I love...

THIS YEAR.
The last day of 2013 I spent "celebrating" with the stomach flu.  It was seriously awful and I was so grateful that my sweet Molly was elsewhere that day/night/miserable time.  I figured that my 2014 had nowhere to go but UP, and that is what it most certainly did.  It has been full of blessings, happiness, and redemption after a lengthy time of, let's just call it, a hope drought.  :)

BEING A MOM.
When I found out I was going to have a baby (like 7 years ago) I wanted "it" to come out and be like 2.  :)  I was so scared of having a newborn, and had such little experience with taking care of infants that I was certain I would be miserable at it.  However, I was so delighted (but not really surprised) that my tiny sweet baby was the absolute most precious, wonderful, amazing "thing" I had ever held in my arms, and I couldn't get enough of her.  I have LOVED every single stage of her life and watching her grow.  I asked my mom-hero-friend Michelle once what kid age she liked the most--she said it just gets better and better.  She has no favorite, she said every age is a blessing.  Hence, she is my mom-hero. :)  She totally nailed it--I keep thinking "this age is my favorite" and then it gets better.  I am so proud of this little person my Molly is becoming.  She is smart, funny, sweet, thoughtful, considerate, a great friend, a great student, helpful, and passionate about the things that matter to her.  She loves Jesus and her family, and takes such sweet care of her pets.  She values the lessons from all of her grandparents, and has so much respect for her dad, which is so important.  She follows directions (woo-hoo!!!!!) and truly loves life.  She is my best gift.  I thank God for her constantly.

MY FAMILY.
I have the best family in the entire world.  My parents provided my sister and I the most idyllic childhood you could imagine.  A beautiful home, a woods to explore at the end of the block, a park to play in down the street, a dead end road to ride bikes on (clothing optional--that's a later story), family dinners, church every Sunday, Grammy within walking distance, piano lessons, dance class, swim team, tennis team, volleyball, family vacations, a Barbie dream house for Christmas, Purdue games, a POOL in the backyard, a dog, a cat, a Nintendo (ah yeah), no tv or phones in our rooms (I now appreciate that), parent attendance to every single recital, meet, concert, play, etc.  The list goes on forever, but it was storybook perfect.
I have so appreciated the ways my sister and I have grown closer throughout our adult lives.  We had very little in common (she loved to read stories,  I loved to act out my stories, preferably with an audience) :).  But I always tried to imitate the qualities that made her cool (like a good little sister does.)  She taught me to love great music (Bon Jovi, Chicago, New Kids on the Block to name a few) :) and her obsession with Michael Jordan preempted my own fascination with the Bulls' second best, Scottie Pippen.  She taught me how to perfectly imitate my mom's signature (Everything came easily to her--playing piano (she was better at it, but I enjoyed it more), swimming (I learned recently that I kind of stole her events...I didn't know that at the time...sorry, Ang), NOT dancing (that was my one up), and she always knew how to make things more fun and interesting (she's still got it).  She has an insatiable need to understand and know all the details, and that quality makes you feel like the most important person on the planet when she starts inquiring into your life.  And not because she's "nosy," but because she cares and wants to understand.  She empathizes, shows compassion, and problem solves.  She's kind of the yin to my yang in that sense.  I just do, usually without thinking, and then pick up the pieces later--usually by starting with a phone call to my sister. :)
For better or worse, I still measure my success by my family's acceptance.  I can't help it.  They're my awesomeness gauge, and they set the bar high by their example.

TEACHING.
I have always loved working with kids, and teaching is something that just comes naturally to me.  Maybe because I'm a total kid at heart, but I understand their language, and I seem to grasp the right way to explain things so they understand.  Usually. :)  I love to read books to kids and talk about the lessons within them (ironically, since as a kid I really didn't like books at all--much to my teaching mother's dismay!)  And, of course, my VERY favorite thing to do is ACT OUT stories with them, and teach the love of theatre.  I am so very grateful for the opportunity to get back to doing what I love the most, and for the encouragement and acceptance of my students and families, staff, and administration at my now "former" school for championing me in the process.  Lafayette Civic Theatre, here I come!

THE LORD.
I am utterly in awe of the ways God works.  He is so faithful, and in my deepest despair, I never felt abandoned.  He held me close in my deepest depression and loneliest years.  He surrounded me with loving compassion from friends and strangers in my scariest days.  He is the source of every single gift of grace, love, and joy I have been blessed to receive.  He has redeemed the guilt and shame I still deal with from divorce.  He has shown me what hope and faith are made of, and has never ever EVER failed me.

DAN CURRY.
(Earlier blog post about my thank you letter to Michelle Moody will explain more here). :)  No one has ever made me feel more special, honored, beautiful, smart, wonderful, competent, confident, and loved.  He makes every single part of my life better.  I honestly had given up thinking that this man existed--this man that loves the Lord, is both respectful and respectable, puts others before himself, is smart, funny, adorkable, and dantastic. :)  This amazing man who has captured my heart proposed to me on December 29th.  There are so many unknowns in all of this, and my first question to him was, "how long are you willing to wait on me?"  After all, we do live kind of far apart...  His response, "I would wait forever for you."  So I said yes. :)  I'm going to marry him, and I couldn't be happier. :)  So if you've been perseverant enough to read this whole thing, you now know that I am engaged.  Happiest year of my life.  I have Molly, my new job, a plethora of amazing friends and family, and now I get to expand my family by three more.  (Dan has two kids--a 14 year old son and a 12 year old daughter).  Hooray for 2014. :)  I'm looking forward to what 2015 has in store. :)