Happy Birthday To You.

Oh fancy meeting you here. Well, this feels weird - kind of awkward too if I'm being honest. This is the first few minutes of coffee with a long lost friend or starting up on a bicycle after a bad fall months ago. I haven't posted in almost two whole years and while life hasn't stopped since then, the blogging unfortunately has.

So hi, this is (still) me, Natalie. I started this blog to share the wonders of the world I was blessed enough to see while studying abroad in Bologna, Italy for ten months between 2011 and 2012. I think writing it out helped me see the good in all I was doing/seeing, which is a great attitude check. Much to my mother's dismay, I lost this form of expression and a little perspective along with it. Oh! Speak of the devil, happy birthday, Mom. If you hadn't already guessed, this one is for you. I hope this gets me back into the groove we both miss.

I'd like to take on that hundred days of happiness challenge or whatever it is that's #trendy, but do we all honestly have 100 happy days in a row? Probably not, but I'm sure we can find goodness in each of them. Let's try for that.

Day One: I'm happy for the birthday girls.
July 17th is probably the weirdest day of my year as it is a birthday shared by two people who are very important to me.

My dearly missed, sweet friend Brienna who has passed on since 2010. She would have been twenty years young today but in her absence I try to honor the bubbly laugh and shining life she had. I miss her immensely but feel her close when the sun shines extra bright or a dime is in my pocket.

My principal, life coach, mother, etc to whom I owe any ounce of goodness in me as a result of your guidance. You keep a full daycare, house and heart with more grace and courage than I could ever muster up. You are my hero for more than just that one time you pulled over on a main street to search for the ring I idiotically dropped out the window of a moving car. You gave me an education that stretched further than just my academics, but also influencing me in every other part of life. You parented me to know the good road and to know better even when I didn't follow it. I love her forever and like her for always because as long as I'm living my mommy she'll be. Cheers to 50 years!

Today I celebrate two ladies who have each taught me the value and virtue of life in their own ways. I can think of a hundred reasons why just this alone makes me happy.