La vita è bella.

my life is beautiful. BEAUTIFUL. bella, bonita, schön, belle. beautiful, gorgeous, breathtaking.

I had coffee this morning with a lady whose girls I used to babysit, and whose girls my sister now babysits since I'm at college. She's probably the most amazing lady I know. She's confident, absolutely gorgeous, caring, and strong in her faith. Being around her makes me want to do life-changing, world-shaping things.

What amazed me today, and actually, I knew this already, but my eyes opened and saw it again like it was new, and now this is an awful, incoherent sentence, but whatever. Point is, she cares a ton about not only my sister and me, but my family. She really cares about my sister and me. Every Friday morning, she meets my sister and another Freshman at a local coffee shop, for about an hour before school, just to talk. This year, they didn't really get into really deep topics, they just built trust. But basically what this (awesome) woman wanted to do is provide a place for my sister and these other young women to come with... everything.

[This was actually written on Friday morning. At this point, I actually went on a run with said Wonder Woman, and I'm now resuming writing on.. Sunday night. Whoop.]

Anyways, point is, this woman's incredible. She's got gifts galore. And I was talking about this to MD, she can somehow work her faith into discussions without seeming all "holier-than-thou." In fact, she's one of those people who, after talking with her, I WANT to get closer to God and deepen my faith. One of the things we talked about for most of our run was GRACE, which is such an incredible topic when you think about it.

This afternoon I went over and visited with another woman I used to babysit for. She's another pillar in my life, a cross between a second mother and psuedo-older sister. We literally talked for three hours. I always leave feeling so, SO blessed after talking to her. More later.

Another person I'm eternally thankful for: my high school cross country/track coach. I went on a great GREAT run with him this morning. We talked the whole time, and I left feeling like we could talk for longer--about running, life, relationships, everything.

Ironically, its these adults who are among the people I feel like I can be myself. I don't feel like I have to put on a show or act differently to impress them. This post isn't nearly what I want it to be. But whatever. Point is: kudos to these people. And to everyone else, I hope you have these people in your life, too.

Also, one more thing I love: unexpected phone calls and texts from friends. Just those little reminders that someone loves you, cares about you, and makes you smile.

Also: sorry for using the phrase "point is" so many freaking times. Oops.