Shout-outs Part 6: Last But Not Least

OK, I've been awful at getting this series wrapped up! I'd understand if no one wanted to read my blog anymore because I never make time to post and I've neglected to finish my shout-outs!

Angela is over at The Diffee Family and she is my sister-in-law. She is my husband's sister. When we first met, we didn't really like each other very much. She felt like I was taking her brother away from her and I was intimidated and annoyed because I didn't understand why she couldn't just get over it and accept it. Thankfully we grew up and became friends! :)

I spent one Christmas with Raymond and his family while we were dating, that was also the trip that he proposed. Here's Angela opening her gifts.

A year later, Angela was one of my bridesmaids in my wedding. Here she with her mom, dad, and brother Joe.And yes, I know the bridesmaid dresses were not that great, but I was asked by one of my sisters to pick something with sleeves and my choices were limited. I also paid for the dresses so I don't think anyone can complain! ;)

We have a great family, we all get along, we see each other often, and we've added many members over the years. I really love seeing God bless us with spouses and babies.

It has been really special to live close by and be able to visit each other in the hospital after we had babies.

Angela holding Jonah at the hospital. Don't ask me why there is blue marker on the wall...
I really wish I had a picture of her with Nathan but she specifically said no one was allowed to take pictures of her when she came to see Nathan at the hospital. It was "80's Day" at her work and she was dressed to the nines! It would be funny to have that picture. ;)

Angela is married and has a little eighteen month old boy named Peyton and she is expecting a little brother named Cohen for him in July! We have a lot of boys in our family and it is awesome to see them all together having a great time. When I was growing up, we never lived near family, so I never really got to know extended family members. It is very special to me that my boys have cousins, aunts, uncles, and grandparents so close by!

Angela just graduated with her bachelor's and she is now working on her master's. We went to her graduation ceremony just a couple of weeks ago and we were so proud to see her achieve her goal and walk across the stage with her diploma! She has worked so hard to finish her schooling, and when she puts her mind to something, she will not stop until she accomplishes it. I don't know how she finds the time to go to school, work full time, and be a wife and mom! I don't envy her busy life but I know she is happy and fulfilled. It has been so great to watch how God has blessed her and her family!

Angela has a very bubbly and outgoing personality and she can talk to anyone about anything. I wish I had her confidence! I've gotten to meet a couple of people in the blog world through her because she knows just about everyone. :)

We've gotten closer over the years and I'm glad to call her my sister-in-law and friend!

Jacqueline has her blog at The Pearce Family. I met her through Angela and other friends of mine who grew up with her. She is a sweet girl. I don't know her nearly as well as I would like to, but I know she is a great wife and mom and friend. Jacqueline and her husband decided to move to Idaho around two years ago and it was hard to see them go. She has two little girls and a new baby boy! She is always really fun to be around. I wish she'd blog more often. *hint, hint!* ;)

We got to go to several girls' nights and she'd put anyone to ease with her easygoing and friendly manner. I wish she could still come to those! We all miss having her here!

The farewell party we had for her before she moved away. Jacqueline is the one in the very middle. I'd say she is wearing a black shirt, but uh, yeah, almost everyone is! Ha ha!

And finally, to end my shout-outs, we come to Cheri and her blog at Welcome to Our Little Patch of Heaven. I've been driving her crazy with these shout-outs taking so long because she's been anxious to read what I have to say about her. Well, it's all terrible stuff so I'm not sure why she wanted me to write about her. ;)

Cheri and I met at church. We are both pretty shy and quiet, with new people, that is, so it took us a long time to warm up to each other. I got pregnant shortly after I got married and I was just sure she thought I was stupid and too young to be having a baby. I had gotten that feeling from a few people, who knows now if it was true or me just being insecure! I thought people were looking at me like, "don't you know how you get pregnant? There's this thing called birth control..." Anyway, Cheri also became pregnant with her second child a few months later. After we had babies I remember we'd be in the cry room at the back of the church, nursing our babies, and hardly saying anything to each other! I honestly thought she had too many close friends at church (because apparently in my mind there is such a thing as having too many friends!) and that she wasn't interested in really being more than acquaintances with me. She was friendly, sure, but neither of us went out of our way to get to know each other.

Then after my second child was born, I decided to start a playgroup with some other friends and I mentioned it to Cheri. We were thrown together to teach our own children during Sunday School and I was feeling more comfortable with her. I was sure she wouldn't be interested but I thought it wouldn't hurt to let her know about it. She thought it was a great idea and was very interested. Oh, I was wrong, I thought. Hmm, maybe I shouldn't be so quick to judge!

After that, we quickly became fast friends. I saw her outside of church regularly and we got to know each other better. We live only 3 miles away from each other! Now I consider her one of my best friends. I'm always calling her and leaving long, convoluted messages on her machine that her husband can't decipher, or texting her all day long. Our families have grown really close and are thrown together frequently. I am so blessed by her friendship! She is such a godly example to me, in so many respects. I heart her. If Cheri is doing something, you can almost bet I want to follow her and do whatever it is she is doing! I love to copy her. :)

We are going to be homeschooling mamas together and I can't wait! It's so fun to know I have good friends that will be doing it with me, not only Cheri, but other special friends as well.

Cheri is just such a sweet spirit and her love for the Lord is crystal clear. I wish I could be her one and only friend just so I could have her all to myself. ;) I'm greedy like that. We can commiserate with each other because we are both December babies, although hers is much worse because her birthday falls on Christmas! We get how hard it is to celebrate our birthday. I feel like Cheri is the big sister I always wanted to have, but not only is she like a sister, but a very, very good friend.

The only problem I have is that I do not have a single picture of her!! I know she's probably glad right now, but this must be remedied soon! Let's do a girls' night out and have everyone dress up and get pretty so we can take pictures of ourselves, pictures we could post online without embarrassment because we look so cute in them! Hee hee.

This concludes the shout-outs!! I hope you've enjoyed reading about my friends and getting to know the people on my blog roll. Now that the shout-outs are done, I need to update my blog roll and add some more blogs! But sorry, there will not be shout-outs for any new additions, at least not right now.

I love each and every one of you dear readers. Thanks for visiting my blog and sharing in my life! I appreciate every little comment you leave.