oh, hey there

what is it with me and these unintentional blogging hiatuses? i'd like to say i stopped blogging because i was just so busy enjoying my life that i had no time to write about all that was going on... and i guess that is partially true... but i think there was so much going on that sitting down to blog about it would mean really processing all the emotions i was feeling and let's face it- that just sounds exhausting. so i avoided blogging and did my best to process my emotions with those closest to me and even then i still struggled at times. but i digress...

i hate catch-up blog posts. being all, 'hey i know i haven't written in like 2 months so here's what i've been doing.' no offense to those of you who do that. hey, i've been guilty of it a time or 2... or 5. whatever. oy vey this post is heading downhill real fast.

so why write today? well, i've been sick for almost 3 weeks and i just found out yesterday that i tested positive for mono. otherwise known as the kissing disease. don't only teenagers get that? apparently not. figures i get a boyfriend and contract mono. haha. just hoping i haven't given it to him. girlfriend of the year right here. friday marks 2 months of our 'official' relationship status and we laugh all the time about how it feels like we've been together forever. i take that as a good sign.

so yeah i have the infamous mono and aside from vicodin for the god-awful sore throat i have and a steroid that i guess does something the major thing i need is rest. HAH! rest!?! don't get me wrong, i enjoy rest... but i struggle in not feeling guilty while i'm doing it. usually i have to work myself ragged in order to feel like i deserve it. terrible mentality that i'm working to change. heck, even God rested... although that was after 6 days of creating the universe and everything in it so well deserved i'd say.

anyways... i'm annoyed i have mono but at the same time relieved to at least know what's going on. i have been so exhausted the last few weeks and just feeling run down. i felt like maybe i was starting to get burned out on life. so much change was happening so fast and i was just trying to keep up with it all. i've been so blessed though to be surrounded by so many people who care and who are willing to take care of me and make sure i have what i need. sometimes it's hard to be on the receiving end but i'm learning that it's ok and to be grateful for it!

perhaps this forced rest will help me blog more. or perhaps i'll see you in another couple of months. haha. no promises.  ;)

oh and a few days late but i just have to give a shout out to my amazing pops... his kind, generous heart never ceases to amaze me. of all us kids there's no denying i'm the most like him. that's a badge i'll proudly wear. love you daddy!

hope the start of summer finds you all happy and well!
grace and peace,

 

this present season

i have a tendency to get ahead of myself sometimes... whether it's looking to the next big thing or wishing i was further along in my plans in life. so this has definitely been a season for me of learning to be present. to just enjoy where i am and who i'm there with. to slow down and enjoy the moments that so easily slip by. i suppose that's contributed to some of the blog silence lately, but i feel like there's so much to share with all of you!

so let's dive right in shall we?

the boyfriend
it'd be cruel to not make this first since i know some of you are dying to know the details about this one! a month ago i got setup on a blind date with jeff... we have lots of mutual friends and connections but ultimately it was my mom who got the ball rolling to get him my number. we had a great time and by the end of our first date he asked if we could hang out again... our 2nd date he cooked me dinner at my house and to sound as cliche as possible- the rest is history. he's smart and kind and funny and so very sweet and i am so thankful that God has put him in my life. the last month with him has been very healing for me in a lot of ways and i am just so happy! we made our relationship 'official' last weekend, announced it on facebook and can't do anything but laugh at everyone's excitement for us. it's been fun. and just another thing that God is teaching me to stay present in. the whole dating and getting-to-know-you process is special and i want to enjoy every moment!
*i feel like i should thank my 5yo niece kyra. remember this post? yeah that was almost exactly 1 month before i met jeff. her prayers worked!

weight loss
i officially hit my 70lb goal on april 2nd and have even lost a few more pounds since then. i stopped tracking on weight watchers about 2 months ago because i just got burnt out. i needed a break. i had done it for so long and i didn't want to hate it. the fact that i'm still losing makes me feel like i really get it now and i know what my body needs in order to lose and/or maintain. it's been very empowering! i'm wearing size 6's and smalls and i still do a double take when i see my reflection or pictures that people have taken of me. i've come a long way and i'm proud of all the hard work i put in to get myself to this place.

