Feisty But Classy

Yesterday was the most physically, mentally, and emotionally exhausting day of my life. I have never attended a funeral before, and I can honestly say I did not think the first one I ever went to would be for my 18 year old friend. There were over 300 people at this funeral, and it truly was a beautiful funeral for a beautiful girl. Although, I must say I also did not think I was going to laugh as much as I did. The speakers at the funeral described Danielle exactly as she was, 4 foot 10 and 1/2, feisty but classy, lit the world up with her laugh, and always put a smile on people's face. She was constantly eating, yet never gained any weight, and she always talked about pooping. Always. She was graceful, beautiful, and an absolutely amazing dancer. She had a knack for making EVERYTHING into a dirty joke, and she was a complete germaphobe. She had every second of every day planned out, and everything had to be organized and clean. She truly shined. Danielle really touched everyone she met, and her happiness was contagious.
I got a chance to talk to Danielle's mom a couple times at the funeral, and that was actually a lot harder than I thought it was going to be. Danielle and her mom were always there for me, and they both constantly made me laugh. It was really nice to be able to tell her mom how much Danielle meant to so many people, how she will always be missed, and will never be forgotten. While we were talking about the accident, she said "it just sucks" which is probably the best way to put what happened into words.

I miss you Danielle, more than anything. You were a great friend and I love you.

"Death leaves a heartache no one can heal, love leaves a memory no one can steal."

At the funeral, the Pastor said something that will stick with me forever. He talked about how everyone says that their death happened for a reason, and that God has a plan, then he said probably the most brilliant thing I've ever heard...

"God did not decree her death. Rather, His was the first heart that was broken." -Pastor Dave

Heaven Needed Four Beautiful Angels.

I don't even know where to begin. I'm sure you've all heard about the car accident that happened on Monday afternoon in Alexandria. This car accident changed the lives of many, many people. One of my good friends for a long time died in that accident; nothing has been the same since, and it never will be. 

Danielle and 3 of her beautiful friends were in the front car that the SUV hit. Their car slid on the icy roads, over the median, and this was the result. There were either 2 or 3 people in the SUV that were brought to the hospital, but they were released and fine.

When I first heard the news I honestly didn't believe it. Danielle was one of the happiest, nicest, and outgoing people I've ever met, to say the absolute least. She was a real friend, always there when someone needed her, literally there for me throughout every step of my surgery. We could spend a whole week together, taking turns at whose house we would sleep at. We got into a lot of trouble, broke a lot of rules, and we had a hell of a time doing it. She was always SO positive and knew how to make the best of every situation. She may have been barely 5 feet tall, but she had the loudest, most genuine laugh a girl could have. She couldn't be dead. That just didn't seem right, and it still doesn't. I couldn't (and still can't) understand how I talked to her Sunday night, and how by the time Monday afternoon hit, I could never talk to her again. I still don't think I've fully grasped that idea yet. I never met any of the other girls, but I know people who knew them, and from what it sounds like, they were just as wonderful as Danielle. People keep saying that Heaven needed four beautiful angels, and I know that they made Heaven that much brighter, but they were 18 and 19 years old. They had their whole lives ahead of them.

People are constantly asking me if I'm okay, and they're asking if there is anything they can do to help. I hate these questions. Honestly, not to be rude at all, but why don't they take a second to think about it: if your friend died in a car accident, no one saw it coming, and no one could have stopped it, would you be okay?  

I'm sitting here, thinking about how hard this is for me to take, and all I can think about is her family. I'm SO unbelievably happy she got to spend her last weekend at home with them, and that they got to see her one last time before she was gone. Her very last tweet was about being home and sleeping in her own bed and it said "Last night in my bed #sadness". Scary how true that was. 

Danielle was a beautiful dancer, and the one song that keeps replaying in my mind is I Hope You Dance. 

I don't know God's reasoning for taking Danielle so early, but I do know God blessed me and everyone else who knew her during her short time here. Some girls are born with glitter in their blood, and she really was one of them. 

I hope you dance, Danielle. You will forever be in my heart and I will never forget you. I'll love you, always and forever.  

