I love when simple occurrences turn into larger than life influences. Today, my husband and I made plans to visit his five year old godson a few towns over- we wanted to give him his Christmas presents while we were both on vacation.

We piled in the car and my husband dropped five sleeves of Hubba Bubba Bubble Gum into my center console. “Where did you get those,” I asked, then scolded, “Those are bad for your teeth,” before reaching in, peeling off a wrapper and popping a nugget into my mouth.

The flavor was just as good as the last time I had the gum, probably twenty years earlier. And it was tacky. I blew a bubble and was immediately impressed by its size. I blew another.

I caught my husband’s attention- He saw a challenge in my efforts and mimicked my routine. Next thing I knew, we were laughing hysterically and trying our best to blow the most mammoth bubbles. I took out my phone to take a picture of his successful and failed attempts. I used the Boomerang app to produce silly effects. More laughter ensued.

We were having so much fun together, alone in the car, going about our day. I fell in love with my husband all over again in the strangest way, was reminded of how often he brings out the best in me.

All of this blogging is making me hyper-aware of my surroundings. My writer’s block is lifting as I am paying more attention to stimuli, to my thought processes and the way my senses react to large and small situations. There is suddenly so much to document, because I am actually taking time to see things, to feel things, to process things.

By me slowing down to listen to the universe around me, the things and people that I worked so hard to surround myself with, are finally starting to inspire me again.