Ten years ago Wendy and I were in rehearsals for Pella Shakespeare Company’s production of Much Ado About Nothing. Oh my…has it been that long?
Category Archives: Throwback Thursdays
TBT: Lookin’ Dapper Young Man
For Throwback Thursday, here’s my dapper self around the age of two or three. Obviously, my love for sporting a bow tie started at a very young age. Love it.
I’m standing in front of my grandparents console color television which I remember being quite the technological marvel at the time. Television… in color. Of course, the color was about as good as my grandmother’s Polaroid camera which took this picture.
TBT: The Sibs
For Throwback Thursday, here’s a rare picture of me and my siblings sitting on the porch of Grandpa and Grandma Vander Well’s house in LeMars, IA. (L-R Terry, Tom, Tim, Jody).
TBT: Meredith Junior High Student Council 1978-79
I was deep into the archives when I came up with this gem from the fall of 1978. This is the Student Council from Meredith Junior High School in Des Moines, Iowa. (L-R) Eric Creach, Bruce Vertanen, Julie Peterson, Andy Muller, and yours truly.
Yes, I was wearing white overalls.
TBT: The Big Dance!
It’s March and that means State High School Basketball tournament in Iowa. It’s our Big Dance. It’s a right of passage. Just this past week The Des Moines Register published a photo from waaaaay back at the 1983 girls basketball tournament. There I was in the back, arms raised in momentary triumph. About a quarter century later it was our daughter, Taylor, who made it onto the pages of the paper when they published a photo of her and friend, Andrew Lopez, cheering on the Pella Dutch.
So, for Throwback Thursday, here’s the Big Dance addition thanks to The Des Moines Register.
TBT: Two Lovebirds
I’m in San Antonio this week on business. San Antonio is where Wendy and I honeymooned back in January of 2006. We had planned on New Orleans, but Hurricane Katrina suddenly scuttled the plan and we sort of haphazardly chose San Antonio as our backup choice.
It was a great honeymoon full of great memories, and I never visit San Antonio without a flood of memories from that week ten years ago.
For Throwback Thursday, here’s a picture of us lovebirds.
TBT: “That’s Life”
Speaking of “Where have I been?”, it’s Sinatra week in honor of Blue Eyes’ 100th birthday. For Throwback Thursday (posted one day late), here’s a gem from the Vander Well VHS archives good for a laugh and a reminder of just how adorable young Taylor and Madison were. For a church talent show, the girls and I performed one of Frank’s signature songs, That’s Life (I won’t be offended if you mute the audio).
TBT: Hanging and Grandpa & Grandma’s
Speaking of Grandpa Spec and Grandma Golly, here’s a Throwback Thursday gem from January 1973 which would have made me a few months shy of seven years old. No doubt it was Christmas break and I was spending the night at Grandpa & Grandma’s house.
Gotta love those fuzzy slippers.
TBT: Living History
Speaking of pushing an ancient olive press in Nazareth, for Throwback Thursday I’m posting a couple of different photos that are loosely connected. The above photo is of me, taken by my mother in our backyard, on the day my Woodlawn Elementary School class took a trip to Living History Farms in Des Moines. Living History Farms allows visitors to travel back in time and experience what life was like on an Iowa farm in the 1700s and 1800s. You get to see the utensils the farmers used, how they used animals in their daily work, and what daily life was like in authentically made houses from those periods.
When I had a chance to visit Israel in 2003, we visited Nazareth Village which operates on the same principle as Living History Farms. Instead of learning what life was like two hundred years ago in Iowa, however, Nazareth Village recreates what daily life was like two thousand years ago when Jesus was a boy growing up in the village there. The above photo is of me standing on the balcony of a typical home of the period built using period materials and methods.
TBT: First Time at Wrigley
So excited about the Cubs big Wild Card win in Pittsburgh last night. Forgive me if I feel the desire to keep the good Northsiders vibe going. For Throwback Thursday I thought I’d pull this photo out of the mothballs. Taylor and I had a weekend in Chicago visiting my Alma Mater and making my first ever trip to Wrigley Field. As you can see in the photo we were in the nosebleed seats near the top of the stands. Still, it was a gorgeous day and a great memory (I still have the scorecard from that game!). I’ll always be glad I got to see Sammy Sosa make his famous sprint out to right field at the beginning of the game.
Wayfarer 