A special day!

 Mom, today is your birthday!! I'm so happy to have you home today! I know with your traveling nurse job, we don't get as much time together as we'd like, so I'm extremely thankful for the few hours we'll get to share tonight with dessert in our hands! Eating ice cream has always been one of our favorite things to do together :)

You always know how to turn a negative into a positive. You're so quick to love on those in need, and even quicker to forgive. You taught me to never judge a book (or person) by the cover, and to always trust my gut. You have one of those amazing abilities to make anyone smile, and I always love how silly we are when we're around each other. You are one of the few people who can make me laugh until I cry!

You haven't had an easy life by any means, and I'm unbelievably proud of the person you are. You've taught me so many amazing things in life, and I can't thank you enough for that. I pray that one day you are back in Ohio for good, but for now? Continue enjoying this wild adventure God has called you to, and keep smiling your way through it.

I love you! Happy birthday, momma!

Celebrating our free weekend!

Guys, I can't explain how perfect the past weekend was. SO MUCH FREE TIME!!!! You should know that almost never happens, so we soaked in every. last. second. Friday evening we stayed in for dinner and relaxed, nearly finishing Season 2 of The Following! I know I mentioned we'd be waking up early Saturday to get our day started, and that's exactly what we did!

We scored big at the first few yard sales, and FINALLY found a Wii. We've searched for YEARS! We couldn't contain our excitement but somehow we managed to negotiate a crazy good deal (seriously...they practically gave it away)!

We scored a couple other amazing items throughout the day and then got so hungry, we just had to get Skyline for lunch...as if we had a choice ;)

We spent the rest of our afternoon snapping a few prom photos for my brother - seriously, how is his Junior year almost over?!! I can't handle the fact that he's about to be a senior.

Sunday at church we heard such an amazing message on marriage. It motivated Caleb and I in a new way and I'm just excited I get to do life with that man! After church, we went to my grandparents with my mom while she made lasagna for lunch! Then Caleb and I handled dessert... you guys. I've made this before but OMG. Make this now!! Lisa shared this on her blog back in November and I instantly fell in love. It was so easy and Caleb and I had a really fun time baking together. Maybe we should do this more often!? The pumpkin is perfect, hardly even noticeable actually...its just gooey goodness, you can't go wrong!

Then us ladies had a selfie session outside...because, why not?

I know this photo makes no sense, but it makes me laugh. Guys, is my grandma not adorable?! 67 years YOUNG, baby!

We had an amazing weekend. I know it sounds silly, but I was almost in tears talking with Caleb about it. I needed a weekend like this. It was almost like my body hit a reset button. I'm so thankful for my family and friends and all the free time I had! Now? We've got 7 weddings approaching, all in a row...but I know we can do this! How was your weekend!?

PS - Caleb and I made a spontaneous decision to make a road trip for our anniversary at the end of the month! I can't wait to share our plans!

What my happy news is!

Before this post begins, let me give you a quick backstory. For those of you who don't already know, my mom went on vacation to Hawaii in February of 2012, and then never came back. It was devastating. My brother was leaving 8th grade, about to enter high school, and I had just started my first 'big-girl' job. She's only come home twice in that 2+year span of time (for my wedding, and when my grandpa passed away). My mom and I were as close as you could get, and my brother and I were still so young, so it was really hurtful and confusing.

Last October, I wrote about how my mom had decided she was coming home for good (you can find that post here), only to be so disappointed days later, to find out that she changed her mind at the very last moment. My mom and I used to be best friends, and I've missed her every. single. darn. day.

So, to bring you up to speed! Lately my mom has been reaching out to us more than normal, and said she wanted to come home for a visit to see all of us around the holidays. Sunday morning I woke up to a text from her saying she had officially bought a plane ticket home for October 27th to come and visit. of course I was ecstatic. I couldn't wait to hang out with her for a week or so. She wanted to shop together, bake together, and just hang out like old times.

Except this time, she says she's coming back for good.
She's coming home, you guys! I couldn't contain the tears. Of course, I don't want to get my hopes up...for obvious reasons. I feel like a broken record as I'm just repeating myself from the post I talked about above that I wrote last year...but I just don't care.

I've been praying for my mom every single day. Praying for her to make her way back home. Praying for her to open her eyes and realize how much she's missed out on in my life, and my brothers life, and just in general on everything back home... and realize its not too late to come back. Praying for our relationship, to one day get back to where it once was...& finally, my prayers just might have been answered.

I get my mom back! I'm so looking forward to picking up where things left off with her. I don't know if any of you are close with your moms, but we were just the closest. She truly felt like my best friend. Of course, she's struggled with things in her life, but so have I. I think that's what made us so alike. She just gets me.

I can't wait to hang out with her again. To learn how she cooks, to go shopping with her, to watch movies with her all night, to hit up McDonald's drive thru for the largest sweet tea in town, to have make up and hair parties cause Lord knows I suck at both of those. I'm just excited to rebuild that relationship with her.

Thanks for all your happy thoughts lately! I'm really excited about this.
PS- see, I told you we weren't expecting. ;)