Happy Birthday, Gran!

Today is my Grannie's brithday!!



"A grandmother is a little bit parent, a little bit teacher, and a little bit best friend." --author unknown

I've found this to be so true with my sweet Grannie!  When I think back on the big and very small moments in my life, I always remember my Grannie.  She is THE BEST grandmother in the world!!  Yep, not many can compare to her!

These are just a few reasons why I love my grannie and some of the memories we've made in my 25 years on the earth...

-She's my biggest fan!  My grannie traveled with us to EVERY dance competition and was at every dance recital and extra performance.  Every one.  She sat through thirteen years of dancing and NEVER complained! What a trooper!

-She may not have liked my favorite foods, but when I was coming over, you could bet your bottom dollar that her cabinets would be stocked with my faves!

-We used to spend every Saturday going to the grocery store.  She would shop for her list and I would take her dad's (my great-grandfather) list and shop for his groceries.  She'd also let me take the carkeys with me so that I could look super cool and pretend like I was old enough to drive a car!  HA!  Who was I foolin'?

-Sunday afternoons were spent with her visiting my aunt BeeBee at the nursing home.  She was my great-great aunt and my grandmother and her sister were her care takers.  To this day, I honestly believe that my grannie contributed to my love for senior adults.  We'd take all of Aunt BeeBee's favorite snacks and we'd have to shout or write out our messages to her because she couldn't hear a thing!  We still laugh about our visits to this day!

-Every single time that we'd be on the way to her house from running errands or something, she'd start singing "Home again, home again, jiggity jig..."  Then I'd start in too!

-The woman can cook!!  Even though I'm not a chicken & dumplings lover, she is definitely the pro... and her banana pudding isn't too bad either!!

-She gave birth to my sweet mama (my favorite person on Earth) and to identical twin boys... but not in that order :)  (I wouldn't dare make people think that you're older than your brothers, mom!)

-She unselfishly gives of herself to EVERYONE.  There is rarely ever a time when she speaks her mind about anything. She just goes with the flow, and goes above and beyond when someone asks her to do something.

-She is just a plain cutie patootie!  Mom and I go shopping with her and make sure that she's always decked out in the latest fashions for sure!  She doesn't even turn her nose up at anything... she just buys it and wears it.  She knows we have good taste :) 

-She's an encourager!  There's never been a time in my life, nor will there ever be, when I couldn't feel her encouragement.  Through struggles and joys, she's always been an encourager and lifts everyone's spirits around her!   

HAPPY, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU SWEET GRANNIE!  I love you more than you'll ever know!!  I hope your day is grand :)