I am so blessed.

Life in the past two years has changed so much. I have become an aunt for the second time, got a dog, graduated from college, moved from Springfield to St. Louis, got hospitalized, lost a dear person in my life, and fell deeper in love with the man of my dreams.  Here's some more detail...

Becoming an aunt for the first time was amazing, but becoming an aunt for the second time was just incredible! I had the fortune to be with my niece and nephew from the day they were born. I got to see them change week to week which was so cool! Abigail and Cooper are just amazing and I love getting to be their aunt!!!!!

Next, I got my awesome dog Teddy! I actually got him before Abby was born, but he is also a big part of my life!  He is just awesome and loves our new home in St. Louis with mom and dad! :) he has become part of the pack and couldn't be happier!

In the last two years I also graduated from Ozarks Technical Community College. I would not have expected to graduate from a technical school when I first started college, but it ended up working out for the best!  I met some incredible people during my time in Springfield including my incredible boyfriend of now three years!  I have been incredibly fortunate to have met then people I did and make the connections that I did! :) I have no complaints on how my college experience turned out and I wouldn't trade it for anything!

After I graduated in May of 2012 Gary and I moved home to St. Louis the following November.  As much as I loved being away for school, I was just as happy to move home.  I am a big home body and I love being here!  Gary is originally from Sikeston, but is adjusting well to the suburbs! He is working the FedEx terminal here and has already received a promotion! I am so happy here with him and some of my family and Gary says he loves it here too! :) I am very happy with the move and love being back!

The following February after we moved back I actually got a blood clot in my liver.  It was something so out of the blue I thought I had the flu! It definitely made me stop and reevaluate what was important to me. I had to slow down, take my time healing, and take a break from my job search. It actually was a blessing in disguise for me. I ended up spending the summer with my wonderful grandma. We had a lot of time together to go shopping, watch tv, and hang out. I couldn't complain about it if I try. 

I also ended up getting a job offer to be the nanny of one of the cutest kids!  I have been her nanny since she was two months old! Sydney is so much fun and I love getting to see her change. The family I work for are so nice to me and appreciate me so! Being around a baby makes me miss Cooper and Abby, but I still get to see them most every month.

This past winter was a bittersweet one. We found out my grandma had been living with stomach cancer in September. My grandma Bern was one of my favorite people in the world.  She was so full of  life and God's love that it was hard to imagine being here without her. When we found out she was sick, she was moved back to her home. She had been moving around staying with her kids the four years or so, but she had always wanted to move back to her home. It was such a blessing for her to be able to do so. We went up almost every weekend to be with her. She ended up passing away on the 16th of December. Christmas was hard for the family, but it definitely helped being together. As we thought and talked about Grandma we had realized we had her for the past three Christmases, New Years, and her last birthday and Mother's Day.  We are heart broken she is no longer here, but reflecting on the last year with her makes it feel okay. I got to spend so much extra time with my granny and I would not have traded it for anything.  

Well, that's my life on the past two years. Maybe I will keep this thing up to date from now on. Here's to hoping...

Cooper and Abby on Christmas Eve at the Firehouse!

Family at Cathy and Mike's property

At Chrissy and Jacob's beautiful wedding

Katie's wedding wonderful wedding

With Miranda at her and Patrick's wedding. Gary and I did the video for it!

Me and Shley

Cousins at the Delaney wedding!

UMB Champions club with Marie, Bob, and Gary!

Go Birds!

At Fast Eddie's for Gary's birthday

Sam and I at crown candy!

Michelle, Me, Chaney, and Marsha at a Cards game July 2013

Family for babies dedication,

Baby dedication weekend!

Becky and Ashley on graduation day!

Jessica's high school graduation

Tea party with mom and Abby

Me and Coopy Joe! :)

Siblings at my college school graduation!

Whole fam at graduation

Austin and I at graduation

Cooper and Abby from September 2013

Eagle's Fork pumpkin patch with Meemaw and Pop

Cooper riding a pony

At Apple Butter Making Days in Mount Vernon

 

90's Prom

My weekend was the incredible. I hung out with some great work friends and had a magical evening with my boyfriend at Prom. Yes, Prom. Gal had the usual formal, but the formal had the theme of 90's prom. We had all this great music, hilarious outfits, great food, and lovely decorations. Also, in the last week I had a photo shoot with the lovely Kiley!! I have a bunch of photos from this so here are a few to enjoy. I need to get off the couch. Here's to a good start to my week! =)


I love this.


She's gorgeous!


I love her!


Our lovely dinner party!


I love this man!


My lovely roomies!!


The lovely engaged couple!


These people are amazing!! =)

Winter Blues?? I think not!

I'm so happy that it scares me. I have loved seeing the snow, but I'm ready for the sun!! Summer dates are so much more exciting!! Can't wait to hang out with my new friends as well as see my old ones!! I love the idea of double dates, late night pizza runs, and whatever the crap I want to do!! I'm hoping to shoot like crazy when it warms up because I am not feeling very inspired right now. Any ideas?? I would love to just take portraits all day long, but I love to also shoot outside for a change of scenery, literally.
I want to go to Vegas so bad this summer, but it seems that my bank account would disagree. I am saving, but it takes a while. I feel like something magical could happen and I don't want to miss anything!! I want to see the world and have someone to do it with.
Well, hopefully I'll see people this week. My week is starting slow. All for now. Baking in the morning, God willing.

Snow Days Everywhere!

So I am on snow day number 3 and it's been a great week. I loved having a snow week, but I'm ready to get bad in the swing of things. I have made such great friends lately. I have gotten to know my work friends so much better and it means the world to me. Things with the guy are going well and I can't wait to see where else it goes. =) I'm doing something cute for Valentines Day so I hope he looves it! I also had a few friends over the other night for a girls night which was so fun!! I love seeing Chrissy!! I have missed living with her, but life is turning out so great with Marsha and Michelle too. I am sad to live seperate from them next year, but it will be great anyways!! Mom and dad are coming down for the weekend which shall be grand!! They are meeting Gary for the first time so I bet it will go well. Can't wait!! Well, sleep for tomorrow shall be a full day!! =)

Snow day!!!!

No school? I'll take that. It's the first week back and I'm already ready for the summer. I had an incredible weekend. Work party, seeing friends, and a certain someone. :) I'm not sure what to do with my day! Maybe shopping? Coffee house hang out sounds perfect. Hmmmm... So many options!! :) I love love love snow. Sorry to my roommates who have school today. I love you anyways!! Well, I'm still in bed and should probably start my day. I'm so spoiled. Have a great day!! :)

Am I always driving people away?? This is one of my biggest fears in life. I always want to be the person who always has it together. I'm not. I'm messy, goofy, loud, and much too much to deal with. Thank God I have found people in my life who deal with me and don't run in the opposite direction. I'm usually not this girl but lately I have been a freaking head case. Maybe it's hormones or maybe it's life getting back at me for being selfish. Who knows? Bah!! Going to go make a blanket now. Probably the most productive thing I have done outside of work in weeks. Peace!

Rant, Ramble, and Roll.

Sometimes I believe I need to live by myself forever. I am over sensitive, incredibly anal and like quite. This is nothing like my personally however. I love people. I would die if I didn't have someone to talk to at all hours of the day. I am a co-dependent individual, but also independent. I contradict myself on a daily basis and change my mind more often than some people brush their teeth. My day went from incredibly productive to laying in my bed and moping about the Notebook. Of winter days, how you screw with me. I am hoping to be much more productive at work tonight and not be such a bum. Haven't seen anyone but Kat and Coop in the last couple days. Some interaction please? Life is bleh and so is my mood. haha