love it...love it all.

my heart is just plain full of happy things. you'd think they'd (they as in whoever makes up holidays) wrap holidays like Valentine's Day and Easter in one....cause this Easter season my heart is bursting with love. love of things, love of friends, love of family, love of blogs, love of places and events, love of creative abilities, love of a good eye, love of goodness, love of truth, love of service, love of general conference, love of a ward family, love for the children in my ward, a love (beyond any feeling i ever knew possible to feel) for my child, and an equally intense love for my savior. perhaps that is the point of Easter...to renew your life with love. with a love even greater than before.
my home is simply splashed with reminders of the holiday. i can't even believe i waited until TODAY to decorate, but it is done, and my how the feeling is transformed from good to giddy.

the past week has been abundantly full of things to love.
our annual trip to round top. we piled up in mom's pick-up for a weekday outing....her treat. it was full, and grand! being quite familiar with the landmarks I directed my dear Beth into a favorite store. not because i've been in and knew what to do, but because i went in, delighted in it's glory, and then slipped out down the road (kind of overwhelmed). it was quite a cool sight. however, this time i had her vision and patience to direct me. and guess what i stumbled upon??? the darlySECRET! yes, friends we found earrings beyond earrings beyond earrings (to make) all the vintage flower styles (and some exacts) of our favorite jewelry supplier....i have to give her a plug, check out darlyBird! i'm plugging her because i do not mean to distract from her business in sharing my story....but holy smokes how cheap my findings were! let's just say i walked out of there with my mom treating me to 8 pairs of earrings and a necklace pendant for a whopping $15. that's $1 for many of those pairs of earrings! i don't think i quit smiling the entire day long. even through my sunburn, throbbing feet, and nervous stomach (because job fairs were approaching early the next morning). i especially loved the giggles that came upon us during our drive home after 13 hours of shopping!! (that's 13 hours of shopping for all including Beth who is due in May...nothing keeps a girl from shopping!). the cute boy has been reciting some of his favorite lines from a car full of crazy ladies ever since.
i love that blogs allow people to share their stories. i have been particularly grateful of this as i consistently am introduced to blog after blog of the most amazing stories...some sharing tragedy, some sharing creative abilities, some simply sharing their writing, or pictures, or families. i love that it re-gives my own blog permission to just be. to be my story in whatever way it comes out.
i am beyond in love...swept away in fact, with the movie AUSTRALIA. have you seen it?! see it! i give you permission, I beg of YOU! go to your nearest redbox& swipe your card and get it. it's soo good.
i am in love with Sunday's. i especially love General Conference weekends where we have an opportunity to hear from our leaders and learn from them. it is fulfilling and fantastic. i listened and i took notes, and i looked at their faces, and i had conversations regarding their topics with the cute boy, and i listened to their beautiful music, and listened to their prayers and i cried. the spirit speaks to me by way of my ridiculously sensitive tear ducts. and so it was, that they remained full and flowing much of the day. (thank goodness my child knows me well enough to know that for his mother, tears do not always mean sadness, rather they interpret many meanings and feelings).
i love families. last week i had an uncle pass away. a great great uncle actually (he was my grandma's uncle). i didn't know him, but i knew stories of him. he was the last of his generation. it was surreal for my family. now it is my grandma and her siblings and cousins at the head of our family, which seems so odd to me...how time just goes (whether you are ready for each stage or not). also last week, the cute boy's uncle's father passed away (Alec's dad's sister's husband's dad..and if you think about that it makes perfect since. :)) he was a cute sweet man. i saw pictures of him and his wife in their younger years and my how it continues to put life into perspective. they looked like movie stars!! i only met him slipping away with cancer as we all (him included) happily floated around in Louisiana in celebration of the cute boy's aunt's wedding (remember?). we love you (and your mom and pop), L.J (and J.J. too).
i also love that that boy of mine has no more TAKStests this year! and for that matter that he only faces 40ish more days of school!! that's only 40ish more days of elementary school! speaking of new beginnings...:)

Dear Cute Boy,
I love you. I have loved you since you were inside me, as I learned more about your growing self. I love the moment you physically changed me as your naked newly born body melted into my own. I have loved being a part of your experience on earth, and for the ways that you have enriched my own. I love the way my own life began to transform upon your arrival. My own sort of resurrection of a whole new self. I love more than anything that I get to love and mother you. Thank you for always loving me right back.
With love love love love looooove,
MOM

and Happy Easter to all my peeps! ;)