the house
back in january i posted some home goals for this year and i am happy to report that i can cross some items off the list! a month ago i had my deck put on the back of the house and i love it! it has been so lovely to have an outdoor space and i can't wait for the weather to continue warming up so i can enjoy it even more. i've added some cute outdoor furniture and lights and it's so cozy! yesterday they installed my front storm door which adds so much light to the front of the house. while they were doing all the work i also had them install the dimmer in the dining room which makes such a difference! i also got around to dusting the ceiling fan in the kitchen... still have to do the one in my bedroom but now that i got that pillowcase dusting trick down it should be no problem! now that all the construction mess is over maybe i can get around to making my collage wall?

family
many of you read my sister's blog so you might have heard about what my poppop is going through as he was just recently diagnosed with bone cancer. my sister's post expresses so well how we all feel about this so i will just say that prayers are appreciated in this season. he should be going home on hospice care this weekend and we're all hoping to enjoy whatever time we have with him. i love this photo that my sister took last september at the hospital when my nephew was born. it means so much to me now!

**************************
thanks for reading my long update! no promises on getting better about updating this... too busy being present... but we'll see.

have a wonderful day!

grace and peace,

 

my first 5k

i'm struggling to find the right words to begin this post. part of me wants to start by saying "thank you" for all of your sweet comments and words of encouragement regarding my 5k on friday. the other part of me wants to start by saying how amazing it felt to accomplish something that once seemed so overwhelming. instead i'll show you some pretty sweet photos that my lovely sis captured.  ;)

you can't run your first 5k without having a cheesy photo of you crossing the finish line. but i love it.

overall, it was an awesome experience. i think there were a few hundred people who ended up running. the start happened so fast and before i had time to really think i about it i was off. it was hard to find my pace because there were so many people and it felt like they were going so fast. i had to remind myself to slow down and not focus on the other people. it started raining shortly after the race started and didn't let up the whole time. when i approached the finish line my entire family (and my bestie) was there cheering me on. it was so special to see them there supporting me and so proud of what i did! somehow i managed to keep the tears at bay. my sister is another story. haha! she's so sweet and has been my biggest cheerleader.  :)

after the race my entire family went and had dinner together. my little brother was even in town from california this weekend so having him there was amazing. my family is incredible. they spent their friday night standing in the rain watching me run and for that i am so grateful.

yesterday i saw a flyer at a store for a 5k in november. i might just be hooked.

much love,

he has arrived

oh my goodness it has been a crazy, busy week- but thankfully a good one!

last night my sil kesh gave birth to a beautiful (and big) baby boy! i finally have a nephew after my 3 nieces. he weighed in at 10lbs 5oz! he now holds the record for highest birth weight in the family- not me! haha! he crushed my 9lb 11oz record and i gladly pass the title over to him.

oh paxton james you have already captured our hearts. we are so excited to have you join our family. we're a crazy bunch but i think you're gonna like us. i pray that like your name, you live a life full of peace and bring joy to all you meet.

ahhhh i just love me some squishy newborns! thank you God for this precious little life!

have a great weekend!

 

rain, rain, go away

i've made it through more than i thought i was capable of this year. now i can add hurricane to that list.

let me preface by saying that i absolutely HATE storms. or should i say, i hate storms when i am experiencing them alone. i'm not ashamed to admit that i was the teenager who still ran into my parents room during extra scary middle-of-the-night storms. for me there's a comfort in being near other people during those moments. safety in numbers or something like that.

despite all that i found myself alone in my house late saturday night when irene started really pounding our area. i did choose to be alone. my entire family graciously offered up their spare bedrooms for me so i didn't have to ride it out alone. do they know me or what? haha! but i turned them down. i guess i was feeling brave or something. all was fine. i enjoyed my quiet evening at home and i was in the last 2 minutes of a cheesy hallmark movie (right when he was about to declare his undying love) and then it came on- the dreaded emergency broadcast system stating that there was a tornado warning for our county. i grabbed my pillow, a blanket, a candle, my phone and my laptop (priorities people) and traipsed down to the basement until the threat passed. by then the power went out and it was eerily dark. did i mention i don't really like the dark either?

i managed to put on my big girl panties though and suck it up. i told myself that this is a year of discovering just how strong i am and that i am capable of more than i imagined (with God's help of course). i stuck some earplugs in because the pounding wind and rain was so loud and went to sleep. when i woke up the power was still out, but i made it through just fine. add that one to the list of ever-growing new experiences.

over 24 hours later and my house is still out of power. it's ok though. it could be much worse. and i finally took my family up on their offer and slept at my sister's last night.

