People, I love you

Today I am grateful for wonderful people in my life. Last week I was driving home from work and I started to think about all the best friends I have made throughout my life. I was thinking about high school specifically with Lauryn and Britton. We had so much fun together, and we balanced each other out. They were my escape from high school drama. Lauryn and I met when we were 12 and I thought she was the coolest because she wore baggy shorts and a backwards baseball cap. Right then I decided I wanted to be her friend forever, and so far it's been great! She was even one of my bridesmaids :) Britton and I met in high school and when he dressed up as the crayon box and I dressed up as the crayon, I just knew it was meant to be! We usually spent our time either skipping school or going to concerts. Nothing much has changed their either - Brit is still touring around with band after band managing them. This picture below is of the three of us in Salt Lake City when Britton came through on tour with Dashboard Confessional. He was Tour Managing The Cab at the time and got us back stage VIP passes all day!

Victoria was another best friend in high school. People may think I use that term too loosely, but you can have more than one best friend! Vic and I survived high school together - somehow in 9th grade we were put together in a freshman forum group, and we never left each others sides after that. Our late weekend night's ordering Chinese food, and sobbing together through chick flicks were the best. We got excited for each other when we'd have new boyfriends, and we'd be there for each other after each miserable break up. After having such a close friend like that in high school, you never lose touch. Though we may go a couple of months without talking, once we do we always just pick right back up where we left off.

I am also grateful for Lauren Merkley. Lauren and I were in our mother's wombs at the same time and our mom's had beds at the hospital right next to each other when we were born...well not really but that's what I used to tell people. And then we realized we were born 5 months apart so that's impossible! But despite that mix-up, we've been friends since we were born and we've grown up together. She used to be the shyest little girl and would only ever talk to me, and then me (being the loud and obnoxious child I've always been) would proudly translate to whomever needed me to. We're older now, and she's still cute and kind of shy and I'm still loud and kind of obnoxious but we're still best friends. She was one of my bridesmaids for my wedding and it meant so much to have her there!
And now look at us! Pretty much still the same :)
And of course, I am grateful for Miranda P. Booth! We've been best friends since we were 12 and awkward (okay maybe we're still a little awkward). She's my soul friend. We've gone through middle school, high school, and college together. She was my maid of honor and it doesn't matter where we end up, we'll always be connected.




I was thinking on my way home about these best friends and how wonderful high school was with them. And then I realized that I made another best friend too - Nicole Case. When I was in high school I was a nanny to three little girls and Nicole was the oldest (5 when I started), then Sarah (2 when I started), and little Megan (who was about 3 months old when I started). I spent every day with these girls and I just grew so close to them. I started nannying for them when I was a sophomore I believe, and then continued through my Junior year and also my Senior year. And each summer and Christmas when I would come back, I would babysit them too. Anyways, it never actually felt like work for me - it was always so enjoyable. And since Nicole was the oldest, she's the one I spent the most time with. She became my best friend :) I love all the girls - they are just the cutest.
Nicole at the beach:
Sarah playing dress up:
Nicole modeling:

Nicole and I at the beach:
Nicole at Friendly's when we went for ice-cream:
Little Megan! She is so much bigger now:
Nicole is a born model:
When Megan was this age, as soon as she saw me she'd say "shwing" and I'd push her on her swing for as long as she wanted!

I'm also grateful for all the people I met in Hawaii. I first went to college when I was 17, and I loved every minute of it. But my experience would have been a lot different without these people, especially Sloane. Sloane also graduated high school early and went to college half way through the year, like Miranda and I did. The three of us became inseparable in Hawaii and now that we're all in Utah, it's been the same. Sloane was also my bridesmaid at my wedding :)
Me, Mir, and Sloane - we probably shouldn't have been allowed to be 17 in college in Hawaii.And now look at us!
After Hawaii, I studied abroad in Spain for a semester. I am so grateful for all the people there in the program! I was the only one in the program from BYU-Hawaii so that means I didn't know anyone before we went, and they had all had a class together. So I was really nervous to meet them all and to be the odd one out - but I was put with the best roommate and the best family. Emily was my roommate and she made me feel so comfortable right away. Below is a picture of us with our family: Paco, Ana, Javi, y Abuela - le amo!!

