Day 7: My Best Friend

What? Really? I get to talk about my best friend today? She is only one of my most favorite subjects!

But first, let me pay homage to all the friends I have called "best" throughout my lifetime:

In pre-k there was Erica. All I remember is that she had a sandbox in her backyard, she had a dog named snowball, her mom let us eat chicken noodle soup with straws, and she moved to Pennsylvania (where her family was from) before kindergarten.

In kindergarten there was Natalie, she was my best friend pretty much all through elementary school. She lived on my street, we were both kind of shy, and we both loved dance class. We did lots of stuff together and I love Natalie and her family. After 5th grade my family moved away, but our families still kind of keep in touch. Natalie and her mom surprised me by coming to my college graduation party and it was so touching it made me cry. Now Natalie is a married mama of at least 2 little ones.

Natalie and me at my college graduation party.

Throughout my childhood, middle school, and high school, my cousin Denise was always one of my best friends.

Denise and me at my college graduation.

In middle school, while we lived in Kingwood, there was Lisa, Monica, Becky, and Jenny. All good friends, all fun, all in band and/or track with me (I was in track? What? yes, don't mention it again). In 8th grade we moved to Clear Lake and I met Desiree. Desiree and I had so much fun in home-ec class; somehow when we were making apple turnovers our foil stuck to the baking sheet and we died laughing trying to scrub it off and eventually we both had to buy new baking sheets for the class. We also dipped the apple peels in cinnamon and sugar and ate them.

In high school Desiree was my best friend for sure; we had lots of fun together. We spent a lot of time at each others houses, giggled about guys together, and did crazy things together. I was always so thankful for Desiree's friendship....and I still am thankful for it! We still keep in touch and now she is a beautiful mama to little Christian. My other close friends in high school were Leslie, Karen, and Rebecca.

In college I didn't really have one, central, best friend. My closest friends were Paula, Stephanie, and Kristen, among others.

Kristen, me, and Paula at my college graduation. 

In grad school I met AJ, we simultaneously became roommates and best friends pretty much at the same time. Living with someone really lets you get to know them! All my life most of my friends had been pretty similar to myself, but AJ was different, I never thought I'd have a friend like AJ and I had trouble believing she wanted to be friends with me. She was sporty, outgoing, practical, industrious, a problem-solver, and one of those girls who looks naturally gorgeous with absolutely no make-up on. She was also hilarious and cracked me up on a regular basis. We lived together for the next 3.5 years and had so much fun together. AJ was my travel buddy: we went to something like 16 states together, I spent time in her home state, she lived with my family in Houston for a while, she went to Colorado with my family, we went to San Francisco for our grad school graduation present to each other, we went to Boston, on a whim, when the swine flu broke out and we had an unexpected week free, and she drove from Houston to Portland with me. The Lord used my friendship with AJ in SO MANY ways in my life. When she moved to Atlanta this past January, it was extremely difficult for me to not be able to see her on a daily basis, but the Lord has been faithful and has slowly replaced my pain with a deep gratitude for my time living with AJ. She will always be very, very, very special to me and I will love her so much!

AJ and me :)

In Portland I have GREAT friends in Erin and Chelsea. Erin was my roommate for a while and she helped me get my current job. At that job I also became friends with Chelsea. The three of us have had so much fun together, laughed so much, and I have felt so loved and supported by both of them. I am glad to be back in Portland spending time with these lovely ladies.

Erin, me, Chelsea

I hope I'm not forgetting anyone....if I am, I'm sorry, I love you!