Now when you tell people you're thirty-three, it'll be the truth.

I mean… thirty-three years ago (even though you've been telling people you're thirty-three for the last year) today you were brought into this world and I’ve been lucky enough to love you for almost eighteen of them. 

You are the kindest, sweetest, most gentle and amazing human being that I’ve ever met and I’m in awe that I get to do this life with you. Marrying my hype man was definitely a fantastic decision. 

There's not a day that goes by you don't remind me how much you adore me and show me that you love me through it all. You are the pitter to my patter and everything good I have to offer the world is directly tied to you with a pretty little bow.

I never get tired of spending endless amounts of time with you and you truly are my best friend. There's no one on the planet I'm more open, honest, and myself with than you.

Simply put, you're it for me, baby. I'm hopelessly in love with you. I want you to know you can always remember to just say fuck it and move on, because we'll do it together. I've got your back throughout it all and there's nothing going to change that.

This evening is all about lovins, foot rubs, pup snuggles, cuddles, German chocolate cake, and YOU.

Happy Birthday, Gator. I love you more today than yesterday and somehow, even though it seems impossible, I’ll love you more tomorrow... and the day after that... and the day after that.

A shout out to my hubby on his birthday. Aging like fine wine and shit.

Happy Birthday baby, thank you for always being you and loving me. I love you.

Hey husband, I just wanted to give a quick thanks. To who? To you, silly.

Thank you for cuddling me whenever I'm freezing. Letting me lay my head on your shoulder to sleep when I finally give in. Always having my back no matter the circumstance and without question. Knowing exactly when I need to smile and making sure you do whatever it is you have to do to accomplish that. Never admitting how horrible my hair is when we first wake up in the mornings and disputing me when I say I'm chubby. 

Forever driving on our road trips to Florida.... even though we always say I'm going to.... but I don't.

Being protective, but never trying to take my independence. Believing in fairytales even when I don't and convincing me that they're still real. Succumbing to my fake cry face and giving tickle kisses on my neck. All the things that make you the man that makes me smile with every thought and laugh with every memory. 

Thank you for being you, loving me, and living this life together. I love you more than you'll ever know. #Cauliflower

My aunt knows me well and knows how to tug on my heartstrings.

When I unwrapped this, it brought a tear to my eye. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't overly emotional in general these days (what in the hell happened to me?!), but this right here? This definitely started operating the water works. I'm assuming she got it for my wedding day, but she also knew that I'd have it out and cherish it all year long. So, I wanted to say:

Thank you , Aunt Susi. You always know how to make me feel special and loved. You’re the greatest. ❤️

An Open Letter: To the best little sister I never had. ❤️

I've mentioned here and there about my highschool sweetheart. And I don't talk about it often, because I try not to be a "mushy" person, but in order to say the next part, I need you to know that he and his family were beyond amazing to me and we've all stayed in touch. With that being said, his little sister, whom I love dearly, is getting married in a couple of weeks. And while I can't be there (we all live about 1,000 miles apart), I wanted her to know that I was thinking about her and love her.

Dear Sweet Caitlyn,

Firstly, I would like to apologize for not being able to attend your wedding. Trust me when I say it is not from a lack of want. I truly wanted to be there, unfortunately life doesn't always go the way that you want it to. Don't let anybody fool you, being a responsible adult is hard. Even just being a regular ole adult is hard, but especially being a responsible one. I hope you understand, and I know that it’s going to be amazing, because that’s just how you do things.

I wish that I had some pearls of wisdom to give you. It would be nice to pass on some advice that would help you out or sound profound, however, I have never been married, so there is really nothing I could offer you on that front. It would be like trying to tell a pilot how to fly a plane, I've never done it, therefore he would probably crash and burn. Because of this, I don't plan on even attempting to tell you how it should go.

I will give you a little bit of advice though. What?! I have some form of wisdom.

My advice to you, my dear sweet girl, is to be happy. I know that sounds plain and you're probably thinking- "Really?! That's all you got lady?!" But trust me when I say this is important. Anyone can claim to be happy and some are even fantastic performers when it comes down to it.

But, I'm not telling you to be the kind of happy that you think you should be. I'm telling you to be the kind of happy that you deserve. There's a big difference.

While I am not, nor ever have been married, I assume that the rules are pretty standard. You know the basics, it's your everyday common sense and rules your Momma taught you when you were growing up. "Treat others how you want to be treated", "Cheating is wrong no matter which way you look at it", "Talk about your problems" and "When things are tough, hold your head high and proud". I don't know if those actually apply to marriage, but if they don’t, they definitely should.

Now, I’m sure at some point in your life someone has said to you, "You are too young to get married, you've got plenty of time, what's the big hurry? Take things slow". I should probably be an adult about this and take the sides of those people. I really should.

But I'm not going to.

Call it the eternal optimistic, hopeless romantic in me, but I'm just not going to agree with them. Don't tell anybody this, but I do believe in love. True love. The kind that puts butterflies in your belly, wandering thoughts in your head and a smile as wide as the countryside on your face. And while I believe all of this, I don't believe that it has an age limit. Sure, there are exceptions. Some think that they're in love and come to find out that it was a childhood crush or silly infatuation. But real love, it's there and you know for certain when it's there. When you find that whether you are young, elderly, or somewhere in between, it's a beautiful thing. Love is not one of those constricting things, it comes in many different ways and it truly is a blessing.

Besides, who wants to wait to start forever?

I'm not trying to get all heavy with you. I'm just trying to tell you some things that I've learned. And the biggest things that I've learned in my twenty-eight years are this: You will always have doubts, there are going to be things in your life that scare you and there are circumstances that are out of your parallel to control. No matter how much you want to, you can't control everything. However, you do have a choice. And the choice you have is to be true to yourself. Do not let other people dictate your happiness.

You are your own person and you are plenty capable to make your own choices. You're a smart young lady, Caitlyn, and you know what you're doing. You know that you can’t think of just yourself, as you have that beautiful little boy to think of. You know that you’re a package deal and you’ve found a man that has taken on the love of your life as his own. If you have found your happiness, then you hold onto that and figure out the rest of it as you go. Remember when people said that you were too young? Well, good news, you are young. Therefore, you have plenty of time to figure things out. You're going to screw up; Brad is going to screw up. No one is perfect. But you can figure it out.

I just thought that you should know that I have no doubt in you.

I believe that you're an amazing girl and that you're going to do miraculous things with your life. It's going to be hard and you're going to have self-doubt, but you're going to persevere. That's just the type of person that you are. You have that same voice in your head, flare in your heart and glint in your eye that you’ve had since the day I met you. You truly are the best little sister I never had and could ever ask for.

With all of that being said, I would just like to finish by saying that I'm very happy for you. Congratulations!! This is amazing and you're going to have such a spectacular day (not just one day, but I'm referring to the actual wedding part). I wish that I could be there, but I send all my love your way.

You're going to make a beautiful bride. Why wouldn't you?! You're already beautiful, flowers and fancy dresses are just going to amplify that. I love you.

Xoxo,
Katie