Surprise!

On March 11, I walked into my sisters house expecting just a chill day of hanging out with my two sisters. I even packed my comfy socks in my bag to slip into once I arrived. Little did I know, I would NOT be wearing them.

What I saw when I walked in the house caught me totally off guard and shocked me to my bones. I saw them standing here, champagne in hand, yelling "surprise" to me with "Blurred Lines" jammin' in the background.

I legitimately was shaking for 15 minutes from pure shock and excitement.

My two sisters had planned a surprise 30th cake smash photo shoot for me. Just the 3 of us. I couldn't have asked for anything more. I used all my might to hold back my tears because HELLO, I was about to have a photo shoot!

Every detail was planned down to perfection. Beautiful colors of decoration on the walls, a gorgeous backdrop and the most delicious wine and champagne. They had an outfit perfectly picked out for me from the crown to the high heels. My sisters even perfectly coordinated their own outfits to match mine.

There was gold glitter and gold straws, a "Today" banner and the perfect music playlist playing in the background. The cake was beautifully decorated and even had a heap of shiny pink sprinkles bubbling out from the middle.

Every photo prop was ready to be used and my sisters were on hand to hop in photos and hand me props and keep an endless flow of champagne coming my way. I literally felt like a kid in a candy shop.

They had hired an incredible photographer to come and capture every moment and she was a freakin' joy to work with. I'd ask a question of how to do a photo and her response was always, "Let's do both!" (My kinda gal!) I did hair changes, lipstick changes and jubilantly went about the shoot. This was truly the BEST. DAY. EVER.

There were so many moments I just intentionally thought about how my sisters cared so much to prepare all of this for me and then surprise me with it. How much they loved me to put in all this work and make it all about me. How much they KNEW me, that they knew I would be absolutely ecstatic to do a cake smash photo shoot.

They both had agreed that they do NOT want a cake smash photo shoot for their 30th anything birthday. And it made me see even more how their kindness shown through because this was not something they would normally even want for themselves. It's always more difficult to show love for someone in a way that you don't receive love. (Read the 5 love languages.) And yet, they knew me. And they know that THIS was me. It would be something I would adore and cherish forever.

I can't even explain how much joy this day brought me. And to top it off, we had pizza and chatted away. Then visited 2 yummy dessert places in Minneapolis that we've always wanted to try. DAY. MADE.

There were so many parallels that hit my core in the days afterwards.

I thought of their depth of knowing me and how God knows our innermost being. Our core. Our very essence. I mean, He created us. But, in that, he also just knows us. And then how He loves us. And wants to lavish that love on us. In the very single way that we most receive love.

And then I thought about God's great restoration of relationships. My sisters and I have always been best friends. Like... the BEST of friends. But about 1 1/2 years ago, some situations occurred that completely tore us apart. It was one of the most painful times of my life and it included both my sisters and my mom. Family gatherings were extremely awkward and painful and we were all clearly hurt.

I truthfully thought that I would never have a good relationship with them again. I knew that God could do anything but I had felt like things had happened that would never be able to be looked past again. That the hurt was too deep to see past and there would always be a wall up. A sort of separation always existing.

Yet, here we are... years later and continually on a path of health and restoration in our relationships. And it keeps getting sweeter and sweeter. We learned so much through our experiences. We forgave. We forgot. We moved on, not holding onto the hurt of the past and choosing to trust Holy Spirit to help us forge forward with a Christ-like like relationship in all that we do. It's been incredible to see God work a miracle in that area of my life.

To think about what I could have missed out on if I would have held onto hurt, anger and bitterness... or if they would have done the same. We could have missed out on so much of God's sweetness of life and love. So for that, I am so thankful.

Now that I've shared some of sisterhood stories, I can't wait to share with you the progression of events of our fantastic photo shoot:

Thank you Kaleena and Keturah for starting my 30th year off with a BANG! An astronomical amount of FUN was had this day and I will never forget it. (Literally, because you got me a freakin' photo shoot!)

My sisters said something to me this day that stuck with me. She said, "How cool is it that your daughters get to see this? That they will see even when you are older, you can have fun and be goofy and enjoy moments like this?"

What a great perspective. Some people may think that an adult cake smash is so childish, but I tell you what... it is JUST what this child-like, 360 month-old heart needed.

All photos are from the fun and talented Kaitlyn C Photography!