30 Days of Thankfulness - Day 1

A little preface here:

I am going to attempt to blog about what I'm thankful for each day of this month. I'm not really great about blogging everyday, and some days I have way too much to write about. I'm going to try to write each day, even if it's just a few sentences, though. I may blog twice a day sometimes if I have something else I was planning on sharing. Anyway, this is my attempt at showing how thankful I am for things to the interwebs.

So...here it goes - Day #1

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Today I am thankful for my childhood. 

Along with the theme of #throwbackthursday, I believe it is appropriate to express my gratitude for how I was raised.

My parents and I have always had a really special connection, although I'm sure that's true for most people. I am a complete mix of my parents - in the way I look and in my personality. I've always loved that about myself because I feel like I've always been able to relate to both of my parents equally.

My parents and I when I was 3-years-old.

As a child, they showered me with so much love - and most importantly the love of Christ. My mom quit working to stay home with me when I was two, and that was a decision that has bound us for a lifetime. She was always there at every party, first day of school, holiday, field trip, everything. She volunteered in my classroom every year in elementary school. She truly invested her entire life into mine. That's impacted me more and more the older I get. This is probably because the older I get, the closer to having a family I get (not anytime soon people), therefore the more I appreciate all of her self-sacrificing love and dedication to raising me. Over the years, our mother/daughter bond has turned into a really beautiful friendship. I don't know where I'd be or who I'd be without my mom - she's molded me into the woman/wife/sister/daughter/friend/employee I am today.

My dad was always the provider and he's such a hard worker. I have really fond memories of "Take Your Daughter to Work" days where I'd sit at a little kid table in my dad's office and color for hours and hours. I have memories of walking neighborhoods to campaign with him. I have memories of him coming home at night and all of us jumping on him immediately because we were so excited to see him. I also have really great memories of fun vacations and trips that we were able to take as a family due to his hard work. My dad and I also had a really special friendship that has evolved over the years. Our interests in politics, football, and Samford have created kind of a quirky friendship that I truly adore. He is everything I looked for the man I would marry - and thankfully I have found someone with the same kind of character that my dad possesses.

My parents and I at my college graduation.

I can't talk about my childhood without my sisters being part of it too! Even though I'm five and six years older than my sisters, we've always been super close. From running around in our PJs dancing (more like jumping) around to Carman and 4Him on Sunday mornings, to phone calls, tears, and laughter that we share more recently in our geographical distance, my sisters have always been my best friends.  We've had our arguments and our freak outs, but our love for each other has always heavily outweighed any sibling disagreement that we've had. Something that I've learned over the years, especially being five hours from my hometown, is that sibling friendships don't just happen - they take a lot of intentional work. I hope and pray that as we grow older, and maybe even farther apart geographically, we grow closer together in our friendship and in our love for one another.

My sisters and I two Christmas's ago.

My sisters and I at Carlee's high school graduation last June.

So there we have it, day one!
I've blogged to you...
Now you can blogbacktome.