Ya Gotta Have Friends!!

So this is totally NOT a family related post-- those who log on JUST to know what the 4 zoo monkeys are doing cute NOW, just skip..... this is more ramblings from Mom. That's me. Still weird to think that name instead of my own :-)

Anyway, Relief Society yesterday was a Visiting Teaching Conference. The (not) fun part is that I took part in the role-playing, using the commitment pattern to help a sister my "partner" and I were visiting teaching. Actually, I have to admit it was kinda fun to surrender to the Spirit and the commitment pattern like I did on the mission. If this sister HADN'T have already been an active sister, I'm pretty sure we woulda had her. But, that wasn't the part that hit me the hardest. Janice Beals, who I LOVE by the way, spoke about friendship--it was assumed we would take her thoughts and translate them into our visiting teaching. But she gave 4 principles that I am going to share because it's my blog and I warned ya'll it wasn't about the kids. The first is Listen, which kinda is self-explanatory. 2nd is Overlook, meaning that true friends will overlook their friends' faults and will OVERLOOK and let go of the things that do that bug, annoy, or offend. We should talk about them, but then we should let them go. Then was Value--remember our friends, don't take them for granted, and value what a gift they are in our lives. Lastly was Enjoy--take the time to enjoy your friendships and spend positive time together. At any rate, I thought about the friends I have, old and new. My ward is really wonderful and I've felt like it was HOME since the first day we walked in. I have new friends who I am just getting to know, from my ward. It's VERY hard for me to let people in so those people in my ward who are patient enough to deal with the really sad efforts I make, I really do value. But I was also thinking about my "old" friends.

Last week my friend Liz came from Utah/Idaho/New York, and in only having a week here to visit with her family and friends, she chose to spend a whole day with ME. That meant a lot to me, because she is just one of those people that is good for the soul. We went to lunch and then she insisted on coming to my house and clipping coupons with me. Like, thousands of them it seemed. But we just talked and clipped coupons and it was the best time I've had in a long time. NO, my life isn't that boring, I just REALLY, REALLY enjoyed catching up with my Liz.

Then I think about my friend Erica, who I haven't seen since she was FIRST pregnant with her child who she brought home a MONTH ago. I miss her incredibly, and I wondered if she feels valued--but when I imagine the way she has been there for me, there's no way to replace the friendship I have for her in my heart. Janice put up a sign in her lesson, which is poorly reproduced in the top of this post, that says "That's What Friends are For" and then has a sign that says "To the Ends of the Earth--1 billion gajillion miles" That's where my Erica has gone with me, both literally and emotionally.

My friend Charity, who I haven't seen since like 1999. She is almost solely responsible for me being an actual contributing member of society, because she was my rock and example (and partner in crime) during a time when I was becoming an actual person instead of a blob of cells and biology that just existed and blew in the wind. One email, one phone call, and we're caught up like we had never left those teensy weensy dorm room at the Y.

There are more friends out there; my sis Rachel is and always will be my "twin sister"--you can't have a best friend better than your sister, no matter how "best" your other best friends are. I could write a list of my friends, but they are innumerable. Ya'll know who you are, but you may not know how much I value and cherish you and the colors you've added to my life. I keep a little piece of purple paper in my scriptures from when Erica taught a RS lesson, that says something to the effect of "You are the missing piece of the puzzle in someone else's life." That's what my friends are to me, but they are more. To steal an idea from a book that shall remain unnamed so as to not add to THAT bandwagon :-), my friends are like the threads in the tapestry of my life--you each add colors that make my tapestry rich and vibrant and beautiful. So thanks, and know that I LOVE you guys, and I L. O. V. E. you guys (Love, Overlook, Value, and Enjoy). And for my new friends who I am trying to actually be a worthwhile friend to, I'm working on it. I'll get it right eventually.

Here is just a little sampling of some of the friends I have in my life, and some of the memories I cherish.... hopefully some of you will OVERLOOK any photos you'd rather not see, I haven't always been the model of appropriateness that I am today ;-)