<---- waking up to this face is the best.

praying for those who were really impacted by this storm. it's been a crazy weather week for us east-coasters. looking forward to a week full of sunshine after all that rain.




much love,

 

recap and swap reveal

today's been a tough day for me... not sure why... just having a down day i suppose. so in an effort to lift my spirit i'm gonna reflect back on my busy, but enjoyable weekend.

friday night i got to chill with my niece emeline so her mommy and daddy could enjoy a much needed date night. i took her to my parents where she played on the trampoline, enjoyed the swings and pointed at every bird and bug and tree. it's so fun watching her discover new things all the time.

saturday i got to join lyryn and celebrate her son ian's 1st birthday. it was so nice catching up with old friends and just being social again. i've kind of cocooned myself for the last few months within my little community so it was nice to get out and engage with different people.

after the party my sister and i got some much needed pampering (a la mani & pedi) and then we went to a kids festival that my dad's fire company puts on every year. my aunt and uncle were in town from out of state so they came and we got to catch up with them which was so nice!

then it was dinner with some of the family and ice cream at a new local place. it was delicious. emekay enjoyed sampling everyone's ice cream. it was adorable. yay for summer!

then i headed off with my parents to watch fireworks at the park. my other 2 nieces were there with my brother and sil so we found them just as the show was about to start. poor kylie didn't like the noise. she kept her ears covered the whole time and just kept saying, "it's too yowd." haha. i love her.

kyra didn't mind the noise at all and in fact she was very disappointed when the show was over. good thing the 4th of july is right around the corner where she can hopefully see more fireworks. can't wait to get that kid to disney to see a real fireworks show! when my family went to disney in 2006, kate and i went back to magic kingdom almost every night just to watch the fireworks. we love them. :)


kyra was adorable and was rubbing pop pop's head during the fireworks show. such a precious kid. love making memories with my family and i am so looking forward to our family vacation at the end of the month. it will be lovely to spend time with them and i am so excited because my little brother will be coming in from san diego to go with us and i miss him so much!

lastly, i got my flip flops from my swap partner melanee this weekend. she got me these super comfy black nike's which is perfect because i didn't have a pair of casual black flip flops. the last pair i had got ruined when i was in africa and i hadn't replaced them yet. thanks melanee and thanks to lyryn for hosting this fun swap! go to her blog to see what everyone else got!

hope the rest of you all had an enjoyable weekend!

 

happy birthday mom!

it has been a whirlwind week... most of my free time from work was spent helping kate get all the final details together for eme's 1st birthday party on saturday. it was an awesome day and she posted a fun photo recap on her blog. if you haven't seen it yet- be sure to check it out. she's amazing.

today is a very special day! it's my mom's birthday today. i feel like every year her birthday gets lost and/or combined with mothers day. she's always so gracious about it of course but i still wanted to give her a little blog shoutout.

my mom is one amazing lady. if you know her, you'd understand. she's one of the strongest women i know and so compassionate and giving. if you're sad or upset she'll be the first person to come hug you or cry right alongside you. she's so incredibly selfless and would give you the shirt off her back if you needed it. my mom has definitely taught me how to love others... especially those who the rest of the world rejects.

she's a spiritual mom to so many. most people call her "mama ruthie" and there's a reason for that. they feel the love of a mother from her. i'm one of only 4 people who actually get to say that she really is their mom. a pretty special privilege if i do say so myself. you always know you've got a great mom when people tell you how jealous they are and that they wish they had a mom like yours! the older she gets the more adventurous she becomes. she's gone to africa with me twice and that's a tough trip!

so happy birthday mom! i hope you get to rest a bit today and soak in this beautiful day. thanks for all the love you to continue to pour out to me and the rest of our family. we're so blessed to have you! i love you so much and i'm so honored to be your daugher! 

 

fighting the winter blues

last week i got to spend my day off with my lovely sister-in-law and my 2 adorable nieces. it was a cold, but sunny day and we decided to head off to longwood gardens where we could dream about springtime amongst all the beautiful flowers. after a long walk outside and an interaction with some wildlife we decided it was time to head into the conservatory where it was warm and flowers abounded (especially orchids). here's our furry friend we made who wasn't too sure what to make of my camera in his face.

