I'm Back..... Hopefully.....

Well, hey there! So, it wasn't my intention to go three weeks and half the month of September without posting a darn thing. However, it happened. Life (mostly the good parts of it) happened. I spent the week after my birthday FRANTICALLY trying to get ready to go on vacation. We are talking working late into multiple evenings and then going home to do laundry, pack, etc.

I had a week of glorious vacation. I shall share..... hopefully sooner rather than later.

Then, I spent all of last week playing a desperate catch-up.

So, now I am back and hopefully will be better about this whole blogging thing. 

I participated in "Blog Every Day In May" and really enjoyed it. So, when Jenni announced Blogtember, I wanted to be on board. I guess two out of four weeks will have to do!

Monday, September 16: Write a public love letter to someone in your life. (It doesn't necessarily need to be romantic.)

To my dear friend, Billie Jo:

How thankful I am for our friendship!!! There is something great about having a friend that you've known since you were in high school, but didn't quite become friends with until you were both adults. Our families treat each of us as "additional daughters" and we tell each other things that probably only sister-like friends share.

See, we are both lucky to be surrounded by phenomenal families and friends, but we are so much alike that I think we "get" one another in ways that our families don't always. Mainly, it is because our families are super protective of us, so they caution against us getting hurt. The two of us understand that sometimes you have to allow yourself the option of getting hurt before you end up getting what you truly want. They always say that your true friends will tell you what you NEED to hear, not what you WANT to hear. While that certainly doesn't apply to you exclusively.... we each have other loved ones that "truth" us.... we also know how to share what needs to be heard in a unique way.

Recently, several close friends/family members have shared concerns about me getting hurt. They don't want me getting hurt and so their natural tendency is to tell me "stay away" or "don't read anything into it." They say it so much so that when YOU get excited and bring it up on your own, I'll ask why you think I shouldn't be doing exactly what the worrieds tell me to do. Your answer?

"I don't want you to get hurt, either. In fact, I'm tied for the LAST person that wants you to get hurt. But, I also don't want you to spend the rest of your life wondering 'what if.' And, I know you will. So, while I want you to be careful, I don't want you to ignore a possibility."

Sometimes, we just need to hear that following our heart is the correct thing to do. Especially when you're over-analytical, like me. We will talk and talk and talk something over. But, at the end of the day, it comes down to the fact that we just want some assurances that we're "backed up."

That is who you are, to me. And, I'm more grateful for it than you will ever know!