Dear Alexa,
You’re 19 years old today and it’s officially your LAST year of being a teenager! As scary as that may seem… I promise not being a teenager anymore is actually pretty fun!! People start to take you more seriously, you’re much wiser than you used to be, and you get to start to daydream about how you’re going to decorate your house, what your first pet is going to be, and what your dream job looks like!!! All these things start to feel so much more real when you enter your 20’s… which is now only a year away! AH!! I’m so glad you had such an amazing freshman year of college, and you’re gonig to be so ready and prepared for success in your sophomore year this Fall. I loved getting to visit you at Bethel this past year and see your new life you’ve started in Indiana. Somedays I can’t believe you lived that far away for NINE months! I still think I hear you shutting your closet doors in the next room as I’m lying in bed some nights… that will be real again when you come back home next week!! I hope you love these pictures I got to take of you over your Easter break… nothing beats having those open Indiana country fields as a backdrop! And with the presentation of these images… here’s 19 things I LOVE about you…! :)
1) Your pretty, shiny blonde hair… mom always said you had the healthiest hair of all of us!
2) Your interest in playing board games over going shopping. We always had that in common. I can’t wait to spend hours playing Nightmare Before Christmas Monopoly, UNO! Attack, and Fluxx!!!
3) Your commitment to excellence in everything you do! From your schoolwork to personal projects… everything is 110%. I need more of that in my life!
4) Your GENIUS brain and how I can always turn to you if I want to have an intellectually stimulating conversation… ;)
5) That being said… I also love your lack of common sense. Okay, maybe I only love that sometimes.
6) Your heart for missions! We need to go on a missions trip together one of these days… I love hearing your stories about Guatamala!
7) Your ability to make new friends. You are so much more outgoing than me when it comes to meeting new people!!!
8) Your bubbly personality! Nothing more needs to be said!
9) Your silly sense of humor… and your corny jokes. And the Buzzfeed articles I can pretty much count on you sending me on a daily basis.
10) Your gullibleness (-Justin)
11) Your morals and values and integrity. Not many people are like you!
12) Your sense of adventure. I may not be able to drag you on a nature hike, but I can always count on you planning a random day trip to somewhere we’ve never been!
13) Your ability to PLAN!!! As a fellow planner… I love that you can see things the way I do!
14) The way you are always, always up to date on current events. I actually find things out from you first before any other reliable news source.
15) Your attention to detail and your perfectionist tendencies. Again… we are so alike in this! Haha
16) Your love for sports! Even though you’re a Cowboys fan… ;)
17) Your quickness to forgive others and make things right!
18) Your love for theology, the Bible, anything and everything Christian studies. We need to do a study together one of these days.
19) Your SUPPORT!!!! You’ve always believed I’m the best photographer, the best student, the best job candidate… you believing in me is an AMAZING thing to have every day of my life!
Happy Birthday, Alexa!!! I hope you have an awesome “surprise” birthday celebration tonight, and I can’t wait to play Monopoly on Sunday when you get home for the summer!!! :)
Megan, that was beautiful and of course you nailed those awesome qualities about your sister that I love and miss. Happy Birthday Alexa.
You are a wonderful women and I am proud that you were a part of my life and God allowed our paths to cross. You have never changed besides gotten better and stronger and smarter if that is possible. Keep on being you. God has big plans for you.
Sweet words!! :)