Family time is the best time

We spent this past weekend celebrating my mom's 60th birthday. We threw her a surprise party with just her and my dad's siblings and it was the best time EVER. I hadn't seen my Aunts and Uncles in what seemed like years. It was so nice to have everyone in the same room where all that was on the docket was to chat and catch up on each other's lives. We enjoyed some WONDERFUL food, drinks, and company for a short 12-ish hours and I couldn't have asked for anything better.

While we were enjoying our late lunch, my Daddio got up to make what he said was going to be a "short story", but turned into something so very meaningful to me. He told the story of how he and my mom started "talking" way back when they were just kids. How they went through their ups and downs in high school; were off and on. How they decided to go their separate ways in college (even though they went to the same university). But also how they continued to miss each other and wonder what could be if they gave it another shot. How my mom gave him the choice of either, 1. we're doing this or 2. we're not, and one way or another, that'll be it. Obviously my dad made the greatest decision of his life and chose my mom for forever. :)

The best, most meaningful part of this story, though, is when my dad started talking about the fact that when you pick someone to spend the rest of your life with, you don't really envision what that is going to look like down the road. The life that you will eventually have. The kids, the extended family. He was standing behind me when he gave this "short story", and at this moment he put his hand on my head. And I knew he was looking across the table at my sisters. And he talked about just that...how he could never have envisioned what his life would be like today, with all of these incredible blessings sitting around him. That he's eternally grateful and wouldn't trade it for anything in the world. I wish he would've let my sister record it because I would play it over and over again. Any time I would happen to have a bad day, I would just listen to this "short story" from my dad and immediately remember what truly matters in this crazy world.

It got me thinking about the oh-so-common phrase, "life is short", but dang it...life IS short. It got me (and Clint) thinking about how much we want to start a family. Because, at least for us, what is all of this for if you don't have a family to share it with? We want our future children to have as much time with their grandparents as possible. Because they're the greatest gifts to us as well. No one...I mean no one...could ask for better parents than the two sets we have. Now, we are by no means ready to have children any time in the near future, but it really gets you thinking about time. And how little of it we have on this earth. We don't want to rush into anything, but we're also very, very conscious of time. There's always the idea, "why the rush?", but there's also the idea, "what're you waiting for?". And I think there's a very tough balance you have to strike between the two. Don't let life get in the way and push you into something, but also don't let it pass you by.

Something I really love doing but that we probably don't do enough is look back through old photo albums. This is a dying art/hobby, but my grandma Lolo was pretty incredible at it. Literally minutes before my mom walked into her surprise party, I ran upstairs and grabbed the top 3-4 photo albums out of the bin that I could find. One of those happened to be a photo album my grandma Lolo put together of her and my mom's adventures in Europe. My grandma documented LITERALLY everything. My mom always said that Lolo never forgot anything and after looking/reading through this album, I definitely know that to be true. She remembered everything little thing...from what they ate a certain day, conversations they had with strangers, frustrations they may have had along the way...everything. It was an amazing moment to be sitting there with my sisters and my mom looking through this album that my incredible Lolo put together. To think about the adventures they must have had on that trip. Nostalgia is a wonderful thing.

I know people say it a lot...I say it a lot...but family means so much. There's literally nothing more important in my life. Which is why it felt so good to pretty much leave my phone behind all weekend. Half the time I didn't even know where it was. In this "blogger"/"influencer" world, people are constantly on their phones; even more so than everyone else. It can be exhausting and I haven't even scratched the surface of what this world is/means. What I do know, though, is that I can't let the need for #content (lol) drive my every thought. I came home from this weekend and realized I hadn't gotten a single picture once everyone arrived; I had only gotten photos of the setup. And the fact that I was initially disappointed by that is really pretty sad. But I quickly came to the realization that me not having a ton of photos on my phone meant that I was present the entire time. I wasn't focused on getting imagery for my blog or instagram, I was focused on spending quality time with my family. And I'm so glad that I can still recognize, even subconsciously, that that is what is most important.

As I've said a million times, family is what is most important. And being present when you're with family is also incredibly important. If you're not present, then you're missing out on so many magnificent memories with the ones you love. As the holidays approach, lets all make it a point to be more present. To truly enjoy spending time with the ones you love, to take it all in. If we don't, life is going to very quickly pass us by.

A place to be #unapologeticallyme.