Floridaful

We have had a nice, long dose of "taking life slow." I started a book during vacation called One Thousand Blessings; I'm on chapter four and have already cried five times. Considering I'm not quite halfway through it, I don't want to try to summarize or explain it; but I will, based on what I've read thus far, highly recommend it.

One portion of the book describes a moment in detail for the author in which she relishes in absorbing the moment of her young children gathered around her table and diving into a snack she has made them. She takes the time to describe how each child eats it: how one delights in each little crumb, another wolfs it down, how their eyes sparkle, etc. She is overwhelmed and delighted by this tiny, seemingly insignificant interaction that she feels burrow deep into her memory to savor over and over again. This whole scene brought me to complete and utter tearful ruin. Why? Because 1.) most moms totally understand this nonsensical emotional reaction, it's this chemical thing that happens to your soul after you have a baby, and 2.) I was both grateful for the time I had over vacation to cherish several of my own moments like this of Addie, and simultaneously regretted moments like this at home that I had let slip through my fingers in my hurry to do whatever seemed so "important."

Blake told me today that friends at church could not believe I have lived six months without a kitchen. Three weeks ago I probably would have shared in this disbelief. But lately, it honestly hasn't bothered me. Even without a kitchen, I have been able to share memories of Addie helping me make dinner and do dishes. In my hurry to make picturesque memories in our fixer upper, I neglected to absorb the memories I was already making. And while they may not be Instagram-worthy, they are completely, wholly beautiful to me.

All of this to say, we have returned from vacation with a pretty large to-do list, but I am ready to live each day, minute by minute, reminding myself to take life slow; to watch Addie push her few wispy bangs out of her face while she lays on her belly on the floor, focused intently on scribbling all over her coloring books; to mentally record how she sings Disney Princess songs to herself 24/7, and how cute her little voice sounds right now; and how she stops everything she is doing to jump onto the big chair to watch Daddy pull into the driveway after he gets home from work. And so, so much more. More than enough to remind me that my life is unbelievably full, even when empty of a kitchen.

In closing, here are a few snapshots of our vacation, and brief descriptions. Enjoy :)

Eagerly awaiting our arrival to Magic Kingdom! Addie was all grins after the ferryboat captain announced to her over the loud speaker as we boarded, "PRINCESS! You're late for work!!!"

She could not EVEN believe Cinderella's castle was REAL.

We met Belle, Ariel, Cinderella, Aurora, Gaston, and Merida. We didn't get a picture with Belle, because you meet her on the Enchanted Tales ride, and we didn't realized we were allowed to use our cell phones to take a picture because there was a photographer. Addie sang a little bit to Ariel (hoping Ariel would give her a mermaid tail in exchange), got COMPLETELY flustered and couldn't speak to Gaston, and was almost completely giddy and silent with the other princesses. Merida was our favorite, she was really fun. :)

For my birthday, we got to go eat sushi (obviously), and Addie photobombed my birthday picture. Which was totally fine and cute :) 

Mer-Comptons were sighted on the beach!

Her squeeze hugs. I can't. <3

We spent SO MUCH time on the beach, and I only got one really bad sunburn. :)

The kitchen and mudroom tile floor is done, but still dusty after five mops! Grout dust is a bummer. Blake promised a couple more mops should leave it clean. And guess what? We have an oven to install (needs a little TLC first, though)! My personal fixer upper to do list this week involves getting that floor really clean, and moving some stuff out of the foyer to see if I can handle finishing up the ceiling by myself; this should either make for an inspiring or hilarious story later. I think I'm going to use fixer upper work as my motivator to exercise--if you think cardio on a treadmill is tough, try hauling junk up and down stairs for a while. Productive and cheaper than a gym membership.

P.S.--If you haven't already followed our Instagram account for our side business project, please check it out! I'm working on setting up a prize post for sometime in the next couple of weeks to help get us a little exposure. :)