For those of you who follow me on Facebook, you surely witnessed the greatest highlight of my week- Meeting my dearest most beloved blog friend of all time! Lizzi from Considerings, has made her way across the pond to set out on the adventure of her lifetime, meeting many loves she has connected with over the years on the World Wide Web. I was honored to be one of them. SO completely and utterly honored.
She is still on this glorious trip, visiting more and more other peeps across ‘Murica… Having the time of her LIFE!!
And while she travels and experiences all the feels in the reals, I thought I would celebrate our visit with the perfect Ten Things of Thankful post, capturing our moments together and memorializing such a blessed and wondrous time. It’s only fitting, I should focus solely on such a beautiful soul who has inspired us all to identify parts and pieces of our lives to be grateful for and claim them as our light in a world that can be dark. That has been her mission, and she has triumphed in her call.
May I begin my list with the most abundant blessing bestowed on me?
I am thankful for my precious, lovely Lizzi. I mean look at her! She was HERE!!!
<—-THIS is friendship at its finest. (There were lots of hugs and kisses involved.)
I am thankful that she dove right into our family life, as I schlepped her to swim practice, a football game, and back to practice as soon as her feet hit the ground here in Columbus. Bless her boots.
I am thankful for long walks in a beautiful park, with singing and chatting and smelling and eating of herbs. (She made me do it.)
I am thankful for a delicious lunch in the sunshine where time slowed to a lull and we embraced the moment together.
I am thankful for finding the PERFECT gift for my glitter-lovin’ friend…
I am thankful for the giggles and excitement in her American thrifting experience, as she surely found a few gems!
I am so incredibly thankful for the gift she gave my precious Cassidy- a bond that cannot be denied. Oh the love!
I am thankful for the spirit that soars upon tree tops matched with the desire to live fervently.
I am thankful for family dinners out at our favorite eatery with one extra member that surely belongs.
I am thankful for late night walks and an unexpected phone call from Kristi (Finding Ninee) that continued until the wee hours of the morning. Oh the joy in hearing her voice while sharing deep things and erupting laughter.
I am thankful for Lizzi’s new role as “Soccer Mom” at the first game of Cade’s soccer tournament. She blended in with the parents cheering on the players as if they were her own.
I am thankful for blog friends who travel to spend time with Lizzi and put up with my crazy on a long road trip! (Hey Scott, I’m from Chicago. Did you know that?)
I am thankful for hand offs that require me to meet new blog friends and embrace the beauty of connection.
Oh how I miss her already… I started to miss her by the time I got home from taking her to Indiana.
Kitty and Tigger forever.
And until she comes BACK- I won’t erase this love note she left me (Kitty) on my mirror. (See what I did there? My eyes match up, sort of!)
I leaf you, Lizzi.
“When I’m gone, when I’m gone
You’re gonna miss me when I’m gone
You’re gonna miss me by my hair
You’re gonna miss me everywhere, oh
You’re gonna miss me when I’m gone…”
Oh how wonderful for both of you. I’m slightly jealous and hugely in awe of Lizzi’s courage
It was really awesome, Kerri. I wish you could have been WITH US!! Yeah- she is fearless! I couldn’t do it. But it’s as if she is diving into FREEDOM. Oh, how I love that. 🙂
HEY! Courage comes in different forms, my favourite troll, and your courage and tenacity is something I could only ever hope to own. We both rock 🙂
Aw, this was truly such a fun post to read and could tell you both got along just perfectly. So, glad you got to finally spend some quality time in person together and more than a bit jealous though! Hugs and thank you though for sharing about your time together here 🙂
WE MUST MEET SOMEDAY!!! Seriously! I would absolutely LOVE to hug you and talk to you in PERSON. 🙂 It will happen Janine! It’s got to happen. XOXO
Ah Janine, we had such a beautiful, beautiful time! I hope one day I get the chance to meet you, too!
Oh, Chris, what a beautiful way to honor your friendship and the precious time spent together. I do hope she gave you a squeeze for me and am so thankful you finally met in the Real. What a blessing…for both of you.
