signs.

Sometime last Friday, the diamond in my engagement ring fell out. Needless to say, when I realized it later that evening, I was devastated. I panicked, and called Bob (who was out with friends) sobbing like an idiot. I can't begin to tell you how AWFUL it felt to lose something that has so much meaning to me, even if it's just a little chunk of rock. Yes, I know it's replaceable. In the grand scheme of things, it's really not a big deal, but it hurt all the same. I've combed the house, and so far haven't found it- I kinda have doubts that I ever will. I was all over the place that day, doing errands, cleaning the basement, at my Dad's, on a bike ride through the woods with my kids.. you get the picture. It could have fallen out at any of these places, and I honestly don't remember the last time I actually noticed it was still intact.

Anyway, the point of my little story is this.. That same day, I was in the basement cleaning, and came upon the photo in the layout above. It had somehow fallen out of the plastic box, and God knows how long it had been on the floor, face down and kinda stuck. It's the only copy I have of this photo, and the first thing that came into my mind when I looked at it was that I needed to scrap it ASAP, even in it's sorry state. And then, reminiscing and daydreaming while sitting there, I had the thought that I wasn't yet engaged when it was taken. Weird.

That thought right there, I'm pretty sure, should have been a sign for me to look at my ring at that exact moment. And I didn't.

Next time around, I'm going to try and be aware of those little signs we often ignore, no matter how subtle they are...

eta: If you looked at this post a few hours ago, ( and shame on you for not leaving me a comment! ;p) you probably noticed that I changed my layout a tad- I added that red bracket border, b/c I felt there was something missing. I'm much happier with it now. :)