Happy Halloween everyone! Sorry for my absence, I have been sick with some kind of cold/flu but I am better now and have so much to share! Stay tuned for some fun street photos I took this past weekend at a local Halloween Festival, Guavaween. It was just one of those days; beautiful weather, colorful characters, good company, tasty food, great margaritas and a day where I was oohing and ahhing about every photo op my eye could capture!
I must close for now, with dinner to prep and last minute costume items for Nat and Em to purchase and only a few short hours until the doorbell starts ringing! Wishing you and yours a safe and fun Halloween! I'll leave you with a picture of Emma at Guavaween stashing candy in her pocket! Poor thing, we didn't know all the kids would show up in costume!
shadows and shifting drowning in the ocean salty with foam hopeful yet doubtful overcoming myself over and over longing for a flicker of what lies beneath craving it's always the same neverending circles waves jumping overboard save yourself i am the fish in the water back floats, bubbles coming up for air stinging eyes, crushed breath sharp rocks at my feet crashing, thrashing where is my peace off in the distance the sun shone bright back to the shadow full moonlight sadness forced my shell to sleep prayers and love my soul will keep
i have so much to say, so many posts in me. but for now i just want to throw it out there- is anyone else feeling frustrated? feeling like our choices are slim? watching the Presidential debate last night, in addition to listening to probably way too much news the past few weeks, I just wonder. i wonder if those in charge really "get" what real people are going through. i wonder if the media gets how they spin things and how it affects the entire world. it's just hard to know what to believe as fact, fiction or pundit jibber jabber. i wonder what is happening vs. what may happen if we keep the tone so negative. all i know is that i feel slightly crushed under the weight of all the doom and gloom. i know in the morning i may feel differently, i probably will. but for now, well I am insatiably confused with the current turning of events, and the inability of those we rely upon to take a stand and deliver solutions. i want to hear what you think, are you feeling frustrated? am i the only one who feels somewhat a fool for maintaining my usual stream of optimism in the face of all the recent bad news?
so the day arrived, early in fact. the day the girls and I have been wishing for. the one my husband has been waiting for. and it was as sweet as your favorite candy, as special as your most cherished memory. and through it all, i was reminded all over again why our family is the way we are...because we are all just so much better together. here are the juicy details!
i wanted it to be a surprise for our girls. we love to suprise them when daddy comes home, especially because this time it was the furthest thing from their mind as he wasn't supposed to come home until December. i told them Saturday night that i had a surprise for them on Sunday...whew! I told them too early lol. They were beyond excited and wanted tons of clues, all I would tell them is that tomorrow is going to be a FUN day! So they thought I was taking them to Busch Gardens, then Disneyworld, then the beach...they really had no clue, it was great! Sunday rolled around and I know my girls look at me funny when I'm making a mad dash to get ready and clean the house all at the same time lol. Eyebrows go up and so do red flags. But I continued on, it was early morning, his flight was coming in at 10:30am and so I just played along that we needed to get everything straightened so we could enjoy our day and when we came home all we'd have to do is get ready for school the next morning. So, poor me. Old habits are hard to break, even when the best possible things are happening. I was running late, which really was my New Year's resolution this year and changing that hasn't worked out so well!
We hopped in the car and it was all about the music. For those who know me, you know that I view my life as a soundtrack, that without music, I'm not sure I could breathe. Ok, I know it sounds dramatic, but it is nothing more than true. So for purposes of really bringing you in the moment, i must bring some the music to the table that wove the fabric together of our day. As I sped down the freeway, going so fast I should be ashamed of myself, I played this song. You have to click the link, you have to feel the buildup, the highs and lows, the heartpounding, and the beat that moved my being to bounce in my seat with excitement. Unfortunately, it's not the whole song, but if you don't have Dave Matthew's live at Red Rocks CD it's a must...
Part of my time without Matt was full of music, concerts that really helped me stay intune with the sound of life going on outside of myself. I went to my first Dave Matthews concert outside in the rain, took the girls to one of the most amazing concerts I've ever seen, John Mayer, and then had a blast with them at the Jonas Brothers!
