Kodak moments

In the age of digital pictures, I think more often than not we take tons of pictures and they remain on our cameras or computers and never really get to be seen by friends or family. 

I can remember taking pictures at dances or events in grade school and bringing a disposable camera and begging my parents to take me to the store so I could have them printed.  I can even remember being so excited that I didn't have to wait days for the prints to be done - with you know, high tech 1-hour photos. 

Now, we take a picture and immediately can decide if another picture needs to be taken 'cause the first try wasn't so great (a head is cut off, your eyes were closed...we all know the drill!) 

So I thought it would be nice to revisit some of the pictures I have on my computer from the past and share some of the stories behind them.

Ireland was by far one of the best decisions I have made in my life.  Going abroad really helped to shape the person I am today.  From my days in Cork (as well as my trips all over Ireland and 7 other countries in Europe - which you will now see pictures from due to posts such as these - like where I'm going with this?...) I have come to appreciate many things.

For example, I learned to appreciate my home and it was a great lesson to learn.  It sank in when I realized well, I can't go home for a weekend when I was in Ireland to get a good home-cooked meal with the family or eat an amazing Philadelphia pretzel.  I couldn't take Misty for a walk or drive a car or sleep in my own bed.  After 4 months abroad, it became very apparent that there really is no place like home. 

Ireland also taught me to appreciate a sunny day.  Irish people don't get too many of them with all the rain they experience throughout the year - so every time the sun was up, I said a prayer of thanks!

I think one of the most wonderful things Ireland exposed to me, though, was the idea of traveling and seeing all that this world has to offer.  In doing so, I think my faith got stronger because when you visit beautiful places it is hard for me to understand how anyone could question God's existence.

While I was abroad, my family came over for 10 days right around the mid-way point of my trip.  It was exactly what I needed to get through the rest of my trip and we had such an amazing time.  We were on a tour bus and traveled the entire perimeter of Ireland - starting in Dublin and traveling all around the beautiful Emerald Isle.  

One of the "must sees" in Ireland are the Cliffs of Moher.  They are the most impressive cliffs I have ever seen and it really just takes your breath away when you finally reach the top...  

Allow me to tell another famous Noonan story (which actually has evolved into two parts) - that has been told as many times as the "you pig" incident goes a little something like this:

For my parents' 25th wedding anniversary, they took my brothers and sisters and I to San Fransico for an awesome vacation.  We rented a car and drove along the California coast to various points of interest.  We saw Fisherman's Wharf in San Fransico and went to Alcatraz to see the famous old prison.  Throughout the trip my Mom insisted that we needed to see the famous, giantic Redwood trees.  If she mentioned Redwoods once, she must have said it 100 times those first few days. Finally the day came when we would be going to see the Redwood forest.  

We travelled down this windy road - literally down a mountain - and reached the parking area for the forest.  We pile out of the car (remember there are 7 of us - nothing is done at a particularly swift pace) and head into the forest on the designated trail.  The trees were huge and I remember Victoria and Sean were running through holes in the tree trunks that were big enough for our whole family to fit in. 

I continue to walk along the trail and catch up with my Mom who, in the most non-chalant manner says while looking at her watch, "Alright, it's about 1:10 right now so we can probably leave here by 1:30.  I mean, if you seen one Redwood, you've seen 'em all."

WHAT!??! We had been hearing about the extravegance of these trees for days now and after 20 minutes, my Mom was over it!? We all lost it!  I mean, technically she is 100% correct and none of us are really "nature people" by any means, so yes - every tree looked just as giganticly cool as the next BUT really, 20 minutes!  It was priceless!

Fast forward about 4 years to the Cliffs of Moher on the beautiful west coast of Ireland.  After the 8 of us (with the addition of Karen on this trip) treck up the trail to see this amazing site, again I walk over to my Mom after about 10-15 minutes of seeing these most beautiful cliffs and she says, "I mean this is beautiful and all, but is this it?"  

I just started laughing.  It brought me right back to the Redwood forest in California.  My Mom absolutely appreciates these wonders but as the "Mother Hen" I think it is in her nature to keep the ducklings moving and she just wanted to fit everything into each trip as possible so that we all would get the most out if it!  

Luckily, she let us stay long enough in each spot to prove that we really did go to these places and that these stories are true.  Gotta love her. :) 



Redwood Forest, June 2004

Cliffs of Moher, Fall 2007

I hope you will enjoy many more posts like this one.  I am my father's daughter and I love taking pictures so I have many to share! :)