"Hold Onto These Moments As They Pass"

One of my very favorite songs ever is "A Long December" by Counting Crows. In that tune is a lyric I love so much...so much that I included it in "After This...":

"I can't remember all the times I tried to tell myself to hold onto these moments as they pass...."

Life is all about grabbing the moments in front of us. After all, once a moment is gone, it's gone for good. Therefore, live in that moment, feel every bit of happiness, sorrow, joy, anger-everything. These moments are what life is about...

This past weekend, we met my parents and sister and her family in Branson for a short vacation. I love Orlando...love the people, love the ease of travel, love the climate (most of the time)...but the thing I hate is being so far away from my family.

I have three step kids who are grown and out of the house. I got to parent them for a couple years, but they were teenagers when we came together. My sister, on the other hand, has three kiddos; Lauren, 7, Michaela, 4, and James just turned 1 this week.

In Branson, I got to know my nieces and nephew better...keeping in mind that I've never lived within 200 miles of them, but now, it's even harder to get together. This week, we got to witness James taking his first steps, got to play pet store with Michaela and got to watch Hannah Montana with Lauren-times I'll never forget (and I hope they won't, either)

As life moves on, I hope you'll take time to live in each moment, experience the world as a child does and hold onto your special moments as they pass...