**This Valentines Day was spent away from my day one valentine. Here is something I wrote on the bus on the way to Ecuador (Feb. 7th) thinking about my funny valentine. We always get each other a “card” (mom hates actual cards so they look different from year to year) and do something sweet. So this year, this is all I could think about for the holiday coming up. Be sure to take a second DAILY and remind those who you love that you love them. There is nothing more important than relationships.**
Dear Mom,
Thank you for all of the movie nights out- because you know how much I love movies. Also the concerts, plays, musicals, comedians, and other random things we’ve enjoyed together. It makes my heart so happy knowing you simply just love spending time with me, just like I do with you!
Thank you for letting me listen to my music in the car. I’ll always choose songs I think you’d like.
Thank you for teaching me the value in thrift shopping. Nothing is worth paying full price if you can avoid it, and it’s much more fun if there is a story behind the find anyway.
Thank you for being at every major event, and even attending the ones I didn’t think you needed to be at.
Thank you for pushing me to join honor societies, apply myself, get scholarships, and work hard in life..but still reminding me that relationships are more important and are worth it more than all the other “honor and glory” bringing things.
Thank you for showing me responsibility in life, teaching me to not buy unless you have the money, to save not spend, and to be generous with what you’ve saved.
Thank you for holding me all the nights I cried over friends not choosing me, dumb boys, or even mistakes I made. Thank you for loving me through all of them.
(lol me crying over a boy for sure)
Thank you for teaching me to be myself and have fun, even when I didn’t really know who Nikki was. You are a wonderful picture of what it’s liKe to live life through a silly, childlike, and amazing lens. You help me capture the “wonder” of the Lord.
Thank you for taking my pictures whenever you get the chance, though they aren’t always amazing, as you say. I’m glad you know how important it is to look at me;) (LOL JK FOR ALL THOSE WHO THINK I AM SERIOUS)
Thank you for trying your hardest to make me into a desirable, ladylike woman…but loving me anyway when I still eat like a football player before the big game. And thank you for reminding me that I don’t actually need to change because someone will come along one day and have more fun and deep love because of my weirdness.
Thank you for showering me with things I didn’t need. For always giving me clothes, food, accessories, toys (even at 21 years old), and anything I desired just because.
Thank you for pushing my sisters and I to get along, as my relationships with them have been some of my favorites to date. I will always love that you push for our family to be unified, even in times where it seems there may be division.
Thank you for being such a solid example as a woman and for desiring more in life. You remember that God promised more and you live out seeking the Lord in all the moves you make.
And thank you, mom. For always believing in me and my dreams. From plans of joining the circus, to realizing I was too weak to trapeze. From playing basketball for 10 years, to quitting for music. From pursuing music, to wanting to join the Air Force. For never once questioning my call to ministry/worship and changing plans senior year in high school. From attending college 3 hours away, changing majors..and again. From breakups and wrong decisions, to building me back up. From recitals to awards to multiple jobs away from home. From research being presented and recognized to me being a couch potato. Even when it meant moving across the world for a year, you always entrusted me to the Lord and supported every wild decision.
It’s because of you and people like you that I can push on and remember “I am where I am meant to be”. Thank you, mom. I’ll never thank you enough.
All my love.
