i wish i had photos OF.....

what do you wish you had photos of from your childhood or from your child's early start?  I have an on-going mental list of stuff of which i wish i had taken photos....the Catholic guilt plagues me daily of events/moments/things i wish i had photographed.  SO, i am now keeping a list of these things ....to help REMIND me to take my camera places and to stop and actually LOOK and take the time to capture the moment visually forever.  I don't journal or do any memory-keeping, so my photos are all i have.  and though we have literally boxes and boxes and albums and baskets FULL of family photos, i still crave more.

{this is my gpa and me...probably 1977}

the bottom line, FOLKS, is to get out your camera.....stop talking about it and DO it!

Here is a sampling of my list....there are thousands of other moments as well....these are just what i am currently obsessing and beating myself up over for not having....(PS: some of these i cannot control as i was little and who thinks of these things when they kids?).

1. a photo of the zips sneakers my gma bought me when i started first grade (that i proceeded to decorate with sparkle stickers)
2. flying sandwich loaf bag kites in gma's yard
3. a photo of us in our canoe with Bear, our now deceased amazing yellow lab...he would ride on the river in the canoe with us (this was just after we were married)
4. photos of my bedrooms i had a child/adult (no matter HOW messy they were/are)
5. a photo of me nursing max (i cannot believe i don't have ONE photo of this)
6. my mom, brother and me at the beach (we did this a lot as children)
7. me with my first car (a 1972 volkswagon beetle)
8. a photo of my husband and me on our first date at O'Sullivan's on Colley Avenue
9. a photo of my gpa golfing
10. playing at the Ghent Square pool as a child with my brother, Patrick......"Marco....Polo...."
11. a photo of my gma smoking a cigarette (bizarre i know, but i wish i had one of her doing this) on her back porch doing a crossword or logic puzzle...she made smoking seem elegant.
12. some of me and my brother from our first days at school...complete with our he-man and cabbage patch kids lunch boxes
13. just photos of our childhood toys...so much fun!
14. a photo of my gma wearing her wedding set (which i wear part of daily)...i wish i had a close up of her hands wearing these rings.
15. a family photo of my mom, dad, brother and me.  i think one exists...somewhere...i have no idea where it is.
16. wedding photos of my parents...once again, i know they exist...
17. my first bike....a kelly green bike with a big banana seat and streamers on the handlebars

start taking photos of the moments as they occur!  I think when you photograph for a living....you easily get "camera burn-out"....photographing is sometimes more of a chore when you do it professionally. Well, i strive to overcome this attitude!  You should as well!