Sometimes my mom drives me crazy. She makes me want to pull my hair out, yet at the same time I know that I can turn to her for anything. She is the strongest woman I know. She is always welcoming people into our home with open arms and a smile like you've never seen. She can cook anything that you ask her to and Christmas time would not be the same without her endless desserts. She is the first person that I call for pretty much everything, except when I need money I call my dad, of course. Everyone always tells me how much I look like my mom, which I think makes me pretty lucky. She has done so many things for me and taught me so much. I know that I could never thank her enough but I would like to try.

Thank you for always encouraging my dreams. You supported me when I wanted to go to college nine hours away, but you were more than encouraging when I changed my mind at the last minute and decided to stay closer to home.

Thank you for teaching me how to be a good person. You taught me to treat others the way that I want to be treated, one of the most basic things in life that people often times forget. Saying please and thank you goes a long way.

Thank you for teaching me what love looks like. It looks like you waking up at 6 a.m. every weekday morning and making our lunches so that we can make it to school on time. It looks like you giving up your entire weekend to sit on a bleacher in a basketball gym just to watch your daughter sit on the bench because she was the youngest (and worst) one on the team.

Thank you for teaching me to be strong and courageous and to never let anything or anyone hold me back. You taught me that I could be and do anything that I wanted to. Thanks to you I'm in college so that I can have the career that you were never able to have.

Thank you for giving up everything for your husband and kids. You should have been a doctor, but instead you stayed at home and took care of four children and eventually four teenagers.

Thank you for teaching me to be happy. You always said, "Life's not fair. Get used to it." and because of that I learned to not worry about the little things.

Thank you for always trying to be the "cool mom." Your Instagram probably has more followers than mine does and you definitely have more Facebook friends than I do.

Thank you for forgiving me and teaching me how to forgive. All the times that I messed up were met with your forgiveness and love. You taught me to forgive someone until the end of time, even if it's for the same mistake over and over again.

Thanks for emphasizing family time. All those family dinners and beach trips would never had happened if it wasn't for you.

Most importantly, thank you for being my mom. You made me into the woman that I am today, and for that I could never thank you enough.

I love you, Mom.