30 Days of Thanks: Perfect Moments Caught

Sometimes when I look at the two of them, I feel like my heart is going to explode.  Really, how did I get so lucky?

I love catching little moments like this on camera.  Moments where everything is completely and utterly perfect; where everything is blue-skies, love, happiness and toddler laughter floating on ocean breezes.

One of the reasons I am most thankful for this blog is that it forces me to keep my camera with me, capturing pictures of our life. And then later taking the time to reflect on and record them. Sometimes, Chris jokingly says to me, “Can’t you just experience life instead of photographing it?”  And, in response, I always tell him that it’s through the camera that I most experience and appreciate life.

When I have my camera, I stop to look at things more closely.  I adjust my angle, and I think about how the sun is shining across their faces or the wind is blowing Nora’s soft corn-silk hair.

I stop to record a moment or a thing that I might otherwise have walked right by.  And then, when I transfer pictures to my computer to edit and eventually blog, I scrutinize the moment once more: remembering the warm November sun, salty air blowing off the sound, the whisper and slight crunch of the path under our feet, and the joy radiating from our little girl during what might have otherwise been an easily forgotten walk.

Months later, when I scroll back through Picasa, I’ll catch a glimpse of the pictures and it’ll all come rushing back. I love that my blog makes me really see life.  I’m thankful for all the memories I have recorded so far and for all those yet to come.

(And today, I am especially, incredibly, super, unbelievably thankful for the fact that I was able to take these pictures at all — because I accidentally left my camera in the ECC this morning.  Thank you, thank you, thank you universe for letting me remember I had forgotten it not too long after I left and for it still being there!!!)