Joy in the Journey

Today, although I don't have much time at all I wanted to just stop and write down everything that I am thinking!

Lately I have caught myself saying things like  "I cant wait until August"... or ... well actually that is pretty much all I have been saying!
Let me tell you why I cant wait until August! First of all it means that my sweet baby boy will be here with us! :) and I will no longer have swollen ankles! But it also means that the semester will be over along with all the stresses that go with that, I will have a break from work (and when I say break I mean, no more Walmart! woo!), we'll be  moved into our new apartment, we get to take a fun trip to California for a wedding, We'll be celebrating both our birthdays and our first anniversary! and our schedule's will finally be calm enough that I can actually make dinner more than once a week (something I didn't know that I would miss so much!) 

Things have been so crazy lately trying to balance work, school and church that it seems like I cant even catch my breath, and so it is easy for me to just wishfully think about that magical month of August when I can rest from my worries and just have some fun! I catch myself saying, "If I can just make it to august..." 

Until this morning it didn't seem like such a big deal to be wishing for August! but then I remembered that this is my sisters last day of high school, and I started remembering what I was feeling just two years ago when I was in her boat. I remember thinking How fast everything had gone by. I remember feeling like I shouldn't have taken for granted all that my parents did for me, and I also remember feeling like nothing was ever going to be the same. I had wished that Graduation could just come sooner, or that I could just be done with high school... but then when that day finally came, I started to realize all of the friends and memories I had made during that journey of high school would be missed. And that I would love another week just to relive some of it. 

Anyways, as I remembered these feelings this morning I realized how much I already miss days like this: 

When I was wishing that it would just hurry up and be our Wedding already!

And then all of the sudden it was! 

I remembered how I wished that we could just finish fall semester... or just find a job... or that I could just start looking pregnant instead of chunky! 

and then those days came and I found another thing to start wishing for in the future. 

Then a Talk that President Monson gave in 2008 came to my mind (and I didn't realize it was that long ago! shows again, how fast time flies!) and His talk was called Finding Joy in the Journey. and so this morning I decided to read it. and I found soooo many thing that gave me more perspective! 

One of my favorite quotes from this talk says, "I believe that among the greatest lessons we are to learn in this short sojourn upon the earth are lessons that help us distinguish between what is important and what is not. I plead with you not to let those most important things pass you by as you plan for that illusive and nonexistent future when you will have time to do all that you want to do. Instead,

find joy in the journey—now."

This hit me hard today, because I spend a lot of my time planning for that "day in the future" when everything will be perfect! When I need to be focusing on today! 

Another quote that I loved he was actually quoting an ancient roman philosopher and he said, "Whatever hour God has blessed you with, take it with grateful hand, nor postpone your joys from year to year, so that in whatever place you have been, you may say that you have lived happily."

 I want to be able to say that in every different time in my life, I have lived happily :) 

I LOVE my life right now how it is! even though stress levels are high and we managed to get a flat tire this week along with an aray of tests and big assignments! I know how much I am going to miss THIS... when August rolls around. Because the truth of it is our life is going to change BIG time in a few months, and it will never be JUST me and my Spencer, we'll have a family instead. (which is totally a good thing, just different)

I don't want to be wishing away all these wonderful days! I want to be enjoying the little things in my life TODAY that make me so happy :)