Killing me Softly

It's a couple hours before kindergarten starts. Zak and I have just finished a couple pages of his homework, and I know we still need to go through his sight words and his alphabet...AND his numbers to 30. I'm also going through a list in my mind of everything I need from Costco, a Winco trip tomorrow, the whooping cough vaccine that both my girls need to get AGAIN since it's now california law, all the stuff I need to get them to tonight...and yet I'm not feeling super overwhelmed right now. I'm just sitting on the couch. Well, I'm sitting at the computer desk now, but still... I'm having a quiet moment. Zak is playing quietly with his Batman car, which I can assure you is a rare occurrence.

Not the playing with the Batman car, but the quiet.

I look over at him kneeling against the couch, talking his Batman and Robin..shirt off and pajama pants on, and I realize that this is a Moment. And I caught it:)

I drop my gaze further and see his sock clad feet, socks that I just recently bought at the store since his other ones got muddied up. But something makes me smile as I sit looking at his feet. There are big mud stains going through the center of his socks because somehow he'd gone out on the patio this morning.

I sighed a contented sigh, that somehow there are just things that don't change. Zak will forever be my high energy boy with dirty socks. And this morning, that is okay.

*smile*

Quest with a Camera

Inspired by this post by Enjoying the Small Things I decided that I need to have more profound moments in my life, to discover the beauty around me in day to day life. On my way home from dropping Zak off, the idea struck and I realized how perfect it really is.

I am going to find the joys of life through my camera lens.

I have actually thought about this a time or two in the last year, but never did anything about it. And for whatever reason, I have been feeling somewhat reflective of my life the last couple of weeks. Maybe the ensuing birthday tomorrow accompanied by the changing of a digit has prompted these nostalgic feelings. Or maybe it's that I have become more aware at the different seasons in life and how mine has left the young babies one and has turned into something else entirely. I am enjoying this season of my life immensely but I don't want it to pass me by like the last ones have. I want to find deeper meaning in my day to day activities with my husband and my children. Times change, the seasons in our lives change, and we can't get them back. I suppose, if I was to really dig deep and figure out why I feel so nostalgic and this yearning to go back, is that I think I haven't left my mark on life enough. Have I really taken time to reflect? Have I really truly embraced my life as a gift from God? Are my kids going to remember their mother as someone who was a meticulous house cleaner but who never shared "moments" with them?

I want to have MOMENTS!

I realize that this is decidedly late for resolutions for the new year, but like most everything else, it takes me longer than most people to get on board:) So this year I have but one resolution, and that is to be in the Moment, to grab my camera at the slightest whim and photograph what I see and think is beautiful. To really appreciate my surroundings and my life fully. And ultimately realize how much Heavenly Father has blessed me with. So there you have it...

my quest with a Camera.

I was coming home from dropping Zak off at school and for whatever reason, I always seem to exhale when I see the green scenery, or the cows, or the big power line holders thingies. I have no idea what they're called really:) And it always grabs me that I wish I had my camera! So I decided that I was going to run home and document what I see through my camera lens.

I love living out here. It makes me happy to see the cows. It's super quiet and I feel somewhat removed from the hustle and bustle of city life. It reminds me of how blessed I am.


Unfortunately I discovered that I didn't have the lens that I wanted in my haste to document my new found discoveries, so you can't really see the beautiful little brooks that run through the land.



No parking sign, shmarking sign. This was a beautiful view and I didn't give a rip! And besides, it's not likely some meter maid is going to show up.



I love roads. There is just something so soothing about a road. You can't see destinations end, yet somehow you know you'll get there. And really, it's all about the journey on said road.

So I got down, flat on my stomach, on the road, and took this picture. I worried for a minute that a car might be ensuing, but then I decided that being daring is half the fun.





My goal is to post something weekly that I find joy in, to remind myself how amazing and beautiful life is...

to remind myself that I'm not missing it.