Easter

My friend Jennifer Cheney made a great post about our Easter.

So instead of reinventing the wheel.

You can see a collection of my Easter from her perspective here. Now granted keep in mind she is much more creative then I, but you get the jist :)

It was so much fun yesterday.

We had an easter egg hunt rendition with presents!

I love my friends, they are so fun!

My sister!

Today is her 25th birthday!

She truly is the best and look at how absolutely beautiful she is!

She is a fearless woman.

Who has the kindest heart around.

She makes me laugh.

She is a great mom!

And her daughter is a little diva at the age of not even 2 yet!

She is just the kind of person you want to call when you have

had a bad day and she will just listen

and offer just the thing you need to hear

She is becoming my best friend.

And is a great secret keeper.

and I love her!

Hope you are as lucky as me to have someone you can be real, vulnerable and honest with.

Happy birthday little sissy!

My mama

It is her birthday today!!!!!

If you don't know my mom, let me fill you in on this woman.

She is a lover.

She is a nurturer. Meaning if there is a crying baby within 100 yards of her, they will stop crying because she has this innate ability to soothe/calm babies. Babies can sense her coming near and instantly stop crying :)

She is an incredible, steadfast woman of the Lord. Even in the most difficult life circumstance my mom continues to trust in her Lord. When I would have long given up. She remains steady and faithful.

She is positive. Even when you just want her to agree with you on something. She won't. Because for her she is determined to be optimistic.

She is a great mom. Takes care of you when you are sick. I wish I had her close to me when I am sick and just want my mom to take care of me.

She is a great cook. This woman loves to cook and does it with a happy heart. And let me tell you, she makes some incredible food.

She loves her family. Would sacrifice anything of her own volition to do something for her family if they needed her.

Giggles when she drinks wine. I get the giggles from her.

I am honored to have her at my mum. And hope someday to be half of the self sacrificing woman she is.

Love you to bits mamasita!

My Weekend/Meeting Baby Alice

WAS GREAT!!!!

Friday night-work, zumba-good work out, shower. Then James and I went to jose muldoons for dinner and to the movies. The only movie playing at that time was Bounty Hunter....worst movie ever! Terrible plot, and just bad acting. Some moments were cute, but overall bad.

Saturday- I sent James' a text in the morning....no response. Called his phone...it said the message of this number has been changed, disconnected or you are receiving this message because we have no idea what is going on. So I called again same response. At this point I am like what the heck, because I knew we were supposed to leave early to go up to his family's and time is just going on and on.

So then a freaked out katie drives over to james' house and barges in the door. What is he doing just sitting on the couch. So I scared the crap out of him after he scared the crap out of me. Since I thought he was dead. :)

Then we drove up to brush, took the backway to get there, where he showed me his hometown and where he went to school and what not. We pet the horses, tried to get the kitties to come to us and just hung out on the farm and drove down back country roads. It was great.

Nothing more I love then being on a random road trip in the truck with my honey. Just talking. Listening to music and relaxing as we held hands.

At night we met up with James' brothers ben and john. Went out to dinner. Bowling with the boys and can I just say.... I had so much fun! Those guys are my favorite! It is nice that I love james' family! I officially beat james 2 out 3 games. Granted my third game I think just about everyone beat me cause I really stunk it up. But still fun nonetheless.

Sunday-church.

Then got to meet this honey

She was put in my arms and I instantly started crying.

I couldn't help it.

She is so beautiful. Truly.

I mean her little face and the crazy amount of hair she already has. :)

Ben and Melissa were just so calm and happy.

They just seemed very at ease to be parents and have their little baby alice in their arms.

I just love this little girl so much already. She is going to be so loved and protected by everyone in our little community. She already had a million people who love her and can't wait to watch her grow. It is going to be so much fun. And ben and melissa are truly going to be awesome parents. Because they are both so loving and laid back. It truly is going to be great to be a part of this little girls' life.

Can't wait!

