2009 to 2019 Retrospective

Here we are, on the cusp of not just another year but a new decade. There seems to be a lot of retrospection going on amidst social media to commemorate this transition. I don't recall the same amount of scrutiny ten years ago when we fell into the "Twenty-Tens". And perusing my blog archives, there is no hoop-la surrounding this date ten years ago.

But I do notice some trends.

In 2009, I purchased my first iPhone, the iPhone 3G. I started taking more photos with that iPhone. Instagram didn't exist (I looked it up - initially released in October 2010 - I posted my first Instagram photo on December 30, 2010). I'm not sure when the Facebook iPhone App was released (can't find a definitive answer on the web). Since 2009, the explosion and usage of mobile phones (and the mobile phone camera) drove an influx of social media and photo sharing apps. People (myself included) document their daily lives via the camera on their mobile phone. And so rises the interest in seeing what we looked like in 2009 compared to 2019. And having digital photos dating back to 1999 (yes, I had my film negatives scanned starting in 1999), I can oblige.

December, 2009, we took our first family cruise to the Bahamas and spent the Christmas holiday with my parents in Florida.



The photo used for 2009's holiday card:


And here we are in 2019's holiday card:


My extended family, from our trip to Hilton head in August:


We've all gotten older, my kids are all grown up and fortunately, we all enjoy good health. I don't blog as much as I did in 2009 (I logged over 600 blog posts that year - yikes!) and I don't take my DSLR out except for special occasions. I feel like these trends may change in 2020. I feel like I could take my DSLR out more, and I feel like I could write / blog more. I know I can spend less time on social media.

For even more fun, here's the family photo we used for 1999's holiday card. This was the first year I sent out a family holiday card. I still have it (and the subsequent years').


Here's wishing everyone a great new year with continued blessings into 2020 and the next decade.