I have been absolutely awful at blogging lately! I really need to start getting better, but we have had a whole lot going on lately that's been keeping us super busy. 2011 has already been a crazy roller coaster and I am so excited to see what the rest of the year has to offer. We have experienced some pretty exiting highs, and some hard lows- but this is life and I love it nevertheless!
Last month Garrett's family was rocked pretty hard by the unexpected passing of Garrett's awesome cousin Brad. He was only 28 with a beautiful wife and sweet 3 year old daughter. It was so hard to see his family grieving, but it was amazing to see how many lives Brad touched in the short 28 years he was alive. I can honestly say I have never seen SO many people come together to celebrate someones life at a viewing and funeral- Literally 20 minutes after the viewing started there was a line around the block of people wanting to come see Brad and his amazing family. And the line never shortened for 4 hours strait! And it was one of the most beautiful funerals I have ever been to. ... I know its weird to say that a funeral could be beautiful. And I think its even weirder for those words to be coming out of my mouth, I hate funerals (but honestly, I don't think anyone is a fan of them). But it honestly was so beautiful, not just the looks of the funeral but all of the amazing speeches and prayers; they were all so meaningful and touching. There was one particular part of the prayer that Uncle Doug (Brads Dad) gave that really affected me. Doug said that he and his family had no regrets, he said that if they could have Brad back for even just a little while, they would do nothing different. That Brad had lived his life to the absolute fullest and there was nothing he could have done differently to make his life better.
I thought that was such a powerful statement. Even just thinking about that part of the prayer still gives me chills today, and makes me wonder if I were to die tomorrow, could I say the same about myself? Am I living my life to the absolute fullest that I possibly can? Am I pushing myself the hardest I can in every aspect of my life? I don't know why it takes something awful like the passing of a loved one to help you put your life in order, But it really has for me. Since the funeral I have really been thinking about how precious life is and how much I am taking every little day for granted. It has really pushed me to put things into perspective and to look at the big picture, instead of wasting my life away stressing over the little things. It has also given me a much clearer idea of what I really want in life, and what is really important to me.
I am making a promise to myself to stop procrastinating. If I want something in my life, I need to go out there and work hard to get it. And to start telling the people that I love how much they really mean to me. And to really appreciate Garrett and everything he does for me. Because in the end we really never know when our, or our loved ones final day will come.
Which brings me to my next big topic.......
Dukester!!! Garrett and I have been so excited to get a puppy since the day we got married! (excited is an extreme understatement on Garrett's part haha) But both of us hated the idea of having a big dog in a little apartment, we wanted our dog to have a big yard to play in. So once we got the house, we knew it was on! But I just kept procrastinating, and making excuses for not getting a pup.... like its winter and it will be hard to train, or we have all new furniture and it will get ruined, or we don't have the time. But like I said above, no more waiting for tomorrow to do the things I want to do today!
So last weekend we went and found our newest family member Duke!! He is a sweet little 5 week old (now 6 weeks old) baby Brown lab with bright blue eyes and he is our baby!! Literally.... haha I think Garrett thinks he actually gave birth to this little guy! We love him so much and I cant wait for him to get a little bigger so we can go on lots of fun adventures this summer. It's going to be so much fun!!
I will post some cute pictures of him on here soon!
