Recently we realized that there is something severely lacking from our blog – US. In an effort to remedy this, we have decided to start a series of posts that will give you some insight about who we are.
The Beginning…
For two years we walked the same halls. We ate in the same cafeteria. We were the same major. The summer before we met we had both spent the summer living and working on campus – among just a hand full of other students. Yet we never met.
That changed one day in October 2002.
-Rob & Kathleen -
Rob was the photo editor on the yearbook and I was the Arts & Entertainment editor on the school newspaper. We were invited to go on a student media conference in Orlando. I really didn’t know too many of the other people going on the trip, so it seemed like a great opportunity to get to know the rest of other students involved in campus media. Plus, did I mention it was in Orlando? So for once, we somehow ended up being in the same place at the same time – on the list of students going on this conference.
It was an early (and chilly) morning. I had stayed up late packing the night before, so I just threw myself together since I don’t tend to get dressed up for flights. I pulled on a giant sweatshirt, threw my hair pack in a ponytail and decided to forego makeup. Knowing Rob as I do now, he probably packed at a much earlier time the day before and got more sleep than I did – he’s much more practical when it comes to those kinds of things.
There was a group of about 15 of us and we took separate cars to the airport. We went through security and walked over to the gate to wait for our flight. At this time, I decided the indulge my sweet tooth with an early morning cinnamon bun. Since I am by no means a morning person, I grabbed a seat and spent some quality time – just me and my high-calorie breakfast. Little did I know what was happening on the other side of the gate.
Rob didn’t know who I was – he saw me across the gate for the first time. There he was simply looking around the airport, camera in his hand (yes, even then). Looking back now, he says that something compelled him to take a picture of me right then. As you can see below, I clearly had no idea someone was snapping away – I still have my fork in my hand! (Obviously you can see how far digital technology has come in the last 6 years. Plus, these were both taken with a point and shoot camera.)
At some point before the flight, we officially met. We spent a lot of the time on the trip together – a small group of us. We became friends pretty quickly – we seemed to hit it off right away. Looking back now, I remember having long conversations with Rob over that year we were friends and thinking about how easy he was to talk to. I felt so lucky to have found such a great friend.
Plus, I loved making a fool of myself, and Rob was always there to capture me doing so. One picture makes me laugh the most when I see it today. We were in Cinderella’s castle (it was a conference, yes, but we had some down time). And, for those of you who know me pretty well, you know I love hats – especially trying on hats in stores. I was having a blast with all the hats in the castle gift shop – and Rob was getting some shots of me in all of them – plus he thought I was halirous, of course! (Who can blame him 
) From the rack of hats I grabbed the pinkest and most elaborate princess hat I could find, and found the largest fake diamond ring from along the collection of costume jewelry – and made what I call my “wistful” face, looking off in the distance for my own prince charming.
What I didn’t know then was that my soul mate was right there in front of me, with the camera in his hand.
