I Want You to Want Me

I have always considered myself a good friend.

I am extremely loyal, loving, honest,

a shoulder to cry on and a ton of fun!

I have been through my fair share of friendship troubles.

High school was a roller coaster of highs and lows

when it came to friends.

But now that I can look into the past,

I realize I am a better friend because of the experiences

I went through.

Flashback to Mel's 20th birthday!

After celebrating one of my close college friends

birthdays this past weekend,

I gained some astounding, yet not surprising, insight.

We all want to be wanted

I expect a lot out of my relationships.

If I feel I am putting forth more effort than the other person,

that's a problem.

It all comes back to human nature,

we all want to be wanted.

That is why we are constantly searching for love,

compliments, friendships, and a place to belong.

As humans, we are not perfect.

This is something I tend to struggle with

when it comes to my expectations of people.

I will never find the perfect relationship here on earth.

We will continuously be looking

to fill the emptiness which can only be made whole

by the love of Christ Jesus.

People will let you down.

Period.

But I hope and pray that I can be the

kind of friend I would want to have

no matter what the circumstances.

With all of this being said,

I want to take the time to apologize

to those I was not a good friend to.

We all need time to grow and come to terms with

our mistakes and hopefully

do our best to avoid those same mistakes in the future.

I have been given some amazing friends

who mean the world to me

and make me believe that

I can have loving, lasting friendships!

So thank y'all for that!

Sorry for such a deep post,

but I am just trying to keep it real!

Happy Monday!

Love y'all!

 

My Loves

Long time no blog!

(I know I can be really cheesy sometimes

but you know you love it!)

After an awesome trip to Washington DC,

(blog post to follow at a later date)

I began thinking about all the things I love in life!

#1 The South

Let me just tell you how many people

love the south!

While in DC, I of course talked a everyone

and when they found out I was from Alabama

they were so enthusiastic

and wanted to talk about the differences

and listen to me talk!

We really are blessed to live somewhere

people take the time to be neighbors

and aren't always in a hurry!

And we have REAL sweet tea!

#2 Falling asleep listening to thunder

Oh my gosh!

I sleep SO well when it is raining or thundering outside!

Rain is so calming and I love curling up for a good book or movie

and fall asleep while it is thundering!

Many times on our road trips from south Florida

to Alabama for Christmas

it would rain,

and I just loved riding in the car with Lindsey

in the backseat watching movies on the mini TV and VCR

Mom rigged up for us!

#3 Sewing (my new hobby)

So this is my new obsession!

I am in the process of making some "happies"

and I am loving learning how to sew!

There are endless possibilities with fabric and sewing

and I am thrilled to have another creative outlet!

Blog post and pictures to come soon!

#4 Making the people I love "happies"

On that note,

I also LOVE giving "happies"!

Giving gifts is my love language

so happies just come natural to me!

Definition of a "happy":

Anything that makes someone happy

by giving it to them!

I recently painted some cute little cupcakes

for my Gigi's girls!

Before jetting off to DC,

I was able to stop in Tuscaloosa

and give the paintings to my girlfriends!

So much fun!

#5 The wonderful people in my life

God has truly blessed me with some

amazing relationships!

I could not ask for a better family or group of friends!

I love you all!!!

My girlies with their happies!

Happy Wednesday!

 

Let Freedom Ring

What does it mean to be free?

Sometimes I think it is hard for people to be truly thankful

that we, as Americans, are free.

We have the ability to praise whatever god we choose,

we can speak our minds,

we can go where we want, when we want

and we can pretty do as we please

to a certain extent of course.

With Independence Day less than a month away,

and Cat's man Kaden being deployed today,

I have really been thinking about the cost of the freedom

that we so often take for granted.

One of my favorite movies of all time

is The Patriot.

Mel Gibson plays a South Carolina colonist

who wanted freedom from Great Britain

but not at the cost of war.

His son convinces him that the price for freedom

is worth the sacrifice of war.

This movie always makes me realize

why it is so great to celebrate our freedoms

and to be thankful that the colonists

took a stand and fought for those freedoms we enjoy today.

But this battle to remain free is still raging on today.

There are soldiers around the world

who are constantly fighting and defending our great country

and protecting their fellow Americans from threats against

our rights of liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

I don't think our troops get the respect and thanks

they deserve.

Anytime I see someone in uniform or find out

they have or currently are serving in our military,

I try to make it a point to say thank you.

So thank you to those who bravely risk everything

to protect my freedom to write this blog

and praise my God!

Be safe Kaden!

We love you and will be praying for you constantly!

Get ready for some creative care packages too!

Pumped about my week long vacation starting Friday!

Yay!

 

God Gave Me You

So incredibly excited to announce

that my BEST friend ever

is getting married!

AH!

Michael FINALLY proposed this past weekend

and now Taylor is engaged!

I am beyond happy for these two

and I cannot wait to celebrate!

Taylor and I are so alike in the fact that we

have had our weddings planned

for years now!

I am pumped to help her carry out

her dream wedding plans!

God has blessed me with some amazing people in my life

and I am truely thankful for the relationships

I have!

I know Taylor and I will never lose touch

and we have already planned

our trip to Disney with our children!

BFFL (Best friends for life)

One of my other best friends, Cat,

is having to say goodbye to her man

this weekend as he is being deployed!

I am so glad I got to be apart of their relationship 

from the beginning and I'm sure we will be taking

Disney trips together as well!

Expect some awesome care packages

Kaden!

We love you 

and thank you for your service to our country!

Easter! Zach, Cat, Kaden, Me and Jason

Love all the people in my life!

SO glad it's Friday!

Happy weekend!