ashley

saturday's post belongs to my friend ashley!  i met ashley in my raleigh small group, and today i am so thankful i did.  she is one of the sweetest, caring, and thoughtful people i know.  i remember the sweet, sweet cards i got from her (and still do for my birthday) when i first moved to charlotte.  it was so nice to receive cards or calls from friends, as i didn't know a lot of people when i first moved here.  ashley is also lots of fun and makes me laugh.  we recently went on a food tour of downtown durham for our friend kaleena's bachelorette party, and seriously, i haven't laughed as much as i did with her and heather in a long time.  ashley is a great friend, and i am so thankful that i met her in my old group.  love ya girl.

natalie

(should have been on friday) today i am thankful for my friend natalie.  we have been friends since 3rd grade, when she moved to lincolnton and her dad became the pastor of our church.  we have had some great memories over the years, and lots of great pictures from the awkward years that neither of us probably want to surface:)  natalie's dad moved their family from lincolnton to charlotte when we were in the 10th grade, it was such a sad day for all of us, but we have remained friends over the years.  natalie and her husband trent live in concord, so sometimes it is nice that we can get together for lunch or dinner.  she just had a baby, well he is actually a year old now, which has been exciting.  natalie is a great friend who is there for me when i need her and i have lots of fun with her.  thankful for my friend, natalie today:)

love to TTEAM, but especially tracey

so, this next post belongs to a very special woman in my life.  i met tracey the summer after my junior year of college.  i responded to an add in The Daily Tar Heel for babysitting, and what a blessing that has been in my life.  at the time, she has two boys, who were quite possibly the cutest two boys on the planet.  i started watching her boys (aidan and matthew) and fell in love with their family.  a year or two after that, they added to their family with a precious little girl, ellie.  i watched ellie from the time she was six weeks old.  aidan was always very helpful, being the oldest!  matthew stole my heart from the minute i met him.  he always wanted me to read books and lay with him until he fell asleep.  as he got older, he would laugh at me when i read pokemon books, as i always mispronounced the characters and words, haha. clearly i didn't study up on poke balls before heading to their house.  when i go visit now, he still brings it up and laughs.  oh how i love that kid.  ellie is so great.  i loved watching her as a baby and watching her grow up. 


okay, i got side-tracked talking about tracey's great kids, but i was going to talk about how thankful i am for tracey.  even though i do not live in raleigh anymore, we have stayed close.  she has always been so supportive, encouraging, and kept in touch with me no matter how busy life can be.  she works part time and has three young kids.  i travel like crazy for my job and don't always get to see them at every raleigh visit, but we have still stayed in touch and for that i am so thankful.  when i decided to go on my mission trip to Haiti, i couldn't wait to tell tracey and her husband tom.  i knew they would be completely supportive.  they sent me emails and texts about my trip, and i am not sure that i could ever tell them how much it means to me. 


today i am thankful for tracey and their whole family.  when i lived in raleigh, they were like family to me, as i was away from mine.  now, they are still like family to me, and i am so glad they are a part of my life.  love you, TTEAM!!!!

logan, my carolina girl

this next post belongs to logan:)  i met her one night at christine's and it is just a small world.  she is from shelby, and knows my college roommate holly and one of my other roommates over a summer, jay chitty (his sister hayley chitty is logan's best friend).  lastly, we both went to carolina and were there at the same time; however, she did graduate a few years before me.  all the ways logan and i should have known each other, was funny, but this was the first time i was meeting her, in charlotte:)  obviously, i loved that she was as big of a carolina fan as me.  also, i find it comforting when i meet someone from a small town, don't know why, but maybe it just makes me feel like there are more people like me:)  i know i am silly.  logan is a great friend, has a big heart, and i am thankful that i met her 2 years ago when i moved here.  in those two years, she has gotten married, and is about to have her first baby:)  we can't wait to meet emma gray in a little over 5-6 weeks:)  love ya girl.

christine's turn

this next post belongs to christine.  should have been on tuesday.  i met christine shortly after meeting kasey, as she goes to forest hill and was in kasey's lifegroup.  christine immediately welcomed me into a large group of people and made me feel as though i had known people for years.  being new to a city, she made meeting new people so easy, which i really appreciated.  christine and i are very similar in that we are big planners, very organized, and like to do things for others:)  christine got married last year, and her mom even made me a purple dress, so thoughtful that they made me a dress in my favorite color:)  i was glad to help out on her special day.  christine is a good friend and i am glad to have her in my life.  love ya girl!

kaleena, this post is for you:)

monday's post belongs to kaleena!  sorry this is late, but better late than never.  i met kaleena through candice in my small group in raleigh.  kaleena is such a caring friend; we instantly clicked and have been great friends since.  i've always said and remembered michael w. smith's words from his song "friends,"  friends are friends forever if the Lord's a Lord of them.  if God is in the center of your friendships, they are definitely meaningful:)  not to say others aren't, but you know that God orchestrated you to be friends with this particular person.  this is how i feel about all of my friends in my old small group (heather, ashley, candice, and kaleena.)   there isn't a topic in the world that you could bring up that kaleena doesn't know somtehing about.  it is actually quite entertaining, haha.  kaleena also talks more than me, which is a huge feat, but these are two of the reasons we love her more.  she is a school teacher, and a great one at that.  she calls and prays for me often, which i sincerely appreciate.  today, i am thankful that even though she has a LOT on her plate being a newlywed and so busy in her job that we are still close.  love you girl!

sure thing or cheryl

sunday's post belongs to my friend cheryl.  i met her one random night shortly after moving to charlotte, she had just returned from a trip to vegas for her 30th and was giving out hugs and saying hello and hugged me (never meeting me before),  i kind of turned around and was like, oh hey i am kelsey.  ever since then we have been friends, what an ice breaker!  cheryl is very thoughtful, makes everyone laugh, and has a great personality.  there isn't much she won't say; even runs her mouth like nothing i have ever heard about my heels, but i let it slide.  cheryl also is one of my only friends that braved black friday with me a few years ago, well we dragged whit with us (note to self:  she doesn't handle crowds well).  cheryl and i loved it and made it a whole day, this is probably one of my favorite memories with cheryl.  unfortunately, whit got the nickname of angry elf after that, but cheryl and i are now sugar and spice.  i've enjoyed getting to know cheryl over the past two years or so; she has such a big heart.  cheryl is now in my group at new charlotte, and i am so glad.  i have really enjoyed having her in the group and getting to spend more time with her.