The Day My Heart Was Filled With More Love Than I Thought Possible…

11 years ago today I was still at Edinboro University, finishing up my 2nd to last month of undergraduate work….

I went back to living in the dorm that semester after having lived in a house with 3 of my best friends…

Me and my roomies plus Brian our shoulda been 5th roommate...

My class load was heavy… I was deep in the throes of my 2nd student teaching placement…

I worked 40 hours a week at Wood Catering Company…

Any and all free time that wasn’t already dedicated to school work was spent at the Boro Bar with my pals, at the Hockey House or  Hockey games…..

At one of MANY hockey games supporting our fellas!

or painting the town red with my Kennywood pals…

Break time!

 

Grove Party at the park after hours....

 

night out after work....

 

Yes, at the time I thought wearing PLEATHER pants was a good idea!

11 years ago today my nephew Brenden Shane was born…

11 years ago today my heart was filled with more love than I thought possible…

The 1 month old peanut at my graduation from Edinboro

Bringing smiles to our faces always…

Making us laugh every minute of every day…

Warming our hearts with tender moments…

 

 

The sheer pleasure we receive in watching you grow…

 

the always sweet, handsome, intelligent, sincere and caring young fella …

leaving me to be so proud of the AMAZINGLY AWESOME big brother you are…

and fantastically phenomenal nephew you are…

So very blessed to have you in my life B-Shane… And so very proud to call you my nephew…

 

EVEN more proud though I get to be called “Aunt Mae” by you… and with every time I hear you say it, I can still hear your wee little tiny voice calling me Mae Mae….

Happy 11th Birthday Brenden Shane!  I am so very proud of you and love you bunches!!!!

Celebrating the gift of “YOU” to the world

Have you ever wondered how birthday celebrations became so important?

To some birthdays are a huge ordeal.

To others, birthdays are just another day in their time here on earth.

I’d say that I’m right smack dab in the middle of the mix.  While I like a bit of a fuss to be made on my day, it is in actuality just another day in my life….

But this “just another day in my life” is truly a gift in and of itself.  Time and time again we are reminded that life is so very precious; never knowing which ordinary day will be your last here.  Illness, Accident or nature… you just don’t know when your time on earth is up; when a normal day will be your last.

Your birthday is your own personal “Happy New Year” celebration.  It’s the day that we celebrate you making your appearance in the world.

In my family we don’t have any traditions that are set in stone but we usually have dinner at my mom’s that most often includes corn on the cob and fried green tomatoes (all of our birthdays are in the summer ).  Summer birthdays always lent themselves to fun in the sun… from slip and slide birthday parties to weekends on the house boat in Erie with my Aunt, Uncle and cousins to weekend birthday celebrations at the cabin with little bro and friends.

Often we got flowers from our step-dad on our birthdays along with cake and ice cream.  Many birthdays have been spent at work in my days at Kennywood or on field trips at the daycare I used to work at.  Concert tickets have made some pretty cool birthday gifts I’ve received including several Dave Matthews Band concerts and the Paul Simon & Bob Dylan show I saw with an Ex.

All things aside though…. YES, the gifts are nice & the cards are heartfelt or funny. BUT, the biggest gift we receive each and every year is more time to walk this Earth.  More time to leave your mark on the world… More time to forage relationships with those you love and initiate new bonds.

The gift of you to the world is the most amazingly spectacular gift that can be given… for on YOUR day, you and only you are celebrated.  Your talents, your being, your treasure.  Celebrate the gift that you are to the world.  The gift that you are to your friends and family… the gift that you are to yourself.  Acknowledge your awesomeness and celebrate the fact that you are unique.  You are the most precious of gifts that could ever be received.

So on your special day each year… I celebrate the gift of you!

CELEBRATE each breath that you take… every move you make.

Pretty Personalized Pictures

Here are a couple that I just finished today!  These are party favors for my best friend’s daughter’s bffs.  (Got that straight?!?)    They were lots of fun to do and turned out pretty cute if I do say so myself!

 

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What do ya think?

Can you tell me how to get; how to get to Sesame Street? HAPPY 1st BIRTHDAY P-Dub!!!

It’s hard for me to believe that a wee little bit over a year ago, we welcomed nephew #4 into our loving arms….

And who would have thought he’d be a big brother already…

But time surely flies when we’re all having fun and our little P-Dub turned 1-year-old in June!

The weather was absolutely gorgeous the day of his party; tons of family and friends joined us in celebrating; I was no longer buried under Sesame Street characters as the decorations were hung; good eats were shared and the birthday boy had a BLAST!

Take a peek at the fun festivities and take note of a couple of things….

The cake was made by a longtime family friend who also made lil sis’ cakes for her bridal shower and wedding.

Lil sis was 8 1/2 months preggers for this party!  Doesn’t she look f.a.b.u.l.o.u.s?!?!?  She ended up having Jamisen 8 days later!

The birthday boy quite obviously had a pretty good time at his party… all tuckered out in the pavilion after going strong with NO nap in the middle of the day!

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Let there be lights….

Image via Wikipedia

Ya, so the rain has made a return appearance in my neck of the woods today, actually started raining last night… A Storm rolled through not long after I got home from work but before getting ready for my cousin’s Pampered Chef party; thunder, lightning and a little bit of wind.  For some reason though, my hatred and fear of storms has started to dwindle more recently and found myself enjoying it a bit… Weird, huh?

So with the rain last night came the flickering of the electricity.  And with the flickering of electricity comes the beeps of the printer and microwave turning off and on and the tv turning off and on… Pretty subtle sounds excepting when one is trying to sleep.  So needless to say I had a little bit of a restless sleep and ended up settling in for the night on the couch.  So much so that I apparently forgot to turn on my alarm clock for this morning. 

I did however wake to the sound of an alarm on my phone that was set for Monday… A whole hour later than I was supposed to get up today!  NICE! 

Thankfully I took a relaxing bath last night so I quickly started running around my place like a crazy lady… This would be one moment I wished I ironed my clothes the night before; pulling out the only pair of pants and shirt that were not wrinkled… Didn’t match super well, but they’d just have to suffice.  So I now sit down to curl my hair… what do you think happens???? The electricity starts flickering again… NICE!  Quickly gave up on my hair and started putting my face on and what should happen??? The electricity flickers again.  By this point I am now applying my face by the light of a flashlight… easier than the eyes adjusting and readjusting to the lights coming on and off….. NICE!

Today my friends I looked a bit like a ragamuffin… A bit disheveled all around!  Which, in turn didn’t matter much any way because the rain stayed and helped me to look even more like a ragamuffin by day’s end. 

I was very happy to find that the lights were all on upon returning home from work…needing to freshen up a bit for the Pampered Chef shindig.  I am happy to say the lights were on and remained on for the remainder of the evening… Even through the slight storm that rolled through… The P.C. party was a nice weeknight evening out where I enjoyed good eats and purchased  a few necessities for the kitchen.

Now sitting here by the light of my laptop winding down my day… A little off kilter, but all in all it was a good day my friends!

And now in sticking with the “Lights” theme… I’d like to send a little birthday shout-out to one of my blogging buddies who is celebrating the big 4-0 today!  Happy Birthday Buddy!!!!  Hope you’ve had a wonderfully awesome birthday!  :)

What throws you off in the morning?  How do you deal when your routine is interrupted?  Any other milestone birthdays coming up soon?