It's been awhile, I know! :)

I feel like I have so much to blog about and I have no idea where to start.
For the last two months life has been pretty hectic!
Starting with the end of school that was not only exciting but very very busy!
In the last three weeks of school we crammed in our
annual Spring Auction,
 our 1st-6th grade Spring Program,
a fun but stressful Field Trip,
THREE Graduations
a school wide Field Day
....and in between all of that...
the end of the year rush to get all assignments done, classrooms cleaned, grades graded!!!

From school, we jumped right into our exciting summer.
Starting with my bestie, Nicole, coming to visit us two days after school ended!

What a great great time we had!! Seriously, we took so many pictures, laughed constantly, talked and talked and talked and made memories that will last for such a long time!!

It was so fun showing her our life and our beautiful state of California!

The day before Nicole left my Mom arrived in CA and was followed a few days later by my Daddy! :)

I can't even tell you in words how great it was to have them here!

My parents are two of my best friends and spending this time with them was so great!

It was fun to have my Dad with us right before his birthday and Father's Day. It made it a little easier when I couldn't see him on those special days! :)

Since they left, Julian and I have been keeping busy with day to day things.
We have a few slow weeks coming up and then the mid/end of the summer will be filled with Craft camp at our church, a Bridal shower, and a couple special family members who will be visiting us near the end of the summer!! Along with getting ready for the school year!

I have been so bad at keeping up with the blogging world! I feel way behind! I need to catch up on all of my favorite blogs..and... hopefully it won't take another 2 months till my next post! 

so thankful she is mine...

It's Mother's Day! 

The day that we set aside to honor the person who brought us into this world.

The one who molded us into who and what we are today.

God allowed me to have an amazing Mom!

Sometimes I think of all the other situations I could have been born into. It makes me grateful beyond words because God gave me to the most wonderful parents in the world! 

It honestly humbles me.

I believe it must of been around the time when I was old enough to buy things for my Mom (on her birthday/mother's day) when I first had these thoughts. I clearly remember being in the store looking for the card to buy for my Mom and I would see these cards that would go on and on about how their Mom was now their best friend and they love being able to share everything...etc..etc...

I remember thinking....
Who in the world is ever best friend's with their MOM??!! 

As a teenager, especially, this really baffled me! :)

Mom's just aren't the normal teenager's best friend. lol Even in my younger college years I could just never relate to this kind of relationship.

I realize now that these cards are probably NEVER purchased by teenagers. lol 

You know, there is something about marriage that really changes you.

I'm not saying that people that don't get married until they are older aren't able to mature and become an true adult, but honestly when you get married EVERYTHING changes.

One of the biggest things is your relationship with your parents.

They are still your parents but they aren't responsible for you anymore. They aren't the ones that you "fall back on." Now you have your spouse. It's NOT all about you anymore, you have another person to think of.
It sort of "forces" you to become an adult!

After I got married, my relationship with my Mom really changed.

It started changing in the year before I actually got married but that probably had to do with the fact that I did a lot of growing up that year. 

My Mom had to do less and less "parenting" and started becoming my friend.

When I was a teenager if you would have came to me and told me that my Mom and I would have the relationship we have today. I would have probably laughed at you.

Now, I wouldn't trade the world for the close relationship we have.

She is my best friend.

Thank you Mom.....

* for everything you ever have and will teach me 

* for all the advice you give

* for showing by your example what a being a GREAT wife is

* for passing down your sarcastic personality! :) 

* for teaching me about being a true friend

*for encouraging me 

* for constantly making me laugh

* for your prayers

* for giving me the huge goal to try and be the kind of Mother you were to us

* for giving of yourself completely in everything that you do

* for being "hard" on us when we were younger because you wanted to make us the best we could be

* for teaching me to be a hard worker

* for listening to me talk and talk and talk on the phone :)

* for showing by example what it's like to have a true relationship with God

* for officially being....

my role model,

THE person I aspire to be most like! :)

I love you, Mom! 

This is our first Mother's Day apart.
I miss you so much and REALLY wish we could be together today!
Happy Mother's Day

Like Mother..Like Daughter...

It's Memory Thursday and since this is Mother's Day week, I thought it fitting to give a memory of my Mom! :)

People that know my Mom and I repeatedly tell us how similar we are. In facial expressions and mannerisms and the way we talk or tell stories. Well, since getting married and moving away I often find myself doing things just like my Mom or saying something to one of my kids at school that my Mom used to say to us.

It's kind of scary at times!

I think, oh NO!!! My MOTHER would have said that!!!! :)

But then I think....I can't think of anyone else I would rather be like than my Mom!!! :)

Love this picture..just a snapshot taken by a friend on my wedding day of Mom and I waiting in between poses. Yes we really do act alike! :)

Well, growing up it was a continual family joke that whenever we would all drive somewhere together my Mom would constantly be the "passenger seat driver." It wasn't just a little thing. It happened ALL the time!!

