Memories....light the corners of my mind- (No one says it like Barbara)

Memories are all we have left after the moment has passed. If you are really lucky, you might have a captured the memory in a photo, but the feeling, the details, the story- those can never be held on a 4X6 print, but can only live in your mind. There are some memories you would suffer bodily harm rather than lose. A few of those memories I treasure:
~ parading down the street in the greatest Rainbow Bright Halloween costume any mother could ever make
~ washing synthetic yellow hair for hours at the Barbie Salon with my sister
~ the first time my dad ever let me drive around the block
~ long car rides and family vacations
~the fear and independence I felt as I packed up everything I owned into my car, and moved away from home
~ the steps I stood on the day Dan and I met- standing on those very same steps nine months later as he bent down on one knee and proposed
~seeing the look on soon-to-be grandparents faces as we announced we were expecting
~ the birth of our our children and all the fun and firsts that come with them.

~ So many memories I pray I never forget.

And it would have to take something as powerful as the greatness of memories to make me start a blog. I am not a writer- no false modesty, but I don't possess the skill. I have always adamantly declared, "I will not start a blog." I don't have anything exceptionally witty or creative to say. I don't know how to pen those certain words that will just make tears well up in your eyes. I'm not the kind of girl who knows how to write those sentences that make you walk away from your computer wanting to be a better wife, mother, friend, or Christian. I often write like I talk, leaving English teachers cringing. My thought process has always been, "Who would ever want to read my boring rants and raves anyway?" But the answer to that question is- me. I am having trouble with my memory. We're not exactly sure the cause at this point, but to just put it out there- I'm struggling to remember things. Hopefully after the birth of this baby, I can have more extensive testing done to determine the root of my forgetfulness (please don't let it be the aspartame in Diet Coke- I need Diet Coke every once in a while.) But with all that said, I've decided to start this blog simply to record my memories. From the big ones- birthdays, holidays, and stitches- down to the small ones- the day to day, always something, funny little moments of motherhood. Those great one-liners out of Eli's mouth, those you will never believe what happened in Target stories, those first smile moments ~this will be the place to keep those great memories my brain is struggling to capture. This will be a place where I can record the memories I am so desperately trying not to forget.

And the positive- If this blog is a record of all those memories I don't want to forget, I guess I can record them exactly how I WANT to remember them. Perhaps every once in while I might remember myself a little thinner than in the actual moment or saying something a little more clever than in the actual moment. Why let the truth get in the way of making a great memory?