Happy Birthday, Ulu!!

Ulu is one of the people that my blog was created for even though I didn’t know it at the time that this blog was created. When I created this blog I started with the foundation that people can affect you negatively or positively and it would still influence you to become who you are today. I’m glad to say that Ulu is one person who has positively influenced me.

For the longest time, Ulu and I thought that one hated the other and only in my last couple of months working at the bakery did we really get to know each other. Of course we were both like “I thought you hated me!” so we wasted all that time not being friends when we could’ve been.

In the short time that I’ve known Ulu, I’ve realized how similar we are and I didn’t feel like quite an anomaly. Ulu’s quick wit and joking manner has set me at ease even though most of the time I feel like she’s making fun of me.

Thanks for being willing to be my friend, Ulu. I don’t know many people whose heart is truer than yours. Even though you don’t show it, I know that you’re so full of love; the fierce kind of love that will always fight for the people you care for. I want you to know that you have been a great example to me and have encouraged in not only my relationships with other people, but also my testimony of the Gospel.

Even though we no longer work together, I plan on keeping in contact with you and becoming even greater friends. There are many nights of long-boarding, swimming, and jamming ahead of us! I love you Ulu!

Okay we can go back to not being sappy now. 😉

A Birthday Post & A World of Love

This is going to be cheesy, and I’m totally okay with that.

I woke straight up this morning with one singular and clear thought in my head: It’s your birthday. I’m telling you, I bolted upright in bed in the nightmare kind of way. Except, you know, with the opposite of dread.

For a small town girl, you’ve definitely touched my life and the life of so many others in this big ol’ world.

Thank you.

For always always being willing to indulge my complaints.

For always squealing with me over fictional characters.

For always telling me that my fears and worries aren’t pointless.

For loving me and all my faults.

Somehow I feel like we are the embodiment of “Distance makes the heart grow fonder” and I’m so happy we have only grown closer as the miles stretched farther.

I love you so much and I wish you a world that’s full of love on this special day!

Happy Birthday to you and to Dr. Seuss!

The Impact of One Life

How often do people dread the date on a calendar? Never in my life have I ever stopped to ask that question before. If I’ve dreaded a date, that’s what I did. I dreaded it. But like I said, I’ve never stopped to actually think about how often people dread a date on a calendar.
I’ve dreaded exam dates before. I’ve dreaded awkward and/or painful doctor’s appointments before. But this is the first time I’ve ever dreaded this date.

May 23rd. Last year, it fell on a Thursday, and I didn’t know any better. This year it falls on a Friday, and I wish it didn’t exist. If it didn’t exist, maybe the events that day would’ve never happened? It’s the date that one of my best friends left this earth. For almost a year now, anytime someone asks “What’s today’s date?” and it happens to be the 23rd, I always pause and go “It’s been (insert number) months since I last talked to him.” “It’s been (insert number) months since he’s smiled on this earth.”
I still wonder and I still don’t understand why he’s no longer here. I mean, I do. It was a car accident. It was bad. He died.
But…. I also just don’t get it. It’s something that I’ve had to think about a lot over the past 11+ months and I still have no answers.

There aren’t any guarantees that there will ever be any earthly answers to many of the questions I have, but I just hope that I’ll find more peace as I keep traveling in this life that is no longer his to be part of.

A Little Tale of Friendship

 

We’re a great group of friends. We love each other a lot. A lot a lot! These pictures were taken on a sunny, summer Sunday in the forest and in the meadows! It was such a beautiful day that you would never know from these pictures that the day ended with a slightly unexpected twist. We were almost in a very bad situation, but we were blessed with warnings and we were able to make it out of the forest safely. On this day, it became very clear to me that I had made the correct choices in friends. These are friends that I can rely on to kneel down with me in a moment of need, to say a prayer together. It has been one of the strongest examples of how wonderful our friendship is, of prayer, and of how much our love for one another is so great.

 

 

 

 

A little love

One of my best friends is in need of a little love today. Her mom’s brain surgery is today and whether you know her or not, a little love will go a long way. Send positive thoughts, comment for her here, say a private prayer, sing a little song, flex your muscles, kiss a baby, or look up at the sun. Something tells me my friend and her family will appreciate it.

Nettabells, I love you!

Morning Thoughts

Sometimes people sneak up on you and stay longer than you expected them to stay. Sometimes they don’t stay as long as you’d like, but your life shows signs of them being there. This morning I’m thinking of M—. Not in a bad way and it’s definitely not as sad a thought as it could be. I still can’t believe our lives intersected but I can believe that I’m so lucky that they did. 

So I guess my conclusion is that we should love the people we have while we have them, because they can leave us in the most unexpected of ways… much like the very unexpected ways that they entered our lives in the first place.