Jared's Birthday

Today is the hub's 28th birthday and it's a Thursday, which makes this the perfect opportunity for me to post throwback photos of him. Yay!

Always, with the animals.  

 Sorry to drag you into this one too, Erika, but I just couldn't resist. 

Jared was blonde, I was blonde...will Baby Roche be blonde when she makes her arrival? 

Phi Mu formal like 7 years ago...we look so young. 

Happy Birthday to my awesome husband and daddy to our baby girl. We love you so much!

Ava's 1st Birthday

We spent this past weekend in Ft. Lauderdale celebrating our friends, The McGuires, and their daughter Ava! Her birthday was on Saturday, November 2nd which also happened to be the day of the FSU vs. Miami football game, so of course we had to celebrate with a gameday brunch in her honor.

Before the party started, I was given the last minute task of "sprucing up" the bar stool that was going to be used as Ava's birthday chair. A little tulle and about 10 minutes later...Ava was ready to party from her birthday throne.

We had so much fun celebrating Miss Ava's first birthday with her!

After the birthday brunch, we geared up for an exciting afternoon of college football. We watched the FSU vs. Miami game that night at a local FSU sports bar free from Miami fans (which is hard to come by in South Florida). The game was fantastic! A great victory (41-14) for the Seminoles over one of our most hated rivals. FSU is now currently ranked #2 in the county and continuing on their undefeated winning streak for the season!  

Go Noles!

Weekend Recap

I must say, we had a very nice weekend here in the Roche household. We got to celebrate my fabulous mama's birthday and my best friend got engaged! Congratulations Casey and Tom!!! Happy Birthday Mommy!

Aside from all that celebrating, we also participated in the community walk for suicide prevention called Out of the Darkness. We formed a team in memory of my dad and we all walked the 3 mile route through Downtown Jacksonville together. I was thrilled to have so many different people supporting us on our team, family, friends, our church small group, and Phi Mu sisters, it was amazing. So many of our other friends and family sponsored our team with a donation if they couldn't be at the walk with us. Our team raised almost $700!! Thank you so much to everyone who supported us in some way in this endeavor.

 Jared and I at the walk

 With our church small group, The FLOC

The family...even the bird dogs came along for the walk

Birthday Weekend

This is a very important weekend in the Adams-Roche family, as we are celebrating two special birthdays back to back. Today is my brother's birthday and tomorrow is my sister-in-law's birthday. I can't wait to celebrate all weekend with my amazing siblings!

Happy Birthday Chris and Erika!

I Drive Your Truck

We all grieve in different ways. I've been told that there is no wrong way to grieve, which is a good thing because I'm pretty sure that I'm probably as far away as possible from your textbook definition of the "grieving process".

Today marks the one year anniversary of my father's death. It also marks what would have been his 60th birthday. Today is also one of my dear childhood friends' birthdays as well as they day that Jared and I got engaged. Which for me, makes this day more about celebration than grief. My dad was always big about celebrating his birthday. He made sure that everyone knew when it was and always joked about what kind of extravaganza we were going to have for it. Therefore, July 20th has always been a day of celebration for my entire life. Which is why even though I now have another holiday to honor on this date every year, I am still going to celebrate. I will celebrate God bringing my dad into this world. I will celebrate God bringing my childhood friend into this world whom I never would have even known if it wasn't for my dad because he was friends with her mom in high school. I will celebrate God blessing my husband and I in marriage because my dad knew that even after he was gone that Jared would always take care of his little girl. The way I see it, today is a day for celebration and it always will be that way for me at least.

I choose not to reflect on or replay what happened on this day last year because then I just get into that whole could'a, should'a, would'a which is no good because I know that ultimately I just have to have faith in God's plan. There is nothing I or any other person could have done to change what happened on that day. While I dislike God's plan sometimes (y'all seriously have no idea how much I really dislike God's plan sometimes), I just have to have faith in what is to come. We all do.

Over the past year, I have not once visited my dad's grave site. The last time I was actually in that cemetery was on the day of his funeral. I know, go ahead and judge me. Remember, it's my grieving process so I get to do what I want. While this may seem weird or disrespectful, I have a good reason. Being there only reminds me of the bad things. It reminds me of having to plan the funeral. It reminds me of having to face all those people and have them feel sorry for me. That is not how I like to remember my dad. I don't feel his presence when I go to his grave, so I don't go there.

