Moments Become Months


Sometimes it seems as if there isn't much to share here because our life is simple and not that exciting most of the time. While gathering pictures for this post I realized that we actually have a lot of fun things going on and there are so many small moments in our days that I haven't been recognizing. As much as we may want it to, life doesn't slow down it just gets busier. I decided that we need to learn how to recognize those lovely moments and just see how much living we're really doing in the Moran house!  


Abigail participated in the county spelling bee! Since she's an eighth grader this was her last chance for spelling bee glory. By some divine stroke of luck Jared and I were both able to be there to watch her compete that night. She made it through the first three rounds and was in the top 10 of all the spellers before getting out on percolate - I wan't surprised that she hadn't heard of and didn't know this often coffee related word. We're grateful that Abigail is usually a positive young lady and she didn't feel too upset when she got out. There were definitely some other contestants who were very sad when they missed a word.


After the big Bee the three of us headed out for a little dinner and a big dessert. One on one time with our girls is definitely one of those moments worth remembering!



Dr. Seuss week snuck up on me again even though I'm sure these cuties brought home flyers or something detailing each special thing that was going on to commemorate everyone's favorite children's author. The problem is that I probably recycled said flyer and immediately forgot everything I read. Because of my terrible parenting, they didn't do anything for the first day of Dr. Seuss week but, due to immense levels of mommy guilt, I stepped up and the rest of the week they were appropriately attired, crazy haired, etc. The only day I actually documented was the day when they were to dress as their favorite Dr. Seuss character.  They both wanted to be Thing 1 and Thing 2 but I again dropped the ball and didn't pick up any red shirts for them to wear. That's okay though because with a sewing machine, a little help from Pinterest, and forty-five minutes, I was able to outfit these two girls as Sam-I-Am and Cindy Lou Who. I can't wait for them to both be done with elementary school. Then Dr. Seuss week will be a thing of the past!

Before...
and after
And more before...
and after! 
We took some time over the last little while to do some small projects around the house. There are plenty of big things we'd like to do, but sometimes there's just not enough time or money to make those big things happen. I'd love to make some big changes in our kitchen, install new floors in our downstairs entry, and somehow make our oddly shaped upstairs bath two bathrooms (which it originally was) instead of one. Right now none of those things are high on the priority list but it's easy to do minor projects that help me feel as if we're making some progress. In the kitchen we switched out the cabinet hardware. Twenty minutes later and those old cabinets were looking so much better! A second project, that took closer to two weeks than twenty minutes, was painting that awkward upstairs bathroom. We decided on the color (Valspar Cathedral Stone) months ago and before I finally started painting this room we had four different paint colors on the walls. There was the old paint, a khaki/tan, and three other colors that I'd tried out in various spots before settling on our final color. Unfortunately there wasn't one solid block of time to work on this project and I had to do what I could in moments stolen from our busy schedules. The girls were very patient with me and the half-finished state of their bathroom.


One of our favorite moments these last few weeks was a visit from some dear friends, the Numbers and the Carsons.  We all lived near each other during the first half of our time in Germany. We love them and were very excited to see them again. Every time we have the opportunity to reconnect with old friends and we're able to pick up just where we left off, as if no time has passed, I'm reminded of Alma the Younger and the Sons of Mosiah. I love the story of their happy reunion after being apart for fourteen years. Alma 17:2 says, "Alma did rejoice exceedingly to see his brethren; and what added more to his joy; they were still his brethren in the Lord."


This was definitely one of those experiences for me. These amazing ladies are even more amazing than I remember, I still love being around them, we can still talk for hours, and our kids still get along and have fun together. Lisa and I may even have felt the need to matchmake a little!

What a great life we have! I'm grateful for the moments, big and small, that come our way. I love seeing how even the not so happy moments weave into our lives and make our days special.

"Life is made up of moments, small pieces of glittering mica in a long stretch of grey cement. It would be wonderful if they came to us unsummoned, but particularly in lives as busy as the ones most of us lead now, that won't happen. We have to teach ourselves how to make room for them, to love them, and to live, really live." 
--Anna Quindlen, A Short Guide to a Happy Life

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