All the things we would do together when the timing was better, the things I could show them {and share with them} when they didn't need so many day sleeps, when we weren't selling a house, when when when...
I realised quickly I was pressing pause on life. And in that moment I was done thinking memories up. I wanted to make them. And so we began.
Long walks admiring nature, and gazing at the sky.
Stopping at the sea each chance we got, just to watch the waves {and listen to them too}.
Visiting new places, and exploring them. Together.
And the more we made our memories, the more of them I began dreaming to do.
And so this year {after a late-night conversation in the first week of January about what we really want most} we made a list, my husband and I. Twenty five things in 2013. {That's just where the number landed}.
They're simple, fun, some new, some ordinary. Special because we'll be doing them together.
And while I like the idea of spontaneity, of letting life's adventures come to us {in perfect timing}. I also know that life gets busy and in the busyness life can get scheduled in.
And sometimes those schedules get filled with all the need-to-dos and the should-dos, and sometimes what matters the most never gets scheduled in at all.
Parts of our last year turned out this way. And three months into this year and our weeks are bursting with need-to-dos and should-dos once again. But this time I'm seeing it differently.
For me, it's a reminder that regardless of what's happening, what needs to be done, what's coming up, we can make now our time. {If we choose}.
And we're already well on our way. To creating, loving, seeing, exploring, learning, being and making more memories together.
In a way, our little list is bringing us closer to what we want most this {every} year: fun, love, joy, laughter, time together. It's slowing us down. And it's become a reminder of what's most important. Of what we can create. Of how the simple things can bring so much joy.
Here's our twenty-five for our family of four.
xx
Splash in puddles
Swim at the beach
Watch the ocean's waves in winter
Have a picnic*
Read everyone's favourite books*
Go to a family festival/fun day*
Take a boat somewhere
Visit the zoo
Be a tourist in our own town *
Borrow books from the library*Ride on a steam train
Teach each other something *
See fireworks
Do an artwork as a family
Fly a kite
Have family photos taken
Witness sunrise
Watch the sunset
Look for shooting stars*
Watch the moon change shape over a month
Go to the movies
Go to a kids/mum yoga class
Take a photo a day for a month. Let miss three do the same. Then, get them printed.
Show our girls our wedding DVD *
Go to an adventure playground we've never been to before *
xx
{I should add that these memories are pretty much all simple things. Most of them are free or don't cost much money at all. However, cost wasn't a consideration when we created the list, it was simply a list of fun things and memories we wanted to make as a family. But I do love that it's the little things, the simple things that we crave, that we know will bring us all so much joy. Elisa x}
*These memories we've already shared. Quite a few of them more than once.
What memories do you love to create? Do you have a similar list? xx
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