The Gladdest Thing Under the Sun: Athens

Showing posts with label Athens. Show all posts

Monday, January 2, 2012

Take in the Beauty

I've said before here that taking photos makes me appreciate the beauty all around me a bit more. But, really, folks. Taking photos? Makes me appreciate the beauty all around me.

Take, for instance, the amazing and wonderful New Year's Day party my friends Kirsten and Ben threw yesterday. It was altogether a grand experience--good food, great friends, fun for the kids, outside where we could experience nature--all kinds of relaxing goodness.

But because I happened to have my camera in hand, I think I got to notice so many tiny beautiful moments that maybe not everyone else at the party was able to see. Like a quiet tiny girl with wispy hair gathering pecans. And a boy wielding a stick rather gracefully. And sweet toddlers hugging their mama's legs before they ventured out toward the band of older kids. And the bliss of being about to slide. And also, grown ups enjoying their conversation. Grown ups staring at fires. Grown ups catching babies before they fell, without even thinking about it. Just a protective instinct.

The Weepies sing, "All this beauty, you might have to close your eyes. And slowly open wide." And it's so true.

So, happy, happy New Year! Enjoy each little moment of 2012!

How do you remind yourself to be in the moment, and to take in the good parts of your life?

Tuesday, December 27, 2011

My Life in Pictures: Christmas in Athens

We enjoyed a wonderful get-together with some of our good friends from Athens over our Christmas holiday. It's so neat to see the way our friends are as their own little families...such kind, thoughtful, and intuitive partners, spouses, and parents--all in their own different ways. I feel really lucky to know such amazing folks.

And the kids are all such fun! Flannery learned all about Star Wars from some of the boys, and is now begging to get to watch it! We're trying to decide if she's old enough??

How did you catch up with good friends this holiday?

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Road Trip to Athens

Flannery found a giant leaf

Flannery and I took a road trip to Athens yesterday. We visited with some good friends, stopped by our old house, and walked around downtown shopping a bit. It was a really lovely trip, and we both enjoyed catching up with some of our old friends. We're already making plans for our next trip back! What fun!

at Trappeze, where we stopped for a cheese plate

playing with her snap bracelet (remember those?)

She got a birthday cat from Helix, one of my favorite downtown shops.

See the yellow gingko trees in the background? So pretty.

What places still feel like home when you visit?

Monday, June 27, 2011

Little Life Stories Connecting at a Single Point in Time

3 families' kiddos playing in the fire hydrant "sprinkler" at Athfest

How we love our friends in Athens!

We visited some friends in Athens this weekend, and were just so blessed to see so many friends who we love dearly! We gathered at a party, and then spent a bit of time downtown at the Athfest Music Festival, too. At the party, we saw several friends from out of town that we didn't know would be there. And at Athfest, we ran into several old friends we didn't expect to see. It was like an impromptu reunion!

It was so nice to have one weekend where we were able to connect with so many friends from all over the place. I felt for a moment that this was a single point in time that connected all of our little life stories together. It was really beautiful. (And yes, I know I'm cheesy!)

It was just so good to see our friends growing in their lives. Friends who've adopted now happily settling into their new roles as parents. Friends who've gotten married and are so sweetly in love. Friends who've finished grad school moving on to exciting new phases of their lives. Friends whose kids who've grown into high schoolers, and college students even! Friends who've been accepted to neat grad school programs moving all over the world. Friends who just got their first pet together as a married couple. It was sweet to see the life stories of our friends continuing in such beautiful ways all around the globe.

And our story is continuing, too!

My new job is really rather exciting! I haven't blogged much this past week, because I just had my very first full week of work at the Atlanta Speech School! I'm working with their professional development team to create an institute for training birth to three daycare teachers on language and literacy. I'll be doing follow-up coaching for the teachers throughout the school year, too, and will take data on student and teacher progress to see whether the professional development is making a positive difference. It's exciting work that I'm really passionate about, and I feel very lucky to be a part of it.

Here are some cute photos of our Athens friend-o-rama-reunion experience. Fun stuff!