Day 31: Aunt Gaye

I love my aunt Gaye. She is my mother's oldest sister. She lives just outside of Atlanta, not too far from my family. I love how close she and I have gotten since we moved to Atlanta 9 years ago. 

Gaye is the one of the most grace filled women I have ever met. I have never seen her raise her voice. I have never seen her act out in anger. I have never heard her say a cross word about anyone. She is so kind. 

My aunt has faced so many difficult things in life, but she has handled them all with grace. I know that she would be the first to admit that the grace she has comes directly from the Lord. She has a strong faith in God. It is so much stronger than most people's faith. 

I love hanging out with Aunt Gaye. She is such a great listener. I love to talk with her about life. She gives great advice and insight! She has great style and always has the most fabulous hair cuts! Every time I see her her hair is different! I always love it! 

Aunt Gaye has always been there for me and my family. No matter what difficulty she was facing, she put it aside and was there for us. She helped us so much when my parents got divorced. She called all the time and visited my mom often. She also kept in touch with me about how things were going at home when I was far away at school. I can never thank her enough for that. 

Gaye is a great mom. She loves, loves, loves her kids. She is always there for them whether it's helping them decorate their homes, going to doctor's appointments, traveling together, or just loving them. She is an awesome mother. She is also a fabulous grandmother! She is just so much fun! 

I get to see my whole family in 2 weeks over Christmas! I can't wait! I have not seen most of them since our wedding! I look forward to catching up with aunt Gaye especially. 

Gaye,

I love you so much! I am so proud to call you my aunt. You have always been there for me and my family. I respect you immensely. I look up to you. You are an incredible woman with amazing faith. I can't wait to see you over Christmas!! I love you!!

Mary Beth

This is a picture of my beautiful Aunt Gaye with her hubby Rick and 2 of their wonderful grand-kids!

Day 30: Sarah Riewerts

Sarah is my beautiful cousin. She and I grew up together and share so many wonderful memories from our childhood!

She is three years older than me so when we were growing up she was the "cool older cousin" who I wanted to be just like! I loved when our families would go on trips to Branson together or spend Christmas Eve at Nanny's house!

Here are my favorite childhood memories with Sarah:

1. Crushing on JTT (Jonathan Taylor Thomas for those of you who are out of the loop) like it was our job. We LOVED JTT. We watched every one of his movies, read all of the Bop and Tiger Beat magazines with him on the cover, and had posters of him adorning our walls. We were convinced that one of us was going to marry him. She got closer, she actually married a guy named John, so I guess she won!

2. We loved Mariah Carey. We would always share her CDs. We thought her music was pretty cool. I still love old Mariah Carey music.

3. Christmas Eve at Nanny's. When we were little we would always beg our parents to let us unwrap our presents pretty much as soon as we got there. There were many years where she and I got matching Christmas pajamas, or clothes, which of course was REALLY cool in my mind. We would watch the weather radar on the News to see where Santa was so we would know when we had to be in bed. We would go outside and look for Santa and his reindeer flying. We were pretty convinced that the nearby airport tower (that was home to a red blinking light) was in fact, Rudolph leading the team to Conway. We were big Santa fans. We always called each other on Christmas morning to compare gifts.

4. I remember one time she came over to my grandma Ba's house to play with me. She and I pretended like we were at college and lived in the same dorm room and were roommates. I think we were like 7 and 10 then, somewhere around those ages. We thought we were pretty cool. I don't know why I specifically remember this play day, but it is a very fond memory!

I wish we still lived close to each other. I think we would have had many more fun memories together! Especially now since we are both around the same stages of life again! We are both young and married, and she has an adorable little girl Karson, and eventually Drew and I want kids! It would be so fun if our kids could have grown up together like we did! I am so thankful for our relationship!

Sarah-

Thank you for being the "cool older cousin" in my life! You are incredibly beautiful and kind! I loved growing up with you! I always had so much fun when we played together! I think you are such a great mom and Karson is a very blessed little girl to have you and John as parents! I wish Drew and I lived closer so we could all hang out together! I love you all and hope to see you soon! If you ever want to come up to Carbondale, (although I don't quite know what the tourist attraction would be since Conway is bigger and more exciting) you are more than welcome in our home!! We love company!

