Dream big

I always wondered where those blog awards came from! Thank you Courtney for nominating me for my first!

My goal for this blog was never to get some big recognition. It's really just a simple love story...a story of love between a mother and a daughter. I want something tangible that Ella can hold onto long after I am gone (and I don't do scrapbooks). I want her to always know how much I have enjoyed every single day of her life. It is such a blessing to be her mother. I really don't like it when people say things like "just wait until she's a teenager" or "just wait until she talks back." These are the same people who said "just wait until she's walking" or "just wait until she's a toddler." They were all wrong. Each phase of her life has been such a blessing. Yes, there are LOTS of temper tantrums, lots of daily messes...all the things you would expect from each stage. But, why would I expect anything else of my child when I can't even make it through the morning myself without screwing up something? So this is my story for her...so that she will always know how she has filled my heart with an indescribable love.

So, according to the award "rules", I am supposed to write seven interesting things about myself. This is hard because I'm a pretty boring person (but I LOVE my life). Here's my attempt to be, uh, interesting...

1. If I wasn't a nurse, I'd either be the new Samantha Brown on the travel channel or the new Sarah Richardson or Candace Olson on HGTV. I'm obsessed with interior design and have an appreciation for all types of design.

2. I can't draw to save my life. I can barely color inside the lines in Ella's Barney coloring book. I am envious of those who can draw/paint/sculpt. I'm really creative, but I can't express it in this way at all.

3. I can be really outgoing and also really shy. It completely depends on who I am around. If I look up to you, I'll probably tend to seem more reserved in fear that I might saying something stupid!

4. I love old music and old movies. Ella seems to like old, classic jazz music too! She's got good taste.

5. I have a slight obsession with those big, warm pretzels you get at the mall. If I'm being really bad, I'll get cheese to go with it. If I'm being REALLY, REALLY bad, then I get a cherry icee too! This is my favorite treat to share with Ella.

6. I love all things Parisian.

7. In a perfect world, my little family and I would live in the Tuscan region of Italy. We'd ride our bikes everywhere, have a vineyard and olive trees, and eat fresh tomatoes every day. We'd vacation in Nice and travel to Paris often. Or maybe we would just live in a swanky apartment in Paris with a view of the Eiffel Tower. We'd sit at little cafes and drink coffee and eat crepes with bananas and chocolate. Ella would be fluent in french and say "oui, oui Mommy!"

Doesn't that sound glamorous?

But instead, we only have a view of a couple lonely dogwood trees. I only managed to grow 5 lemons on two lemon trees this past year. And the only cafe I'm lounging around at is my not-so-pretty breakfast table...drinking Maxwell House coffee with off brand vanilla creamer. There are no banana and chocolate crepes....only cheerios with brown mushy bananas. And Ella's favorite word is "no" not "oui" (french for yes).

It's good to have dreams. But, my reality is pretty darn good too.

Dear Ella,

May you dream big, but always think mushy bananas are good enough.

Mommy