[looking back and looking forward]

I know it's been a few weeks since I got a new post up, and you have my sincerest apologies for the absence. Life has been a little bit busy lately, and it has even thrown us a few surprises. To be frank, I've had a lot on my mind, and just haven't had it in me to post any pictures or chat aimlessly about why I like wearing stripes or how great I think gray kitchen cabinets are.

The best is yet to come. I've wrestled a little bit with that phrase the last few weeks. As Maurice and I have trudged through the last few years of long days, late nights, and very little time in between to just stop and relax, I've found myself thinking many many times... "it won't always be like this." I reminded myself often that his masters would soon be over, work would slow down a little, and THEN maybe life would be just a little bit easier.

And in some ways, that might be true. I believe whole-heartedly that life is only going to continue to get better and better. I can feel that distinct stirring deep down in the depths of me that says that there are big things in store. But at the same time, I don't want to let that distract me from the wonderful place where we're at right now. Maurice is now just a few weeks from graduating and I keep finding myself reflecting on how hard we've both worked, how deeply we've had to trust in God, and how wonderfully He has blessed us. Not to sound cheesy, but it truly feels like it was yesterday that we packed up everything we owned, and headed for Colorado. Maurice was distracted by taking pictures when we passed the sign that said we were leaving Texas and a single big fat tear rolled off my cheek as I watched home become smaller and smaller in the rearview mirror. Leaving was hard, but Colorado has been our own little adventure, and now almost 2 years later, I'm finding it a little challenging to again be in a transition period where we're not really sure what the next step will be.

But instead of focusing on getting through this part so that we can get to the next, I'm trying to remember to take the time to enjoy this part. Driving in the mountains, bickering in the car over whether or not the GPS is right about how to get to the mountains, lazy weekends at the end of long weeks, hugging the necks of family and dear friends who come to visit, video chatting with precious nieces and nephews who are growing too quickly while we're gone, Saturday errand/shopping dates, a sweet kiss goodbye before we rush off to our days, and looking over in my car to see the sun setting behind the mountains at the end of that day... those are the things that make up our life right now, and it's a pretty sweet life.