Much love,
Dani
Thank you so much Dani!! It was absolutely amazing to actually have Lizzi right HERE- in my arms and in my home. 🙂 Truly a blessing indeed! Someday, I hope and pray I can say the very same thing about YOU. Oh how I would love that. <3
(I miss you! Have you bee writing lately? I haven't seen anything in my inbox from your blog... I pray you are doing okay, my friend. Let me know...)
The entire time I spent with Chris was just blessing upon blessing. I LOVED it. Meeting her was just…incredible. And the time we spent, and how LOVELY it was…*sigh* I can’t wait to do it again.
I was waiting for you to write about this because I just knew you would write such beautiful thoughts to go along with those adorable photos. 🙂 Thank you for sharing this and showing us that online friendships are real, true bonds that can be fostered, maintained, and celebrated whether it is over the internet or in real life or both. You two have such a sweet connection!
OH Emily! You are SO sweet to really ‘get it’ about Lizzi and I!! I just love that so very much… It truly was amazing. Easy. Wonderful. FUN. Deep. And precious- all of it. I am SO incredibly blessed to have been able to have her in MY HOME and with MY FAMILY. I loved every minute of it. 🙂 Thank you SO much for all of your precious support and loving involvement in appreciating such a special meet up!!! I’m so grateful. <3
Emily, thank you for such a lovely response to Chris’s amazincredible post. I’m glad you like the pics. Having ONLY JUST FOUND THEM (because I’m ridiculous), I can vouch for the FEELING in every single one of them.
I love love reading this Chris and LOVED talking to you until the wee hours of the morning! I miss Lizzi too. I want her to come back. I think I’ll write a TToT post this weekend with photos from the NJ part of the trip. One of these days, I want to meet YOU in person!!
Did you write it? I will have to go back and check out the link up and see!! Kristi- I seriously LOVED actually hearing your voice and having such an incredible and very real conversation with you! Do you know that every time I go outside- I look up in the sky and think of you… outside… and I pray for you. I do. I really do. We need to talk more. Seriously. We do. I love you.
Yeah…did you write it? :p
I loved that we got to talk for so long, the three of us. We had such a laugh, right! I hope you and Chris get to meet in Real, too. Only I kinda want to be there for it.
I love this in so many ways! You two looked like you had an absolute ball together. Makes me happy! And I want to visit you now too!
Better yet? I want us to meet at some cool place to spend the weekend together. We REALLY need to go to Ilene’s. I MUST hang with you in person. We need to make that HAPPEN! (If and when we sell our house… lets DO IT.)
Everyone should get to meet Chris in Real 😀
Shivers))
Oh, my heart.
This was just magical, my darling!
Just fabulous.
xxxxxx
We had a beautiful time together!!! It was truly amazing… 🙂 Someday- me and you? Oh yes. OH YES!
It TRULY was amazing 😀 <3
Oh how fun! I’m so happy for you both!
It sounds like you guys had a time you will remember forever. I always wonder what it would be like to meet some of the people I’ve met here online. I’m glad you both were able to connect in real life.
I have always wondered too Christina! This was amazing. I hope to meet more bloggers in the REAL in the future. It’s just so cool to actually see them in person and take in who they are in a different light. LOVE that. 🙂
I definitely think you should try to meet them and find out 🙂
Wow! How lucky are you! Forget the Pope…Lizzi’s in town!
RIGHT? Much bigger NEWS!!! lol I am lucky. We have been so very close for so long… it was due time I got to hug her for REAL. 🙂
*grins* It certainly felt that way!
Oh, what a gorgeous post. Lizzi’s beaming (more so than usual), so lovely to see her so happy! – Did she buy the little grey dress from the thrift shop…I hope she did, it looks fabulous on her 🙂
Thanks for sharing, I’ve been following the shenanigans on facebook, but hadn’t seen these pics. Lovely, really lovely. 🙂
I think she is the happiest she has ever been!! Oh, the joy in all she is filling her soul with in being with all the people she truly loves. It’s absolutely amazing!! I’m so glad you came by to see our pics! I’m so honored to have been a part of her journey. 🙂
I was THEE VERY HAPPIEST EVER! And yes, I bought the dress 🙂 I put everything on as I went around the store and then had to take it all off again at the checkout. I swear they thought I was mad, but once I started speaking English to them, they all seemed to just indulge me, which was GREAT.
