I see the light....

Well it's official.... I am 30 years old.  And (shhhh) I have been so for 8 days now!  Craziness

My time in Las Vegas was a blast!!  I had so much fun with my SIL taking on the city and we had so many instances where we were laughing histerically. My brother joined after a couple of days and then he and I worked a convention for a couple of days.  I feel very blessed to have had the trip I did and to spend it with those that I did.

And yesterday was Baby Peanut's first birthday party!  She had a blast (even though she was running on 30 minutes of a nap).  There were 50+ people there.... so much love for my littlest baby niece. 

And in the middle of the celebrating, I've been interviewing for a new position at Company T.  2 down, 2 to go tomorrow.... There is a light at the end of the tunnel!!

July has been one of the craziest months for me in a very long time, but I wouldn't trade any of it!

5 Years Old!

My how time flies.... It feels like just a few years ago that AJ came into my life.  I was so honored and excited to be her Auntie Lyssa. 

Over the last 5 years, AJ has grown into such an amazing little girl.  She is independent, sweet, loving, and hilarious.  She knows what she wants and isn't aftraid to speak up.  I love her spunk - it makes me confident that no one will be able to mess with her!  She'll tell them exactly how it is, if someone tries :)

AJ has brought so much joy to my life...  I love her unconditional love and her openness with her feelings.  I feel extremely fortunate to have spent the past 5 years with AJ and to have her in my life.  I cannot wait to see what she does next as she moves into kindergarten and beyond. 

Happy Birthday Anna Joy.... Your Auntie Lyssa loves you more than you will ever know <3

A countdown begins

Not gonna lie.... this was a very long week and there wasn't much that was good or fun about it.  Except for one thing....

I guess I should start at the begining... My friend Kara and I started to hang out together towards the end of our freshman year of high school through mutual friends.  We had crossed paths multiple times growing up because we both played soccer and competed at the same dance studio, but hadn't really spent much time together.  Our sophomore year of high school, we both put on the football cheerleadering squad and that's when we really started to get close.  Ever since, she has been a major part of my life and one of my very best friends.

Through the last 13 years, I've been by her side as she dated, fell in love, and (at times) had her heart broken.  And then she met Ryan.  Over the last 5 years, I've spent lots of time with them watching Vikings games during Sunday Fundays, heading out on to bars on the weekends, playing poker in our nasty apartment in uptown, to name a few things.  Through all of it, I watched them fall in love and last month he asked her to marry him.

Which brings me back to my favorite part of the week -- their engagement party last night!  It was such a fantastic night and I had so much fun with them and all of our friends.  And to top it all off, I was honored to have Kara ask me to be one of her bridesmaids. 

I couldn't be happier for them and am already counting down the days to 10/20/12 :)

I Won't Let Go

It's like a storm

That cuts a path

It breaks your will

It feels like that

You think you're lost

But you're not lost on your own

You're not alone.

I will stand by you

I will help you through

When you've done all you can do

And you can't cope

Rascal Flatts - I Won't Let Go

It's a.....

GIRL!

I am so excited!  I really had a feeling B & J would have a baby girl and I cannot wait to see their precious little miracle.  I'm so looking forward to Anna and her little cousin Reese (that's right... Baby S is now Baby Reese) growing up and playing together.  I'm excited to have another wonderful little niece... But more than that, I cannot wait to watch my little brother fall head over heals in love with his beautiful daughter.  He tries to act all grown up and mature, but I guarantee this little lady will be a daddy's girl before he knows it. 

Today's a day to be thankful... Although not everything that went on was fantastic today, I'm going to celebrate our amazing news and disregard the other crap. 

"From the first breath she breathed
When she first smiled at me
I knew the love of a father runs deep
And I prayed that she'd find you someday
But it still hard to give her away
I loved her first "
Tim McGraw

Love actually is all around

Do you ever take the time to sit back and just observe people? Not people watching to comment on a hairstyle or random piece of clothing, but truly stop to watch people live their lives? I think Hugh Grant in 'Love Actually' says it best....

"Whenever I get gloomy with the state of the world, I think about the arrivals gate at Heathrow Airport. General opinion's starting to make out that we live in a world of hatred and greed, but I don't see that. It seems to me that love is everywhere. Often it's not particularly dignified or newsworthy, but it's always there - fathers and sons, mothers and daughters, husbands and wives, boyfriends, girlfriends, old friends. When the planes hit the Twin Towers, as far as I know none of the phone calls from the people on board were messages of hate or revenge - they were all messages of love. If you look for it, I've got a sneaky feeling you'll find that love actually is all around."

Today I woke up with the same thoughts I've had all month.... wondering how I was going to feel a week from today when S wouldn't be here. To keep myself busy I joined some of my family at the Home and Garden show in Minneapolis. I had originally hoped for some inspiration for my house but I got so much more.

I saw my mom glowing like I've never seen as she held her boyfriend's hand.... My mom who has done anything and everything for everybody but herself is finally getting the love and attention she so deserves. And then there was my sister-in-law and her adorable belly starting to pop out... There is no denying it now that Baby Simm is on its way and I absolutely can't wait. J is so beautiful pregnant and B is clearly proud of his wife and little one. I also realized that I already love that little guy or girl so much and I haven't even had a chance to look into its precious eyes.

And we weren't the only ones... I watched complete strangers laugh, tease, care for, and love eachother and I was inspired in a much different way than I had imagined.

Even though I am faced with one of my biggest challenges and my nerves are off the charts, once I looked around it was so obvious to me that I am surrounded with love. And when you look at it that way, maybe it's not so bad after all....

Cliffie

Today would have been my Grandpa Cliff's 86th birthday. He brought so much joy and laughter to our family and everyone who knew him. He served our country in the U.S. Navy during WWII and was in inspiration to so many. Happy Birthday Cliffie... So glad you can finally enjoy your day again xox

Happy belated Valentine's Day

Pretty hard to believe that Bf and I have reached our one year mark. Just last year on Valentine's day, cupid took the night off and my sister-in-law stepped in and decided her cousin and I should meet and go on a date. The next weekend we were semi-awkwardly having dinner and laughing at strangers' karaoke attempts at the Park Tavern....

I'm very thankful that I got to spend Valentines day with S yesterday... He even got me flowers and chocolate. Maybe one of my not-so-subtle hints worked ;)

Our ten day escape to Florida was so relaxing and I had such a good time just spending time together. I even saw a couple things I never would have anticipated: S making a salad for dinner, and S trying a teeny bite of calamari. I was able to shut out a lot of the thoughts about him leaving for most of the week. However his upcoming deployment sparked lots of questions with my family so I did have a daily reminder that soon he'll be across the world from me. However, there were lots of laughs and to my surprise, S even wore shorts AND sandals without socks around the house most days (a huge move for those of you that don't know him)!

I think I have another week and a half with him in the state; I'm not looking forward to him leaving but I truly feel blessed to have gotten to have a few more weeks together and celebrate our one year together.