Looking Forward While Looking Around

I can Hardly believe it is 2013!! I'm a deep thinker- something that can get me into trouble. However, when I truly get quiet and reflect on my life, it's almost hard to imagine how much time has gone by!!My "babies" are teenagers and bigger than I. I often read posts or blogs about families with young children and I can't really relate. We started our family VERY early and while others were building careers we were building sandcastles at the beach with our two beautiful girls. Now, the tables have turned and I have truly realized that our children will only be at home for a few short years before bounding off to college. Sierra is 15 and has 3 years of High school left. Our youngest, Hannah, has 4 years ...That's NOT alot of time. Just coming to terms with how quickly the first 15 years have gone is mind boggling!! With all of this said, I realized that with much of our lives we spend SO much time focusing on the future that the present passes us by like lightning!! I hear people say things like, "I can't wait until I ...." We all do this, but this year I want to make sure that I'm looking around while I'm looking forward. We have so many great things happening each day but yet we often fail to see God's gift sitting right in front of us. Our eyes are set on the target and we fail to see the opportunity at hand. It's alot like driving a car-something we are attempting to teach Sierra to do....ANYWAY....You are always looking forward while driving, or atleast you should be. But at the same time, a good driver is always vigilant!! He/she is looking around, watching for other "bad" drivers, yielding to emergency vehicles, planning the route accordingly and Hopefully enjoying the scenery. I guess my goal is to Enjoy the scenery. Our life has been and will never cease to be an Amazing adventure. A beautiful roadtrip. The skies may not always be sunny, but I hope to make a conscience effort to see the beauty in each day.