Live your love.

My dear grandpa, Robert Beil, passed away Thursday, February 17, 2011, at the age of 80. Words cannot describe the joy this man brought to our family. He will be missed so very much. I started preparing a speech for my Grandparents' 60th wedding Anniversary that is next month, and since my grandpa's passing, have decided to tweak it a little bit for myself and my cousins to share at his memorial service. I decided to document it on this blog for a way to savor the memories and share with others how much my grandfather meant to me. This is a collaborated work with my 5 cousins. Grandpa was a man who wore his emotions on his sleeves and wasn't ashamed of it - he was proud of it.  He spoke his mind and was genuinely interested in hearing the opinions of those who spoke their minds as well.  He cried.  A lot.  Mostly out of passion and a true abundance of love for his family.  One of the first questions Cheryl asked after Grandpa's passing was, "Who's going to cr...

Being in my LATE 20's, single without kids, and having a stable career for the past few years has allowed me to be able to afford some fun activities- and having friends to partake in these activities has been great! During Martin Luther King, JR day weekend in January, I had a chance to meet some old college friends and a high school friend in Utah for a ski trip. The snow wasn't great for skiing, but we got to ski some really fun runs, and I got to get used to my new (slightly used) skis that my friends got my for my birthday last year. The company was the best part. We laughed so hard we cried all 3 days. We shared meals together, drank good beer and boxed wine (ha), spent hours talking in the hot tub, and made ridiculous jokes. You can only really experience things like this with people you have history with. People you have known for awhile, spent lots of time together, and know you so well! Laughter and being surrounded with friends is just great medicine for the soul. ...