To my "BFF" Happy Birthday!! :)

I have been working on this for a few days....so of course it is late just like everything else in my life. But, I still wanted to post it, better late than never right???

If you are lucky, at sometime in your life you run across one or two of those people that you know almost instantly you will love forever. It was like that when I met my husband. I was young, everyone thought I was crazy, but somehow I just knew. The second time was when I met my best friend Melanie.

We were born just 3 days apart and while I am counting down the hours until I turn 30, she has to face it 3 days before me!! If we had met when we were younger I am sure it would have been the cool thing to be older but now that 30 is approaching, I am thankful to be younger and I love letting her know it!! So for her birthday, a simple tribute, so that she can know just how much she means to me and to so many others that love her!!

Melanie and I met when I moved to Cheyenne, Wyoming. She lived down the street, we went to church together and our oldest children were in the same kindergarten class. It took us 6 months (so much wasted time!!) to finally have a real conversation but from the moment her family came to dinner and we realized our mutual love for Diet Coke, :) we never looked back! Our lives followed such similar paths. First - our birthdays, but after that we married "older men" just 7 months apart. Both of our husbands became Air Force officers while we were busy having our first children, Callie and Jason, 2 months apart. We both followed that up with 2 more children and while I was living in Germany, she was living in England. After we met, both our husbands left the air force within months of each other. It is crazy to find someone that you have this much in common with and then to get the added bonus of loving the time you spend together!?!

The truth is that I have always thought that our friendship was a gift, a blessing from above, sent to me just before I was about to need it most. She helped me through some tough stuff and I learned what friendship really means. I will always feel indebted to her for the friendship she gave me when I needed it most.

So... here are all the things I love about Melanie.... (I seem to be into lists lately if you look at my blog entries! Oh Well)

1. Her sense of Humor. Melanie can always cheer me up. Whether it is with her sarcasm, whip cream fights at dinner parties (oh how they must have hated us!), or just laughing until we cry!

2. She is insightful and smart. She can read a person or a situation so accurately. She seems to know what I am thinking or feeling before I even say it.

3. She loves me for me. I know this sounds corny but she is like this with everyone. It doesn't matter who you are or what you have done, she is truly interested in who you are.

4. She would never intentionally hurt anyone (unless they are hurting those she loves!) and she hates seeing people in pain.

5. She is the fastest runner I know!

6. I know I can call her day or night, any time and she would be there for me.

7. She is a great mom and I love her kids. Plus she loves my kids - they loved being at her house not only to play with her kids but because she treated them like her own.

8. She loves the Lord. She recognizes that we all make mistakes but she never gives up and never stops trying. I don't even think she realizes her own level of commitment. It inspires me...

9. She puts up with all my "only child" traits. Let's not go into that one!! :)

10. She understands my husband. This may sound weird but we like to joke about how alike the two of them are. (aside from the obvious boy/girl thing) It really helps when I am frustrated with him - I go to her and she can usually tell me his side of the situation in a way I can so much better understand!

11. (Yep, I am going beyond 10!) She has the BEST stories! :)

12. Watching scary movies together..... I'll just be in the kitchen....

13. Her strawberry pie, her peanut butter cookies, her guacamole.....

14. I love how much she loves people - everyone in her life. No matter how long it has been since she has seen them - she still thinks about them, worries about them, wonders about them and will take the time to make the effort to keep in touch. This too inspires me! :)

15. She is my favorite and you can tell the others - don't worry - I will still keep your secret safe!!

Melanie - I love you! I love our friendship and the all the memories. Even though we no longer live down the street from each other, I know we have years of memories to make. After all, you guys are my family's favorite family!! I hope your 30's are all you want them to be!