Sunday, February 15, 2015

L.O.V.E.




It's amazing how much changes after having a child.  No longer can you pick up and go at any time of the day, or stay out for hours on end, there's a little one that needs a nap or is hungry and tired of being strapped in a carseat, stroller, pack...but we wouldn't have had it any other way.  In all honesty!  We had a lazy morning eating muffins and fruit, all took morning naps, then packed up for an adventure.

One of my little gifts for Ryan 



San Antonio is right up there with Provo in regards to city planning - or lack of it I should say.  They decided to close off a portion of the freeway on Valentine's weekend, unbeknownst to us.  So, after 45 minutes in a traffic jam on our way to Freidrich Wilderness Park, we decided to mosy our way back to the Greenway trail that runs all throughout the city.  

Recently, we had been talking to some friends of ours that are 4th year Med students, discussing why Texas will never be as beautiful as Utah, or Oregon.  We shared our sincere desires to find what gems Texas could offer while we are here, but that we were having a hard time finding anything close to pristine.  But, after a few minutes on the Greenway trail, we realized that beauty can manifest itself in so many ways.  Beauty in Texas is a quiet, secluded trail hidden from the business of the day, with animals and greenery, and a still, quiet, peaceful feeling.  We found a gem, which was us all together, enjoying the sunshine and stillness.




After those rejuvenating couple of hours, we took our worn out boy home for a good, long afternoon nap.  Some good friends of ours offered to babysit since they went out the night before, so we and another couple left at 5 to enjoy the evening while our kiddos stayed behind.  Ryan and I thought long and hard about how we wanted to spend our precious hours together, and thought of things we never got to do.  So, we packed up our tennis rackets and headed to the courts.  It was perfect.  We are definitely rusty, but it was so nice to move and to enjoy activities that we took for granted before.  
We played for an hour, rushed home and showered, then sped up to the stake center for conference.  On our way up, we laughed when we realized how fast we were able to get ready, without a little buddy boy who needed attention.  At first, we shook our heads thinking wow, think of all the things we could get done! but quickly followed that up with saying how empty our lives would be without him, and he was worth the messy, wet hair and sloppy makeup whenever he's around while getting ready.

After conference, we drove to the nearby La Cantera outdoor mall, and started searching for a good place to eat.  We ended up at Grimaldi's Pizza which was SO GOOD.



Afterwards, we went to pick up Cal (who was sleeping at a friend's house) and ended up talking altogether with the other couples until after midnight.  We talked about spending habits, topics from conference, making friends, keeping friends, parenting, and luck.  We talked about how there seem to be those people who walk on clouds, and stars aline, and every little good thing that can happen, happens for them.  Ryan and I laughed and felt like we were the opposite, and went on to say how unlucky we were.  The conversation eventually finished and we all packed up our kids and went our ways.

It wasn't until I was getting ready for bed, while hanging up clothes in the closet, that I had this sudden thought - why aren't you grateful? have you forgotten the miracles in your life? I felt a knot in my stomach.  There we were, going off about the string of unlucky incidents in our life, without even acknowledging all of the overwhelmingly good, "lucky", blessed moments.  We may have had outwardly, obvious stinky things happen, but we have also had many wonderful things.  And, this Valentine's day was one of them :)

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