A Day in the Life of...: Happy 30th Birthday Kristen

JP, called me about 3-4 weeks ago and told me that we needed to do something SPECIAL for Kristen's up and coming 30th Birthday. My sister, mind you, has spent the last year moving, being pregnant, raising her 3 girls, running her Park Lane business, meeting new friends, finding a new church, moving again, birthing a baby and juggling their busy life. The girl needed some extra TLC! Well, JP wanted to know if it was at all possible for me and a few of our girlfriends to drive to Estero for a surprise birthday party on Saturday night...3 days AFTER her actual birthday. Why YES! Whitney and I would love to come. So on the day after her actual birthday I picked up our BFF Cindee Smith and drove to the Ft. Meyer's Airport to pick up our other BFF Bobbi. However, on a funny note, JP texted me early that morning to say he was in the DOG house for 'Not planning anything special" for Kristen's Birthday. I was pretty stressed because Kristen was upset, JP was taking the heat and I needed to get there QUICK! LOL! So, this video will forever be one of my life long most favorite moments. I still cry looking at it. We all cried and couldn't stop shaking for like 30 minutes! AHHHH...we still had a few more surprises to go...

Anyone who knows me, knows Kristen...or at least knows about her. Kristen knows me inside and out...in some ways probably even better than Tim. We are so different in certain ways...but we share an unspoken language of he soul. Ok, that totally sounds like a cheesy Hallmark card, but it is so true. If one of us laughs, we both laugh, if one of us cries, we both do. We don't even have to talk to know what the other is thinking and we are beyond BFFs. After being together for about an hour we talk to each other like two old ladies sitting on a porch. Jest, love and total devotion. Her life in many ways has paralleled mine, and I have opened up plenty of doors for her with my parents...lol! From talking on the phone, shaving your legs to having 4 children! I feel like I would protect her from ANYTHING...and I always feel that she does the same for me when my guards are let down and I need someone!
I have a lifetime of memories spent with Kristen. Really, I cannot think of too many major events in my life that have happened without her by my side. However, last year when she moved, by my side turned into the phone! When Whitney was born it hit me hard for that she wasn't there to witness it. BUT, we both know that this time in our life, although hard, has been orchestrated by GOD. And, THANK GOD, we are just as close as ever. We talk and text almost everyday...and our kids write letters too. She is such a blessing to me, and as much as I 'know' her, I am always learning new things about her. She is such a GOOD MOM, and wife, and she really excels in her business. I miss her closet too :) And JP is truly the brother I always wanted...he is THE FUNNIEST person ever and I will always LOVE him for the husband and father that he is too! Rat rat (inside joke)!

Ok, so here are some of the pics with Bobbi and Cindee...my other SISTER/Friends!!!

I walk in to Cindee's kitchen and she tells me not to look in the pot on the stove. As if! AHHHH...Only someone married to Travis Smith would have an alligator head cooking on the stove. HILARIOUS and GROSS all in one!

We watched some brief moments of the Royal Wedding before our adventure. Cindee and I had oodles of time to catch up and we pretty much never ran out of anything to say! LOVE HER!