Sunday, April 3, 2011

B is for...

B is for Books, Blogging and Best friends.


I’ve been very, very blessed in my life to have had many different friends along the way. God has placed specific people in my life during specific times when I really, truly needed them. They’ve spoken truth, love and humor into my life. These are people who I can look back on and say “I really don’t know what I would have done or where I’d be without them!”


Margie was my first best friend. We were born 2 days apart and were inseparable through elementary and middle school. We lived in the same half of our suburban neighborhood that had to be shipped to the scary-ghetto middle school. She and I were in our own little world, unaware of anything going on around us. Our moms were friends and every year, that took us our of school on the day between our birthdays and took us to King's Dominion. In high school, I had a really strong group of friends and church and she was really into sports so we didn't see as much of each other. Same with college. But when we do get together, we pick up wherever we left off. I can't think of a memory of her, in all those years, where we weren't laughing!


This is Margie and I when we were about 12 at King's Dominion for one of our birthday trips!

During my first semester of college I met Jeanne. She and I were hit by a car on the side of the road, and that really does something to bond two people together. We were roommates the next year. She and I share the bond of having gone through one of the scariest experiences in our lives together, hand in hand. I love Jeanne and think of her often. She and her hubby live in Chicago. She is one of the most generous and loving people in the world, and she is the epitome of the word "sweet."
This is Jeanne and I during college, post-accident.

This is Jeanne's car after our accident. Thank God we were standing in front of it, not in it.

While I was home for a semester in college (due to said accident) I was really lost and lonely, and God brought Leah into my life. She is one of the most ambitious people I know. She has a very strong relationship with the Lord and really helped me to find joy during that dark time. She was never afraid to ask me very pointed questions, and she helped me learn what accountability meant. I can’t think of a memory of the two of us that doesn’t involve coffee or baking of some kind. We were friends all through college and every summer we’d pick up where we left off the year before and were inseparable.


I can't believe I can't find a picture of us together! I'm not sure if we've seen that much of each other since digital cameras were invented.

During college I lived with some truly wonderful, smart, compassionate and hilarious girls. I loved their spontaneity, their creativity, their passion and their acceptance. I had some of the best times in my life with these girls. "What are you going to remember in 10 years? Studying, or piling 8 of us into the convertable to drive to Taco Bell?" I needed people who would push me to do my best, to try new things, who would be honest with me, and knew how to have a good time.
Here we are on a Spring Break trip!

During college I met Kelli. She was one of the aforementioned ladies I lived with. She and I spent about 2 years working together at the American Heart Association and I miss those days more than I miss college, I think. We were so carefree, we’d spend our lunch hours together almost every day, either running errands, sipping coffee, indulging at Panera or shopping at JoAnne Fabrics, Target or wherever else we felt like. I also knew I could share anything with her, and I did. Kelli is the most caring, honest and creative person I think I know. I love how she fully embraces and experiences life, the good and the bad. She and I are two peas in a pod and I adore her.

This is Kelli and I at our favorite coffee shop (Stauff's!) during a post-college reunion in Columbus!


Now we live in Virginia and God has blessed me yet again with an incredible group of ladies. We do life together, share our fears and encourage one another in our moments of strength and moments of weakness. I feel free to share my heart with them and know they’ll love me no matter what. I don't know that I've ever felt as loved by any group of people in my life.


Tacky Christmas sweater party at the Snovers!


I’m also very excited to say that my mom is my latest best friend. It hasn’t always been that way, we’ve had a very tumultuous relationship, but in the past few years we’ve really come to be very good friends. She is a fighter – she fought for her marriage, for her son, and has beat cancer twice now. She is an example to me in so many ways and I love basking in the wisdom of her experience. We’ve decided that when we’re both old and gray we’re going to move to a deserted island. Just the two of us, no one else. Whenever life gets to us and we’re overwhelmed, we’ll remind the other of the island and all seems well with the world. Here we are on our cruise in 2009!

Then there’s Andrew! He’s been my best friend for over a decade. He and I have learned how to love each other in our brokenness and speak love and truth and encouragement into the other’s lives. Marriage is a journey, I know it’s been said before, but it really has been a long and winding road for the two of us. I’m thrilled to have him by my side. He’s easily the funniest person I know, he has no filter and you always know where you stand with him. He is phony with no one. He’s also a complete genius and has a wonderfully caring heart. I love him.

1 comment:

  1. It is really amazing how God orchestrates out lives with the perfect events, people and experiences that make us so rich! O and you have the cutest dimples! Never noticed them

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