We don't mean for our faces to do that thing.... it just happens.

Today we had a "farewell" party at the shop, since we are moving buildings this coming December. It was a bit sentimental and everybody that showed up had a real nice time. While everybody was reminiscing about all the years that our company has been around here and things of that nature, I found that the majority of my reminiscing about this place makes me think of Dani.

Most people that ask me about my job get the same answers. I make no bones about the fact that I essentially "lucked" into my job. Now, I might have lucked into it, but that doesn't mean that I get to keep it for no reason. I have to work hard to keep up in an ever evolving and hectic business. Otherwise, Dani would fire my ass.

But, the fact of the matter is, I was lucky. People go to college to get degrees so that they can have the kind of job that I have now and it would be immature of me to dismiss that. Afterall, my education stops after high school. Don't get me wrong, I did well in school, but didn't have the opportunity to pursue college and once the opportunity arose, I felt like it wasn't for me. I have nothing against people going or not going to college, I think it really just all depends on the person. I just wasn't a college bound person.

However, I've always been good with working hard to get where I need to be and am comfortable with myself. When I moved Momma to Indy I was just going to go back to a nursing home as that was what I knew, but Dani showed up out of the blue and offered me a job with her in the office at the shop.

To say I was surprised was an understatement. I was appreciative of her offer, but immediately let her know that I had absolutely no clue what I was doing, as I had never done this kind of work before. She told me she didn't need me to know what I was doing, she just needed me to be willing to learn what I needed to know without giving her attitude and backlash with it. With those terms, how could I refuse?

The rest is history and while Dani and I have always been good, we've definitely gotten closer throughout the years. I mean, you can only spend five days a week/nine hours a day in a tiny office with someone before y'all either kill one another or become friends.

Lucky for me, it was the latter of the two. Now, she's my cousin, my boss, and my friend. Even when D and I got married, I couldn't think of anyone better than her to marry us. It just felt right.

She's ten years older than me and don't tell her I told you, but she's kind of the shit and I've idolized her my entire life. 

When I was little, I really wanted to grow up to be as awesome as her. I wanted to be tough and strong like her. She took absolutely no shit when we were kids (and that didn't change as we got older). When I was a young pre-teen/teen, she was in college and I wanted to dress like her and have her hair. She was the epitome of coolness and it was awe-inspiring to see her living her life like she wanted and not listening to the other people around her that tried to get her to do things a different way. In my early twenties is when she took me under her wing and gave me the opportunity to grow into who I wanted to become and into even more of a responsible adult.

We've been through alot together. Growing as people. Growing as wives. For her, growing as a mother.... which she is incredible at and I am so lucky I got to see and be a part of. For me, growing as a person and accepting to be comfortable in my own skin and way of life. Growing as women who work in a male dominated field. We've both dealt with losing a parent together and have managed to make it through almost ten years of being with each other constantly and neither of us have murdered the other yet. In all fairness, it would definitely be her that had the most legitimate reasons to murder me, but she doesn't, and for that, I am forever grateful.

In fact, there are many things in my life that I am thankful for and she has helped me accomplish many of them. Even if she doesn't know it, because she doubts herself constantly (something she should never feel the need to do), she is amazing and while I don't like putting my emotions out there for people to see, I do love her. And I am so damn thankful for her existence.

With that being said, I just want to say, thank you, Dani. You may not know it, but you are the shit and I am forever grateful for you and the person that you are. You're an amazing wife, mother, friend, boss, sister, daughter, cousin, business woman, and everything in between. And if anybody makes you doubt that for a second, let me know, and I'll hit that bitch with a forklift.

Because you, my friend, deserve it all.