My Favorite Things: O

The next few posts are going to be short and sweet. Mostly because I'm running out of time this year to get them written, but also because there are fewer things to say for each letter.

Old Navy:

I know this one is kind of silly, but I love to shop at Old Navy. I love it because the sizes range from little tiny people to fluffier people like myself. Plus, generally, the clothes can be counted on to be cute and relatively reasonably priced. They usually run pretty great sales and while the clothes don't last forever, they last long enough for me. I have a tendency to get bored of the clothes I have and therefore pass them onto Maren or Laura or even my mom. So, they stay in good enough shape that they can go through two owners before being worn out. That's pretty good, right?



Organizing:

I LOVE to organize things!! I can't even tell you what a good drawer organizer or a bag with all sorts of nifty pockets and organized sections can do for me! I really do adhere by the idea that everything has a place and every place has a thing! My brain feels frazzled and broken when things are out of order. I understand that not everything has order or can be organized, but darn it, I will certainly try!!



Otters:

I love to swim and thereby love to watch things swimming around, especially when they are as cute as these little guys. They make swimming and gliding through water look completely effortless. And well, their little faces and hands make them look so cute and cuddly. I always wanted an otter as a pet, but I hear they are crazy, psychotic mean little buggers that would no sooner cuddle you as would an angry rhino. Now that's an entertaining prospect!



Office Supplies:

One of my favorite things to do in the whole world is walk down the pens/pencils/binders/post its/office supplies aisle at any store. Good grief I LOVE office supplies! At work, we get this magazine from an office supply store here in town and my secretary always knows she has to save it for me to peruse because I drool all over it. I LOVE the smell of freshly opened post its. Holy cow. So very much.



Oh Lord, My Redeemer:

This is just another example of a hymn that touches my soul from the very bottoms of my feet to the tips of my hair. I LOVE this song. I cry every time I hear it. Every. Single. Time. Without fail. Have a listen:

Maren

So, this post has been a long time coming and it's been so long in coming because I'm a bit intimidated about it. She understands, of course, because whenever we get birthday cards for each other or try to tell each other thank you, we realize that words are just not enough.

What is a best friend to you? Think about that for a second.... Got your idea of what a best friend is? Good. Take that idea and throw it out. Because it doesn't hold a candle what what this gal is for me. There are no actual words in the English language that equate. None. We've looked.

Maren, my (for lack of a better term) best friend, and I met just before our 15th birthdays. 14 years ago. In six months from now, we will have been best friends for half of our lives. That's big, folks. That's a force to be reckoned with, right there. Here's the short version of the story:



I was not active with church, but my Momma was trying to get me to go to more church related activities so she was insisting that I go to a fireside. Not only was she insisting that I go to the fireside, but she insisted that I go down the street and ask the new girl who'd just moved in to come with me. Well, me being who I was, not only didn't want to go "waste my time" at the fireside, but I truly wanted to ask this new girl to come about like I wanted to pour acid up my nose and light it on fire.



But, like a good girl who wants to make her Momma happy, I marched myself and my miniature poodle, Hershey, down the road and knocked on the door. Turns out, when I asked, she (without me hearing, of course) told her parents that she didn't really want to either. Her parents must have gone to the same Parenting 101 class that my Momma did because they insisted as well. Maren begrudgingly accepted my offer.

I don't remember the fireside at all. I remember what I wore (typical of my mindset at that point in life, I'm ashamed to admit). I remember where it was held. But I do not remember Maren coming with me. I don't remember talking to her at all. I don't remember what the fireside was about. I don't remember anything else.

However, it must have been awesome! How do I know? Maren and I started hanging out more often after that point. We went to different schools, but whenever I would come home from school, we would do things together.

And when we were in high school, I was busy with swim team and drama and Maren was busy with drama as well, we would go for weeks at a time without getting to see or talk to each other much. BUT, as soon as we got back to each other, it was like nothing had changed.

Since then, we went to college together, roomed together there, we were Maids of Honor at each other's weddings, I have helped with and loved her children like my own, gone on some fun adventures together (some near, some far), graduated college together, forced each other into being better people (even if it meant making the other one go into the bishop's office), cried together, laughed together, and helped to form one another into the people we are today.



I am a better person for having her in my life. She is the one person who has made sense. The one person who never lets me down. The one person I have been able to rely on for anything and everything all these years.

And even though we are trying to find our new "normal" after I got married this summer, it's working out because we understand that we love each other so much that no amount of space or time will change it.

Katherine Mansfield said: "The truth is friendship is every bit as sacred and eternal as marriage." 
I honestly believe that. Wholeheartedly. And I'm grateful for that knowledge. Just as sure as I am that there would be no heaven if Alan weren't with me, there would be no heaven without Maren with me also.

I wouldn't be who I am without her.

And because saying Thank you or I love you just doesn't do it justice...

I Ostrich You, Lovie. Big, fat, feathery Ostriches. Ostriches all the heck over you.



P.S. Happy Birthday in a couple days (November 26th). And Happy 14th Anniversary to us!!