 

once we walked into the conservatory we were immediately overwhelmed by the smell of flowers. it was AMAZING! within 30 seconds kesh and i were smiling and laughing and feeling uber excited about the promise of spring. we joked that we felt like we were on happy drugs. it was just that good. they have an orchid extravaganza going on right now and orchids were everywhere. the excitement wasn't lost on us- kyra & kylie felt it, too. they were twirling around and having a grand old time running around and breathing in all the yummy flower smells, too. 

we all know how easily the "winter blues" can set in and affect our attitude so i'm grateful for a day like that where you get to escape the snow and cold. thank you kesh for inviting me along on your fun adventure! if you're ever in southeastern, pa make sure longwood gardens is on your list of things to see.

happy wednesday everyone!

gardens and little girls

can i just say that i love being an aunt? i think i always knew how much i would love that role but i never realized how easily i would slip into it. granted, it's easy to love it when you have the 3 most adorable nieces known to mankind... but i digress.

on saturday my sisters and i decided to head to longwood gardens for the day. thankfully kesh has a members pass so it was free, too! kesh's 2 daughters, kyra and kylie, love going to longwood gardens and know all their favorite things to see and do there so they were happy to point everything out to me. at one point we had a stroller dilemna because both girls were tired but there was only 1 umbrella stroller. i told kyra she could take a ride on my back which thrilled her to no end. as we were bouncing along she said in a sweet way only kyra can, "i love you susie!" melts my heart! how does an almost-4-year-old know what to say exactly when you need to hear it? not too long into the ride kylie got a little jealous so i had to give her a turn (see photo) and then tears ensued from kyra. such is life with a 2 and 3 year old!

we really did have a great time enjoying the beautiful (but hot) weather and doing lots and lots of walking! it was the perfect way to spend a saturday! i feel so blessed to have 2 amazing sisters to spend time with and "fill my cup." and i'm equally as blessed to have 3 little rays of sunshine in my life to keep me on my toes and remind me just how precious life really is- especially when viewed through the eyes of child.

life's little blessings

i've been on a bit of an unintentional blogging hiatus but in my defense i have been very busy. you see literally the day after my last post i had one of the most memorable conversations of my life where i was told by a boy, that i very much admired, how amazing i was and how he wanted to pursue a relationship with me. yeah, i know. pretty good news. it was shocking to me as i've never had a guy be so up front with me about his feelings before, but it was so unbelievably refreshing! so the last 6 1/2 weeks have involved lots of long phone conversations and late night chats by the car as we probably set the record for the longest goodbye ever. oh new love... it makes us do funny things.

so here's a little photo for you of my boyfriend gerald and i (yup i love that i can say boyfriend now... haha). he's smart and funny and sweet and loving and gentle and the list goes on and on. i'm sure i'll expand on all that another time. there's more exciting news to share!

i bought a house! almost 2 weeks ago i settled on an adorable townhome in the city that i've grown to love. i knew last summer that God was calling me to move to this community but i had no idea the amazing plans that He had set for me. under normal circumstances i would never be able to be in this place, but He worked out all the details in a way that all credit can only be given to Him!

my life has been consumed with painting, lifting heavy furniture, lots of shopping and way too much check writing. the feeling i have at the end of each day when i get to just rest and soak it all in is so wonderful. this is MY home! God has entrusted me with this place and i am so happy. i'm surrounded with such great people (including my pastors and several of my church family) which made this feel like home so much quicker!

i will update with before & after pictures soon. i'm still in the middle of getting everything how i want it, which i'm sure will be a forever process, but i like how it's all coming together. so hopefully i'll have more to show you soon!

i also had the privilege of witnessing my beautiful niece emeline kay enter the world on may 10th. she has already added so much joy to our family and i love watching my sister in her new role of "mommy." she's doing an amazing job and with such grace. i'm blown away with how calm she has handled this crazy transition in her life. makes me think i'll actually be able to do it someday, too. haha!

so as you can tell life has been busy, busy, busy but so very good! thanks for sticking with me on this crazy ride. :)

baby shower recap

on saturday i got the chance to throw my little sister a baby shower and i realized in the car yesterday that i only get to do that for her once. for that reason i'm glad i paid attention to details, because when it comes to party planning it is ALL about the details! i've learned in all the birthday parties, bridal showers and baby showers that i've thrown (and believe me, it's been a lot) that people really do appreciate the details! those are the things they remember that set your party apart from other ones they've attended.

