Stop. Look Around.

This weekend I received the gift of suspended time with three girls who I love very much and don't get to see often enough. I enjoyed red wine, chocolate, and celebrity gossip with Christine. It was so good to catch up, compare notes on newly-married life, open our eyes and hearts to big dreams and exciting possibilities.

Then it was time in Dallas with Erin and Kelly. Pedicures, coffee, shopping, wedding talk (Kelly's big day is coming soon!), delicious food, good news. We reminisced about old days and laughed, and I couldn't help but wonder at how we've remained so close. Despite distances and large gaps in our time together, these women are some of my dearest friends, true kindred spirits.

And I finished it off with a quiet Sunday evening back home. Christmas music playing over a muted football game, hanging ornaments on the tree and setting out Christmas decorations. Then curling up on the couch with my favorite person on earth, snuggling to stay warm while watching a movie.

I wish time could slow down, and stay that way. I wish that I was better about stopping, about looking around me. I can look back on many times that I relish, that I wish to return to. But I so often let them slide right by me in the moment, rather than gathering them close and drinking them in. Holding them still. Making them last. Reveling in life and all it's everyday amazing glory as it occurs. Then moving quietly on to savor the next little thing.