tonight is about sharing

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enthusiasm is excitement with inspiration, motivation and a pinch of creativity.- bo bennett

i had another blog post planned for tonight (actually for the past few days) but oh well. tonight has become about sharing inspiration and gratitude.

i met up with kelley, from kelley photo, for dinner tonight. and although we never actually had dinner, we had the most amazing time. we shared. we laughed. and while we're both photographers, most of our conversation was not about photography--but rather life and inspiration--which was refreshing and wonderful. she's refreshing and wonderful!!

one of the things that i shared with kelley was maggie doyne's blog. yes, again. i know. and well, i don't care because the world should know about maggie. as i shared maggie's story with kelley, we both got chills because maggie is an inspiration to all, young and old! if you haven't looked at maggie's blog yet...just look. you'll be hooked!

and nie nie. i actually think i learned of nie nie dialogues last year, in the airport, on my way home from hawaii, visiting steve...the same time i so sadly learned about max's passing. i had always felt that everyone must have heard about stephanie and been to her blog and therefore, i hadn't posted about her in the past. but today, boho girl shared about nie nie and i just wanted to share too. some words that immediately come to mind when i think about stephanie--beautiful, courageous, inspiring, strong, incredible, loving, and selfless. she is a true survivor, in every sense of the word, with the most unwavering faith. if you haven't heard stephanie's story and/or read her nie nie dialogues, you must go look. you will be inspired beyond words by her (and her family's) beauty and strength. truly and deeply. to the core!

lastly, i wanted to post about something personal, as a result of visiting tara's blog today. tara posted photos that she recently took of three friends--three friends, who met in nursing school 20 years ago and got together recently to celebrate one of them turning 40. i couldn't help but think about where i am today and who i'm here with.

my friend, gwenn, and i were air force nurses together in tucson, AZ, 10 years ago. she left in 1999, to become an AF air traffic controller. i stayed in tucson, to finish nursing grad school. i later got re-married to a navy guy (my wonderful husband, steve) and got out of the AF. gwenn married an AF guy and got out of the AF. having husbands in different services, doing way different jobs (gwenn's husband fly's A-10s and steve takes apart bombs), we knew the chances of us ever being stationed together were one in a million. well...here we are. our husbands both got assigned to fort leavenworth's general command and staff college (a one-year army school). i mean seriously...what are the chances?! and...while here, i'll be turning 40. so it's a year to celebrate. a year to cherish. a year stationed with one of my best friends, who i never thought i'd be stationed with and will most likely never again. a year of incredible family time. a year of celebrating the beauty of turning 40. i'm here for a reason, for sure.

love ya gwenni!