my people.

everyone has got a team, a tribe, a group. a collection of people who just get it. i have an interesting tribe... starting with the people who not only share my DNA but also my level of crazy. hi family! I'm super blessed because my family is super close, like, suuuuuuper close, this includes husbands. the once a week family dinners don't even begin to cover it. we are in some form of a group text majority of the time, always checking in (& barging in) on each others lives. its great.

i am happily situated in the middle of the crazy. two older sisters who are my bestbestbestbestbest (x20) friends. they weren't always, but once they realized how awesome i am, i meeeean as i got older, they came around. we talk about everything. nothing is off limits. sometimes we talk about baby sleep schedules, date night with our husbands or what we are watching in-between loads of laundry on netflix. other times we delve a little deeper and chat about faith, plans and hopes for the future & how much we miss our dad. i feel as though they are the only people who can tell me exactly what they are thinking without having to apologize or say no offense. + our libraries of knowledge and wisdom span a broad number of subjects so we can usually help each other out of life's stickiest situations; but when we can't we call mom!

my two little (way bigger than me) brothers are next. they would probably rather not be on my team, but are kind of stuck there. i am constantly monitoring their love lives, making sure they are growing into young gentlemen and that their girlfriends are pretty enough to possibly become my sister-in-laws one day. i try my hardest to keep them in line and out of trouble even though just a few short years ago i was teaching them how to get into it (insert embarrassed monkey emoji here.) most of our conversations skim the surface of life which suits me just fine, i know that running into them or shooting them a quick text will be just that, a short catch up & an amazing hug.

my next members are probably the most interesting of the bunch, my students. although there are many years of life separating us, i am married and having babies & they are going to prom; our creativity meets in the middle and has no age. i see them regularly, like a twice a week date that is highly prioritized and can't be missed. they have seen firsthand how my creative soul responds to life's most brilliant and most destructive moments. they've loved me through dark hair, black eyeliner, breakups, makeups, love, a big belly, loss & life and i am eternally grateful for their youthful presence in my corner. squad goals!

lastly, are my friends. the small and very selective group of people who met me at all very different times in my life & yet somehow, have stuck around. these are the people who danced with me before i was actually good at dance & who put up with me being a little regina george-ish in middle school. one of them convinced me to give grant a chance (i am sooooo glad i did!) & lets face it, they all just know too much. unfortunately, these are the members i talk to the least, some have babies, fiancees, jobs, and love lives i can't keep up with ;) however, our friendships are not based on the number of times we get together for coffee, they are a quick text conversation during the week and a hangout when we can, knowing full well that at any moment we would drop our lives for eachothers emergency.

the relationships we craft throughout the years shape us as a person, they define and serve as a living example of what God created us to do, love Him and love one another! I look so forward to watching my tribe grow and change as the years pass and look even more forward to watching arrow build a tribe of her own, as of now it's got two pretty precious members already, lucy goose & super abel! take some time today to tell your people how much you love them, near and far!

happy thursday!