Happy Mother's Day...

...to a mom who...

-is my best friend, my shopping buddy, and would rather help me pick out clothes than shop for herself.

-makes the best chicken casserole.  Ever.

-started buying baby stuff long before there were any grand-babies in the family.  A 'pink' box and a 'blue' box that she continues to stock to this day.

-could spend hours upon hours browsing the children's lit. section of Barnes and Noble.

-is the first person I call after a hard day, a good day, or a in-between day.  Because she just gets it.  

-would drop just about anything to be there for her family.  

-always smells good.

-used to be obsessed with Collin Raye.  

-picked me up off the ground during a devastating senior year of high school, and helped me learn to 'trust the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.'   

-who trusted me and stayed patient with me during four years of college, some poor choices, and some bad boyfriends.

-who helped me tie ribbon around 200 wooden dowels, sort thousands of pink and green M&Ms, and go on a sunrise peony hunt, all in order to give me the 'pink-and-green' wedding of my dreams.

-can get even the toughest stains out of clothes.  My whites will never be as white as hers ;)

-always cut our sandwiches in four triangles, always set Flintstones Vitamins on the edge of the counter for us, and always made the best homemade mac n' cheese. 

-taught me that I can do all things through Christ.

-taught me that flour-sack kitchen towels are really the best, that nothing beats purple 409, and that an overnight-soak-in-Clorox 2 is key to stain removal.  

-for twelve years, was always there when we got home from school. 

-would stay up very late to help me finish school projects, or study for a test, and would usually wipe my tears when I was stressed and tired.  She never went to bed before we did.

-would drive in a snowstorm on Valentine's Day to the Young Arena in Waterloo so that I could 'meet' Austin from Days of our Lives, and once again, wipe my tears when I wasn't close enough in line to get his autograph.

-is the most selfless woman I know.

-taught me how to be a mama to my little boy.  

-continues to be such an influence in my life, and now, in Cruz's life.

Happy Mother's Day, Mom.