Two of my best friends!

Amber and Natalie have been two of my best friends since I was 14 years old. They were already friends when I met them. 4 weeks into 8th grade my family moved and I switched from Brimhall Jr High to Shepherd Jr High. And of course like in most teenagers life, it was a disaster to my social life. I met Natalie first in a PE class. Then in 9th grade I started hanging out with Natalie and Amber more. We have been the greatest friends ever since. I came across these awesomely bad pictures a little while ago and I just had to share them. Whats funny is that I still look the worse out of all three of us (in both photos I might add). One picture you can appreciate my horrible braces (it was right after I got them on so my teeth are still bad) and the other you can see why I haven't really grown my hair long since.

These two girls are responsible for some of the best memories I've ever had as well as some of the funniest times. I think the friends you have during your adolescent years really determine a lot about you. 14 is such an impressionable age and I really lucked out on having such wonderful friends that were good people as well as a lot of fun.

And since then we each have had so much happen to us - together and separately. We all lived together for a short but memorable time. Hundreds of chats (late night and on the phone), eating out, watching movies, shopping, traveling and so much more. Then we all went on to marry and have children and grow to be the people we are today. That is what friendship truly means to me, that no matter what, it can last through the years. What remains should be what we had in common back then and now. We can always talk no matter what and just because life has taken us in different directions doesn't mean the friendship has changed.

Lately we all have so much going on that sometimes its difficult to make our schedule work so that we all can get together. But it doesn't matter because when we are together its great. I love Amber and Natalie and I am so grateful for both of their friendships. Both had a big hand in making me the person I am today.

Enjoy the pictures!

Brody

I like the idea of posting my thoughts and feelings about things I love and things that are important to me (as well as every day life). Naturally I have decided that one of the first things I post should be about one of the more important things in my life - my son Brody. These are just some of the recent pictures of him.

Brody is about two weeks away from being 18 months old. During these 18 months Brody has given me and everyone around him so much joy. From the moment Brody was born he had personality. Now I realize that is the case with many babies but Brody also showed his personality by his many different facial expressions. Brody was a very happy baby and he has grown a little bit into being a fun little toddler. That last sentence has a disclaimer for when Brody is teething because he is horribly whinny and miserable during those times.

Ever since learning to crawl and more recently walk, Brody doesn't want to stay still ever (there are a few exceptions of course). He wants to go everywhere and get into everything. He loves to read, be outside, play with his toys, watch Backyardigans and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. He is a complete mamma's boy and I am very ready for that stage to end. As with most children, Brody is a handful and takes work but of course its all worth it because he is a wonderful little boy.

I finally gave in!

I know that we are a year or two late in the blog craze but we are finally joining the crowd. I shouldn't really say "we" cause my husband Jake wants no part in it - mostly I think that is because he is busy enough with school and work that he doesn't want any responsibilities on having to post anything. So from here on out all posts and contributions to this blog will be all up to me (though I will say Jake helped with the name of our blog).

A couple months ago I had a sister-in-law and one of my best friends start blogs. Then as the weeks went on I had lots of fun looking at their blogs and hearing about their life. Its not that I never saw them but it was an easier way to hear about their everyday lives and see cute pics. So I thought, why not start my own!