utah day 5: last day

Monday Jared went to Provo to have lunch with his brothers, and I got to have lunch with Kate, Danielle, and Anne. These three lovely girls are all friends with my dear childhood friend Emily. Back in my early college days, I met Anne and Danielle. I never did manage to meet to Kate. Fast forward a few years, we all have blogs, and these girls have turned into dear blog friends. Danielle and I got together last Christmas-- we were both pregnant and had so much fun shopping, eating, and chatting. I planned to get together with her again and now that Kate is back in Utah I wanted to meet her too. And then Anne happened to be in town so she got to be there too! Em, if only you could have been there, it would have been perfect! Thanks for letting me adopt your friends as my own! These ladies are so classy and stylish. And they have beautiful babies to boot! Danielle, Thanks for making a delish lunch! Kate, thanks for hosting! And Anne, thanks for being in town! :-) I'm excited to get to hang out with you girls more once we are back in Utah.



Monday night we had Thai food with Jared's Uncle Troy and brother Steve. Troy was kind enough to let us crash at his house which was so nice because it is just down the street from the kids.


Tuesday morning we got up very, very early to catch a 7 am flight back to North Carolina. We had a wonderful time and are so thankful to all the family and friends who opened their homes to us. See you in December!

girlfriends

Today, with my husband a couple thousand miles (give or take a few) away, I am grateful for girlfriends. And I am also wishing that my girlfriends lived closer to me. But at least we have phones!

Yesterday I talked to two of my dear friends on the phone:

Miss Jennifer V

and

Mrs. Emily W

Isn't girl talk great? I really do think it is vital. Women need women. There is just something we get from each other that isn't possible to attain from men. It's sort of mystical. Or maybe I'm just lonely. :-) Whatever it is I sure am happy to have been blessed with amazing friends. And several of them I've known since childhood. Emily here has been in my life for more than 20 years! That is pretty darn amazing, if you ask me. And Jennifer is part of a group of girls from college that I know I will always keep track of. Living together can create some long-lasting bonds.

Since getting married, I haven't made any new really great girlfriends. I haven't had a lot of motivation because I already have such fantastic friends. Plus, these first months of marriage I have been very happy to just be with Jared. But there are those times when I wish I had someone close by that I could call up and chat with or go shopping with. There are wonderful girls at church who I hope I get to know better, but I still don't feel that close to anyone. I feel like those type of friendships take time. I don't have children yet, so I don't have fellow mommy friends. And the girls I know without kids all work like me and are busy.

Right now, I'm really grateful for those phone calls and blog posts and chats that keep me connected to all my friends far away. I sure love technology! Thank you Jennifer and Emily for keeping me company last night. I love you both! And to all the rest of my friends out there-- call me! I love you all!

happy 25th, emily!!!

A little over 20 years ago, I met Emily Anne. We were both four years old, the oldest children to recent University of Utah Medical School graduates, and about to move from Utah to Cleveland, Ohio where our doctor dads would do their residency. I actually don't remember our first meeting. My first memory of Emily is riding our big wheels around my driveway as our families' shared moving van was unpacked. For the next five years, Em and I were the best of friends.

(Unfortunately, this is the only picture I have here of a little Emily. Sorry it's not clearer.)

She was a grade ahead of me in school, and I looked up to her as one a little older and wiser. Emily was even the one who told me where babies came from-- in kindergarten! We walked to school together and played after school. We had sleepovers, or attempted to anyway. If Em came to my house, she was never there when I woke up. She could never last the night away from home, and I always woke up crying because she wasn't there anymore. I think we eventually gave up, and I just always slept over at her house.

Our families spent nearly every holiday together. This picture, judging from the ages of us and our siblings, was our last Christmas Eve in Cleveland in 1991.


In the summer of 1992, my family moved from Cleveland to Zanesville, Ohio, three hours away. Em and I were 9 years old. Her family would move to Oregon two years later, but even though we lived far apart, we always kept in touch. Over the years we saw each other only a few times. One of those times was when we went to EFY together at Ricks College. Check out these awesome pics:


Eventually, Em and I both went to BYU. We never lived together, but we still saw each other. Em is the one who introduced me to the deliciousness of Magleby's Fresh french toast. Yum! Even if we hadn't talked in months, each time we did, it was as if nothing had changed.

I wasn't at all surprised when Em got married at age 20. She was always "boy crazy". ;-) And she was always mature. I was so happy for her that she ended up with Nate. They are so great together. And totally hot!

I remember Em telling me before she was married how much she loved the name Henry. I thought she was kinda crazy, but a couple years later she really did name her adorable boy Henry. And you know what? I like it.


Now Emily lives in Texas and has made quite the name for herself as a blogger. Her writing is fresh and honest and funny and sweet. She captures moments so beautifully with words. I wish I had her talent so I could properly pay tribute to her in this post. I remember how fun her emails always were back in high school. Even then, she was a great writer. And in college she would write me the sweetest "love note" emails full of encouragement and love.

I wish I had more recent pictures of the two of us, but it's been a long time since we've seen each other. I'm so grateful for these blogs that keep us connected. Emily is beautiful and talented and has grown up into such an amazing person, wife, and mother. I'm jealous of all those in Texas who get to hang out with her. Em and I will probably never live near each other again, but I know we will always be friends. It's so rare to find a friend at 4 years old who you know you will never lose. I'm so glad our dads both decided to go to Cleveland. And that our families are still friends. In fact, Em's parents recently visited mine in New Mexico. Mostly, I am grateful to call this amazing, talented, gorgeous, hard-working, kind, thoughtful, [insert other wonderful adjectives here] woman my friend.

I love you, Emily! Happy 25th Birthday!