lots...and lots...and lots of glimpses

i feel like i've been living my life in glimpses the last few weeks..
random glimpses of little girl marci.
random glimpses of older responsible marci (who doesn't seem to exist yet but quite possibly is out there).
i'd like to share some of my random glimpses with you, blogging world.

first, some short lil glimpses of our summer:

we've done lots of inflatable-pool-swimming-in-the-backyard...which means naked baby bums are completely acceptable and adorable (but for the sake of the publicness of this blog, i will not be posting pictures of naked bums at this time. instead, here's a super happy cheesy grin...always present with ellie while swimming).


we enjoyed our first little family getaway to Park City where we pulled the mattress from the bedroom into the living room space and taught ellie how to jump on the bed. she was very impressed.


we've solidified friendships and family-ships by having bbq's, talking on the porch till wee hours of the night, going to the discovery gateway, swimming, cooking, conversing, and laughing while enjoying the air-conditioned family room, going to st. george to enjoy delicious food, laughs, movies, the HEAT, swimming, a GORGEOUS house, more laughs, crazy children, dinkles (thats for you traverteen), and relaxation...all to realize that our time together is growing very short. (below you will enjoy a random assortment of summertime pictures ranging from museums to st georgisms).

ellie's first time to discovery gateway:

who do you think taught her how to do that???

some glimpses from our awweeeesome trip to st. george:

now, back to the glimpses.......

we relived my kaysvilleness while my parents/sista escapaded along the islands of hawaii....

i had glimpses of a few things:

1. taking care of a big house is a lot harder than you'd think. while there's more space, there's more space to get messy. which means more to pick up. and clean.

2. watering pots of flowers is kind of stressful. i found myself overwhelmed with thoughts, "is that leaf brown because of me? did i over water it? did i under water it? how can i be sure?"

3. i have always considered myself a dog person. i love dogs. we had a golden retriever named shadow when i was little who i loved and still miss. my parents now have another golden named lucy. she's adorable....and a lot of work to take care of. the walking, the playing, the poop cleaning, the playing, the walking....whoa. maybe we won't have a dog in our house?? am i really going to be that mom...you know, the uncool one that doesn't let her kids have pets because they are a lot of work?? i guess only time will tell.


being home also caused me to have several glimpses to my past:

1. running into old friends unexpectedly...and also expectedly.

exhibit a: i was running by my old friend Colby's house and his mom and little sister were out on their driveway getting ready for a run of their own. an hour and much reminiscing later, we had tears in our eyes and hugged like a million times. who knows when we'll see each other again, she said. i ran away thinking, she's right. who knows when we'll see each other again. and i got all teary eyed again. anyway, this picture is of our group of friends at Colby's house after his farewell. i love these people.


exhibit b: six years later and still making each other laugh like there's no tomorrow...the meenals got together for dinner at the olive garden. what a special treat for me. thanks for taking the time, ladies! how i love you all and will miss our laughs and good talks.



exhibit c: i decided to go to the DHS track. i had this flood of memories surge through my body as the marching band played, the cheerleaders practiced, and track stars ZOOMED past me left and right. it made me remember all the football games and early morning practices and si se puede's. (is it just me or do most my memories revolve around high school?)

exhibit d: i got to catch up with other friends...who i neglected to get pictures with...but of which was equally wonderful. my friend ju is having triplets- and i got to see her just a week before she had her C section. she's my hero. this is a picture of us our freshman year of college:

we also got to see our old neighbors josh and brittany who moved to Clinton. we loved seeing their place and having burgers and talking education. always good times with the barons.

while at the 'rents house, i also looked through my old junk...you know, all the old class work and pictures and notes i've saved for who-knows-what. well, i came upon these little gems- books that i used to write. you see, i've always wanted to be a children's book author. one of my favorite stories i've ever written was when i was eight. it was called "My Fable: The Elephant and the Peacock."



