Obstacles

Life is full of obstacles. Literal ones, figurative ones. Physical ones, emotional ones. The neat thing is that we can all view those obstacles as things that stand in our way, or we can recognize them as opportunities to help us grow. Every single day of our lives, we face obstacles. Some days those obstacles are mean people, some days they are actual, physical obstacles in our paths.

In a couple of months, I will be running the Warrior Dash. Those are physical obstacles. In the past couple of months, my obstacles have been more of the emotional variety. We have had a lot of illness in our home and in our families. We've had some tough times, but I'm here to say that things are looking up. The past couple of months will be a tough memory, but nothing more. The Shuler family will remain victorious in life! I think the Warrior Dash will be an endurance test for me. I'm proving to myself that I can do it. Just because I want to. I'm sure there will be pictures available upon completion.

Cullen is running all over the place these days. He is a wild child. A screaming banshee. I love it. I love watching him learn how to make things work. Over the last couple of days, Cullen has learned how to utilize the remote in our upstairs living room. He loves to sit in his little chair and turn the fans on and off. When I'm reading, he enjoys turning the lights on and off. Cute little guy.

We spent a long weekend in Birmingham over the last week. We got to spend some much needed time with family, and we got to remember my grandparents. Even though it was stressful, I wouldn't trade that weekend for anything. We laughed, we cried, we shared. It was wonderful!

I came home with an awful lot of new-to-me things. I'm looking forward to the next holiday when I can use my extended collection of china. Stunningly beautiful and oh so delicate. I love that I'll have another wonderful reminder of my grandmother on the holidays.

I also brought home so many priceless mementos. One of them is a cookbook that my grandmother used and made notes in. She actually created menus out of this cookbook and wrote them on the inside binding. I am hoping to invite my parents over for Easter dinner this year so that I can re-create the Easter menu my grandmother used every single year. I'm a lucky girl to be able to share this with others!

Even more exciting were the books and photos. Some of the books were gifts to my grandmother over the years from me. It was fun to look through and see what she had marked up and made notes in. My favorite book is the 1898 edition family bible. As is our family record. Births, deaths, marriages. It was bittersweet to make my first entry when adding my grandmother, but I'm so incredibly proud to know that my family trusts me to carry on this tradition.

Our bookshelves are a little more crowded this week, but I wouldn't have it any other way. Those bookshelves might be a reflection of our lives. Busy, full, bursting at the seams, and beautiful. Perfect for us.

xoxo Ashley