Moments: A Rainy Day

 

Recognizing the moments that make my life beautiful!

 

"The best thing one can do when it's raining is to let it rain."

--Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

 

It's been super hot and humid here for the past few days here.  Hot is normal for the middle of summer in Idaho.  Humid and muggy is not so common. 

 

I was feeling heavy and hot...maybe a little cranky. 

I was more aware of the stress of my every day life and feeling it more in this sticky heat.

 

And then it rained.

 

A lot.

 

The kind of downpour that washes the heat away and turns crankiness into playfulness and child-like wonder.

 

 

We watched the raindrops fall when I happily remembered that my children have never had the experience of playing in the rain! 

 

So, I opened the door and let them loose!

 

There was very little hesitation.  They knew what to do with the water falling from the sky!

 

They danced and laughed and sang and played...

 

...I joined them and thoroughly enjoyed the moment of freedom and peace.

 

Was I feeling stress a few minutes ago? 

 

Once we discovered the river in the gutter, we dove right in. 

 

No worries about the mud.  No worries about getting our clothes wet.

 

No worries.

 

 

Moments of Mommyness

My Mister is on a much needed break.  He has been in nonstop school for the last year and now finally is in the midst of an almost 4-week break.  

And what does he want to do with that break?

Well, we've been spending a lot of time at the park.  We've been eating dinner as a family.  He and I have been staying up late catching up on movies and favorite TV shows (Psych, anyone?  Grimm?  Once Upon a Time?  Survivor?...).  We've been hanging out with friends.  We've been talking a lot.  We have maybe been laughing a little.  I haven't been cleaning the house as much as I used to.  He's been doing the dishes!  =)

It's been exhausting!  The good kind of exhausting, of course.  

Oh, and we've also been looking for a new house.  Yeah.  Remember when I mentioned the sudden rush of things to be taken care of?  When the Mister finishes his PA classes at the end of summer, he will be ready to start his rotations: the last step of his education before he has to take a big scary test and enter the real world as an official PA.  

We had anticipated that he would be assigned to do those rotations in a city that is about half an hour from here...the city we do our shopping and stuff in.  You would think that I would have learned by now that when I make plans something always changes them!  He was assigned instead to a city that is about an hour and 15 minutes north of here...much further away.  For convenience (and money) sake, we have decided to move up there.  It's just easier.

Here's the kicker...he starts his rotations on August 27.  Baby boy (W) is due on August 19.  Mister's finals are August 13 -17.  It's a little crazy.  

But, no worries.  Arrangements have been made to induce labor and we are hoping to move in July.  All is well, and we are excited for a change of scene, but expect a little craziness now and then.  (Do you like how I say that like that would be something new?)

Anyway, I digress.  I was talking about how nice it has been to have him home.  It makes me think how nice it would be to have this set up all of the time.  Of course, that's not how life works.  We have to be responsible.

Have you ever seen Into the Woods?  It is one of my all time favorite musicals.  It is full of so many little life lessons and it is super fun to sing along with.  

Here's a song from it that has been on my mind: 

Now, please don't assume that I'm trying to say I would like a "prince for...whatever." Really using this song is a reach for the point I'm making, but it was a good excuse to listen to a good song.  =)  

Still, If our lives were only made up of beautiful and extraordinary moments, would we appreciate them as much?  Do we give the not so beautiful moments of life enough credit?  

Life really is made up of little moments.  Sometimes they can seem so boring and ordinary and we forget to see how beautiful they are.  I have to remind myself to step back and look at the moments of my life.  The things that make up me...the things that make me happy, or even sad for that matter...the things that make me feel and try to appreciate them for the gifts that they are.  

So, I'm starting my Moments series.  

And in honor of Mother's Day (which I know I'm late for), here is a moment of mommyness from my life.

L is 2 years old and lives up to that in every way possible.  She is a feisty little fireball with a beautifully sweet personality.  She is a joy.

This is our tradition.  I am cooking dinner and cleaning up the house.