I'm also grateful for the awesome roommates I've had over the years. For my first year or two in college, I moved every semester! Hawaii, Connecticut, Hawaii, Spain, Hawaii, New York City, and then Utah. And in Utah I have stayed. But every semester I moved and every semester I had a new roommate and they were all amazing! I'm so grateful for them.


And my other roommates were Courtney and Jessie, but they deserve a special shout out of their own! When I first came to Utah I was so worried about having an aweful roomate after living with Miranda, and the girls above who were fantastic. But I was so lucky and I was put with Jessie & Courtney - both of whom are transfer students from Hawaii also. We had so much in common from the very beginning and they became my absolute best friends. Both girls were my bridesmaids. Courtney couldn't actually be there at my wedding but she was an honorary bridesmaid. And she was in my mind all that day. I love both of them so much!

And of course, my family. I'm grateful for all of them, especially my parents. They've been my best friends to me throughout my whole life. I've decided that if you're parents aren't your best friends, then you're in trouble. I'm also really grateful for all my family that I've had out here in Utah while I've been going to school. In Hawaii I didn't have any family around, so I never even thought about it. But it is the absolute best to have family here. I have tons of aunts and uncles, that I know would help me out if ever I needed anything. And I have my Granny who is wonderful!! She lets me come over every week and do my laundry, and before I had a car she would drive me places and even let me borrow her mini van sometimes. Not to mention I use her house as a storage unit, and she just keeps giving. My sister Andrea is also out here in Utah, and it's been wonderful. I love that I get to see her so much, especially because the rest of our siblings are back on the east coast. So it's really nice to have her here. Ever since I graduated high school she and I have just been getting closer and closer. She really is my best friend :)
This is a picture of the woman in my family who are out here in Utah (from left to right): My Mom, Aunt Debbie, Aunt Kathleen, Me, Granny, and Andrea - well my Mom doesn't live in Utah, but she's here enough so it counts!

Shout out also to my cousin Erica, who has been like a sister to me my whole life. We've never been fortunate to live in the same state growing up, but she's the closest cousin in age to me. We grew up kind of rivaling each other, always taunting each other and saying that we could climb trees higher than the other, or run faster, or eat a popsicle better. But you know what, we've grown up and grown into best friends. She was also my bridesmaid and it was so wonderful to have her, and her whole family, with me on my wedding day! She's now living in Utah and it's so great to have her here (secretly I hope she stays!)
We started off cute, then we got awkward:
But now I think we're pretty cute again!


And it was here in Utah that I met my ultimate best friend. I'm so glad I decided to transfer, and I'm so glad Grant decided to stay instead of transfer down to University of Texas. We are so lucky to have found each other at such a young age! He's been my best friend since the day we met, he's my best friend now, and I know he'll always be my best friend. I'm so grateful that I get to be with him always :)

Together we have made a lot of friends here. I owe a lot of that to Grant because he had a very tight knit group of friends growing up in Texas and a lot of them ended up here at BYU like us. So we've have remained friends with them, and through them we have only met more and more people. And it's been really great having so many friends here. Since Grant and I have started dating, we've been to 3 weddings just within our friend group: Jessie & Steve, Daniel & Natalie, and Lindsay & Preston. And this summer there is 3 more (ours was one)! Grant & Me, Justin & Holly, and then Nicole & Jamie. So over time we've all been getting married which is awesome because no one ever leaves our friend circle :) Anyways, I love them all and I've grown so close to them!

It's really good to have so many great people in my life! I feel so blessed.





*Disclaimer: I am not claiming to look good in any of these pictures.