basically, it was about this elephant who hated his skin. so he went looking for new skin. luckily, he ran into a pack of peacocks...so he asked them if he could use their feathers for new skin. they kindly obliged. well, upon returing to the circus with his new skin, his friends were apalled and kicked him out. the story finished with the line, "You cannot fool anyone with borrowed feathers." pretty deep for an eight-year-old, huh? maybe someday you'll see a book about an elephant and the peacocks in your nearby shop around the corner...

we also had a little b-day party here at my parents house for mike (shhh don't tell). it was fun to finally throw a party at the parents house without them knowing and get away with it...and not get in trouble for it (even though my mom reads my blog and will be reading this little statement upon her return...oops). it was so fun to have a last hoorah before we head out. i unfortunately didn't pull my camera out till most everyone had left- but here are a few glimpses of the party:


but it made me have several glimpses of parties we've had in this wonderful house. one where i was in 6th grade- i had a costume party (i have an october birthday) and we had a pumpkin carving contest- well i was wearing this gorgeous princess gown with these lace sleeves that my grandma had made for me...and i went to light the jack-o-lanterns with a match...and POOF! in less than a second i was on fire. all the lace up my sleeve, the front of my dress.....i basically looked like a running bomb. luckily, i remembered how to stop, drop, and roll...and i did just that...but i had several burns which led to scars for several years. craziness.


another where i was 16- and my best friend jmhc (with the help of my mom of course) threw me the sweetest surprise birthday party after a football game EVER. it felt like the whole world was there. and my mom really embarrassed me by having my birthday cake have a huge picture of me on it. geeze. but it was a blast.


i've thought of all the fiesta nights. and sleepovers. and long talks. and door step scenes. man, i'm gonna miss this house.

other glimpses we've been having:

ellie is getting older. she is looking older. she is getting an attitude. she is giving kisses freely to any and all. she is giving stink faces like crazy. she is beautiful. we've been looking at pictures of when i was a baby and mike was a baby- and it's crazy to realize what a good mix she is of us.
here's a little glimpse into life with our 14 month old ellie (let's just say....life is BUUUSSSY):

(i know i already posted these...but they're so cute, i had to double post them. kind of like double dipping, i know. i promise to not repeat)

along with this little glimpse of ellie, i'd like to add: i've had a little glimpse of what it's like to be a stay-at-home mom. can i just say, hardest job in the world...but best job in the world? i'm waaay less rested than i thought i would be this summer. and i wouldn't have it any other way.

so, this means, while others are scurrying and planning getting ready for yet another year of school, i'm not. i have a tinge of sadness- mostly because i won't get to be with these lovely ladies every day any more- but i'm so grateful they took the time to lunch with me last week. i will sorely miss their love and wisdom in my life.

and as for a glimpse of our present-
our life is kind of in a limbo state: M isn't really working right now (well, he's always doing something- but we're talking 9-5 job...which we realize will really be like a 6-7 job...eek), i'm not working right now....we're packing up our life- with nowhere to really go yet, since we haven't bought a home yet. it's exciting...but kind of feels like the warm before the storm...you know, everything is just kind of still for a minute- but you can see the chaos heading straight for you...and there's no way to avoid it...so you may as well embrace it. but i'm not ready to embrace the change quite yet. i'm fearful. i'm worried. i'm anxious. and i just want to hide under my covers with my pillow over my head and pretend that the storm will just pass me and i can go on with my life. sigh.

we've been looking to buy houses. which we're realizing is a lengthy, overwhelming, daunting process...one that seems impossible. it's hard to imagine your life in a new place without knowing exactly where that new place is going to be...or where to even start looking where it could or should be. thank goodness for prayer.

we're realizing it's august.
the month we move.
all of this is going by f-a-s-t.
why won't it ssllllooooowwwwww dooooowwwwnnnn??

we're having glimpses of what it feels like to say good bye.
i'm having glimpses of what it feels like to have a broken heart.

sniff.

xoxo

*note: wow, longest post eeevvveeeerrrrrr. just sayin.*