What I am about to say will never be enough to describe how blessed and thankful I am to have both of you in my life.
To both of you: Thank you, thank you, thank you. Thank you both for supporting me in all of my endeavors. Thank you for drying my tears. Thank you for not saying "I told you so" when that boy ended up not being good for me. Thank you for treating my friends as your own kids. Thank you for letting me take over your living room almost every weekend for sleepovers. Thank you for letting me leave some of those weekends to go to whatever camp or birthday party I had planned. Thank you for saying "no" every now and then. Thank you for not letting me quit anything until I at least completed the season. (except tap, it was probably best for everyone that I didn't pursue that).Thank you for letting me wake you up in the middle of the night when I felt sick or scared. Thank you for taking me to church (almost) every Sunday and for making sure I knew how important it is to love, follow, and fear the Lord. Thank you for showing me what a healthy, happy, Christian marriage looks like, and how important it is to fall in love with your spouse all over again each and every day. Thank you for kissing my boo-boos and for making me laugh non-stop. I love you both to infinity and beyond!
To Dad: Thank you for taking me to Frankie's Fun Park, and for playing every game with me. Thank you for teaching me how to hold my tongue when it wasn't necessary to speak. Thank you for teaching me all about our family history and for making sure I was proud of where I came from. Thank you for putting your foot down when I had an attitude and for teaching me how to respect authority. Thank you for not killing me when I popped the tires on my car...or when I backed into a mailbox...or when I got a speeding ticket. Thank you for not being as good at Mario-Kart as I am. Thank you for always getting me my favorite Gatorade and a toy when I was sick. Thank you for secretly loving shopping and for taking me when I was little. Thank you for killing all of the spiders. Thank you for our dinner dates.Thank you for hating having to pick the place we're going to eat for dinner just as much as I do. Thank you for sneaking a few bucks here and there into my bank account. Thank you for not crying in front of me on move-in day (because I would have lost it, and you know how I hate crying in public.) Thank you for being the best daddy a girl could ask for and for loving me so much.
To Mom: Oh, mom. Thank you for being my best friend. Thank you for making me teach you how to whip and nae nae. Thank you for making me laugh so hard that I cry and can't breathe. Thank you for using an excessive amount of hairspray. Thank you for teaching me how to cook; and for cooking every time I come home. Thank you for telling me I was never going to make it onto American Idol. (this also was probably for the best.) Thank you for not letting me get those colorful streaks in my hair. Thank you for telling me when the hot-mess of an outfit I put together didn't match. Thank you for making me listen to Celine Dion and Shania Twain constantly. (this is a habit i now practice daily, by the way) Thank you for loving me unconditionally and never letting me forget when you're right. Thank you for letting me steal all of your t-shirts.
Thank you for showing me that you can do anything you want to do by going back to college and getting a degree which lets you do something you love. Thank you for the late-night Walmart runs. Thank you for walking me in on my first day of Kindergarten and sitting with me because I was nervous. Thank you for hugging me a little too tightly on college move-in day, because I was nervous then too. Thank you for not letting me come to college without knowing how to do laundry. Thank you for making my friends like you more than they like me. Thank you for our venting sessions and for not complaining when I talk a little too much. Thank you for loving me more than I even thought possible.
Thank you to both of you for being undoubtedly the biggest blessing in my life. I'll love you forever, I'll like you for always, as long as I'm living my role models you'll be.
