Thank you for being a friend

I have this friend. But she's quite more than that. She is someone who has taken the time to get to know ME, the in's and out's of me, the good and the bad of me, the beautiful and ugly of me, the true and fake me, the funny and serious me, the true heart of Me. Through the time and talks and experiences we've had together, we have learned who each other truely are and in doing so, we have come to realize how so very alike our hearts and souls are. We're soul friends. These don't come often, or to everyone. Knowing this I am truely grateful for her in my life.

She has:
*inspired me*encouraged me*educated me*listened to me*been honest with me*made me laugh*made me feel connected*loved me*supported me*sacraficed for me*shared ideas & thoughts with me*comforted me*validated me*given to me*made me feel special & needed*
-I could go on but that'd take a little too long.

One night her and I spent the whole night remembering unforgettable memories we've had together. That night was just a reminder to me of the great and unique friendship her and I share. This past weekend just validated that even more. We made even more memories and continue to grow closer every time we hang out. We both share the love of the same music, photography, D.I. shopping, movies, qwirkyness, style, humor, travel, service, family, values, morals, and ideas. Soon, this friend will be leaving me for a little while for a great adventure in which she will be sharing all of her qualities, talents and love with other people. I will miss her more than is explainable. I can't imagine life without her near by for a while BUT I can't wait for these people to meet my best friend and get to know her as I have because she is incredible! I love you!

NEVER FORGET*Movie moment IN Vegas*Forts*USU B-Ball games*Stacey's mom*D.I.*Our first hangout we realized we were friends*Climbing on school rooftops to watch fireworks*Wedding bouquet refusal*Horchata love*Bell Canyon hikes*Nerds at heart*Dancing with a drunk guy on the streets in Vegas*Missionary friends*Breaking into a hotel to hot tub*"Beaches"*Sleeping over on my couch*Shoveling snow off my car*Oh baby YOU got what I neeeeed*5:00 A.M. talks*Tubbs of ice cream*Romantic dinners*Travel plans*Movies at Sky's*Boy drama*Blog stalking*I may look like a gangsta, doesn't mean I AM a gangsta*Natural awkwardness*ME*

The Golden Girls (how I love my GG's)said it best:
Thank you for being a friend
travel down the road and back again
you're heart is true, you're a friend and a confidant.
and if you threw a party
invited everyone you knew
you would see the biggest gift would be from me
and the card attached would say
THANK..............YOU...............FOR.............BEING............A.........FRIEND!

The Land of the Gnomes

A couple weekends ago Morgie, Mark, Jenna, and I traveled up to Oregon and California to the Redwood forest. What a magical forest it is! Everything is quiet...just like after a first snowfall. Everything is covered in moss. There are mushrooms on the trees and old women faces on the trunks...FOR REAL. I met old mother Willow.


I know there were gnomes, trolls, fairies, and much other woodland creatures there, they just didn't expose themselves. It was such a magical fairytale land. I'm also positive I saw David Bowie in his Labryinth outfit standing in a tree, twirling glass balls in his hands just staring at us as we walked through. All in all it was beautiful and magical and I would love to go back and live as a gnome there.

We also had the opportunity to take part in Guy Finley's seminars up in Oregon. We practiced on our inner peace, finding our true selves, and doing service. It was an interesting but learning experience. We meditated, stamped, and drank from the mossy wisdom Guy has to offer.


We lived a lighthouse tale, collected rocks on the beach, and saw a gargeous beachy sunset.




But I guess one of the most memorable experience of the trip was our experience cheating death. Twice. Let me explain. After we hiked through the magical land of the gnomes, we started off on a trail to get to this place called Fern Valley. Could have been Fern Gully, we'll never know...anyways as we get to the start of this trail, there are a herd of elk off to the side. Well being the nerd I am I said I was scared to move foreward and didn't want to keep going. Despite my concerns, we moved foreward, getting closer and closer to the elk. Maybe a little TOO close. One in particular, let us call him SPEARHEAD, because of the one huge giant spear antler on his head, I like to believe he was an evil unicorn, took to liking us. He positioned himself on the trail facing us. Every step we took, whether it was foreward backward sideways, he followed. Eventually charging toward us and bucking. Driving us into the bushes. We were trapped. No escape and all of SPEARHEAD's attention. He kept charging us, following us and would not forget about us. We hid, we circled, we laughed, we cried(ok Jenna laughed, I cried.) and eventually climbed some trees so SPEARHEAD couldn't reach us. Only to find out the branches only came a couple feet from the muddy ground. For I'd say a good 30 min, SPEARHEAD had us trapped. I don't know how, but we escaped, running for our lives to the far side of the trail where they were no where to be seen. Realizing we were on the opposite side of the trail of where our car was parked. We tried going around the herd, far around, but they started noticing us again. Finally, we decided to walk on the trail with our heads down, no eye contact. It worked, we got past the elk and therefore cheating death.

The second time we cheated death was on 13 hour car ride home. It almost killed us but once again, we laughed in it's face, cried in it's faced and cheated that ole death and lived to tell this tale.