Love you!

Mary Beth

This is Sarah and Karson! Beautiful Girls! 

Day 29: Cheyanne Lent

You want some encouragement? Go to this girl Cheyanne Lent.

Cheyanne is the most encouraging, uplifting, sweet, joyful person I have ever met in my entire life. Truthfully, not one of those adjectives describing her is exaggerated. She is by far one of the nicest people on the earth.

I met Cheyanne during my freshman first semester. She lived in the same hall as me and was one of the only girls who was actually friendly to my roommates and me. She went out of her way to stop by and say hello. She always goes a step beyond people's expectations. I don't know how she does it. Well, actually I do. She gets her joy from the Lord which is incredibly evident in her life.

Cheyanne actually went to high school with Drew. When I found this out, (before Drew and I were dating) I began drilling Cheyanne on "high school Drew". I wanted details!

Cheyanne is an inspiration to me. She is open and honest about her struggles in life, yet she charges at them full steam ahead! She is a motivational diva. She has a blog where she writes about body image, her goals, plans for the future, etc, and I LOVE READING IT. She motivates me to get healthier and get into better shape. I wish we lived closer because I would ask her to be my workout buddy. If you are interested in reading her blog (if you are a girl and have ever struggled with body image YOU SHOULD) it is: http://therealcheyanne.blogspot.com She is so real and a great writer.

Cheyanne and I were never really very close, but she has impacted my life. I think of her often! She is a role model and an inspiration to me!

Cheyanne-

Girl thank you for being YOU!! You are beautiful and your life is a testament to God's goodness. You are an inspiration to me in so many ways. I think you are one of the strongest women out there! You are a blessing to so many and I can't wait to see your success in life! Keep writing! Keep claiming God's Truth, keep being you! I am so glad I met you and got to know you even if on a surface level. I appreciate you! Thanks for your influence in my life and in the world!! YOU ROCK SISTER!

Sincerely,

Mary Beth

Yes, this is a picture of Chey and Tim Tebow. I love it! 

Day 28: Marianne Haaland

Marianne is the coolest Norwegian friend I have! Technically, she is the only Norwegian friend I have, but that does not cancel her coolness. She is lovely, talented, kind, and so dear to me.

We met in our theatre class in college. She was intriguing to me! Blonde, beautiful, young, married, and Norwegian. I wanted to know about her. Who was she? Who was her husband? How long had she lived in America? Eventually she and I became great friends and I got all of the questions answered!

I love Marianne. Drew and I have had some amazing double-dates with she and her hubby Christen. We have such a blast with them!! We love to play board games with the Haalands. Normally Christen dominates at Monopoly, but I try really hard not to hold that against them!

Marianne is an aspiring actress. Well, not really aspiring, she is an actress. She has been in tons of Florida productions, even a show that toured and played at the Hard Rock called Girl's Night! It was always such a blast going to see her shows! She is truly talented and I can't wait to say "I knew her when...." someday when she is rich and famous! (Remember me when you are rich and famous and take me on luxurious vacations with you, okay?).

I love hanging out with Marianne. Often we would get together and go see a movie or go shopping. We love having our girl talk and she was so helpful to me with all my "pre-wedding" questions since she was married. I miss this girl so very much!

Marianne also has a huge heart and a broad worldview. She has lived in many different countries including, Madagascar, Norway, England, and America and it has made her very culturally aware. She loves the Lord and is committed to glorifying Him through all of her actions. I think it is so beneficial for Christians to have cultural knowledge. So many Americans are not educated in the way that Marianne is. I try to learn what I can from her about other countries and their perspectives. It is important that we acknowledge others. It is so easy for us Americans to only think of our own country. That is one of the biggest lessons Marianne has taught me.

Marianne,

I MISS YOU SO MUCH!!! We need to have a phone date very soon! I wish I could have seen Project Christmas! I always loved watching you in that. I miss seeing you frequently and wish so badly we lived just down the street from each other! Or even in the same town! Thank you for everything you have taught me! Thank you for all of the prayers you have prayed for me. Thank you for being my friend. I appreciate your friendship so much! I love you and I miss you terribly!

MB