There once was this little peanut who stole my heart with her tiny person. Her delicate features, mannerisms, kind heart and spunky personality drew people in everywhere she went.
She smiled at strangers, admired babies, loved every animal big, small, dangerous or…no longer living.
She loved to stay up late, our little night owl, and had moved permanently into her big brother's room to sleep on his trundle every night. She is a loyal friend and will tell you all sorts of stories, even if at three years old you can only understand so much. She is a little entertainer and will dance circles around the family room, spinning in an arms out-legs out stance.
She laughs, makes jokes, already learned that farting will make people laugh and any sort of "butt" comment will get a giggle from her brother.
Zoey, our little girl, you are growing so quickly. We love you so.
Our little home has been de-cluttered and deep cleaned and just this last week went under contract to be bought. Our first home as a family and where so many dreams came true, sickness fought, loss grieved, diapers dirtied, newborn tears were shed (and postpartum ones), friends laughter and change embraced because, I mean, what else can you do? I have fond memories of dance parties on this carpet and late night chats and little hands learning to walk holding onto that windowsill. Oh, time. You're rushin' me!
and change, my goodness, we've had our battles. i fight it like a kid fighting sleep, but then when it comes it isn't as scary or hard as i had thought. then sometimes it is and i wonder why i didn't fight it harder. ha. but most of the time, it is good.
(I should probably document here (and tell my future-Jack---you handled this decision like a CHAMP and we cried and talked about how we would remember him, but ultimately we let go and got a set of caterpillar dump truck off amazon, to help ease the pain. It helped, but we will always miss him.) We had to re-home our sweet, sweet Materboy. He is the best dog in the entire world and it was a decision that was so very difficult for us to make. Once we learned we were moving to California (and renting) I just knew that Materboy belonged in this mountain town. He needs a big backyard and a place to run around. We have dear friends who have a 12 year old male lab who Mater loves. They would graciously watch him for us if we ever had to go out of town. The pup is spoiled well there and lives like a little prince! He will have a great life. He is missed and fondly remembered and watching Cars and seeing Mater the tow truck will always be bittersweet for us, but we know he'll have a good, happy life. Complete with his rawhide every night and his kong of peanut butter every morning. Though we will miss our Materboy.
We watched countless monsoons and winter storms out those windows and that lovely, constant Arizona sun poured in every afternoon and morning. It kept our moods from dragging and our skin warm on cold winter days. The backyard, a beautiful escape and child's dream, should not be messed with from about February - May as though juniper trees really get to us, but other than those months it is always full of cozy coops and truck races. We shall miss you, backyard, though I have a feeling our next backyard will be full of new adventures and new hiding places. Can't wait to discover it. Jackboy is a sucker for nostalgia, just like his mama. I keep trying to remind him of the new memories we'll create there. I'm telling myself that too ;)
It's always interesting to see how people process change, whether sudden or with notice. Some become nostalgic and remember, sometimes through smiles and sometimes through tears, the past and suddenly become very reflective people. Others fight against it, like trying to swim upstream, and hang even more tightly to the few things in life that are consistent, because there aren't many after all. The only constant thing in life is change. Well, that and Jesus! Amiright?
He is so present. Even while we're chopping vegetables in our kitchen praying and asking Him for assurance and promises and that everything will always be okay (even though that's not usually the plan)
Then, in a moment of quiet (rare) attention this song began to play and I was so gently reminded of who HE is and who His word says He is. And that's all.
God is my shepherd
I won't be wanting
I won't be wanting
He makes me rest in fields of green with quiet streams
Even though I walk through the valley of death and dying
I will not fear 'cause you are with me
You are with me
Your shepherd staff Comforts me
You are my feast in the presence of enemy
Surely goodness
Will follow me
Follow me
In the house of God, forever
God is my shepherd
I won't be wanting
I won't be wanting
He makes me rest in fields of green by quiet streams
Even while I'm walking through the valley of death and dying
I will not fear 'cause you are with me
You're always with me
Your shepherd staff comforts me
You are my feast in the presence of enemy
Surely goodness will follow me
follow me
In the house of God, forever
In the house of God, forever
In the house of God, forever
This spring has brought with it the end to many seasons. One being the season of living in our beautiful mountain town as well as the end to some of my most-loved tv shows. We've watched the last episodes, ever, of Parenthood, Parks and Recreation, most recently Hart of Dixie (ok, I watched that one on my own) and soon to be Mad Men. We also may have binge watched How I Met Your Mother and had to see that series end too. It was a sad day for me, in all honesty. John sort of chuckles at me when I finish a show because I mean, it's sad.
I bond with a good TV series like dear friends. and after laughing with them (perhaps sometimes crying with them) once a week….or maybe sometimes once a day (depending on how many series are on netflix) it's like saying goodbye to old friends. Not just a see ya later, but forever. This may be weird, this may just be me, but my hubby knows to give me about 2 weeks to say goodbye and then I'll return, but for the mean time, I have to say goodbye…again and again.
And of course, they all connect to real life in different ways. I started watching Hart of Dixie those last couple of months I was pregnant with Zoey and through the first couple years of her life (the lead character is named Zoe, by the way.) and we live in a town not so different than Bluebell. It just seems timely to say goodbye to Bluebell the same time we say goodbye to our little town.
And the finale of Parenthood? PHEW! my favorite part? forever young. the montage. my GOODNESS. and a little friday night lights bonus in there. i love a good character developed show.
loved this scene in Parks and Rec too.
and while we're here:
one of my all time favorite scenes of mad men, the season 6 finale. don draper has come so far!
and I don't want to give away the ending of how i met your mother, but i will say that john suggested the ending a week before the finale and was like, "wouldn't it be cool if THAT happened??" and i assured him, "babe. there is NO way it could happen. No WAY!"
and it did.
so there's my tribute to some old friends and some wonderful memories shared with my love as we chart out upcoming episodes together or continue to freak out about series finales while we're getting ready for bed, or making the theme song a ring tone (oh, maybe just i do that) but also a fun way to escape for 22 minutes after a long hard day and after the kids are in bed. it's been fun. not real, but definitely fun.
oh, and i can't forget these two honorable (but past) mentions:
lost. michael giacchino. you guys blew us all away. and i couldn't have been happier with that ending. see what i mean? old friends reuniting?? so many characters. so much STORY. so great. i watched this when jack was just a little babe. i had just finished nursing and john had taken over walking him down to sleep (those early months were blurry and so tiring and trying) and i watched this and it was like all my postpartum feelings surfaced and it. was. ugly. haha…. and yes, jack shephard may or may not have inspired us to name our first born son Jack. Lost was, after all, what John and I connected on when we first met. Even in season 2 we wondered, what was the island a symbol of? was it all real?
and, friday night lights.
we watched this the summer after i had Zoey. again, postpartum Mel! you choose great series! We binge watched these 5 seasons all summer long and into the fall. i learned what a QB is, i suddenly wanted to watch football that fall and cheer on a team with my dad. it was sentimental and there just aint nobody like coach taylor.
and yes, there were montage scenes like this EVERY. EPISODE. i mean. clear eyes, full hearts, can't lose! thank you, jason katims.
