well.

I'm sorry to tell you that you're catching me in a nostalgic mood today and no matter what I do to try and come up with something else to write about, there's no helping it. You're getting nostalgia and you're gonna have to like it. 

Or not. Whatever. But that's what you're going to get. 

Since I try to be pretty honest about the things I choose to write about here, I'll go ahead and be honest...I had a really rough week last week and spent the better part of Thursday and Friday feeling a little sorry for myself. Surely you've had days like that, yes? But last night we got all dressed up and drove into town (since we live in the country now!) and attended the senior banquet at our old church. We got to see a lot of our good friends, celebrate five amazing young people who are heading on to the next phase of life, and I got to watch my husband be in his element. 

The senior banquet is my favorite youth event every single year, and we were so glad to be invited to attend this year even though Will resigned last summer. We first met the graduates when they were in 7th grade and watched them grow up into thoughtful, kind, responsible adults. I can't even express what an amazing experience and privilege that is. And if that's how I feel, can you imagine how Will feels? He's so proud of those kids and all the youth he's met and gotten to know and love through the years. Although I am so thankful for the extra time we have with him these days, it was always a joy for me to watch him create such special relationships with each of the students. As always, I'm so proud of him for his hard work and dedication and for all the love and support he's poured into these kids through the years. 

Needless to say, my week ended much better than it began, and I'm thankful for that and doing my best to bottle it up and carry it with me into the days ahead. The senior banquet includes slide shows and accomplishments of each graduate followed by a speech given by a special person of the graduate's choosing and last night, Will got to talk about all of them at the very end. It's quite an emotional ride to sit through the cute photos and thoughtful words and it makes me realize how quickly life goes by. It won't be long before our kids are graduating from high school and heading out into the world. I pray every day for kind, supportive people to surround our children and prepare them for whatever life brings. We are so fortunate to not only have amazing families, but wonderful church families as well. From our church in North Carolina, to Mt. Pisgah, to our new church in our new town, we have been surrounded by truly great people who I am proud to know and call friends. It was so good to be back in familiar territory last night with some of our favorite people.

This is Tommy's last week of school and Sunday is his 8th (EIGHTH!) birthday and there are lots of things to do and remember and loose ends to tie up before we're done for summer. I'm excited for him and looking forward to celebrating his birthday and then having TIME. Time to eat leftover birthday cake. Time to play with new presents. Time to stay up late. Time to go swimming. Time to go to the lake. Time to do whatever we want. Thank goodness for summer vacation.

And one more thing before I go:  a huge CONGRATULATIONS and job well done to our beautiful Mother who, this past Friday, finished up a 30 year career as a Special Education teacher. The way she has cared for and supported and loved her students each and every year is inspiring, and we are SO proud of all of her accomplishments. Now that she's got lots more TIME on her hands, I'm selfishly hoping that she and my Dad will spend some of it in Virginia in the near future :) We're so proud of you, Mom! Love you so much!

If you've made it this far, well done and thanks for sticking with me! You've survived the rambling nostalgia and hopefully you didn't suffer too much (and if you did, don't tell me, ok?!) Wishing you a great week!