day three

Photo Challenge Day Three:  a photo that makes you happy

This photograph of my dear friend Lisa and I was taken in 1995 in the Oregon sand dunes and it makes me happy for so many reasons.  In the summer of my 25th year my soon-to-be-roommate and I made a cross country trip to her family cabin in central Oregon.  I had recently fallen in love with mountains and the idea of an adventure with this good friend was an opportunity to experience the open road.  It's hard to remember - but there was no mapquest, cell phones, or weather.com in these days - planning this journey required recommendations from friends, looking at travel books in the library, reading maps and receiving trip-tiks from AAA.  The trip across the country included a night in Nebraska, a thunderstorm in Wyoming, a visit to the Salt Lake in Utah, waterfalls in Idaho and eventually the beauty of Oregon.  We spent time at "the river", hiked Black Butte, met cute boys at the Camp Sherman store, visited the sunny coast, had ice cream in Tillamook, watched surfers under the full moon, canoed in a mountain lake, went for jeep rides and cemented a deep freindship.  As Lisa and I reminisce about this trip we often mention how much energy we had... those were the days!  This trip is one of many I've enjoyed with many different good friends over the years... how blessed I've been.

I love this photo because it was one of the first self timer shots I ever took.  I remember setting up my camera on top of our sandals, carefully hitting the button, and taking off running toward the horizon.  When I developed the film I was thrilled with the results. 

I think this photo makes me happy because of the freedom it represents.  I love how free we look in the wide-open spaces.  I love the free feelings I felt during this season of life.  True, true freedom indeed.

Finally, this photo especially gives me happy feelings because this dear friend is flying to Pennsylvania just three days from now!  It has been almost two years since I've seen her and more than six years since we've spent time alone together (without a husband or kids around).  I'm so excited to spend time with Lisa -- she always encourages me, points me closer to God, challenges me, and makes me smile.  Our trip over fifteen years ago was just a glimpse of the adventures Lisa and I would share over the years.  I can't wait to see what memories will collected this coming weekend.