i am sort of all over the place

v-neck and scarf J.Crew factory; shoes Sperry; jeans Kohl's; watch Francesca's

i am a little embarrassed to say that i have missed my little blog over the last few days when i went around gallivanting off to a mini-vacation with momma to new york. actually, i am not that embarrassed at all, because i have come to learn the importance that this little blog has given me and the new beginning it has prompted me to dive in to as well. so,hats off to you little blog, and i will try to pay the utmost attention to you this week.

any who - momma and i hopped over to the empire state to visit my big sissy, brother-in-law, my fury nephew and my sweet baby niece S. we missed my dad, who sadly had to hold down the fort here at home since flowers are quite the big deal during the Easter holiday. even without dad in toe, it was quite the enjoyable stay involving shopping excursions to here, there, and everywhere (and the outlet mall sent from heaven - and really, i mean that.), walks around the neighborhood, baking cookies, watching The Help and comparing it in depth to the book (i know - this may become my newest guilty pleasure and i will save that rant for another time), and many other pleasurable things that can only be done with the women of the family. oddly enough surely enough, the most prized of these activities being enjoying a cup multiple cups of coffee in the morning, in our pjs (until noon). 

while i was out and about rediscovering the bliss of having my older sister around for longer than a nano-second, i realized the importance of family. 

let me rephrase that, i rediscovered how important my family is to me. not saying that i have been completely naive to everything family-esque but it just made me realize where i would be currently in my life without the family that i have. the things i have been going through may be no where near as challenging as others, i am almost certain they are not (which is something i need to keep in check with constantly), but i do know that the things that are mountains in my life right now are being conquered because of the beautiful family that God has given me. i am someone who likes order and lists and plans and a destination that is always in sight and my life is anything but that. i've had meltdown after freak out and without my family to sit me down, refocus me, remind me why i chose to graduate early, why i worked so hard for all of this, why i love what i am going to be doing -- i have no idea where i'd be. with the mixture of what feels like a million other circumstances, it has made that far-off and seemingly unattainable goal a dream of the past -- but not when i have my family. i know that God will never give me more than i can handle and even when it feels as if i have reached my limit -- and trust me we all have our limits and we all, at one point or another feel as if we have reached it -- i will always have my family.

so to sum up my mini-vaca, i shall leave you with a few of my favorite memories:

• baby S and the way her little baby smile and big baby blues melt my heart in a million ways i never knew my heart could melt.
• curling up with huge bowls of chocolate brownie frozen yogurt (every) night.
• having my sister to talk to, no phone, no computer, just pure face to face conversation.
• my mom tearing up while rocking my niece to sleep - the love of a family is the purest love and a beautiful site to see.
• reading all sorts of books to baby S and having her babble back to me.