what makes a best friend?

thinking of my friends, I've realized they all have characteristics from the same small list.

they're funny.  I sure do love being friends with funny people.  it's like every interaction is just a real treat.  the other day, I caught myself reading through months of text message conversation that I'd had with weed.  it just reads better than a good book.  everything was making me smile and laugh out loud all over again.  we've been friends since birth (mine, since I'm younger) and she's still the funniest person I know.

they're candid.  I love a little tmi.  when I can sit down with someone and have a conversation where almost nothing is off limits, I naturally feel so comfortable.  we can talk about our less than glittery feelings, how rarely we actually do those less desirable chores, and any bodily function or weirdness that comes up without having to redirect the conversation.  my friend Sarah that's in my ward... this is 100% her.

they're loyal.  I have another friend from birth (hi Diana!) that I'm horribly crappy at keeping in touch with.  despite that, we are friends.  I feel confident that even if we talked for five minutes a year, for the next 20+ years, I would still consider her family and be totally fine asking for a huge last minute favor or crashing at her house if I was passing through her neck of the woods.

just these three characteristics hit most every person I consider to be a close friend.  still, there's just one more category that was hard for me to pin down.  and, as weird as it sounds, it's the people that I'm not truly good friends with... people that may not even consider me a friend.  one person in particular comes to mind... we were visiting teaching companions a few years ago and she's still in my ward.  I'm sure she thinks I'm fine and nice and just another person at church, but I have such huge respect for her as a person.  she is so kind and so hardworking and never feels sorry for herself and she's so satisfied with her life and her situation in a way that I just didn't even know was possible.  I look up to her so much and I know she has no idea.  despite this... I would be willing to make huge sacrifices for her.  so... not sure exactly how to sum up the last category.

they're just good people.  if I can watch them from near or far and see their overwhelming goodness, I can't help but love them and consider them a true friend, regardless of if they even have me on their radar.

so that's it.  this was my thought process a few weeks ago while I was driving home from the gym and thinking about why some people stand the test of time or why someone can go from stranger to best friend basically overnight.  I'll have to edit this is something changes, but basically this is it.  these four things are the best indicators of who I'll consider a friend... and if they've got multiple or all of the characteristics from the list, they're likely on the very top of my best friends list.

I'm so thankful for my friends and all of the great relationships I have in my life right now.

embarrassing

this isn't the first time we've had weird trash but it might take the cake... so far.  

we recycle.  a lot.  so on trash day we typically have just a small trashcan put out on the curb.  

well, honey did quite a bit of yard work recently and this is what our trash output looked like this morning.  i was rolling this from our backyard to the curb (since honey is still out of town and because i asked him to keep it in our backyard since it wouldn't fit in the garage and i didn't want anyone to be able to see it) this morning just praying that none of our neighbors would be out to see this spectacle.  

 

 

honestly i was just really relieved when i saw that the trash people actually took it all away.  and also very glad that this heavy load didn't fall on me or our fetus at any point in this whole situation. really, the pictures do not at all convey the colossal nature of this thing.  it was enormous.

a story for you

the other day i clicked a link on facebook and read a fabulous blog post from someone i've never met before.  it made my day and it might make yours to.  but just to warn you... this is a story about gas.

enjoy!

gmail weather report

i love that my gmail shows me an outdoor tree scene and it changes based on the weather in my area.  normally it's sunny, occasionally partly cloudy, sometimes snowy, and every once in a while, rainy.  i absolutely love it.  on days i would wake up to snow, i don't know if i was more excited to look out the window at the snow on my trees or look on my gmail at the gsnow on my gtree.  it's the little things in life... 

anyways, tonight was a new one for me.  i looked at my gmail and saw a super weird grayish purple background.  i was super confused wondering how my background theme got changed.  until i noticed the lightening bolts and realized it was just reflecting the thunderstorm that was going on outside!

looove picasa screen shots and collages

so there's a little peek into just one thing that made my day today.

hey girl

this is for seeester leeesa, aka sister lisa and sisar lisa but mostly just "weed".  as a thank you for introducing me to this mormon ryan gosling "hey girl" site.  

well, i was loving all the hey girls and one thing led to another and well...

source

was it just a coincidence that i had a picture of baby girl on my memory card where she was in the exact same pose as ryan gosling?  

no.

it was divine intervention.