That is where the title of this post comes in. Thank you Lee Brice. If you have never heard this song before, I have the video posted at the bottom of this post. This song sums up exactly how I feel about my grieving process. When it first came out on the radio, I couldn't listen to it all the way through. Simply because sobbing hysterically while driving on I-95 just isn't safe. Yet, this song says it all. While I don't have access to my dad's truck, I have access to other things that make me feel exactly how I imagine the guy in this song feels. So rather than going to my dad's grave site, I drive around Jacksonville. I go into neighborhoods and drive past people's houses (trust me, not as creepy as it sounds). Over the course of 35 years, my dad built a lot of beautiful homes in this city. He put so much of himself, his heart and soul, into every custom home he built. So that is where I go, to those homes. That is where I feel him.

So instead of feeling sorry for me, do me a favor. Go out, celebrate your wonderful life and have a beer in Rocky's honor today :)

 

To My Little

Today is my Phi Mu little sister's birthday. She is turning 25 today which makes me feel old. I always wanted a real little sister when I was younger, but that never happened. So once I joined Phi Mu, the idea of getting my own "little sister" sounded perfect to me. We met on Bid Day by complete coincidence. One of my other sisters had rushed Elisa during recruitment week and thought that we would be a good match so I signed up to be her Bid Day buddy, we bonded instantly...and the rest is history.

Even though I already sent her a birthday card in the mail, a semi-embarrassing letter on the blog is always a fitting birthday gift :) Happy Birthday Elisa!

Dearest Little, 

I have always believed that we were destined to be big and little from the start. I was the responsible mom in our relationship and you were the carefree, wild child that I secretly lived through vicariously. Living down the hall from you for 2 years in the Phi Mu house were some of my favorite times together. Especially when you let me come raid your closet...not when you and Amber used to try and sneak boys and/or wine upstairs when I was President. I always loved being there for you when you needed me, even if all you needed was a ride home from Big Daddy's at 2am. I will never forgive you for making me go with you to Chubby's or Baja's. I think I am scarred for life. I will always cherish the many hours we spent together in the emergency room at Tallahassee Memorial when I had to come pick you up from TKE formal because you broke your foot. I really tried to teach you some valuable lessons over the years, like why one should not drink too many Skippy's from the Gatorade cooler, why Cheez-its are an essential food group or how to craft fabulous gifts for your own little. I hold so dear our fond memories of FSU Gamedays, Phi Mu events, nights out and just hanging out together in the house. Thank you for always being there when I needed you most. I couldn't imagine my wedding day without you up there next to me. Whether it's a holiday or just a time when you know that I need a pick me up, I love getting your little care packages in the mail. My Essie nail polish collection is amazing thanks to you. I could not be more proud to call you my little. In fact, I brag about you (and the rest of our awesome Phi Mu family) all the time. Thanks for being you and for always loving me in a way that only a sister could. Happy Birthday!

LIOB, Your Big Sister

Throwback Thursday

Only 364 more days until my birthday y'all! Actually, I think I'm getting to that age where it is no longer fun to countdown until your next birthday. I think I'll just stick with 26 for the next couple years. I know I only have one day under my belt, but my 26th year is pretty good so far. In case you haven't caught on yet, yesterday was my birthday. Therefore, today's Throwback Thursday photos are dedicated to birthdays. More importantly, my birthday.

Throwback Thursday: Happy Birthday to Me!

Well, that's an odd place to have a birthday party? No idea how/why I ended up in the bathtub. 

Birthday party at ShoBiz...aka: Chuck-e-Cheese before Chuck-e-Cheese existed

Pony rides in my front yard for my 4th birthday party

My 6th birthday party

Please notice how much taller I am than every other child my age in this photo 

(my brother doesn't count because he was like 10 at the time) 

Also...April birthday + pool in our backyard = pool party every year for a solid decade

Sweet Sixteen at my aunt and uncle's restaurant 

21st birthday at FSU...my waltz was 80's themed 

24th birthday at the FSU Spring Game in Tallahassee

It's My Birthday!

Today is my 26th birthday! I'm spending the day with my students at work, then going out to dinner later tonight with my family. Being a teacher usually makes for good birthdays because the kids always make a big deal out of birthdays, giving me adorable hand made cards and singing to me in the cafeteria. Even though I am now officially closer to 30 than 20, I've decided that 26 is still part of the "mid-twenties" category rather than "late-twenties". This past year was a pretty difficult one for me. Life threw a lot of unexpected challenges my way, but I feel like these experiences have only made me stronger. I am hopeful that 26 will be a much better year, full of wonderful blessings.

I feel like birthdays are always a good time to reflect on the past year and make some goals for the future. I have always been a "list-maker". I make lists about everything. I have a life-long bucket list, a list of things I want to do before I turn 30, a list of things I want to do this summer, etc. Why do I spend so much time making lists? Why do I always have to put things on a timeline? Why am I assigning events in my life an expiration date? What is going to happen if I don't accomplish everything on my bucket list? In my past 26 years, the most valuable thing I have learned is that I can make all the lists and timelines for my life that I want, but ultimately it's not up to me. There is some things in life that we have absolutely no control over. Things that we don't expect happen. Things that we want to happen don't always happen when we want them to. So you can spend all the time you want making a life-time plan, but when it comes down to it the ultimate agenda planner for your life is God. Things happen for a reason and they will happen when they are good and ready.

