10 Day Challenge {Day Nine}

Day Nine:

A letter to your parents.

I'm just going to do my mom for reasons that I don't really want to get into right now.  Maybe someday soon I'll be able to talk about my dad on this blog, but right now I just can't.

Dear Momma,

"Thank you" seems completely inadequate but it's all I know to tell you even and if I said it to you 100 times a day for the rest of my life it will still never be enough. 

Thank you for teaching me what it means to have good character, accountability, honesty and integrity.  Thank you for showing me how to make the best of any situation, to always show love, grace and patience even when the going gets tough.  Thank you for teaching me to laugh at myself and to love myself even when I feel foolish and ugly.  Thank you for taking me to ballet lesson after theatre practice after cheerleading practice for so many years.  Thank you for making the sacrifices necessary so I could take ballet/piano/gymnastics/cheerleading.  Thank you for being an example of a strong, confident woman and for showing me what I should aspire to be.  Thank you for teaching me to cook and for always being supportive of my dreams and ambitions even if they were silly.

I am crying as I type this letter because I'm imagining my life without all that support and love and it just devastates me that there are some girls out there who don't have a supportive, loving mother.  Or don't have a mother at all and it just breaks my heart because I don't know where I would be without having you in my life these last 27 years.

I want to be just like you.  If my future children think of me the way I think of you, then I will have surpassed all my goals.  I can't wait to make you a mother-in-law and a grandmother.  I know you want these things so badly, but thank you for never making me feel like I was failing because I wasn't married or having babies.  Thank you for always reminding me that everything will come in His time.


I love you.


Love,


Whitney

10 Day Challenge {Day Four}

Day Four:

A picture of something/someone that has had a big impact on you.

My mom has always had the biggest impact on me. She is all I've ever wanted to be and I know that sounds cheesy, but it's so true. She is the best mom anyone could ever hope for. She's strong, funny, opinionated, always there for me - and I do mean always. She's the best grilled cheese maker, wiper of tears, shoulder to lean on, reality television show watch partner, shopping companion and confidant. There is nothing I don't tell her and nothing I can't trust her with.

I want to be just like her when I grow up.

 These are four of my favorite pictures ever. They're not centered, good light or anything that would be featured on a photographer's website or in their gallery. But they're a real, true expression of us. This was on the flight on the way to Miami and we wanted to get a picture of us on the plane, but since it was so early in the morning, we didn't want to bother anyone and ask them to take it. So we tried, for probably a good hour, to get a picture. It never happened, but it was one of the funniest and funnest hours I've ever spent. We were laughing the whole time.

My grandparents(mom's side) have also had a tremendous impact on my life.

In May, they will be celebrating their 70th wedding anniversary. This year they will both celebrate their 92nd birthdays and I have learned more from them than could ever be taught in school or learned from a book.

They have lived through and seen so much in their 91 years and they're the best example of where faith and love can take you.

They've survived the depression, wars, unemployment, deaths, moves, illness and more. They are living, breathing marriage vows.

I'm thankful every single day that I've been fortunate enough to have them with me this long and aspire to have a marriage like theirs.