Family

My passion for family has grown ten-fold since I graduated college and entered the real world (otherwise known as grown up). The world of not having friends right outside your door in the dorm. The world of everyone is always busy all the time. The world of small-talk with your neighbor.

I have developed a deeper love for my family in the past two years than I have ever had before. I spent this past weekend celebrating both Easter and my first wedding anniversary (without my husband) with my parent’s and sister’s family. While I was saddened to be away from my husband on our first anniversary, I know that we will have many, many more anniversaries in the future and there’s not much we could do about the circumstances of this first one. So I made the most of the time I spent with the other super important people in my life.

Have I mentioned how much I love my family? Especially these three beautiful faces. (Even the grumpy one.)

These are my nieces. I vow to show you many more photos of them on this blog. Because they are just too beautiful to hide from the internet.

They have a baby brother on the way. Well, I wish he were on his way. He’s already two days late and he’s still not here. You will (hopefully) see more of him sometime next week.

In honor of my loving family and my growing passion for all things relative, I wanted to share a list of reasons why I am grateful that God blessed me to be a part of the family He chose for me.

1. We hold hands when we pray.
2. We always answer the phone when a relative calls, even if it’s just to say “Gotta call you right back.”
3. We make family-time a priority.
4. We are fun.
5. We find each other funny. Even my sister thinks we are funny and she has almost no sense of humor. She will even tell you that her brother-in-law (my husband, Tommy) is the funniest person she knows. That’s a BIG deal, people!
6. We are brutally honest. There’s no one else I can count on to tell me “no, ew, absolutely not” about a pair of jeans I thought I looked good in.
7. My dad can hang anything on any wall and make it absolutely centered and straight. It goes well with our shared trait of perfectionism.
8. We give gifts year round. (Not just for holidays.)
9. We hold each other accountable.
10. We never consider giving up on each other. Even during the real tough situations.

What do you love about your family?