All in a year...

Well, today I turned 25. Insurance is cheaper (hopefully) and now I can rent a car. And now I can say I am a quarter of a century old. Ha!! How exciting.. (insert eye roll.. here) What I can say, without sarcasm and minus the eye roll.. is that I am incredibly blessed. I am so thankful for so many people around me, near and far who care enough to take a moment out of their day to celebrate my day of birth. People who I don't always talk to, some I have never met in real life, some are just barely acquaintances.. and yet they took a few seconds out of their days to celebrate my life with me.. even if it was for a moment in time. And that is a true blessing, a gift, and a treasure. It something not all people are able to experience... but I do! And I have welcomed it with open arms. Message after message, call after call, post after post... all wishing me well on my 'special day.' It warmed my heart and brought many many smiles to my face. So thank-you to everyone for celebrating my day with me.. even if for just a second. 
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I came home yesterday to find these on the counter..

Thank you Aunt S!!

Than there was a box with this in it...

Thank you R :)

Than today I got to work and this was on my desk...

Thanks work buddies!

 And than T gave me this..

Thank you friend

And I got a message with these..

 Thank you Z!!

When I got home, there were two birthday cards waiting with some mulah from the MIL and the PIL (pappaw-in-law.. i just made that up :] ) Well hubby had to go to class :( Which meant I was spending the evening by my lonesome.. No way was I going to stay at home.. so I went shopping! Nothing like retail therapy to get the blood pumping and the calories burning. While I was out perusing the shelves and wandering through aisles of fresh cotton and polyester and crisp denim  jeans.. I started thinking. (Thinking is something I do quite frequently, especially these days.) I often get lost in my thoughts as this is the place I can recall my Savanna. I started to think of this last year. From 24-25. So much has happened.

I gave birth to my beautiful Savanna Dawn, I moved across the country to Texas, I changed jobs, I went back to school, I adjusted to a new life, I celebrated my 2nd year anniversary to my other half and best friend, I started a new job, put Savanna in daycare, I also watched my daughter's life slip from her being, I buried my 7 1/2 month old, picked out a casket for her, a headstone, and a spot on a hill, I celebrated a Christmas without her.. and than I celebrated a new year, I began to make new friends, I became part of a community of those who had been traveling my path, I began to see the love blossoming from others, I strengthened my faith, I grieved.. I grew up.

This is me last year...

36w 4d.. Savanna was born 2 weeks later

And this year...

It hardly seems fair.. and to think... all in a year...