Happy Birthday, Izzle!

The girl loves a sweet 'stache.

This weekend we got to celebrate the girl young woman who made me an Auntie. She is laid back,

How she uses chopsticks.

Never too old for a bouncy house.

cool, sunshine on cloudy days, smart, witty, gorgeous inside & out, fun, mostly quiet, very sweet, caring, genuine, thoughtful, kind, Isabelle's "sister (named Isis)", the oldest granddaughter & great granddaughter in our family, about to graduate high school, grateful, gracious, accepting and today she is an adult. That's a very short list...I could go on all day. I never could've imagined that she would grow into the beautiful person she's become & I look forward to continuing to watch her grow into whatever her heart desires. 

We put our heads together & decided this chick deserves to be celebrated. We conspired to surprise her. We maybe had her a little stumped at one point but she was suspicious all along & the jig was up when her tiny sister announced, on the morning of her surprise party, "We can't tell you anything about your party sister." It was our own fault for involving the quickest 3 year old I know in party preparations. This kid forgets nothing, except if you tell her no...then she finds a different way to attempt getting what she wants, and she didn't tell Isis about the party. She just told her she couldn't tell her. Even with our 3 year old party planning assistant dropping hints we still pulled off a few surprises. The unicorn theme. The friends that were there to surprise her. The fact that you can buy unicorn farts on Amazon.

The unicorn theme seemed perfect for the last kid birthday. I mean they say she's an adult today. It's hard to believe that cute little girl who 
was always grinning with no front teeth (because she fell on them so many times as a toddler they died & the dentist pulled them) & could carry a tune in Kindergarten is 18. I asked her Saturday night if she was gonna do anything crazy before she was legally an adult, she laughed & said no. I told her it was probably close enough to her birthday that she'd be tried as an adult. She said "well yeah, once I turned 16 they would..." Always thinking things through, that one. She is for sure wise beyond her years. 

It was fun meeting more of her people. It warmed my heart when they all came in & called my Wicked "grandma". My Wicked is pretty badass. I already knew that but I appreciate that others recognize it too. She probably isn't fully living up to her wicked reputation though because these kids didn't seem the least bit terrified of her. More about her another time. She's an amazing lady & we are all lucky to have her around. So we got to spend time with Isis's people & see what a great group of people she's surrounded herself with. They all kept the surprise secret really well. Is was a little mad that they were excluding her from something all day. I'm sure glad we got to spend some time with her this weekend. We had a fun weekend. Got in lots of visiting. Celebrated someone who really doesn't ask for much & deserves the world. I felt pretty awful lying to her Friday night to try to make it a surprise. Her next party won't be a surprise. That way I can see her every night we are in town for her graduation in June! 

Look at that sweet baby & her very young Grandma Sharon!

Still holds Grandma's hand.

Happy Birthday Isis Aclea Venus Craven. I'm so proud of all you have done & the woman you are growing up to be. I know you are capable of accomplishing anything you can dream of. We have all grown up with you. We were so young when you came along. It's a good thing you came along when you did. I think you saved your mama, which saved your grandparents some grief & most of all you got in some good years with Grandpa. I see him in you all the time & I know he is damn proud of you girlfriend. No matter what you do in your grown up life, never forget how much we love you & that we are always here for you when you need us. I love you so much Izzle. I hope this year is the best, most amazing, crazy awesome adventure you've had so far! Keep leaving a little sparkle wherever you go. 


Love, 
Auntie Jas

P.S. Please never stop singing to me. I love that you always know all the songs & sing them better than the people singing them on the radio! 

Welcome 2017!

This year will be epic! We're all getting married...I mean I am & it seems every time I turn around another couple we love is announcing their engagement. It's like I'm walking around in a cloud of bliss. I see the sadness that happens. I see the struggle our nation is feeling. I feel the pain that's out there. I feel the pain that is right here close to home. There's always a fine line where you walk on the edge of bliss & despair. You're genuinely happy and yet, as you start to tell someone your wedding plans your voice breaks & you need to take a breath before you can continue because while you are overjoyed, there will still be people who just cannot physically be there on your wedding day. Or ever. It sucks. You pause, take a breath, compose yourself & you are grateful that they loved you in such a way that you hold their memory dear & cherish the time you had with them. Then you continue on & you are that much more thankful for what you have, this love, this happily ever after that you have been granted, because it is a beautiful miracle.

This past weekend I didn't march, I didn't drown my sorrows or celebrate over this next guy in office. I sent good thoughts to the people whose beliefs & passion sent them into these marches, sorrows or celebrations. I hoped for their safety. I did celebrate though. I spent my time with my mama, sissy poo poo, nieceling & last but definitely not least my bestest bestie. After dinner we all met at our hotel, checked into our adjoining rooms & stayed up too late catching up on life because there are never enough hours in the day to get the amount of face time you desire from the ones you love. We made the most of our time. Didn't do much sleeping. Laughed & talked & laughed some more until our eyelids were too heavy. Then, after a brief nap time...less than 2 hours for some, we headed over to a wedding dress shopping event. At 5am. We left to go stand in line outside for the chance to possibly find the dress of my dreams for $150. Doors opened at 7am. We got in at 7:45, even though we were really close to the front of that line. It didn't take long to figure out they didn't have the dress for me.

We threw in the towel, put our heads together & made a new plan. Off to a bridal store. Maybe we can get in without an appointment if we show up before they open, so we did. And we were able to. After a brief wait in one of our cars, where we were serenaded by my nieceling's AMAZING singing voice, we went in, got a stylist & found a much better selection of wedding gowns. I dove in, shimmied out, tried on several, twirled in front of the mirror, fussed with trains & layers of tulle, dresses were brought to me, I thought I was NOT going to wear a white dress. My sissy picked a dress for me. It was white. I tried it. Spun, twirled, swirled, fluffed, posed, made a wish, rang a bell, took some pics with my ladies & brought home a wedding gown. I SAID "YES" TO MY WEDDING DRESS! 

What a weekend! It took me a whole Sunday to recover from Saturday. So I've checked something off the list. I have a dress. A dress, a venue & a long, long list of things to do.  I can't wait to do more. This might be the most fun to do list EVER! Who am I kidding? It is! Soon I will have a dress in my closet & an engagement ring on my finger...it's almost done at the jeweler! Here's to besties that have been around for decades, mamas, sisters, nieces, daughters who just couldn't be there, finding Mr. Right, wearing white when you were sure you wouldn't, black diamonds & LOVE! That's what it's all about!

💘 future Mrs. Varner