i love living away from home. i love the space i have to grow. i love how the distance has forced me to adapt and develop traits that i am not sure i would ever have discovered had i stayed in oklahoma. i appreciate my local friendships and work hard to maintain them. that being said, it is hard to be away from family. i hate that nora doesn't get to stay at her grandparent's house on any given night, just because. i miss getting a call to meet my brothers for lunch down the street. i am jealous of my sisters getting to have morning coffee with my mom.
these feelings make my trips back to oklahoma pretty powerful. the intensity with which i dive into the trips often causes me to burn out on "quality bonding time" at about day three. we managed to pack in a whole summer's worth of moments in one week's time... and survived.
we celebrated my mamaw honey's eighty-fifth birthday along with her recent move up to oklahoma from louisiana. i can't tell you how much i loved getting to go visit her throughout the week. it was a great celebration with aunts and uncles and tons of cousins. there was even a cupcake pinata, which nora was absolutely terrified of. we took advantage of the gathering of relatives and took some great (some awkward) family photos.
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| mamaw honey with my mom and stepdad and the kids |
we are so fortunate to have a large amount of family that all live close together in oklahoma. i love getting to pack in so much quality family time when we are home. it can be taxing and difficult to coordinate schedules, but it is always worth it.
i have realized after living away from family for almost eight years that it is important to fill that tank up while you can. i know that those moments are necessary to help me get through rough days.
so, that's what we did! fill 'er up!
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| my sweet brothers |
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| mamaw honey with the daughters, granddaughters, and great-granddaughters |
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| my sweet gigi with nora i love that nora is getting to play with something that was a part of my childhood. this wooden rocker duck was made for my older brother by my dad. it made my heart smile to see her playing with it. |
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| my brother's have excellent taste in women - my sister/friend desirae (L) and my soon to be sis-in-law juice (R) |
we spent the rest of the week doing fun things like swimming, jumping on the trampoline, and chasing chickens. you know, typical oklahoma stuff.
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| ladies who sun |
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| determination |
now, if i could just get this little lady back into her routine. she has been waking up every night since we came home!
xo- jansen
Sisters before misters.
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