Quest with A Camera 3

Mornings are always met with a mixture of "glad it's a new day," and "darn, it's a new day." Sometimes all the STUFF of the oncoming day is more than I want to handle right when I wake up. I'm one of those people who's brain starts into overdrive the minute I become conscious. Sometimes it's right as I wake up when the alarm goes off, but most often it's an hour or two before I have to get out of bed. So with that being said, most mornings are spent with me lying in bed till the very last possible second, but having woke up an hour prior to that. There's just something so very delightful about laying in one's own cozy bed, amongst one's favorite sheets, with one's favorite person. It makes getting out of bed very hard sometimes. I usually wait until Doug is out of bed before I decide to get a move on the day.

This particular morning found me downstairs. Doug was still in the shower getting ready for his long hours at the office, Teaghan was getting ready for school, Collette was getting ready for work and driving my daughter and her friends to school (Yes, she's a trooper!)..... the other three were nestled under warm covers waiting to be woke up.

I began my early morning ritual of opening of the blinds and the drapes. I have this need for sunlight in the morning. It just makes me feel all cheery and content. But this particular morning I just wasn't feeling it.

I was up a bit earlier than I usually am, most likely due to the fact that my brain kicked on at 6:15am, and I figured I would get a jump start on the morning. All the things that I needed to get done for the day, the activities I needed to get kids to...really, everything that demanded my attention came to the forefront of my mind and I found myself feeling very weary.

As I was about to open up the blinds, I realized that it was still dark outside. This made me feel even wearier as I wished that I could've been in bed still. I know, cry me a river, but this chica needs sleep to function. I am a total bear without it and I covet my sleep time:)

I decide to open up the drapes on one of the sliders that lead out to the backyard. As I pull the cord to open the window to my view, I am greeted with the most amazing sunrise.

I hurried and grabbed my camera.



Sometimes I have these amazing moments of clarity, and they usually come when I need them the most. Usually it is something in nature that I feel like Heavenly Father is putting right in my path and saying "See! Isn't this beautiful? Stop and look and count your blessings for they are all around you."

What I needed to do that day didn't seem like a heavy load anymore. The lunches that I pack every morning didn't seem so mundane. I once added up the number of lunches I pack in a school year and it was just an insanely funny number. I was reminded of that number and smiled because of the fact that I COULD make school lunches for my kids. Baseball practice and games became fun again because I know a time will come when I won't do that anymore, and it may be all too soon. Kissing my sweet hubby goodbye knowing that I won't see him till sometime after 8p meant that he has a great job to go to, one that he enjoys which I think is even more rare.

I looked at that sunset and felt blessed. It felt like it was there just for me and my heart strings were pulled and I stood there for a few more moments after taking the picture and just breathed it in.

There are great advantages living at the top of the hill. My fence line cuts right around the rest of the neighborhoods roof lines, affording me the perfect scenario for sunrise watching.

Perfect start to a PERFECT day.

Quest With A Camera

I went treasure hunting with Zak.

Part of me wanted to say no, that I didn't have the time. There were other pressing things to be taken care of... like the piles of laundry that needed to be sorted, deciding on what's for dinner so something could be thawing on the counter, his homework page that still needed to be done...but nothing that wasn't more pressing than playing pirates and going treasure hunting with my son. The pleading look in his eyes was all the convincing I needed.

"Mommy, please come play with me."

He got himself dressed in his pirate costume. We found a box from the recycling in the garage, and he made himself a treasure map.





We consulted said treasure map before we set off into the fields.



Said Pirate Zak, "This is the path we need to follow." And so we did.





"Is this the spot?"



I surely did hope so, because the map was leading us into muckier and muckier terrain. But Pirate Zak assured me that we needed to move on. So I rolled up my pants, thanked my foresight for putting on flip flops, and trudged on.



At last we came across treasure. As Pirate Zak showed me what he found, the mommy instinct of "Put that down! It's got germs!" or "you're going to cut yourself and get all kind of infections!"... I decided in that nanosecond of fleeting thought that it really was okay. How could I squish the sparkle in the eye of a new discovery?





I just told him to hurry and throw it in the box before any other pirates could come and take it. That way the handling was a lot less. Mother of the Year award I would not win, but sometimes it's okay:)

After treasures were stowed away into the "treasure box," I as the lackey, got to lug said treasure box onto new sites. I was happy to hold onto the box of wonders.



Treasure hunting was not on my list of to do items that day. At first I didn't deem it to be all that important until I realized that it was on my son's to do list. Walking through jungles...imagining sharks in the small pools of water in the mud...running away from other pirates who would take our treasure...my imagination found takeoff too. I forgot that I could find joy in playing. I remembered how fun it is to be someone else even for just a little while. I caught a fleeting memory of childhood pretending and it was so amazing.

Thanks Zak for taking me on a treasure hunt. Thank you for reminding me that I need to stop and play and count my blessings.

I was blessed to be able to drop everything and play with my son.

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.