for katie's shower our details happened to include the most adorable owls. it started with the invitations which i found on etsy here. i loved that they featured a cute little owl family which represents katie & declan's soon-to-be family of 3. we decided to hold the shower at a restaurant because let's face it, who wants to have to clean their house, make all the food and then clean your house again? yeah, not me. i'd much rather pay (or in this case have my mom pay) to have the event at a restaurant. *thanks mom!* we held it at this great place called brickside grille and they were amazing! we had my sis-in-love's baby shower there a few years ago so i knew how accommodating they would be. our 2 servers did an incredible job taking care of all 40 of us that were there!

one of the things i knew i wanted to do was a 'wishing tree.' i've seen images of these floating around the internet and had it filed in the back of my mind to use someday. it really fit in with the owl theme of the shower so it was perfect! the wishing tree was literally a branch i cut off of one of my mom's dogwood trees (sorry mom!) that i spray painted brown. i put it in a vase filled with glass marbles to keep it from shifting. then i created these cute little tags in photoshop and printed them on cardstock. i punched a hole, looped some ribbon through and they were ready! the guests wrote a sweet little "wish" for katie and the baby and hung it on the tree. it looked so pretty with all these precious little notes hanging from it. it was so elegant and added so much to the shower. at the end of the shower i took all the tags off and this afternoon i made katie a little scrapbook that has them all in it. now she can look back and read all the sweet notes from her friends and family whenever she wants! maybe someday my little niece will read them, too! here's to hoping the "wishes" come true! here's a couple shots of the tree that lyryn took.


my sis-in-love made the amazing cake. you can see a photo of that on katie's post. she did an incredible job! i am always impressed with her talent when it comes to desserts... mmmm! i found the favors on etsy here. they were the cutest owl cookies i have ever seen... ok they were the only owl cookies i have ever seen, but they were still awesome. we had one at each seat for the guests and everyone was so happy to get them. you couldn't help but smile at how cute they were!

there were of course fresh bouquets of flowers... i am a firm believer that fresh flowers are a must at parties! i went to a couple places on friday morning and found a great mix of pink, green and white flowers. i have a large collection of glass containers that i collected over the years which we used for vases. i love using different size containers. i think it adds a lot of visual interest and keeps things from looking too uniform. for a final touch to the flowers we made paper owls and stuck them in the vases. it was a great touch and the guests loved them as well!

sorry, i know this post is getting long! it really was such a beautiful day and i loved being able to shower my sister and future niece with lots of love! i couldn't have pulled it off without some amazing help so thank you to lyryn, kesh, jennie and my mom for all your hard work to make the day special. and a big shout out to jesus for giving us such a sunshiney, beautiful spring day!

i love you katie and i am so excited for this next chapter in your life. you are going to be such an amazing mom!!!

hope everyone has a fantastic week!

playful pillows

those of us in the northeast have gotten slammed with snow this winter and this week was no exception! despite watching way too much on bravo i still managed to get some crafting done. and when i say done that means i actually completed the project i set out to do. might not sound like a big deal but for some reason i have trouble finishing projects. did i just admit that? yikes. it's true though. i'm great on the initial start but then i tend to get bored or tired and put it away. but not this!

last weekend i took a trip to ikea with some of my siblings and my nieces. my sister-in-law kesh is in the process of turning her dining room into a playroom for her 2 little girls. so we went to ikea to pick up some storage. along the way she grabbed some pillows. as we were browsing the pillow covers, nothing caught our eye. i daringly offered to make the covers if she bought the fabric. so on wednesday we headed to joann's (with coupon in hand) and she got all the fabric for about $23. we were covering 5 pillows so $23 split 5 ways... well i'm no mathematician but i know that's cheap.

yesterday i started and sewed the covers for the 2 small pillows and the 1 medium sized one. i did a cute flower applique that mimics the rug she picked up at ikea. they turned out super cute! i did the flap style pillows which make it ideal for her with 2 little ones. if they get dirty she can just pop them off and spot-clean or throw it in the wash. and if she ever decides to change up the look of the playroom we can make new ones.


today i tackled the 2 big pillows. they're 26"x26" but they'll be perfect for cozying up with a good book. i decided to do a little stripe action on the big pillows... you know for visual interest. haha! i'm pretty happy with the way they turned out, too. and again, it's the flap style so they're really easy to get on/off.

i can't wait to see the playroom when it gets painted and all the finishing touches get put in. i'm so glad i got to add a little flare to the room and contribute something. sewing is a new outlet for me, but i'm really enjoying the freedom to create and especially seeing others get joy from the things i make for them!

i can't believe i managed to get this project done so quick. i tend to procrastinate so knowing this is complete makes me so happy!