I was always one of those kids who liked to plan things out way into the future. Was I the only weirdo that had my entire life planned out by 11th grade? I had quite the plan. Graduate college by age ___, get married by age ___, have kid #1 by ___, have kid #2 by age ___, etc. However, I have discovered that things don't always go according to my plan and there's no reason for me to be upset by that. Holding my life up to these expectations is only going to lead to disappointment. God has a much better plan for me than I ever could have imagined for myself. Everything will happen when His time is right, so until then I just get to sit back and enjoy the ride. Rather than rush, rush, rush to get to the next item on my checklist, I should stop and enjoy the little moments that are happening right now.

So where did 11th grade me see myself at 26? I saw myself with a college degree, married, living in a house in Jacksonville, teaching elementary school, at least one kid of my own, and all my family living close together. Some of my plans worked out, others have not (or not yet at least), and I have experienced some things that majority of people can't imagine experiencing in their first 26 years of life.

I've got the college degree, marriage and living in a house in the Jacksonville area checked off the list. Right according to plan. However, I definitely thought that I would have at least one kid by now. I never would have imagined that my dad wouldn't be here with us any more. I always thought that I might end up being a teacher, but I never would have dreamed that I would be teaching middle school at an urban, low-income school. I mean, who seriously dreams of teaching middle school? Middle school is like the worst age ever, but gosh I love those bratty little pre-teens. I never in a million years would have dreamed that I would ever be Teacher of the Year at my school especially at such a young age.

Sometimes we tend to focus on the negative or inconvenient things in our life, and forget about all the blessings we have been given. I am so guilty of this. However, when I think back on all the amazing places I have traveled, the experiences I have had and the wonderful people in my life, I can feel nothing else but extremely blessed. So rather than worry about the things that aren't going my way, that I can't control, I'm going to let God do His job and just enjoy each day I'm given. Here's to the next 26 years!

I hope you all have a wonderful spring day and feel free to have a cocktail in my honor today :) The birthday festivities will be continuing on the blog tomorrow with some throwback photos. Get excited.

Best Eva Birthday

Today is my mother-in-law's birthday. For those of you who are new to the blog, you need to know that my mother-in-law and I do not have one of those typical "in-law" relationships. In fact, last week I spent a few day of my Spring Break just hanging out with her going on fun little adventures. For some of my friends, I know they would rather have a root-canal, then have to spend the day alone with their mother-in-law. Thankfully, I am was lucky enough to be blessed with an awesome mother-in-law who I love spending time with.

So my mother-in-law, Gina, likes to be pretty adventurous. She also refers to every holiday she spends with us as the "best eva"! For example, after returning from our trip to NYC for Christmas this year, she told me that this was the best Christmas ever! However, I'm pretty sure that last year she told us the same thing. I guess we just tend to out-do ourselves every year. So last week, when we spent time together it was the "best Spring Break eva!" and now, here is how she spent her "best birthday eva!".

This past Saturday, we took Gina to the St. Augustine Alligator Farm for her birthday. (Note: her actual birthday is today, but we like to celebrate early in this family) She moved to St. Augustine back in September and had been mentioning how she really wanted to "Zip the Zoo" ever since she moved up here. At the Alligator Farm, you can do this zip lining obstacle course that takes your out above the alligator habitat. This is what she told us she wanted to do for her birthday. Typical for your average 50-something year old, right? Or not...told you she was adventurous.

So off we went to the Alligator Farm on Saturday afternoon. First, we walked around the park checking out the various exhibits.

Then, we went to visit our little gator friends that they would soon be zip lining over. 

Finally, it was time to "Zip the Zoo". Jared, his sister, Erika, and Gina got all geared up and ready to zip. I did not partake in the zip lining, but instead served as the official photographer on the ground. You know me, I have to document everything.

The zip line obstacle course takes you all throughout the park and up above the animal habitats. So as they completed the course, I followed them around from the ground and took pictures.

Please notice how my mother-in-law is always posing for me in the pictures instead of focusing on the fact that she is zip lining over a pit of alligators. I love it :)

The park technically closed before they were finished with the obstacle course, but they let me stay inside since I was taking pictures. I was literally the last person in the park, so while I was waiting for them to finish, I wandered around the park all alone. Just me and the gators. It was super cool.

They all managed to survive zipping the zoo!

And for Gina it was the "best birthday eva!"...that is of course, until next year :)

Happy Birthday Gina!