*sigh* I need to go back there and be happy…
That was so beautiful and what a fun visit! Isn’t it amazing how many beautiful people we meet online, and it is definitely amazing when we get to meet them in person. And what an absolutely fun adventure for her to embark on. Wow. She might just be my adventure hero.
She is incredibly courageous and is loving every minute of this journey! I’m SO happy for her! You know what? I would be so so blessed to meet YOU someday, my friend. Oh that would be DIVINE. 🙂
Wouldn’t that be wonderful! I would LOVE that. Oh, the conversations we would have. <3
OH YES!! Can you imagine? We would need more than a few days… 🙂
Adventure hero? Certainly not a ‘getting to this post and paying it the attention it deserves’ hero, but THANK YOU 🙂
Aw, this is so sweet! How cool is it that she’s traveling around and meeting her blog friends. It’s truly an amazing experience when you get to meet a friend in person that you have long connected with online. That was for sure one of my highlights of the summer! It looks like you had an amazing time together.
It has been an incredible journey for her, I’m sure of that! We truly adored being together and I especially loved Lizzi being IN my home and spending ‘life’ with our family. Just amazing!
Amazing really doesn’t begin to cover it. It was life-changingly good and I am determined to find my way back. Even if Chris got me completely lost in her neighbourhood in the dark, with her 😉
This is such a beautiful post, Christine. I found myself staring at all the pictures. The unadulterated joy is so apparent in every picture! That Lizzi is truly something else, isn’t she?
Oh that Lizzi is truly in her element here in the states with all her peeps! Such JOY it has been to have here in my arms and to watch her in the arms of so many of her loves! Thanks so much for celebrating it all with me here, Corinne!
Hey Corinne! I don’t know about ‘something else’ but I think I’d be shouted down 😉 I had such, SUCH a marvellous time and it’s changed me completely. I was the happiest I’ve ever been, while I was there 🙂
So glad Lizzi got to make her trip over here to the states! You two definitely have a special bond and I’m so happy for you both that you go tot spend some time together!
Thanks so much Lisa! It was amazing. I love her so very much. It makes me want to see SO many other dear friends, including YOU. 🙂 Someday…
It was brilliant. Just BRILLIANT 🙂
It’s been cool to watch Lizzy trips through other bloggers. It sounds like everyone is enjoying it!
Oh, it’s been THRILLING to say the least! I have loved watching all the updates too, and I’m so honored she stopped here for us to embrace her for REAL and celebrate our friendship! I loved having her in my HOME and among my FAMILY. Just amazing. 🙂
I love that I managed to pervade the Blogosphere even though I didn’t write anything.
Looks like you had a great visit!!
It was absolutely wonderful! SO blessed by her… <3
We SO very did <3
I have been following… I think some of the photos with your kiddo were my favorites! I love the tree and the thrift shop… there was another on facebook thats no here that I recall was pretty great as well….
I too LOVED the love in those pics with my Cassidy and her! SO precious! And yeah- so many more photos. I had to be picky here. I could have added a ton more!
I love them all. Truly. They remind me of such moments of happiness. You and I didn’t have nearly enough together, Ivy, but I LOVE that one of you me and Sarah all falling off the cot bed with the Selfie stick! *grins*
A one woman blog stimulator* is all our Ms Rogers and her trip to ‘Murica is turning out to be! Rather cool to have this Virtual World/Real World crossover… very cool. (Which climatistically speaking Lizzi’s itinerary is working well… the East Coast at the warmest time, then, as the weather changes down South where you guys get Summer-all-year-long-sorta.
*in print this sounds a little more diverse than it did in my head…
It’s been SO COOL to see her travel EVERYWHERE and meet all her loves in the REAL!! Truly worth a thankful post to me! I am so honored she stopped here and I’m glad YOU got to see her too, Clark!