oh and ps- i won an awesome giveaway today! i am so excited! i'll post about it soon! all i have to say is that the recipient of the goodies hasn't been born yet, but i know she'll love them when she makes her appearance into this world. :)




ps- sorry for the bad photos... they were taken with my iphone.

the winter blues

i know i'm not the only one who suffers the winter blues. it always hits me bad this time of year. the time when the final snowstorms are trying to squeeze their way in. when the thought of spring is just taunting you and it feels like it will never arrive. it also always seems to be the time that you get sick, etc etc.

well in the last week we've been hit with several major snowstorms, dumping well over 3 feet of snow. that left me stuck in my house for days. needless to say, i was really looking forward to getting back to my office yesterday and then i woke up with the worst sinus headache ever. no amount of medicine helped. it was awful. and then today i wake up and i can hardly move! somehow during my sleep i messed up my back. so frustrating!

so here's hoping that i feel good tomorrow. i have so much work to get done.

i'll leave you with a couple photos of my nieces that i took when they were snowed in with us a week ago. love these girls.

miss kylie joy (19 months)


kyra jean (3 1/2)

hope the winter blues aren't hitting you! here's to wishing for spring!

swap excitement

i was going to write a post today about the ridiculous amounts of snow we've been having, but then the mailman showed up. you see, i have been anxiously awaiting the arrival of my simply love swap package from my amazing swap partner jocelyn. i was actually just lamenting to my sister katie today that i was hoping it would get here before valentines day. it literally showed up 5 minutes after katie left my house today. i was on the phone with her (yes i know she had just left my house, but we still somehow ended up on the phone within 5 minutes) when i heard the mailman walk up to the door and hung up quickly telling her that i would call her back.

so after almost giving the mailman a heart attack and basically ripping the package out of his hands i ran inside to open it. as soon as i got the package opened i think i starting screaming like a little school girl because gosh darnit, it was just so pretty! see for yourself!

so being the good girl that i am i opened the card first (handmade of course) and out fell a starbucks gift card! hello chai latte! then i opened up that cute polka-dotted bag to find a post-it note holder (with post-its inside) which i am pretty sure jocelyn made as well. perfect timing, too because i just ran out of post-its at my desk. hooray!

then i opened that cute little box and inside was a bottle of nail polish, 2 burt's bees chapsticks and the most adorable flower headband (handmade again). seriously, is jocelyn amazing or what? so of course i jumped up and put it on and then snapped a picture for you to enjoy. please pardon the messy hair.


then i saw it. the holy grail of valentines day gifts. CHOCOLATE! this adorable container (of course once again decorated by jocelyn) was filled with all kinds of yummy chocolate... m&m's, hershey kisses and hershey's miniatures. literally... all my favorite candy! hallelujah! here's a shot of the inside.


and i may or may not have already eaten one of those squares of m&m's... hahaha

here's a shot of all my loot!


so all that to say- THANK YOU to the best swap partner ever- JOCELYN at Inside Brucrew Life. you made my day... errr week... maybe even year. thank you for the time and effort you put into making my package so special! it means so much!

and another big THANK YOU to my amazing sister- KATIE at Loves of Life for hosting this swap and helping me to meet such amazing women!

i used to really hate valentines day... being single year after year can be tough. this swap gave me something to look forward to! plus i have amazing family who make it special for me. katie and declan are taking me to dinner and a movie tonight, tomorrow my brother jim, his wife kesh and my 2 adorable nieces are taking me to lunch and on sunday night my pastor's wife is hosting a dinner for all the single ladies in our church.

i feel so loved! that is the point, right?

happy birthday kesh!

today i want to celebrate and honor a very special person in my life. technically i have to call her my sister-in-law but i've come to despise that terminology. the 'in-law' part has a bit of a bad connotation to it, which we can probably all attest to. often we switch it out and say sister-in-love which is nice, but kesh is oh so much more. i literally feel like i have gained a sister by having her in my life. i had no idea when she came into my life just over 10 years ago the impact she would have on me, the encouragement she would give me and the confidant she would become.

she is such an incredible wife, mother, sister and friend and i can't imagine my life without her. she has taught me so much about life and love and walks in humility daily, knowing that she is nothing if her heart is not first bent towards the lord. i value our relationship so much and can't imagine life without her!

so kesh, i hope you enjoy your last year of being a 20-something... haha. don't worry, i'm not too far behind you. i love you so much!