looking and a little less long in the tooth!

But I'm grateful to have these "selfies" from a wonderful day that I won't soon forget.

(BTW: the reason my sunglasses are so gi-normous is that they are actually made to slip on over a regular pair of glasses.  I'm wearing not one but two pairs of glasses in these photos.  So...now you know just how cool I really am.)

I just love linking up with Cari for these Themes on Thursdays, and now I'm going to head on over to Clan Donaldson to see what's shaking.  You should do the same!

25 comments:

  1. I love this post. I love the pictures (you're gorgeous, btw) and I love the background. But mostly I love the story. Isn't it odd how our relationship to photography has changed with the advent of digital cameras and easy photo sharing? So many pictures, yet so few actually printed and turned into real, tangible things. I'm sure there's some deep metaphor there, but I can't parse it out right now.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I know--I used to get my pictures developed right away and put them into albums. Now, I'm overwhelmed by how many I have and I don't ever get around to printing any. I'ts been five years since I put together a family photo album. :(

      I LOVE flipping through photo albums; and even though the pictures I took of my boys on my cheap 35 mm camera back in the 80's and 90's are blurry and discolored, sometimes I miss those simpler days when the only way you could look at a picture was if you could hold it in your hand.

      Delete
  2. Cute pictures, great story!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Oh, I so look forward to this, many many years from now. What an experience. You look so amazingly young and you and your man, you can just feel the love there.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's hard coming to terms with the fact that the bulk of your "mothering" is over. I have my moments when I get so down...not because I'd necessarily want my boys all living at home with us forever; I mean, obviously I'm glad they've grown up to be successful and independent. I just miss them a lot and wish we didn't have to travel so far to see them.

      But then there are some really sweet and wonderful aspects to being just the two of you again. My husband and I are having so much fun together, doing things we couldn't do when we were raising our boys (like having me tag along on trips to San Juan with him). We even go on what we call "shopping dates" when we need to pick up groceries. So there is a lot to look forward to--and the years will go by quicker than you think!

      Delete
  4. you are cool BECAUSE you are like standing on the most gorgeous spot on the planet. so so cool

    I like how real you are. and funny too.

    ReplyDelete
  5. What a lovely couple! You're beautiful, Laura, and I loved the story. :) God bless you two.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Iris! Your post gave me some good laughs today. (I've got to learn how to photo shop!)

      Delete
  6. Oh, I love the story, the love story get-away!! How romantic. Wish my husband got to go on business trips. (he's a drug and alcohol counselor, I don't think it would be any place glamorous, unless he counseled the stars I suppose)

    My husband and I tried recently to take a self picture and it in no way turned out as cool as yours (no beach of course)
    We kept getting up the nose shots...we gave up and took individual pics for each other! haha!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The beautiful beach in the background definitely makes our selfies look a lot better than they would have!

      Delete
  7. I wish I could jet off with my husband sometime. Oh well. What a great story for a lovely picture. That blue. It's unreal. Gorgeous. And look how in love you are? I love that.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm glad it shows. 32 years later, and I feel like it just keeps getting better. :)

      Delete
  8. You are too cute! I love this post! What an awesome and FREE trip.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. No, I think YOU'RE the one who's too cute!

      And it WAS a fun little trip!

      Delete
  9. What a great trip!! I'm jealous, but mostly just happy that you and your handsome hubby could spend the time together in such a beautiful place! I'm hoping that's in my future somewhere :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's so funny--I never dreamed of getaways like this, because I used to be so afraid to travel by plane. I wanted to put off thinking of trips like this one for as long as I could. But having four out of five of our boys move far away from home has done more to cure my fear of flying than anything else ever could. So I'm finally enjoying the perks that come with my husband's airline job. It took me long enough!

      Delete
  10. How wonderful to be able to spend a day with your beloved in paradise :) Those are a great set of pictures (although I must say that you dh must have long arms for that last one :)) and you both look very happy.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. He wears a 34/35" sleeve--his arms are really long!

      And we are happy! We miss our grown sons, but now we get to go on lots of dates (not to mention the occasional trip like this one).

      Delete
  11. What a treat! That truly looks like a slice of Heaven!

    ReplyDelete
  12. What a gift! The last picture is amazing. Such a beautiful memory to treasure together. God bless you!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Those selfies are hard!!! I'm just getting the hang of actually getting my whole face in the picture. Good work!

    ReplyDelete
  14. Gorgeous background, and beautiful couple!

    ReplyDelete