Twirling :)

I am tired today. When I am tired I do things without really realizing them like....
twirling my hair. I was twirling my hair before I typed this post, without realizing it either.

What are things you do when you are tired or subconsciously??

It has been another long week.
Two longs weeks in a row with no weekend in the middle is exhausting.

I love that with my school schedule I am only in class one weekend a month.
However the week after my school weekend, I just feel soooo drained.

That would be this last week.

So tonight I will zumba
and then my honey is taking me out for a night on the town.

He is a good man, I love him!

Then tomorrow we are going up to spend the day with his family. Which is good I miss them and it has been a long time since I have seen them due to school, moving, and crazy busy life.

As much as I am tired and feel overwhelmed (if I really sit and think about all that I need to do and get accomplished) I still really am thankful for my life.

For the day. For my breath. For my relationships. For my mountains.

Enjoy your day. Cause I know I am going to :)

The

Quiet after the Storm....

This morning I woke up and it was chilly inside my room because I left the window open last night. I looked up and my skylight was covered with snow.

I opened the shades and smiled because there was a blanket of snow covered the ground, after yesterday it was almost 70 degrees.

I just laid there and watched the snow gently fall through the air.

I wanted so badly, to just lay in bed all day and be quiet.

Yesterday was horror. I went through a grueling 4 hour interview with a woman who has been through such traumatic abuse that it is the kind of stuff you only read in books or see in movies. I was beyond drained and had to fight back my tears that were brimming in my eyes the entire time of our interview.

Unfortunately, it doesn't look so professional in my line of work to cry, as it is your job to gather the story not process through it with the victim. However, the interview was just intense, I could not contain my emotions. Usually I can. I have grown accustomed to keeping myself in check. Something I had to learn, cause I can be a pretty emotional gal. Especially when it comes to people hurting, even worse children.

As I am reflecting about my last 24 hours a verse comes to my mind

Weeping may endure for a night,
But joy comes in the morning.
Psalm 30:5

Last night I laid on my bed next to the windows. I just listened and was still and quiet. I felt the cold wind on my face, as a storm was rolling in. The wind howled my sky light and it was great. I just laid there and watched the branches on the trees bend to the wind's direction. I probably laid there for an hour. Granted not so good for my homework, which was not getting done. But very good for a hurt soul, which is in the process of being healed.

My windows are great cause I am in an attic apartment and they are high and I can see everything. The other day in fact I watched the sun rise over the tops of the houses. I love those windows.

An interesting thing I am coming to discover about myself, is that I truly am strong.

I am a strong woman, who has been blessed with very specific characteristics for this job. It is a humbling thing because I know that God is all around me. It is not me, all Him. I prayed before I walked into my interview.

I felt like there were angels cheering me on. That for this woman we were bringing justice, finally someone was listening to her story. Finally someone was telling her they cared. Finally someone was just there to support her and hold her hand.

Finally a joy comes in the morning.

For this woman I prayed last night and this morning, that finally joy can come for her. After so much horror and darkness.

After your storms, whatever they are today. I hope that you can get to a place where you can be calm, still and peaceful and a quiet voice can sing over you like angels.

I hope that your joy comes in the morning. That is wraps around you like a blanket and covers the chaos and horror like snow. It just calms everything down. So you can take a step forward. So you can take a deep breath in and move forward.

Flowers

These are the flowers I got delivered to me today at work. . .

from my boyfriend.

because I had a horrific day.

I did an interview that was beyond anything I have ever heard. A 4 hour interview pretty much took it out of me. After doing the interview I was so wiped that I just left the office and cried.

What some human beings are capable of doing to other human being is beyond me. Truly. Today was the first day that I can say I have never heard anything worse then that.

God willing this woman is still standing. I have no idea how. She is a saint and deserves the heavens above.

So today I will leave the office, drink wine and enjoy the day that has been given to me because you have to enjoy the good over letting the evil swallow you up.