"granny caught an alligator"

when i got that text yesterday i completely imagined my grandmother wrestling a 6ft alligator with her bare hands.  if you knew her like i do, this idea wouldn't seem so wild.  but, as it turns out, it was caught by a beaver trap.  and it was caught in that very pond you see pictured in the link.  

looove that life on a farm.

the small world of facebook

loooove when i get facebook surprises like this...

 

why yes, as a matter of fact, i did.  

WHADDUP LJ?!?!

modern art

aka... kids and technology.

i swear these days kids come out of the womb knowing how to program computers and other fancy stuff i'm not even aware of.  over thanksgiving baby girl held her uncle's ipod for about 7 seconds before she had figured out how to unlock it and open music apps.  seriously?!  

recently, she's taken an interest in our little camera.  it's just a normal point and shoot but she realized that she can watch videos of herself on there and she thinks that's super cool.  

she knows the on/off button and the button to press to get the video to play.  it's kind of impressive because i still get hazy on these things.  and she's only 19 months old.  this morning i woke up when chris did.  he got out and showered, while i moaned about how i stayed up too late and why was i already awake?!  when he turned off the showered i lazed* "baby's awake" and so he quickly put on clothes and then got her out of her crib, changed her diaper, and brought her downstairs to our room to hang out with him while he finished getting ready for work.  i remained in bed.  i actually remained in bed for almost an hour after she woke up which is strange because honey left for work and i remained in bed while baby wandered the house.  i was especially lazy this morning.  that's extreme... even for me.  

anyways, around the time honey was about to leave, baby girl grabbed our little camera from my nightstand.  but instead of watching videos like she normally does, she decided to take some pictures!  so my view wasn't always great, but i kept hearing that picture taking sound over and over while seeing the flash blind baby's poor eyes.  she pressed onward though, photographing much of our first floor.  i remained in bed.  but eventually she brought the camera back to me and this is what i can deduce from the pictures.

close up of baby's face.  i saw it happen.

same and same.

ditto and ditto.  lots of face flashing going on. 

this is in honey's office.  i'm guessing she was following him around as he gathered stuff for work.

office chair and map on wall behind his desk.

same and same.

this is honey's arm.  his shirt is actually misrepresented in this picture because really it's blue and white with no pink undertones.

unidentifiable wall or ceiling.  only baby knows.

our entertainment center back in the master bedroom.  

entertainment center in the great room.

the ceiling of the entryway nook to the master bedroom.

kitchen ceiling and window above the sink.

kitchen ceiling

kitchen still.

for someone like me, who is   (fill in the the blank)  , this is what modern art looks like.  sooo, although i know there are a lot of people with a sincere love of abstract art like the great sara snow** who wrote about it here, i've never been able to get myself to be one of those people.  in case you were wondering.

but if you are a self described trendy, artsy, new york loft, creative, hip, right-brain, organic, wears boho/hobo clothes type of person, would you like to purchase one of my baby's deep, meaningful, trendy, timeless, one of a kind prints?  it would look awesome on that brick wall of your awesome 150 sq/ft manhattan two bedroom apartment that you share with your 3 aspiring writer/actor/musician/artist roommates.  convo me on etsy*** and we can talk about sizing, canvas, frames, and pricing.

*not sure of the real meaning, but i intend for it to mean that i laid in bed and snobbishly moaned to my breadwinner husband to fulfill my motherly and wifely responsibilities.
**  she's really super great.  seriously.
*** i do not have anything to do with etsy.  buying, selling, window shopping, browsing for inspiration... nothing.  absolutely nothing.  you should know better.

that awkward moment

i love those "that awkward moment when... " jokes.  like " that awkward moment when you step into your closet and you don't go into Narnia." or "that awkward moment when you put a dish in the sink while someone is washing them."  or even "that awkward moment when rebecca black doesn't know which seat to take."  they all make me smile.  even the picture ones.

so when i was going through pictures a week or two ago i saw this one of baby girl playing with her friend, elle.  and i immediately thought "that awkward moment."

sooo,  wanna play along?  give me your best "that awkward moment when..." for this picture because i've thought of a few i already like but i'm sure there's gotta be something better.