Dad would be driving and Mom (very dramatically) would warn him of the car ahead that stepped on the brakes...or of a green light that was turning yellow...or of a car that would change lanes quickly and cut Dad off! Usually her dramatic warning would consist of her hand FLYING across and slapping Dad's leg and usually we would hear....
"STEVE!!"
or
"THAT CAR!!!!"
or
"DAD"
or most of the time...
just a very loud....
"GASP!!!"
haha...every time it happened we would all laugh!!!
Dad usually made some joke about how he wondered how he had NEVER gotten in a car wreck when she wasn't with him because without her "warnings" he definitely should have already had many many near death experiences!! :)

Well friends, here I am with my own husband now....
and he will attest that one of the most irritating things I do is when I am the  "passenger seat driver!"
It's BAD! I find myself doing it all the time!
Usually using the EXACT same phrases that would come out of my Mom's mouth...and of course,
I also do the "hand flying over and slapping his leg" thing too! :)

What can I say..How can I stop myself?!?
After all, I WAS trained by the best! :)
Love you Mom! Thanks for rubbing off on me!
By the way, it's nice to be able to use my Mom as an excuse when I get a look from Julian.
I say "I'm sorry! I get that from my MOM!!"
He can't be mad after that...he would never say anything negative about his Mother in-law! ;)

2,133

2,133

This is the number of miles that I will be moving in just three and a half months! Recently, I have been having these homesick moments. Do you know what I mean? I used to have these moments when I was a little girl. I would be at school and I distinctly remember all of the sudden being homesick. I would get this weird feeling in the pit of my stomach and I remember the only thing I could think about was that I wanted to go home, I wanted to be with my parents. Maybe some of you think I'm weird but recently I have been having these moments when I think about moving allll the way to California.

You see, I have lived in the same exact house, on the same exact street, in the same exact town for my entire life! I never went away to college, I went to college in my hometown. Now in just three and half months I am not just moving out of my parents home but also moving 2,133 miles away!! That's crazy!

The other day I was just driving through my hometown and it just hit me... I'm leaving this....sooo much is going to change! I started to cry. Ever since then, as I drive I look around at everything... almost trying to soak it all up... knowing that my time here is almost up. Now, it's not just the town itself that I will miss. Most of all, I get sick to my stomach when I think about that day when I say goodbye to my Dad and Mom. Even while I am typing this I get that feeling. My parents are amazing and I am going to miss them soo much. Then there are my friends...and church...and coworkers...and families from work...all the people and things that are my world.

I'm sure some of you are thinking..."Wow, she doesn't want to move!" :) No, thats not it. I AM so excited about getting married and starting my family and life but it scares me! I know..it's part of life and it's part of "growing up" some would say, but for me it's going to be so much more than that. I'm going to miss everyone and everything that I have known for the past 22 years so much! I have had a WONDERFUL life so far and I have soo many people that I love that have become a part of it. I am so thankful for everything that God has given me! It's definitely going to be a HARD goodbye!

My People!

My Fiance Julian!

So, this is the man of my dreams!!! I know that that is a phrase that is way over used but how else do you say it? :) Julian was born and raised in Northern California and I am so happy that the Lord led him to INDIANA for college!! Our freshman year we had some classes together and this is when we first got to know each other...(although we were both dating other people at that time :) Over Christmas break of our freshman year we both ended up breaking up with our boyfriend/girlfriend at the time!! Which meant he came back to school (I live here in the same town as the school) and we were both "available"!!!! By February we figured out that we had mutual feelings for each other and the rest is history! :) On October 9, 2009, he asked me to marry him!!!!! We will be getting married July 2, 2010!!! (Only 237 days from now!!!) Our plans after our wedding are to move back to California and start our life together!

My Parents!

I have the most wonderful parents in the world!!! I truly do!! I love them so much and it will be so very hard for me when I move 2000 miles away from them! They have taken care of us (I also have two brothers ...see below..) and sacrificed so much to make sure we had everything we needed and more.... Not only that but they raised us in a good church where we learned about God from the time we were little! They mean so much to me..I owe them everything! I am so glad that we have a great relationship and I know that they will always always be there for me!!

My brothers!!

Here they are...the 2 people that I spent the first 19 years of my life making memories with. I have great brothers...not always perfect...but great! We had an AWESOME childhood together....there were times spent every fall raking leaves together, times chasing each other around the house, doing a paperroute together in the middle of the night, training for a marathon together (very early mornings), climbing in the Teton Mountains in Wyoming together, Christmas', Birthdays, them being over protective, them being annoying :), wrestling each other on the living room floor when Mom and Dad were out of the house, mowing other people's lawns, mowing our own HUGE lawn...and on and on.... I love my brothers! Now we all live in separate parts of the country....but I know they are always a phone call away!
p.s....I do realize that I look horrible in this pic...it is our most recent one together this summer...but it was taken verrrrrryy late at night...:)

Now, there are many other people that mean so much to me and I'm sure you will be hearing all about them in future post... but these are the people who are #1 in my life!

Have a wonderful night.....:)