captured

wow, i have been mia for the past couple of weeks. and because i'm sure you've been checking daily, anxiously awaiting my next post...i apologize.

the past couple of weeks have been a crazy couple of weeks that can be summed up with one word: midterms. but thank goodness it is spring break, which has been a sweet time of relaxing, laughing, and getting a little sun with friends at the beach, enjoying the beautiful weather in raleigh with my family, and spending encouraging time with friends i don't get to see too often.

i have been reading ann voskamp's book, one thousand gifts, and it has convicted me to live a life of gratitude, finding joy in every moment. one thing i am thankful for is the chance to capture a moment that will never occur again. i am going to share some of my favorite moments i have had the opportunity to capture over the past few weeks...

more pics with syd at the consignment shop :)

tate street coffee shop with friends

 

                                             hamp's basketball game 

one of my precious young life girls, erika

we had fun with this awesome vw van

spring break in wilmington!

me with two of my sweet friends, jenn and savannah

mint chocolate chip

this is just a little preview of the wonderful time i spent with syd this afternoon at an antique shop in burlington (we spent most of the time being afraid of the owner...we're wimps).

we wanted mint chocolate chip ice cream today. but, smitty's didn't have it so strawberry worked, too :)

more to come soon...right after i finish my homework...

minutes wasted.

this week has flown by. as has every week of 2011. i want time to stand still so i can enjoy it all. but i know that can't happen. so i'm left with the enjoying it all part. even when hours seem to be minutes and minutes are seconds.

"a pail with a pinhole loses as much as the pail pushed right over. a whole life can be lost in minutes wasted, small moments missed." 

-ann voskamp 

(www.aholyexperience.com)

those small moments are the ones i'm missing. they're the ones i'm too busy for. at the beginning of this week i was talking to my sweet friend Blair about intentionally planning out our week so when people ask what we did this week we would have an answer for them. it's not that i don't do anything during my week, it's that i do so much it all blurs together. if the small moments throughout everyday are where we find the most life and joy then my days and weeks shouldn't be a blur. 

sometimes i think i have it figured out. how to balance my quiet time with young life, and friends and family with schoolwork. and then sometimes i don't. 

and in those times i feel so overwhelmed. so trampled. so burdened by the things that brought me joy.

i have come to realize that i can't gain control of my present life or my future. but i desperately try to hold on. all that has brought me is anxiety and worry. so i'm going to let go of it and focus on the small moments of joy throughout my day. i don't doubt that they are there, i'm just getting in the way of seeing and feeling them.