She Left the Nest

This entry is dedicated to yet another amazing, young woman of God. TRISHA! And the disclaimer is that I got most of these pictures from her FB. :-)  If you want to read other posts dedicated to some of the other women that I love, you can go here or here.

I first met Trisha when we returned from Mexico in March 2009. My husband & I usually sat in front of her and her parents at church.  She was also in our youth group, so we began to develop a relationship.

When we first met she looked like this.

Then shortly after that she looked like this.

I don't know of a better person that could pull that hairstyle off!  She looked fabulous!

She was in the room when the nurse told me it was time to push my last baby out.  She didn't stay in there but she came back in shortly after he was born.  She was one of the few that held our sweet surprise!

Our daughter thinks she is so beautiful & loves hanging out with her!

I wasn't able to attend her graduation but my husband did.  He had 2 different graduations at the exact same time.  He went to one and watched the student walk.  Then he rushed to Trisha's.  He got there just in time to see her before she walked up on stage.  It was a precious moment!

She has spent many nights at our house.  She has watched our kids.  She's eaten plenty of Chef Boyardee ravioli out of our pantry.  She's asked tough questions.  She's been a source of joy and encouragement!

She might kill me for this pic but it's one of my faves!

She had an idea about a year ago to spend time with the middle school girls.  She gave them a "What Not to Wear" lesson.  She also talked to them about how to speak to adults, how to handle yourself in public, and many other things that girls would typically learn from an older sister.  She even did a makeover in my kitchen.  It was such a fun weekend and it was all her doing!

And now?  She's gone.  Not forever.  Not too far away.  She took a huge step of faith and went to the 24/7 internship in Birmingham.  She's only been there 3 weeks and her life has changed immensely.  I also miss her immensely.

She is going to grow up and change by leaps & bounds over these next 9 months.  She is another young woman that I am privileged to know.  I am so blessed to have her in my life.  If you know teenagers, then you know that finding a teenager that wants to live an honest & respectful life is difficult.  She's one of them.  She has fought against the odds of the stereotypes of her generation and has risen above.

I love her and miss her so much!  We will hopefully see her soon.

For her farewell dinner we took her to P.F. Changs & had dessert at the Cheesecake Factory! :-)