She comes in and assumes this position:

Then she says, "Again, Mommy!" and I say, "Ready...Set...Go!"

And she goes! 

From the living room a few seconds later, I hear "Again, Mommy!"

"Ready...Set...Go!"

And she's back. 

and ready to go again. 

"Ready...Set...Go!!"

This could go on for hours.

A heart to heart and the disappearance of my toes

Hi.

I've missed you.

I am sorry for my long absence and I feel like I owe you a bit of an explanation.

Have you ever hit a wall?  I don't mean like a little tap with your hand or a small kick with your foot.  I mean a full on slam into a wall at running speed.

And, I'm talking figuratively here.

I hit a wall.  A rather big one.  I should have seen it coming.  But I didn't.

With my husband in school, 2 young girls, 2 Church callings, a job, and a home to keep, I have a very full plate.  On top of that, life sometimes just gets hard and sometimes the trials it brings are almost unbearable.

I hit that wall and had to take some time to recover and regroup.

Here's another analogy.  My mom and I used to hike a lot in the mountains behind her house.  It was good exercise and a good stress reliever and good Mommy/Daughter time.  I loved those hikes and I miss them terribly.

The highest point we could hike to we affectionately called "Heart Attack Hill."  That was a doozy of a hike, but well worth it.  Once we reached the top we could sit and see for miles and miles and miles in simple peace and quiet.  I have only made it up there a handful of times, but it is still one of my favorite places in the whole world.

But, I digress.  To get to the top of Heart Attack, you have to hike up a few smaller hills, each one getting gradually steeper and a little more challenging.  There is one point in particular that sits in my memory as a really, really, really, really hard climb.  The slope is so steep, you feel that if you lean backwards just slightly you'll go tumbling down the hill.  And, to make it worse, because it is so steep it is deceptive.  There is a point where you look ahead and see what looks like the top.  But when you get to that point, you find it is just a small ledge and you still have a few more feet to go.

Oh, and by the way, this point in the path is only about 40 feet long.

So, in my memory, I can see my mom and I struggling up this hill, practically crawling.  We were both in fairly good shape at the time, but still we had to stop every 5 minutes or so to rest and encourage each other to keep climbing.  We would sit until we could breathe normally again and then we would get up and move on until, finally, hand in hand, we reached the top.  It was exhilarating and exhausting.

That's where I am now.  I feel like I am starting to catch my breath.  I'm recovering, I'm regrouping, and I'm now getting back up and starting my hike back up.

I want to get back into blogging.  I have missed it so, and I get a lot of stress relief from the projects that I create.

Here's the thing, though.  I won't allow this blog to stress me out.  I have enough stress in my life.  This is my release.

I will post my crafts when I have them.  I won't post every day.  I will finally start working on the projects ideas I have been collecting for a couple of years now, which hopefully means I will be featuring some awesome bloggers and their tutorials.  I'm not going to worry so much about coming up with my own ideas.  =)  And, I'm not going to allow myself to feel guilty when I miss the holiday-specific crafts.  I'll get to them next year, or the year after that.

I may sometimes just post about my bad day, because, truth be told, I'm still very much in the midst of some pretty tough trials and I have bad days.  However, I am an optimist and I will always try to see the bright side and the Lord's hand in my life.  That's why I write.

I named this blog Creating Sarah because I want to use it to not only motivate myself to create crafts, but also create myself into the person I always hoped to be.  Hopefully, there will be more of that going on.

So, stick with me if you want to.  If you get bored of me, I won't be hurt if you leave.

I love that so many people that I don't know are following my little blog.  I want to make friends.  Please feel free to reach out to me, write to me, comment.  I'll reach back.

Ok.  I think that is enough babbling for now.

But I do have one more thing to share with you.

It has become apparent recently, that soon I will no longer be able to see my toes!  This may explain some of my stress as well.

This little issue is due to be resolved on August 19, 2012.

I'm a little bit crazy!

Remember that ambition I oftentimes surprise myself with?  I did it again.

I just posted an audition for American Crafter over at Nap Time Crafters!





And here:




Whoa.