Promise me that you'll give faith a fighting chance 

Keep Calm and Carry On

Today the family I used to nanny for came down to visit my sisters and me and it was a BLAST! We went to the Acoustic Cafe for lunch. I've never been there before but their food is really good and its a cute place! We then went to a couple of shops downtown, and one in particular may be one of my favorite places now called Heart's Desire on 3rd street. They have a ton of really cute things there and one thing that completely caught my eye was this box sign by Primitives by Kathy. Lately I've become obsessed with the Keep Calm quotes and when I saw this one I had to have it! I want to go back there soon and get more box signs because they are SO cute and I need to start finding things to decorate my room/house for next year! I can't wait! 

"learn to let go. things go wrong so you can appreciate them when they're right. you believe lies so you eventually learn to trust no one but yourself. and sometimes good things fall apart so better things can fall together" - marilyn monroe

Pink On Purpose.

About a week a go or so I found this coffee mug online and I just HAD to buy it! Its something that struck me for 3 reasons...1.) its a coffee mug, and I'm addicted to coffee. 2.) the quote on it is by Audrey Hepburn and it says "I believe in pink. I believe that laughing is the best calorie burner. I believe in kissing, kissing a lot. I believe in being strong even when everything seems to be going wrong. I believe that happiest girls are the prettiest girls. I believe that tomorrow is another day and I believe in miracles." which is one of my favorite quotes! and 3.) its part of the American Institute for Canter Research, and the $9.95 I spent on it went to breast cancer research! 

I literally just got it a couple minutes ago and I'm SO excited for it!! 

"Keep Calm and Stay Classy" 

Crazy Busy!

I'm attempting to post something on here every other day or so, but this past week has been crazy busy for me! I had a test I needed to study for, along with being in and out of the on campus doctors office. I'm finally no longer sick though! I'll just kind of ramble about my life lately and see what comes out haha, I don't really know what I'm doing yet! (:

I saw The Vow a couple days ago with a few of my friends, it was a pretty good movie but the ending could have been a LOT better! So disappointing! Yesterday was Valentine's Day, which is my least favorite holiday, BUT I've been getting a lot of good news lately so it really wasn't so bad! I had a job interview today to be a waitress at Bubs! I'll find out in a couple days if I get the job or not, but I'm totally praying that I am! Once I move out of the dorms (finally) and into my house (SO EXCITED!) trying to afford things is going to be rough though, everything is so expensive, so having a second job would be super nice! I can't wait to be able to cook in a kitchen again though, thats one of the main things I miss about living in a house, home-cooked meals!

This is the house I'm living in next year! Its real ugly from the outside but the inside is SO nice! There's 5 bedrooms and 4 bathrooms! The only downfall...the kitchen is really small, which is unfortunate, but manageable! The further into the semester we get, the more excited I am to move in! 

"Stop, smile, breathe. Life is beautiful"

Family

I figured I'd dedicate my first real post to the thing that means the most to me. I absolutely love my family more than anything else in the world. I would honestly be lost without them. 

 I love that I go to school with my sisters, and it was probably one of the smartest decisions I've ever made. I realized last December when Kari graduated that if I had picked another school, I would have never got to see her graduate. Which would've been probably one of the most disappointing things ever.

I recently got a tattoo! My mom wrote the family and my dad did the i love you in sign language. Its REALLY small but I'm SO happy with how it turned out! But I honestly cannot wait for it to heal. It itches so bad and its flaking off, and I'm just real sick of cleaning it to be honest. But I absolutely love it! 

Now I for sure cannot forget about my dog! Rocky is SO cute! Granted, he does bark a whole lot, and he does get o my nerves sometimes..I absolutely LOVE him! I miss him so much all the time and I wish he could come live with me! I searched for like a half hour on facebook tryna find a picture of Keemo, but I couldn't find one! :( Keemo was the greatest dog ever, and I miss him so so so much. It nearly killed me when we had to put him down. 

It put it simply. I love my family!

Nervous

I've wanted to make a blog for a while now, and finally decided to make one today. I don't really know what I'm going to talk about, and I'm pretty positive no ones ever going to read this, but I'm doing it anyways! I'm pretty much just going to wing the whole blog idea and see what happens!

"I believe in pink. I believe that laughing is the best calorie burner. I believe in kissing, kissing a lot. I believe in being strong when everything seems to be going wrong. I believe that happy girls are the prettiest girls. I believe that tomorrow is another day and I believe in miracles." - Audrey Hepburn