Lily, the red/blonde color beagle mixed breed is well, we don’t know how old.  Our guess is around 12-14 years old.  She was rescued by my sister from the humane society, where we later adopted her.  She loves to be petted, and give high fives.  You’ll have a friend for life if you just scratch her head!

Maggie, our black lab is the crazy one.  She has so much energy it’s crazy.  Believe it or not we found her at a garage sale, for $35 we found this adorable little cute puppy who is just by big baby.  She loves crawling up on our laps to snuggle and loves to swim.

Though we really don’t know when their birthdays are, we guessed. And since we have the kids this year, thought it would be fun to do a little birthday celebration for them!

Though I couldn’t make the “cake” I wanted because of time, I quickly threw together some mini cupcakes in the shape of…well a sort of looking dog bone. I also picked up some gourmet puppy cookies too, and made some tent cards, sign, printed some photos, and picked up a couple purple dog dishes at the $1 store.  I cut the placemats out of rubber placemats (also from the $1 store), and decorated with various dog treats too.

I also found the cutest little out fit for Maggie, however couldn’t find anything for Lily in her size (so she wore a kerchief).

Here’s their party – let us know what you think!

What can I tell you, that you don’t already think that you know?  Because you obviously know everything don’t you?

But dear Crystal, you have so much to learn…

About life.

About relationships.

About patience.

About loyalty.

About responsibility.

About faith.

About love.

About family.

And there is so much I wish I could tell you to help prepare you to be a better person as you grow up.

I know high school wasn’t all it was cracked up to be, you went to a small school, and never felt like you felt like you fit in, you were more of a loner, emotional, and wore your heart on your sleeve.  It wasn’t until you went to the career center where you actually opened up, and started to be who you really were.  But at 16 it was hard, you were depressed, and you thought the world was all it was, and just about gave up on everything.

You wanted to fit in, but were scared, you wanted to have friends, but whenever anyone tried, you pushed them away….I know how the kids were growing up, and they were mean, and some even took advantage of you.  I know it was hard on you, but I promise it will get better.

Some things I’d like you to know…

1)   Don’t worry what other’s think.

2)   Say thank you to your teachers daily.

3)   Call your grandparents more and ask more about their history.

4)   Let people in…take a chance.

5)   Convince your parents more to let you play sports, you love basketball and were actually pretty good.

6)   Join drama and choir, you love to sing, and loved acting.

7)   Don’t be afraid to take risks, wallflowers rarely get noticed.

8)   Volunteer

9)   Don’t be afraid to dance, everyone looks silly anyway

10)  Ask your dad to teach you how to play guitar

11)   Draw more, you’re a pretty good artist.

12)   Takes risks, try new things, you only live once.

Stop worrying…You worry too much, especially about people, what they think about you, about money and the future!  I wish I could tell you that this would change as you get older, but it doesn’t.

You’ll remember a lot of things from your high school years that were good too, you’ll remember some school dances you went to, football/basketball games, and once you move on to Junior/Senior year, you’ll get to go to San Antonio because a design you did won, you’ll join organizations like Student Council, SAVE, and BPA.  You’ll learn of your love for Graphic Design, and had a teacher help you enter competitions which you later won, and found a new passion.  And you’ll have friends that you can trust.

I want you to know that you’ll never go to college, which at the time was devastating because of financial reasons, however you moved forward and built a strong business and taught yourself everything you know.

Sometimes I wonder how different things would have been for you, if you had known then what you know now.

If only you had known that you would meet the man of your dreams when you least expected it and in a very unexpected fashion, and he would be nothing like you had imagined him to be, but he was more then you could ever hope for, I promise.

I want you to know that you are beautiful, funny, creative, and a genuinely good person and friend.  You’ll hear a lot of things in your life that other’s wanted to tag you as or stereotype you as, but don’t worry, you’ll prove every one of them wrong!

And all I want for you is to be happy, so I guess the best advice is I can give you is, Be YOU, the best version of YOU even in the face of criticism, because not everyone will support you, and that’s just fine.

With love,

32 year old Crystal

P.S.  Just wait until you have the opportunity to meet your *new* son and daughter, and hear their laugh, and the first time they called you “mommy”.  They may not have been born in your tummy, but they were born in your heart, and it’s the most amazing feeling in the world.

We helped design a logo for their event.