Happy Birthday Emma Faith

That's my girl up there. She made me a mom for the first time 15 years ago. She came early to this world and had impeccable timing. She came right after her Auntie Hillary tragically passed away at the young age of 29. She brought hope and life to our sad and grieving hearts. She sings with a voice that sounds like a woman twice her age. She is beyond responsible. She is a first born, through and through. She has big, BIG dreams. She has beautiful green eyes that change colors with what she wears.  She has confidence and personality for days. She does a wicked Bon Qui Qui imitation. And an English accent that would fit right in if she was in ... Oh I dunno Essex ;)

Is she not the cutest 15 year old you have ever seen? She is a really good writer. She is almost done with her first year of High School and she rocked it! She carries a back pack so heavy, so big that I wonder how it doesn't just knock her over. She is a daddy's girl, but I know I take a close second. She will be driving soon... sigh. And changing the world, one song at a time... of this I have no doubt.

But this is how we started out....

And sometimes if I close my eyes I can still remember that amazing newborn baby smell that intoxicated me with a LOVE that will never end. I can hardly believe I've been blessed to have this gifted soul for 15 years.  Today is her special day. Happy Birthday Emma Faith YOU  ARE Supercalafragalisticexpealadocious!!

Today YOU are YOU

Let me introduce you to

Chloe Nashelle....

She is the Punky Brewster of fashion in this family and we 

adore her for it.

Does this look like an Honor Student to you?

Well, believe it  or don't, last night I was at my daughter Chloe's Jr. Honor Society ceremony, and one of the speakers shared this quote from Dr. Suess ;
“Today you are You, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is Youer than You.”
It got me thinking about how much I adore Dr. Suess.  The simple words he puts in poetic motion really do cut right down to the heart of the matter.
(Enter song- "I've been trying to get down to the heart of the matter, but my will gets weak and my thoughts seem to scatter.. but I think it's about  Forgiveness, Forgiveness " )  Boy do my thoughts ever seem to scatter these days.
Sorry random song interruption there.
Where were we? Oh right, Dr Suess... well I thought about that quote up there, and then I thought what an important message for young people to hear. Heck, that's an important message for Old People such as myself to hear!
Not just to hear it, but to know, really KNOW, that without a doubt there is a special thumbprint given to each and everyone of us.    I thought about another quote  "Comparison is the killer of Creativity" I think that was Einstein who said that. ( ?) He was another smart man. 
Then my thoughts traveled back to earlier in the day when all my kids were home and my daughter Em had a friend over and we got talking about the job of being a model and how difficult it would be to have that as a career because you are constantly being compared to others and judged for your looks.
What a shame that we don't have this message that Dr. Suess preached, ingrained, imbedded  in our hearts as well as our heads.
Think of how different our world would be if we all really understood, really grasped the concept of how truly unique each person was made. Created to be an individual. 
"Why fit in when you were born to stand out?”
So  This is me... Telling you...  go on now, get your groove thing on. Find a Rhythm. Your rhythm. And sing it out loud and proud. 
ROCK ON!!
Oh and know that you are LOVED beyond measure...
"And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, ¹⁸ may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, ¹⁹ and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God." Ephesians 3:18-19
Like I said ROCK ON!!

Confessions

I have a few things I need to get off my ... well my chest, I guess? I've never really understood that expression, have you? 1. Speaking of Chests I would get rid of mine if I didn't think it would devastate a certain Giant in my life. Fer realz. What a pain in the ass boobs are!! Sorry, TMI... I'm just sayin!! 2.  My heart is in a fragile state of affairs. I'm not sure how I'm going to make it through the next 4 weeks moving back to so many beloveds but moving away from dearly love- eds as well.  That whole sentence up there made me think of PRINCE...any Prince fans in the house? Dearly Beloved....  Torn in two. Sad and Happy. Sappy(as Isaiah likes to call it) How can the two co-inside? How is it that in 4 short years I have been so incredibly blessed to know such amazing people? 3. Sometimes when I listen to music like this  I get all weepy. Also 4. I really love this girl

She's gonna have a baby soon....

Eeeeek!!

Super excited for you Alex ;)

5. I have not gone to the gym in like ... 3 weeks.  Time to change that come Monday. Happy Sunday ya'll !! Thanks for making me feel better.  

Happy Birthday Chloe

How does it happen?

A young, sweet, little Lo Lo

Manages to grow, and grow

 And grow, and grow

And then before you know it .....

Becomes a full blown teenager!

Happy Birthday Chloe Nashelle, you can stop growing now!

FullyBloomed and Coming Home

Here's the part where I tell you WE are moving back to Nevada.
Sigh.
After almost 4 years of living in Washington, the Evergreen state, it appears that the not so Green State... I mean the Silver State has called us back.
Sigh.
Here's the part where I tell you I feel a lot like that flower up there. Broken Open  and Fully Bloomed.

And here's the part in my life story where I tell you that this quote is a description of what the past 4 years has been.
"There came a time when the risk to remain tight  in the bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom." Anais Nin
The risk, the pain, it's all played a part in bringing us where we are today. 

It was a risk to come up here and we didn't know if it would be one worth taking, but we took it anyways. It was too painful for us to watch our home be taken away from us that's why we left. We walked away very slowly from all that we knew, from all that was familiar.
In the time that we have been here, we have played the role of foreigner, and we have been blessed to be placed in families. The word hospitality has taken on a WHOLE new meaning. 
Here's the funny part, to move back to Nevada used to seem like it would be a failure, but here's the part where we get to say, We tried and we didn't fail because at least we can say we tried. We took the leap of faith. We sprang forward into a foreign land. We imagined a very different life for our little family. 
And it was good. It was really good. We feel stronger now. We know the depths and the heights of this place. And in the end it's just a place. Whether we loved it, or hated it, it's just a place.

Life has a funny way of bringing everything full circle. The main reason we had a spring board to leave Nevada was due to the foreclosure of our third home. Many of you stood by our sides when we were robbed by Bank of America.  Many of you were robbed too. Here's the part where it has turned full circle, not only are we moving back to Nevada for an incredible opportunity, but this past week, we received a check from Bank of America.
A tiny piece of some retribution from the Bank that stole our home from us, but not our lives.
Sigh.
And now we can sing this song

I'm coming home Holla  RENO NEVADA!!
I'm also a dork.  Thanks for listening!