see the dawn break gold

it was time for a blog makeover, i'm still not sure about it. they are not my favorite colors... but it is a good change.


this weekend was mini-vacation. last monday was my nephew's eighth birthday (HAPPY BIRTHDAY, CALEB!), so this weekend, i ventured over to the tampa area to see him and my sister and niece. it was a welcomed get-away. i've not been over to see them in a few months, and it's always a pleasure to relax and be with family.

while i was there, i was thinking about how much my sister's children had grown. there are so many markers that i place around them being born. the last time i saw my brother was the day that my niece was born (almost 14 years ago); it's also been 14 years since our church revamped the sanctuary. when my nephew was born, i was just beginning to drive, and i drove down with my mom; that was the first time that my mother and i went anywhere without my father and wouldn't be repeated again until an eventful trip in my junior year of college. Caleb's birth was also the first time i drove in a huge city on my own, and had to find my way across town on sheer memory (yikes).

my nephew is a loving boy and a joy to be around; full of curiosity and corny jokes. and my niece is coming to that grand age, where the whole world is out to get her. i remember that age, when you're mad, for what seems like no reason, your mom cramps your style, and you have a double dose of temper coming at you from both sides. it's funny how things change. but sometimes i feel like time is zooming past me, and i remain unaffected by its progression.

looking at my life now, and back to 14 years ago, when i was making silly seal faces in polaroids with my sister is unimaginable, when looking at far we've both come since then, and how much farther we've to go in the next 14 years. and then i realize that feeling as if the whole world is out to get you seems pathetic when you lay it beside the pain you feel when your best friend leaves you holding the bag on your friendship, or when you start going to the funerals of your friends parents. the memory of your first independent drive is nothing compared to your first kiss, and not enough to make you happy during your first breakup. and to think that there are still experiences yet to make, still life left to live, dreams to achieve, tears to cry; the next one a little more exciting or difficult than the one before.

how wonderful life is.