very behind.
a pile of laundry sits in my hamper.
my floor needs vacuuming.
unread, unreplied to emails have filled my inbox.
blog posts stay unread.
and my own blog has remained bare for the last week or so.
i am so very behind,
but i am okay with it because i am working on casting aside my to-do list
and living instead. :)
---
saturday, may 21st, my mom and my little sister, amberly, came down to visit me for the first time since i've been down in orange county this past (almost) year. my birthday was the upcoming tuesday and their trip was sort of a pre-birthday celebration.
needless to say, i was ecstatic in preparation for their arrival on saturday and i felt like a maniac driving to the airport to pick them up; no matter how fast i drove, i couldn't get there soon enough.
life is strange, though. it's one of those things where you miss them so much, your heart aches to be near them and you swear you'll never take a single second for granted. but then, when you are back together, it's as if nothing has ever changed and you fall into that comfortable ebb and flow that you do with anyone who compliments and completes you.
that's how it felt being back with my mom and little sister and it was pure and refreshing.
after making our way out of the airport, i showed them around downtown huntington beach where we walked on the beach
{aren't they gorgeous? :)}
and did a little shopping. i ended up with the cutest robot necklace and an emerald green tank top and my little sister walked away with the most perfect feather earrings. we people-watched, tried on sexy shoes and pointed out every cute dog we saw. my favorite was this humongous great dane in someone's VW bus who would bark at everyone passing by. i seriously considered some sort of elaborate kidnapping plan because he was so stinkin cute.
once we exhausted our options in huntington, we took the gorgeous 20-minute drive to beautiful, over-crowded laguna. we did some more shopping there, which was a blast. handing each other shirts through dressing room curtains, putting hats and necklaces on each other...nothing beats it. amberly and i laughed as we squished into the dressing room at one little boutique while my mom kept handing different clothes through the curtains that she thought would be cute on us.
after the shopping began to wear on us, we grabbed sushi for dinner
where we sat and talked and laughed and quoted the same old inside jokes we've had for years.
before heading back to the hotel my mom had booked for us, we stopped at the sweetest little gourmet cupcake shop, where my mom bought us each a single cupcake for dessert
later that evening.
when we were finally good and pruny, we went back to our room, showered and jumped in our pj's when we could finally crawl into bed, eat our (delicious, perfect, gourmet) cupcakes
sunday morning, my mom sat in bed and watched the lovely paula deen while my little sister and i giggled in the bathroom, doing our make-up and getting ready for the day (amazing how even moments like that become precious). we grabbed bagels and coffees from starbucks and hit the road jack to head out to venice beach.
venice, i must say, was lovely. i was a little worried for my mom and amberly because, as i've mentioned before, venice has quite a few crazies between its dancing drug addicts and homeless people smoking God-knows-what and i was a little worried about how they would handle it. they took it like champs, though. :) all three of us got henna, made friends with a nice jamaican man and took some time to sit on the beach and watch the waves before some fat lady in a thong start posing for a photographer, forcing us to move our party elsewhere. we shopped and shopped and shopped. for the first time EVER in venice, i did not spend one dollar, but my little sister ended up with some treasures.
one of my favorite moments of the weekend was when we were on our way out. i wanted to stop by my favorite coffee shop in venice and the three of us ended up sharing a delicious vegetable and turkey quesadilla while my mom and amberly had shaved ice and i sipped on an iced white mocha.
for some reason, that moment struck me so much. maybe it was the peace in the cafe after being around so many crazies. maybe it was the rest for my legs or the taste of the coffee. maybe it was the perfect, delicious homemade quesadilla with turkey and tomato and onions and salsa. but between the peace and my happy tastebuds and the presence of two of my most favorite women, i sat there and wondered, can life get much better than this? in that moment, i wasn't sure it could and i left venice with a happy tummy and a full heart.
an hour or so later, we got back to the hotel and once again, hot tubbing seemed the perfect way to end the day. we got in our swimsuits, hopped in my car and headed across the street to the hot tub.
as my luck would have it, half a block down the road, my car died. just done pooped out on me. i, of course, started freaking out. fortunately, my mom is a patient woman who told me to calm down and try starting my car again. i did that 3 times before i was finally able to get my car into the nearest parking lot where it died completely and would not turn on again.
while we had waited for AAA to come out and see what the problem was, the 3 of us sat in my dead car and prayed. prayed that the problem was simple. prayed that it would be easily fixed. and as my mom prayed, i lifted my own unique prayer up to the One who knows. "no matter what happens with this car, no matter what the outcome is, i will be thankful. i will worship you still. you give and take away. blessed be your name."
i meant that prayer and i was glad i had prayed it because AAA came and quickly determined it wasn't an issue they could resolve and my car was towed to my mechanic.
God provides, though. i attribute that partially to the two faith-filled women i was with, but i know it is really because He is just so dang good.
even in the midst of everything, we still got across the street to the hot tub, courtesy of the tow truck driver. my mom and amberly sat in the hot tub and talked and i sat there and stressed. about money. about my car. but mostly, about the immediate dilemma: what were my poor family and i supposed to do for the next 24 hours they were in town? watch cable TV in the hotel?
i felt empty and discouraged and even the delicious chloriney hot water couldn't wash away my worries.
as i mentioned before, though, God is good and He always provides. shortly after leaving the hot tub to head back across the street, we found out that our hotel not only offered a shuttle to the airport, but to any location within 4 miles of the hotel. :)
i think we all got a new sense of rejuvenation as we rushed upstairs and got all purty for a dinner together at red robin. all of a sudden, eating anywhere but the hotel seemed like a luxury.
after some delicious fries, burgers and strawberry lemonade, we went back to the hotel and watched the end of my big fat greek wedding before falling asleep.
monday went by way too fast. we were showered, packed and ready to go before i knew it and the shuttle took us over to a nearby mall for breakfast. after some delicious french toast and lattes, we did what girls do best. :) after we exhausted all of our options in the freezing cold mall, we went outside to soak up some warmth and sunshine before the shuttle picked us up to take us back to the hotel.
even though i would see my mom and amberly again the following weekend, saying good-bye to them felt strangely hard. it seemed like they had just piled into my car hours before; and now they were piling into someone else's car to fly 400 miles away again. even though i knew it was time, saying good-bye was bittersweet and no matter how much time we spent together, i don't think i would've ever been quite ready for it.
---
life just goes by way too fast sometimes. there are those moments when you wish that maybe time would just freeze so you could hold them just a little bit longer and maybe squeeze that much more joy out of them.
but time marches on and i'm left scrambling after it
and always left wanting more.
i think that's how life is supposed to be.
and maybe that's what i was supposed to learn that weekend:
that my car is a thing; and my hard-earned money can be hard-earned once again.
but the wisdom of my mom? the laughter of my sister? i can't keep them in my pocket or carry them around with me. those things are intangible and fleeting; irreplaceable.
yes, God gives and takes away.
but maybe what i needed to learn this weekend
is to look past the things He might be taking
and cherish all the things that He is still giving.
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