*grins* I had the sunshine follow me all the way to Florida, where it BROKE! But I had the most wonderful time…
I don’t really know her very well, but I so enjoyed seeing photos of her trip from a multitude of my blogger friends. So awesome. So connected. It’s really just that amazing to meet a long-distance love sometimes.
I know you know the feeling well, from meeting so many loves too! It really is amazing… Someday- you and me? Oh please! Someday… <3
It was so perfect in so many ways. I hope you and Chris get to meet someday 🙂
I’m thankful I was able to read your post after a night of worrying. I only know Lizzi as an online friend and I’ve been blessed to make that connection through her magical words. I had an an opportunity to meet up with an online friend as we don’t live that far from each other. It was an amazing experience and I’m happy that you both got to experience that little bit of magic as well. ????
Hey there 😀 Honestly, meeting online friends in person is BRILLIANT, and I’d recommend it to anyone. I think by the time you have an established friendship online, anything in Real is just added bonus 🙂
So glad you had a great time–of course, there was no doubt about that! That shirt you found was absolutely perfect! 🙂
It’s STILL perfect. And you know, I wore it the whole way back home. With my tiara 🙂
A beautiful post and a beautiful friendship and a beautiful visit, for sure. I am so sad I didn’t get to meet Lizzi and just terribly jealous of all the fun those who did got to have.
XO
I’m sad too. We must fix it, and WE WILL! RIGHT! 😀
What a lovely time you had together! It looks like it was so natural and magical!
It is something I’d love to do when I have a bit more time in my hands, travel the world to meet all my blogging friends. It’s amazing how much love we share online. And meeting face to face is the cherry on the cake.
Glad you enjoyed such happy moments.
Stay blessed Chris.
It was truly beautiful, Marie!! There is something so precious about actually being able to look someone in the eyes after you have shared your life together for years… online! I hope for more of these special meet ups too!!
I was surprised by how natural it was, in fact. That was one of the oddest things about the entire trip – how very normal it seemed to be with people, after about ten minutes of meeting them 🙂
this makes me deliriously happy!!! Joy leaked right out of my computer screen and all over me. it’s a good washing! haha
What an amazing journey she is on, and how lucky to be included in it are those she is visiting.
*grins* I’m glad it was a good washing 😉
To see Lizzi through the eyes and posts of so many blogging friends is so fun. What an amazing journey for her to come here and being able to see so many of her friends. Great post. I really enjoyed seeing all the photos.
I’m glad you enjoyed it. I had SUCH a glorious time, and to come back now, and see the photos again, is just delightful.
KITTY KITTY KITTY! I SUCK SO MUCH for never coming back to this, and I can’t BEGIN to tell you how much I adore it, and how I can remember the fun we had – when you sat on my lap for that photo, and the two of us sweating and walking huddled over the phone to Kristi, and us both cheering Cade and all the kids on, and how much fun it was to meet you in person and BE in your home and with your beautiful family, and how how much I adore you all.
I LOVE the pic of you in my kitty pic on your mirror. And I still have the poster Cassidy gave me. I’m treasuring it forever! And that sweater is SO PERFECT! I have it out now – I still wear it. I LOVE it. I will wear it back to you, one of these days.
I LEAF YOU LIZZI!!!!! And knowing that you have been right in my home, and I have held you in my arms, and have walked miles and talked hours with you and watched you climb a TREE and PLAY and SHOP and gather round my family and seen my kids doing their ‘thing’ and and and… Oh, there is no greater JOY. I’ll treasure our time together forever. There WILL be more of it. <3
(I'm SO glad you got to see this post. SOOOO glad.)
Sweet Mary! I had no idea you wrote this, seeing as how I was still driving our parcel around the country when you posted it.
I was so happy to get to meet you and Cass as we passed Lizzi from one car to the other. YOU ARE EXACTLY AS I EXPECTED YOU’D BE!!!!! 😀
LOLOLOL!!!!! I absolutely LOVED meeting you too Christine! I’m glad I come across the same in person as I do online!! HEE HEE!!! 🙂 🙂 🙂