24 so far

​24.  woah, what a number!  i've never been 24 before!  it feels bigger than me.  but also like it's calling me to embrace real adulthood instead of just pretending.  not that i really was pretending before, but i feel a little more authenticated by that number i guess.  crazy, because i act & post like a fifteen year old. ;)  anyway, birthdays are so fun and beautiful, and this year i found myself thinking a lot about the village of people who raised me... mom & dad, obviously... they're freaking mvps, but also my friends who teach me all the time with their lives, my sisters, my aunts & grandparents & cousins & mentors.  this year may 9th is about them.  every single one who has invested in me, cared for me, listened to me, told me i was worthwhile, lovingly corrected me, stayed with me, encouraged me, laughed with me, brought me to my knees in gratitude... i feel unbelievably thankful.  feeling all the things.  Jesus is a good good God and i don't deserve Him or them.

this was the weekend before i turned 24, but still showing the beauty that surrounds my life.  these three sisters make up a lot of that beauty.

amy fredman hosted a baby shower for my dear friend angela and she's so extraordinary!  like WHAT.  everything that woman touches turns to gold!  she even designed that sign in the back.

^^ on my birthday after sidkid took me out for breakfast (love that little nug.. so thoughtful), i took the day off and said "let's go biking, paiger!" because she was home from school and so off we went!  spent a little time at a coffee shop i wanted to try and then biked around lake calhoun, lake harriet, and lake of the isles in minneapolis.  paiger bought me some ice cream and even though it wasn't supposed to be sunny, it was gloriously wonderfully sunny!  ughh.  it's like Jesus knows how i feel so loved by the sun or something (: my favorite favorite day.

after we biked, we found a spot of grass and napped in the sun!!!  like a blanket.  it was so, so good.

in the evening my four grandparents, mom and dad, paige, and holland and meghan celebrated with me for dinner!  ^ this is an accurate picture of how loved i felt.  can't believe the people who surround me.  and freaking holland kabat came all the way from eau claire just to join us for dinner!!!!  i still can't get over it.  can't believe she did that.  can't believe she's my friend.  that was the biggest deal to me.

fav divas.  

^ my other fav divas.  on our last night of the high school program for the school year at church we had "color wars"  and it was SO FUN throwing color on a bunch of teenagers.  a wonderful end to the school year, but i'm seriously going to miss seeing these lil ladies every week SO MUCH.  they're the coolest and i wish everyone could know them.

^ i told ya'll i wanted a flower cake!  went to the store and bought flowers and all the stuff for banana bread (because let's face it, cake just doesn't stand a chance against chocolate chip banana bread... if they fought, banana bread would win every time.  even with prison rules ;))  and then that pic on the left is my freakin supermodel sister and her date on prom this past saturday.  she was (is) so beautiful, i can't even stand it.

^  also, been packin up all my lil things and will be bringin them to a new home!  SO excited. (:

life isn't rainbows and a skip through the park but i'm more loved than i could have ever hoped and i'm so so grateful.