The Gift of Memories and Ordinary Days

A few months ago, I blogged about how grateful I am for my memories.  I was reminded of it again last night when I saw the movie "The Vow" with my husband when we were out for Date Night.

In the movie, the woman is in a car accident and cannot remember anything from the last few years, including her husband.  It was sad (and of course I was crying), but it really made me think that I am so, so glad that I do have my memories. The good memories I love to relive over and over again. The bad ones that I want to forget have even shaped me into who I am. Then there are the in-between memories that are just there, but still an important part of my history. Our memories are a gift that we are given and recalling them brings us back to that time and place.
I can often be quoted as saying  "We are making memories, here people" or "Let's go and make some memories"  and I always have my camera, but often the most memorable of days, the memories that are the most profound in our lives (both good and bad) are those that we didn't plan and couldn't have seen coming. Every day is one to be lived to the fullest. It is important to be present in the moment.
In a book that I loved so much I gifted to my mom and mother-in-law, The Gift of an Ordinary Day by Katrina Kennison, is much about enjoying each of the ordinary days in our lives as they really are special too.

Don't get me wrong, I love adventures, I love to get my adrenaline pumping, I love vacations, and I love BIG events like birthdays and weddings and parties of all kinds, but I also love spending quiet days at home, going for walks with my husband, running hugs with my little girl and enjoying my favorite song when it happens to be on the radio, even though I have it on my iPod at home. I enjoy the simple things, like a hot shower and a warm bath, a really good book and a soft blanket.  I enjoy ordinary days because it also means that nothing terribly wrong has happened and for that I am always grateful, because we all know our life can change in an instant.
Yesterday was an ordinary day for me: I had the day off so I slept in until my Bundle woke up and we cuddled before breakfast, listened to music and got ready for the day ahead, which included errands such as buying groceries before an evening date with my husband. It wasn't overly excited about being in the cold and running our errands, until my little girl started pointing out all the things that I had been far too busy to notice: "Flag, Mama!!" "Train!"  "Mama, 2 cars!"  "School Bus!" "Stop Sign!" "Another Flag!" Wow, she was right, this was a really great day! All of her favorite things, words we are reading about, we saw just on our way to the grocery store! And once we got to the store, there even more things that I would have missed had my Bundle not pointed them out to me, as I am busily crossing items off my list and comparing prices. "E, Mama!"  "O!"  "Red!" "Triangle!" "Another E!" "Milk, Mama!! Milk!"  Each time she excitedly pointed one of her discoveies out to me, there was a big smile and a little jump in her step. Her excitement was contagious as is the way with little ones. She is learning so much! I found myself looking at groceries in a new way, our drive home was more exciting than it had been in months and our errands, well, for a change, they were FUN!

The day was anything but ordinary and an unexpected memory that still makes me smile:)

~Angela