Anniversary

Four years ago Sunday, my cousin became an angel. I miss you Courtney. Each day has gotten easier, but certain days bring back the anger, sadness, and confusion surrounding your loss. I hope that one day we will see each other again, and until then, keep your beautiful smile going and keep looking out for us. We love you!

Way Too Many Pictures...

A lot has been going on in the past few weeks! Here's a collection of pictures to help you catch up. There are four cornerstones that my family lives by, and we live by them so much that they have ended up on the headstones of my relatives. Family, farming, fun, and faith are the basic elements of the Osterberg family, and the past few weeks have been a wonderful union of all four. Enjoy the photos! As soon as I have the time and motivation to write (unless captions on these count?), I will. Right now, I have bigger fish to fry.

Shelby and I always take random pictures at random times, which is obvious given her ensemble compared to mine. Either way, it was a good shot, minus our amputated feet.

Laney and Addie wanted to go for a walk, so we took a real dog (the furrball in the bottom left) and their stuffed animals. They loved it about as much as I love them.


The inner gymnast in me can still do cartwheels in heels. I used to do that to make sure I kept my toes pointed on the beam. It's amazing that when I blasted my knee apart the first time, I was actually barefoot.

Who has a cat that looks dead every time he naps? I do.

If I'm not working and it's sunny, this is what I look like.

Phil and I at a 4th party. If only I can work on teaching him to NOT spill things 20 seconds before a picture...boys.

My little cousin Grant was so sad that he couldn't drive the Kubota, but my aunt and I just wanted to get home!

Andrew, Karah, and me.

The only reason I'm posting this is to prove that trucks can be spacious. One of my friends said they are cramped...they're not cramped when you have this one!

Mama Laurel and I at the club on my birthday. We even match. It's kind of disgusting.

One of my students/swimmers/sister's friend with Shelby and me before the fireworks. True story: I was walking to the bathroom and someone congratulated me on my work in office. Just because I wear a shirt with a name on it doesn't mean that it's my name! Obviously, this was after the parade and I hadn't had the chance to change. Michelle certainly appreciated the compliment, and I think from now on I'll bring a change of clothes!

Delaney and I at the pool. She wanted "cuggle time" which is a hybrid of "cuddle" and "snuggle." I have very smart children in my family.

The real Michelle Courier and I after the parade. Before I know it, it'll be back to the grind with campaign projects! By the way, she too is an Illinois grad.

The infamous Osterberg baseball field. That is about 1/5th of the yard that my grandma has.

My Uncle Denny is 60 and still throws a wicked curve ball. In the background is Cole, who is 8. We don't exclude!

I find cute crafty stuff.

Birthdays

I know it has been some time since I posted on here, but there has been a lot to keep me busy! I will have a mix of photos up soon. Thank you to everyone who left me facebook messages, phone calls, gifts, delivered flowers, and a special thanks to my aunt for putting me on TV! It was truly wonderful, and I enjoyed spending time with all of you. In light of birthdays, I have also been thinking about another birthday coming up. Courtney would have been 22 in 10 days. Although each passing anniversary of her death (August 2nd) gets a little easier, her birthday is the worst. I took her out for her birthday, just the two of us, and never knew or expected that it would be the last time I would see her alive. We tried to hang out a few times after that, but my family took our trip to the lake a couple days later.

It may seem trivial now for me to place so much weight on her birthday, but lately I really have been missing her. She was my best friend. Someone that I grew up with and shared every detail of my life. Nobody can replace her, and my heart aches sometimes when I visit the details of her death in my mind. When we had an impromptu party at her mom's house, her mom was initially dreading having so many people over. But, later on in the night, she said, "I didn't want to host this, but look around: we're all having fun and spending time together as a family. When I think about Courtney, I know that she had a great life because of all these things. We might as well live while we can and clean up the messes later. Life's too short, and as long as we don't make too many messes, this is what it's all about." I don't think that she meant for it to be so meaningful, but I know that the rest of us sitting around that bonfire felt the same way. I've learned in the past few weeks that we should treat every day like our birthday. Why celebrate once a year that we've made it another year? Each day is a gift unpromised, and we need to be grateful for the time that is lent to us. I could die tomorrow, and so could you. Let's never forget that. On that note, Happy Birthday!