Life is so rushed that nowadays it is easy to forget to be thankful for the small things.

We often forget to enjoy the little things in life, such as the beautiful weather, no wait at the check-out line, and so on. The one thing that we overlook the most is the special people in our lives that have helped mold us into the people we are today. We take those for granted all the time and forget how blessed we are to have them.

That one special person in my life is my mom. She is not only my mom, but she is my voice of reason, my personal diary, and my best friend. I often forget to tell her how much she means to me, but she deserves to hear it all the time.

I honestly do not know where I would be without her (figuratively and literally). We get into such a routine that we often forget to step away and really spend time with each other. In the past year or so, our schedules never match up. I am walking out the door when she is walking in, or I am going to bed when she is waking up. It is rare that we get to spend time with each other, but when we do, I am grateful for every minute.

Thank you for always providing for me. Even when you are exhausted mentally and physically, you are always there for me. You constantly do for me, even when I do not deserve it.

Thank you for never judging me. I know I have the craziest sense of humor and sometimes my jokes can get out of hand. You never let me laugh alone because, girl, where do you think I get this wonderful sense of humor from?

Thank you for talking me out of bad decisions. It always seems like you know all the answers. You always tell me your opinion and then leave it to me to make my choice. You are always there for me, even when I go against your word.

Thank you for loving me. I know I can be rude, disrespectful, and selfish at times, but you never stop loving me. I honestly don't deserve your unconditional love because it seems like I abuse it at times.

Thank you for your tough love. I know I always ask to stay out later, extend my curfew, you know, the classic teenager stuff. You have set guidelines, rules, and boundaries, and I may not like them now, but I know you have good intentions because you want to love and protect me.

Thank you for being my best friend. You are someone I can laugh with and not worry about my crazy laugh coming out. You are someone I can always count on. You listen to my rants literally about anything and everything, and you even deal with my singing and rapping of random songs (now that is true love right there).

You deserves pages and pages of reasons I am thankful for you because I really am. I am sorry I do not tell you these things enough because you deserve to hear them more often. You are my friend and my rock, but you are, without a doubt, the best mom in the world.

I love you to the moon and back.