It's a Gift to be Ordinary

Brian and I have gotten into a pretty normal married life routine.  He goes to work in the morning, I run errands throughout the day, he comes home, I cook dinner, then we usually have one thing or another to do.  I was recently thinking I wish we had more going on in our lives, something exciting to be looking forward to. Not to say I am not happy with my life as I am truly blessed, but every now and then I catch myself looking far off to the future and what could be instead of what is. There comes a time when things just become a bit boring and ordinary. Then I have to remind myself that being ordinary is a gift.  We are both blessed to be very healthy with no health problems.  We are blessed with two loving families who both would do anything to see us successful and happy.  We are blessed with a roof over our head and a very nice one to add to it.  We are blessed with many material things as well as the closeness the two of us share with one another emotionally.  Sometimes we are always looking so far into the future we forget to live in the moment.  We forget to slow things down and breathe and look around us and say "wow we have it good".  We surely do have it good.  Not to say we do not have struggles as we surely do as everyone does, but we are blessed to be ordinary.  Perhaps what we have is out of the ordinary as we are a married college educated home owning couple at the ages of 22, but to me we have this ordinary routine that I am on a mission to enjoy every second of it. 

So for today I am going to live my life now.  I am going to live in the moment and be happy for the ordinary every day things around me.  I am not going to look to the future or wish for things to come, I am going to be content and happy with where I am now and what is going on this very second.  Tomorrow can take care of itself.  I can't control the cards I have been given, but I can play them the right way by living each and every day to the fullest.  Each day is a gift and tomorrow is never promised.  The only time you ever live your life is in the present moment and so for today and hopefully for every day to come I will remind myself it is ok to be ordinary and it is ok to slow things down and live for each and every moment, each and every minute, even each and every second for time lost cannot ever be regained.

"Pray, hope, and don't worry"

~St. Padre Pio~

HALLOWEEN!!!!

Yes, Brian & I were "those" people.  Ya know, those ones who dress up their dogs?  What more appropriate day than Halloween is there to make your pooches that much cuter?!?!

Meeko sported a clown outfit that definately fitted his personality.  He is such a clown that when we saw it there was no question this constume was meant for him!

Sherrif Levi not only had a hat and bandana, but he even had a gun! 

Levi originally had a Mummy outfit, however Jessie (Mary Grace) insisted she needed a Sheriff Woody to trick-or-treat with hence Sheriff Levi came to be!

I even made fesitive cupcakes!

The pumpkins looked awesome all lit up in the pitch black!

This is sort of random, however while at a friends wedding we came across a landscape place that had this awesome bird/tree metal sculpture.  Anyone who knows me knows of my obsession with metal sculptures so when I saw this thing I KNEW I had to have it!  We lugged it all the way from Indiana to Cleveland and it now stands in my backyard.  I decided early on I was going to decorate it with corresponding holidays and this was my first go-at-it!  I hung small pumpkins and creapy spiders and loved how it came out.  I already have Christmas planned out and currently am searching for something for Thanksgiving.  I will try to put up new decorated tree/bird house pictures for each holiday as they come.

And to my surprise this morning after putting Meeko and Levi out to potty, Meeko came trotting into the house carrying one of the pumpkins!