Best Friends



Me and my Best Friend Nikki

Sometimes, God blesses us in ways that are more valuable than even we can comprehend.

Maybe you've been blessed with some wonderful friends in your lifetime.  Or maybe only one.  But I hope and pray that each of you have, or will be blessed with a friend as wonderful as mine.  I have other wonderful, rewarding friendships too.  But that's a story for another day.  Today I feel the need to recognize my sweet friend Nikki.

She means the world to me!  This is our story.

Meet Nikki

We met way back in  the 7th grade. 

I don't know about her, but for me it was instant friendship ~ and I will never forget those awkward pre-teen days.  For whatever reason I never felt insecure around her.  You know how young girls are in middle school.  One day you're friends and then it changes...whichever way the wind blows.  We didn't have any of that kind of nonsense.  I don't really remember feeling upset with her until later in life (believe me we both had our moments, and well deserved, when we thought that the others actions and decisions were only hurting her).  We went through Jr, High and High School together.  We shared our first studio apartment on our own.  We went through so many trials of life side by side.  We were there for each others weddings and she was there to witness the birth of my first child.

Nikki and her husband Brett

 And then we got busy and let time and miles come between us for awhile.  As sometimes happens when you have husbands, jobs, young children, and all that other stuff...

Nikki, Brett, Jessica, Rebecca and Mike
They have the most beautiful children, don't they! 
Nikki is the mother of three, a working mom, a homemaker, a devoted wife, a talented photographer, a scrapbooking diva, a loyal friend, a strong, beautiful, spiritual woman.

 

Those were some of the hardest years of my life.  Those years we rarely spoke.  I can't say for sure what caused it, and it really doesn't matter now.  We reconnected in time and vowed never to let that happen again.   It's just a dark and distant memory now.

Sometimes it seemed we could look at each other and know exactly what the other was thinking.  We experienced so much of our lives together.  Oh the stories we can tell!!!

Scrapping and laughing and drinking coffee.  Hanging out in our pajamas ~ that's what we do.

I thank God for providing me with such a true friend.  We are separated by hundreds of miles now, but we still make a point to email and talk as often as we can.  Even if that isn't as often as we'd like.  We have a girls weekend at a beach house each  year.  Just lazing and scrapbooking and wake-the-dead karaoke in between mochas and margaritas. 

Beach house trip to Lincoln City, Oregon 2011

Beach House trip to Bandon, Oregon 2010
With our facials ~ we've got it going on!!!



Cocktails before karaoke...luckily all the neighbors were very far away! 
We have 80's hair for the 80's karaoke!

If we're really lucky, we sneak a couple of little weekend visits here and there through the year.  The times I've spent with her are some of the best times I've had.  I always feel so comfortable and at ease.  I can tell her anything.  And, Poor Dear, sometimes I really have. 

Nikki and I at a Classmates Gathering

She's helped me through some of the hardest times in my life...like only a really devoted friend can do.  She's seen me ball my eyes out...and she's known when to keep her opinion to herself.  And she's shown up to tell me, like a good friend, when I need to straighten up and get over myself.  

Another painful karaoke experience...I like to lip sync!!!
Nikki, Me, Joy and Eric

Posing like Divas on the beach 2009 Girls Weekend
Nikki, Jennifer, Michelle and me

It seems only fitting that I let her know...how much of a difference she's made in my life.  How important her friendship is.  That her generosity doesn't go unnoticed.  She has an unwavering faith in God.  She's devoted to her husband and her kids.  She can make me laugh without any words. 
We are planning to have neighboring apartments in a beachside retirement home when we grow old. 

Oh, something to look forward to !!!



Nikki holding the lion cub at the West Coast Game Park in Bandon, OR

Our 20 year High School Reunion in 2008, Michelle, Me and Nikki

 The surprise 40th birthday party she threw for me
with Cindy, Malisa, Me, Michelle, Nikki and Loma

Treasure your true friends.  You know the ones.  They are the ones who are willing to listen to you ramble on about what color you are thinking of painting the side table you just found on Craigslist or help you move the sofa to another spot for the third time that night.  They aren't afraid to tell you they don't think something is working quite the way you think it is...or to encourage you to keep pursuing your dreams.  No matter how lofty!  The dreams you weren't afraid to voice to them, over and over. 

I'd drop my paintbrush in a second...close my laptop right now.  There isn't one project that would keep me from being there if she needed me. 

I know, I'm lucky.