Beauty in the Ordinary

Life has been busy. I guess that's the norm in the season. I hate that I have neglected blogging lately. It's a struggle to find a minute to sit down in peace and just be. It's hard to find words when I feel like my brain is just jumbled with the day in and day out. A never ending "to do" list running on repeat through my mind. Quieting the noise hasn't been my forte. I guess you could say that's a goal for 2018. Finding more time for quiet. More time to just be in the moment. For just a few minutes let go of being mom, wife, teacher. To just take a step back and examine life. This past week I was challenged through one of those silly Facebook challenges that I usually ignore. Except this one was intriguing to me. I had seen several friends share their 7 days of black and white photos of their lives, no people and no explanation, and I found their photos interesting. Usually photos posted on social media involve people. Kids, family, spouses, friends. I could tell some people found it more challenging to photograph the parts of their life that we don't often focus on. Some clearly tried to set up the perfect shot. I'll admit, that's what I wanted to do first. I wanted to snap a photo with perfect lighting...the perfect composition. I wanted to photograph the parts of my life that make me seem half way interesting. But this proved to be more challenging that I anticipated. Especially when my kids could not be the subjects. And then I started to look at the most ordinary pictures in my every day life, and it was in those seemingly simple objects and scenes that I found the most beauty. A picture of the desert that represents the start to our story. A place we will always call home. A place that holds many special memories. Photos of that part of our lives are all over our home and I love looking at them and thinking back on our time in Phoenix. A picture of my desk at school. Something I see every single day, but it represents a significant part of my life. A career I am passionate about. In a school that feels like home. Rain drops on my classroom window. Something I wouldn't typically take note of, but beautiful none the less. Tevez. Our sweet pup that too often goes unappreciated in our home. He is deserves far more attention, love, and affection than we could ever provide....yet there he is, day in and day out, loving us unconditionally. Greeting us each and every day when we arrive home. Toys. Toys everywhere. And Crayons. And papers of artwork and schoolwork. Coyote. Luca's stuffed animal that we purchased at the airport in Phoenix on our flight home when we moved back. He was sick that morning. I was pregnant with Mila, emotional, stressed, and not feeling so hot myself. I just wanted to fix everything. To make him feel better. To reassure my not quite 3 year old that everything was going to be okay despite the fact that he was sick and we were leaving the only home he had ever known. And back to the toys. The simple fact that my house is always wrecked by kid toys and laundry and messes is something to behold. Even though most days I just bemoan it. Looking back a little over 7 years ago and there were many days I wondered if we would ever be able to have children. If our house would ever be filled with toys. Here we are, two amazing kids that love to drive us crazy fighting bedtime, fighting with each other. Making endless messes. And endless memories. This stage will pass us by much too fast. Even when the days seem so long and I struggle to recognize the most simple moments, the most ordinary every day moments, as the most beautiful.