Reunions 2013!

I can't believe it's been ten years since I graduated from Princeton... David is fond of reminding me that I've gotten an advanced degree and had two babies and so much more, but still -- can it really have been ten years already??

The great class of 2003 came back in full force for Reunions this year!  And for the first time, I actually registered for official Reunions events -- we're normally so busy with PEF events that it's not really worth it to pay for the class events, but we decided to splurge for my tenth.  In large part because I wanted to wear the class costume.  :)  But also because I was really looking forward to seeing people I hadn't seen in years!

David took on kid duty on the Friday night so I could go to the dinner at the tents, footloose and fancy-free.  :)  It was so good running into so many old friends, many of whom I hadn't seen since graduation, many more of whom had little kidlets of their own...




Then on Saturday, we kicked things off at the PEF pre-P-rade luncheon.  It was Sophia's first experience of Reunions, and I think she was mostly just confused by it all.  :)  But Joshua is old enough now to really enjoy himself -- he particularly loved the juice boxes and grapes.  And the kids' table!








(Oh, yeah, and our class theme was "Around the turn," which is apparently a golf reference to the 10th hole.  Lots of black and orange argyle and polos, complete with kicky golf caps and long black knee socks.  Most of us weren't wearing the knee socks because, hello, 95-degree heat, but you can see a couple of the guys above who went all in with the full getup!)

Then we attempted to take the kids to the P-rade.  It was sooooo hot, though, and way too crowded to push a stroller around... So David took Joshua in the stroller to hang out in a shady area and I braved the crowds with Sophia strapped to my front, running into people and marveling at the madness that is the Princeton P-rade.  Here's what Sophia thought of it all:


We finally retreated to Frist for the air conditioning.  And ran into so many more friends!  Joshua loved playing with Claire and Jonathan and their respective parents and grandparents, and we had such a good time catching up with everyone.









I'm always so thankful at Reunions that we still live in Princeton, and that everyone comes back here to the best ol' place of all.  Can't wait until our 15th -- but definitely hope to see all of you again before then!

Bonfire!!

One of the most fun campus traditions is the HYP bonfire -- whenever Princeton football beats both Harvard and Yale, we have a ginormous bonfire on Cannon Green to celebrate.  It, um, doesn't happen as often as we'd like... I don't know the stats off the top of my head, but I can say that it's only happened twice in all my time in Princeton.  Once in 2006:


(Wow, we look so young!  I had to go search my old xanga blog archives for that photo...)

And once this year!


This time around, we're an old married couple with two kids.  :)  We took both Joshua and Sophia to the bonfire -- Sophia was asleep the whole time, but Joshua was fascinated.  So much noise, so many people, and a BIG BIG FIRE!!!  Plus tons of firetrucks standing by to assist with putting out the fire afterward.  Little dude was in heaven.  :)






And a quick snapshot of the intrepid University communications office photogs (including our very own JJ):


They produced this beautiful video of the bonfire, which I highly recommend watching, even if you're not a Princetonian.  :)

It's so fun introducing our kids to school traditions!  Congrats, Princeton football, on a great season!

Interfellowship Friday, fall 2011

At the end of October, we had an Interfellowship Friday large group meeting -- it's fast becoming an every-semester tradition, which is awesome to see!  The speaker this fall was R. York Moore, a National Evangelist for Intervarsity, and someone deeply involved in the work of the International Justice Mission, an organization dedicated to freeing modern-day slaves and using the rule of law to end human trafficking.  York gave an inspiring message on justice and the role that we as Christians are all called to play in doing God's work.  It was a message that I particularly needed to hear, and one that I'm still working through, so I was very thankful that I got to attend this session.

It's also always encouraging to see the different Christian groups gather together to worship.  "Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity!"

A fall day full of photography

One beautiful Saturday in October, I had not one, but TWO awesome get-togethers with friends who have been bitten by the photography bug. It was so good to reconnect with my old friend, the camera...  :)

The first get-together was with a group of amazing women I initially met through an online photography forum, but have since gotten to know in real life and now consider dear friends.  I brought Joshua along and took some photos of him for the first time in weeks -- and took advantage of having other photographers there to get some really cute shots of the two of us together!  (The two below of the two of us were taken on my camera, so I'm not 100% sure who they were taken by, but I think both were shot by Kim Schmidt, local photographer extraordinaire and amazing kid-whisperer!)






Then later that day, I got together with a bunch of PEF girls who were itching to go off-campus on a photography ramble.  We first went out to the hiking trails in the Mountain Lakes Preserves, and then to an overgrown 17th-century cemetery in the middle of West Windsor fields.  As I didn't have a (delightful but in need of much supervision) toddler along with me this time, I had more of a chance to actually take photos on this excursion!












I'm thankful for every opportunity I have in our crazy busy lives just to enjoy sharing a hobby with friends.  And I'm so thankful for the wonderful friends with whom I made these memories!