Entering into a new season and living in the now

When the Jacaranda blooms begin to fall and pools of light purple fill our streets, you know that school will be out soon and the first day of summer is nigh. As I drove down Stadium hill the other day I realized that those pools of beautiful purple were everywhere along our streets and it made me sigh. Emma has just a few more weeks of school left which means that change is inevitable. Within the month of June we will move away from friends once again to a new town and new ward. It's true, we won't be far and San Diego will be just around the bend as well as all of our friends from our current ward but it's still not the same. I actually welcome this change but of course it is intimidating, a little scary and sad each and every time. We've known in the back of our minds since October that this would come but until now I had not thought about it being so close. Things have gone so fast for me this school year. It seems like the time has literally floated on by while life happened. So much has happened within these short 9 months that I can hardly think about moving forward because I can't remember everything that has happened during. Where did the time go? Emma turns seven in a few days. I can't believe I have a seven year old. On the way home from church the other day I was trying to remember little details of her birth. Not every detail came back as quickly as I had once thought they would. I never thought I would forget the little things about her birth. Before I know it she will be like my niece Chris, a sophomore in college and living across the country or the world. (Side note - I asked Emma where she wanted to go to college, never to early to talk about college, and we talked about tons of different Universities. She ended up in China. Not so sure I want my daughter going to University in China but then who knows, maybe she will serve a mission there and go back to study!) For now however, the Jacaranda blooms are falling and the temperature is rising. May Gray is going away to bring in June Gloom only to welcome in JULY FRY! Before we know it Brent will be wondering what to get me for a birthday present (I would love to have a nice docking station for the MP3 player that I can hear all over the house, by the way!) and we will be getting Emma ready to start 2nd grade at a new school. But for now the Jacaranda blooms are falling, there are end of the year field trips to go on and the end of the year Carnival to attend. There's the end of the Quarter Karate test to take and pass to move on to orange belt and there is Emma's birthday to celebrate. Should we live in the past? Should we live in the future? As I look back over the last nine months I realize that I have very much been living in the present. Is that such a bad thing? It certainly has made things go very quickly lately. Once in awhile though I think it's not such a bad idea to realize and ponder about things like the Jacaranda blooms falling.

Side note - These pictures are not my own. The first is from Zimbabwe and the second is from Johannesburg and I think the third is from somewhere in South Africa. Sorry I couldn't get any of my own, I just couldn't get the look I wanted.