But back to the matter at hand...we were getting close to the airport exit. I asked the girls, "do you have any idea where we're going now?!" They realized where we were headed and started screaming and jumping in their seats! "Are we going to the airport?" they squealed. "Yes!" I said...we're going to pick up "some visitors!". I am so clever lol. They were completely thrown off the trail. So of course they jumped to their own conclusions. I wasn't budging on my closely guarded secret. They were completely convinced that their Aunt Sera, cousins Bella and baby Kaia were paying us a visit all the way from sunny California! So they were beyond excited, and kept chanting "Bella, Bella, Bella!" (I know this brings a smile to your heart Sera!). So we parked the car (they were shocked because we usually just grab our people curbside and go!).
Meanwhile Matt is texting me from the plane that he had landed and we were figuring out where we should meet up so that he could see us before we could see him. I had my camera around my neck (times like these I wish i had a point & shoot!) and I was shaking like a leaf. We head over to baggage claim and like straight out of a movie I hear it. The song, the exact live version of this song that I had played over and over so many times in the past months. I knew at that moment that life was good, that questions could somehow be answered, and that no matter where I was and what I was doing God was speaking to me and holding my hand. This song, so perfect in this very moment, "Stop this Train" by John Mayer...
The song playing, I pick up my camera and grab the girls as they anxiously await "their visitors" and turn in circles looking for their aunt and cousins! The song ends, people leave the luggage carousel and no Matt. Can't take it anymore, I keep flipping my camera off and on, debate whether to just put the camera on green box auto, worried that I'll miss every moment in my emotion to just lay hands and eyes on my best friend in life. I text him. Me-Where are you?!?! Matt-I'm upstairs lol. Meet me at the bottom of the middle escalator. Me-I grab my girls' hands and lead the way. This way girls, look straight ahead, I think they're gonna be straight ahead! All along knowing he was coming down the escalator to my right!
And there he was. Coming down the middle escalator. Our eyes meet, my heart sinks, our faces alive and warm with the biggest joyful smiles. And as I drop the girls' hands, I look to the right with my eyes fixed upon my target all the while the girls looking straight ahead. I lift up my camera. As I'm lifting up my camera, funnest thing ever! Matt turns around and starts walking up the wrong way on the escalator!! Always thinking, that husband of mine! He wanted to make sure I had my camera ready for when the girls turned their heads to see their daddy coming down the bottom of the escalator. "Girls, look at the escalator!" and yes, i too was there! I wish I had read some of your comments before, to not be just an observer or photographer but to turn the camera on Matt and I together. oh well, at least i have the vision of that moment forever imprinted in my memory and on my heart...here is Matt looking at ME! My sweet Natalie just breaks my heart, from the minute she saw her daddy she was buried in his chest, holding onto him and never letting go... pure joy, that's what surrounded our family on a beautiful sunny Sunday morning in a South Florida airport... As we walked to get his bags, of course they weren't there lol. It didn't really matter. With all of the flights he'd taken, they would get here eventually. Here's Matt filling out his claim form for his baggage, wearing the hair band he took off my wrist when he left. He's good like that, doing the simplest things that melt my heart. Who knew he took that simple hair tie as a reminder of me, that he would wear it as a bracelet each and every day he was away from me. Actually, he's still wearing it! I'll take that over flowers anyday...
And we're off! No luggage, but happy to be together and headed back to our life So, as we loaded up into the car and got on the road, the girls and I were a little shocked at the driving skills Matt had obtained while in the mideast. SCAAAAAARY! The girls were begging me to drive instead and Emma actually was holding onto her carseat for dear life! The car ride gave the girls a chance to sing and dance and share with their dad their favorite new CD, the Jonas Brothers. Here they are rockin' out, but most of all it just shows more of the celebration, the joy that we were all feeling!
Off to PF Chang's for a yummy dinner, real food Matt was craving the past 4 months... And then they had all had enough! No more cameras mom, come on Care, put the camera down and join us. My pleasure!
Ok, maybe one more for the road...it's just so nice to have this man sitting next to me again!
