Where Has The Time Gone?

THREE weeks into 2018!? How crazy time has flown away from me. It seems like just last week I was setting goals and getting prepared to kick this semester in the butt!
It's said all the time, "make the moments count", "time goes by faster than you think", "enjoy it while you can". And I guess I never really listened to the people saying this. I was always so ready to move on and to start bigger and better things. So much so that I looked over each little moment and only just now realized how crazy life has been moving.

Here's how the realization process of this went:

I was sitting in my car, having a late night talk with my boyfriend and we ended up on the subject of old pictures and such. So he whips out his phone and starts going through all of the screenshots, snapchats, and selfies that have been taken of our relationship since the beginning. As I was sitting there looking at all of these new pictures that I had never seen before I was taken aback by how clear each memory associated with the picture came to mind. My 20 minute drive home had me thinking about all of these memories and how far my relationship has come. Within two years my relationship has evolved and grown stronger and more valuable than I would have ever thought possible. And I'm so happy for this time that I've had to grow with him. But apart of me is sad and longs for those simple days again. Back when we were unfamiliar with each other. Back when we didn't know all of the stories that made each other who they are. With looking at these old pictures I was reminded of that. I was reminded of the unfamiliarity. And it was exciting! It was nerve wracking. But it was so much fun to get the point where we are now in the relationship. And I know there's so much more to experience and discover about each other, and in a couple years maybe I'll be looking back on the pictures we take now and I'll miss these moments.
(A lot of english rules were broken in that last paragraph but lets just ignore all of the sentences starting with "and" and "but"..)

The next day I'm sitting outside my class, waiting for it to open, and I'm doing my usual scroll of the ol' Facebook, when a notification comes up for me to watch this friend anniversary video I have with one of my closest friends. Naturally, the video shows pictures filled with bad hair cuts and big brace face smiles. Looking through the pictures though I realize just how OLD these pictures are. The video ends with a picture from graduation and then it hits me! How much I was waiting to graduate and to move on when the first old pictures were taken and then at the end there we are. Standing in caps and gowns, not even realizing that that chapter in our lives is over. How crazy is it that I forgot to live through the small little moments like pool parties at the end of each school year, sleepovers where all we would do is talk and eat too much junk food, and spending each Valentines day shopping with the girls. How CRAZY is it that these moments are gone. How CRAZY is it that those things wont happen again. But how WONDERFUL is it that we have all of these memories frozen in picture format.

I know it's so cheesy to say this but really, enjoy the little things.
The little innocent things that don't seem like such a big deal. Because they will be missed. You're going to miss them in the years when you've wished for life to speed up and get to the good part.

A commemorative to my great grandpa:

Don't grow up. You'll hate it

 I am so excited for the future. I am so excited for what God has planned for me and if I'm being honest, these last few weeks have been pretty wonderful. I complain about going to three days of classes and having to work all of my weekends and if THAT is my biggest complaint of the rest of the year (or month for that matter) then I'll say I am truly blessed. As much as I'm excited for the future, I do miss the moments that I look back on. But THANK GOD for photography to be able to capture these moments that I wish I could re-live.
So, lets add this to my list of 2018 goals: take more pictures! Even when they could be useless, boring pictures of just going out on breakfast dates or late night McDonald's runs.

It's so fun to look back on the past but lets be sure not to live in it.

I'm looking forward to the future, and feeling grateful for the past - Mike Rowe 

What I guess I'm just trying to say is how crazy life moves. It may not seem like that when you're stuck at a crappy job or listening to professors explain bacterial physiology and pathogenesis. But if  you take a step back and look at the big picture you'll see just how much you've been through.

And holy cow, please don't think that I'm trying to act all wise like your grandfather when he tells you to enjoy being young. I'm still young! I've still got so much life to live. But in the short 18 years that I've been here I've already created more memories than imaginable. So I guess if I've only experienced 18 years of life and I'm already saying life is moving too fast then life must REALLY be moving fast.


It's time to enjoy the little things and stop worrying about things you cant control. Because in a year or two, these things won't even matter and you won't even remember what you were so worried about.

This too shall pass 

Thanks for reading :)
xoxo-
Leah