To my beautiful nephew Noe...

As some of you may know my oldest nephew Noe, who is 7 years old has autism. April is autism awareness month and instead of talking about all the struggles with autism I want to share how Noe has affected my life...

Being the youngest of 5 kids I was very excited to have nephews and nieces and when Noe was born that excitement only grew. Jen and Ed were living in NYC when Noe was born and I was out there every chance I had to see my beautiful,brown-eyed nephew. I dressed him up in his Blazer attire and followed him around with a camera.

When Noe was two he was diagnosed with autism. This was very upsetting and painful to know he would struggle, but what comforts me most is that Noe is so special that he was chosen to live this life a little different than the rest of us. Noe is smart and talented and has such an excitement for life. He can hike and bike for hours, something I will NEVER be able to do. He has the most beautiful, infectious smile and laugh and occasionally when we are together he gives me a look that tells me he trusts me.

Noe has changed my life and every time I see him he reminds me that just because people have their struggles it does not make them any less capable, which is a lesson I constantly need reminded of.

So to my beautiful Noe, I love you.

Dear Friends....

Dear Ross, Rachel, Chandler, Monica, Joey and most importantly Phoebe,

Thank you for bringing joy to me every evening around 11:30pm, when I put one of your ten seasons in my DVD player and unwind to an episode I have probably watched 5-10 times in my life already.

It's those little moments in life when something happens and I can relate it to an episode and giggle to myself..... like the day at work that we ran out of toner and I thought quietly to myself, "It's like episode 13 of season 7 titled: "The One Where Rosita Dies," when Phoebe goes to work at a telemarketing company to sell toner and they ask her if she has any questions in which she replies, "Yes, what is toner?" I would still like to know what toner is.

If you only knew how many times I have tried to explain an episode of Friends to people at work and laugh while they look at me like... "GET A LIFE!"

The reason I love Friends so much is I love the differences in their personality and the loyalty they have towards each other. What a great way to live!

So to all my friends, real and at Central Perk, thank you for many hours of happiness!

-Kelli

Why I LOVE Burgerville

While there are many reasons to love Burgerville such as the amazing Pepper Bacon Cheese Burger, a milkshake for every season, the fact that their straws can be put in your compost.... what won me over was their kids meals.

Now that River doesn't share food with Mommy very well, I decided I would spend the extra $5 and buy a kids meal. I still get really excited to see what "prize" we can add to the pile of crap we already have, but I am pleasantly surprised by what they give to a new, greener generation of kids... pots and seeds!

I love this and it was a blast to put these together with River, he loved it! Brownie points for Burgerville! Or should I say bacon points?