I have lots of favorites, but I chose these for today. I took these during our terrible ice storm (2009). After the storm hit, there was a space of 24 hours where I couldn’t reach my husband, and anyone I managed to contact hadn’t heard from him either. But, these photographs don’t JUST bring back memories of anxious waiting or trying to keep warm and fed. They also stir up feelings…emotions of “places” I’ve been in life and the things I’ve pulled through.
Welcome back!
Ah…this one is a bit more difficult for me.
I guess you could say I’m a bit non-committal on what my “dream house” would look like. There are, however, some things I know I would love in my “dream house”:
…and a dream house wouldn’t be a dream house if it wasn’t situated close to those I love.
1. House
2. Grey’s Anatomy
3. The Gates
4. Rookie Blue
5. Castle
6. Psych
7. Gilmore Girls (even though it’s all re-runs now)
8. Private Practice
9. Desperate Housewives
10. Fringe
11. Bones
12. Brothers and Sisters
I love traveling, but here are some of my favorites!
St. Louis, MO – We love visiting the Union Station around Christmas, City Museum, Magic House, Zoo…oh so much fun with the kiddos!
Gatlinburg, TN
Panama City Beach, FL
This is from one of our latest trips – Frankfort Michigan
I think my most favorite trip of all time would be HERE, though. I want to go back again SOON.
1. Avatar
2. The patriot
3. Braveheart
4. A Little Princess
5. The Green Mile
6. 10 Things I Hate About You
7. The Wedding Singer
8. Monty Python and the Holy Grail
9. Supersize Me
10. The Sixth Sense
(Josh with Lorelei)
10 Things about my brother -
1. My girls refer to him as “Uncle Josh” and “Bubba”
2. He’s really fun to be around. Lala and Rora love playing with him.
3. He’s 3 years younger than me, although you can’t tell now.
4. Once, he slammed a door in my face at the top of the steps and I fell down the entire flight…head first. He thought it was funny. Me, not so much.
5. He was probably getting me back for making him ride in my baby carriage when he was 3.
6. He comes up with some really funny contraptions that we laugh about… like when he meant to haul a bench seat and rode up to the front door with said seat strapped onto his four-wheeler – it was very redneck-ish.
7. He’s compassionate and sweet.
8. He likes my strawberry cupcakes 
9. He’s Catholic.
10. He makes me proud and I love him SO much
About my parents:
Today, my parents are two are the greatest forces in my life. Today, I know they did everything they knew to do to empower me. Love me. Teach me. Raise me.
My parents have seen me at my lowest. My parents have walked beside me through the trenches.
My parents have submitted to changing with me, when they could’ve been rigid and un-changing.
My parents have beautiful hearts and know that “true” family often has nothing to do with blood-lines.
My parents are excellent grandparents.
And today, I finally understand what it’s like to be a parent who gives their best and most, and for that to never feel like it’s quite enough.
Mom, when I think you, I think of:
Compassion. I think of hugs and someone who often knows what I need before I need it. You listen when I need to talk. You research things I don’t understand so that we both may learn. You don’t judge me. You just love me…through thick and thin. My daughters think you pretty much hung the moon, and apparently you are WAY cooler than me.
Dad, you are strong. You are kind. You have wonderful morals and make me laugh. I love you so much. You are intelligent and your hugs make me feel like the world is safe again.
I don’t know what I’d do without either of you. I hope you never wonder how important you are to me.
1 Corinthians 13: 4-13
4Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
8Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 9For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. 11When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. 12Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
13And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.
My first love. It’s one of those things that SEEM like a hard thing to answer, but after everything else is stripped away, the answer is too obvious to be denied. I mean…
I “loved” cheetos…
I “loved” the first boy I kissed on the playground…
I “loved” my first real long-term boyfriend…
And, maybe I did – If you want to go by Webster’s definition which sums love up by simply having an attraction, devotion, attachment or enthusiasm about something.
So, I’m changing this. My first TRUE love…
And, that was God. True love is patient and kind. It doesn’t keep a record of wrongs, isn’t envious, boastful or prideful. It protects, trusts, and perseveres.
I can’t really honestly say those things about cheetos, the first boy I kissed, or my first long term boyfriend.
I’ve often been asked when I was first “saved” – most people have a date and time and place they can spout off like an rsvp card. For me, it’s been from the beginning. For me, my God saves me each and every day.
And THIS, this being taught about God and instilling a deep love for Him and to hold Him first, was one of the greatest gifts my parents ever gave me.
Without Him, I wouldn’t have learned how to TRULY love others as I’ve matured and grown. (Not that I’m always successful at it, but I strive for that “true love”.)
