:: a little bit of magic ::

Life gets crazy this time of year.  Between Thanksgiving and Christmas and all those rushed, frantic and crazy days in between, I forget to slow down and breathe.  This week I have been in California for my job. During this trip, I had the chance to go to Disneyland for the first time in my entire life.  I am 27 years old.
I had the extreme pleasure of going with one of my friends who has a four year old son. It was also his first time going to Disneyland.   If you have never been to Disney, I highly suggest that you go with a kid your first time.  His eyes lit up every time he saw a Disney character in costume or a cool looking ride.  For a second, I became a kid again too.  I started to see things for the pure and simple beauty they posses. I screamed on the rides and acted like a child, taking pictures of everything.  I stood there, at Disneyland in the pouring rain in an ugly .99 cent poncho...... I found a bit of magic.  I walked with a four year old, listening to him describe the Buzz lightyear ride and how he had defeated Zurg.   Nothing else mattered in that moment.  Not that I was cold, or wet.  Not the heart break, the stress from work and any other worry. All that mattered is that I had the chance to experience a bit of magic through the eyes of a four year old.

Little did I know that I would have the opportunity to return to Disneyland a few days later with one of my teams. The park is decked out in Christmas decorations.  The buildings are lit up and there are Christmas light shows at night.  At one point, snow started to fall in the streets with holiday music blaring from the speakers.   There we stood......in the "snow".  It was magic.  It was one of those moments that it didn't matter that I was 27 years old, in a theme park designed for children.  What mattered, is that I found a magical moment.....and lived there for awhile.

We all need a little magic sometimes.  I needed a little magic this month.  Something to bring me back to that place of living a life in constant awe or my surroundings and my Savior.  I stood in the middle of a crowded street, looking up into the sky full of fake Hollywood snow, hands out to my side like no one else was there.  That moment didn't mend a broken heart or solve all the issues of work.  Going to Disneyland with a four year old didn't change the fact that it has been a rough month.  It simply made this month blur for awhile, and let me relish the simple, magical moments.  The moments where you realize that life is pretty amazing.  The moment where I remembered that I am simply a small part of a much bigger plan.  The moment where I believe that everything happens for a reason.

Life isn't perfect and 99% of the time, life isn't magical.  That isn't the point.  The point is that it is in the small percentage of our lives, usually in the ordinary and normal day to day things that we find small, quiet moments of magic.  The moments that let our hearts soar a bit and give us the chance to dream.

Today is Thanksgiving.  I am counting my blessings today.  I am blessed to be loved by family and friends. I am blessed to be the daughter of the Lord most high.  I am blessed to have a career that I love.  I am blessed to have experience heart break.  I am blessed enough to have experienced loss.  I am blessed enough to have had struggles.  Sounds a little odd, I know.  But because of those "blessings"  I have been able to see the magic of life, love, laughter and faith.

So here is to magic.  I hope you find some.