Throwback Thursday to my Baltimore Sun days

I spent nine years at The Baltimore Sun - the longest I've ever done any one thing in my whole life.

I was in elementary school for seven years (counting kindergarten), middle school for two years, high school for four, college for four, The Kansas City Star for four. I've been a Mom for four years; I've been married for almost seven.

So although I was really ready to go when I left in 2008, and haven't regretted the move away from The Sun or from journalism, it's not surprising, I suppose, that sometimes I get a little nostalgic about my days as a Baltimore Sun reporter. I spent a long time there.

Me at my desk (to the right) during my last summer at The Sun.

I'm very happy where I am now. The work is interesting and important, I think, and the culture fits my life much better than daily reporting ever would've. The pay is better too, and with three children to feed and clothe, that means more to me than I would have imagined when I was in my 20s, fighting the good fight, "comforting the afflicted and afflicting the comfortable," for pennies and a byline.

But there is really nothing like being a reporter -- going out meeting new people, learning new things all the time, getting the story, crashing on deadline, writing for a living, and sometimes, occasionally, bringing about change.

Some of my best friends in this world were made during my time as a reporter. My friend Su in Portland,Oregon I met while interning at the News & Observer in Raleigh. My friend Candice I met when we both worked at the KC Star. And I can barely count the number of people I know and love now because we met at The Sun: Laurie, Jill, Kelly, Andrea, Rashod, Lisa, Erin, Erika, Monica, Jennifer, Sumathi, Doug, Stephanie S., Stephanie D., Liz, Brent (and now his wife Monique), Tima, Andre Chung...honestly, I could be here all day counting the people I count as Sun-made friends.

And if it weren't for The Baltimore Sun, I never would have met Lester, who interned there the summer of 2004 -- dapper in freshly-pressed button-up shirts -- and impressed me with his work ethic, laid-back attitude, maturity and sense of responsibility.

It wasn't until 2006 that we started dating, but the groundwork was laid at 501 N. Calvert St.. Journalism brought us together and sparked a love that created three amazing, beautiful children.

For that, and so many other things, I'm immensely and eternally grateful.

Those lapels SO should have been off the record.