:)

There are but a few things better than dinner with good friends and my sweet boyfriend, playing fun games, yummy food, and good conversation!

So blessed to be surrounded with people I love!

23rd birthday

Happy 23rd Birthday Shannon!

May you always be blessed;

with walls for the wind,

a roof for the rain,

a warm cup of tea by the fire,

laughter to cheer you,

those you love near you

and all that your heart might desire.

what are friends for?

I've been sick since Thursday with a fever, cough, sometimes aching ears, and now a cold. I had told my best friend that I would join her at a Guy Fawks (I didn't know who he was either, he tried to blow up parliment on Nov 5th, ever watched V for Vendetta? It talks about it briefly in the beginning) party yesterday. Ya'll, I've felt like dying. But, I felt a little bit better yesterday, so I got up and got ready to go with my friend to the party.

However, this was no normal party. And not just because we made things to burn later. Or because there was an odd assortment of people present. Very odd. The real reason it was special was because he was supposed to be there.

He is my friend's crush. Whom I have never met. And we all know that another friend's approval is important when considering a guy. Well he didn't show up. So, we made our little effigies (mine was an ant) and staid long enough not to be rude.

Then we went to bjs. I tried to cough up a lung (or two), ate, talked and just had a fun time. And that's what friend's are for. To go to weird parties that you would never normally go to to meet the boy that the friend is interested in so that you can pass approval, to moan and complain and wonder why said boy didn't show up as you leave the party, to decide that hummus, pretzels, pita bread, and carrots are not a real meal and to go to dinner after.

Oh, if I could make a book that contained only pictures of the things that my friend's and I have done and been through... but, after all, what are friends for?

Miraculous

I was able to be apart of something absolutely miraculous today.

My girlfriend, Marlene, was pregnant with her second baby and had asked me if I would be willing to stay with her during her labor to encourage her. I said yes, and yesterday I got the call that she was on her way to the hospital because she was afraid she might be leaking amniotic fluid.

They had her in a room just to observe her and when she went for her ultrasound they thought that the baby would be nine pounds. My friend is not very tall, 5'1, 5'2, so the nurses called her doctor and her doctor was afraid she wouldn't be able to deliver naturally like she had wanted.

Marlene decided to induce so at 5:15pm on Thursday pitocin was started. We waited. And waited. And waited. It was sort of weird because Marlene, her boyfriend Thom, and I were waiting and talking and watching a movie and at one point it felt more like a sleepover than anything.

Marlene did so great. It was crazy sitting and talking to her and then having her stop mid sentence, grit her teeth, screw up her face, and then just like that, she was fine again. This happened over and over until it was about 3am. At that point Marlene wasn't worried so much about the pain but the fact that she was tired and didn't thinks he could sleep.

So, at 3am we called in the miracle worker, aka, the person that administered the epidural. At this point I was sitting on the couch in the room facing away from Marlene. I do not do needles in your spine. No thank you. And I'm really glad I didn't because Marlene was saying "ouch" more than she was when she having her contractions! The epidural started to kick in, although it only really worked on her left side.

As soon as she was comfy I laid down on my little plastic covered mat on the floor and Thom was on the couch and we all slept. The next morning the nurse laughed and told us that we were all sleeping quite soundly because she had come in to check on Marlene and changed her IV bag and stuff several times.

At around 8 in the morning Marlene started to complain about a lot of pain on the side that didn't get numbed. She called the nurse and we thought that she would just come in and up her dosage. The nurse decided to see how far dilated she was first and we were surprised to learn that she was at ten! And just as quickly as the nurse said she was at ten she told her to start pushing. So, push she did!

It took her 15.5 hours to get dilated to ten. It took her a half of an hour to actually deliver. It was truly amazing. I was standing near her head, counting to ten for her as she bared down and pushed and then all of a sudden, there he was! It was...breathtaking. Truly an indescribable feeling. It was just like, "holy cow! There's a baby that just came out of you!"

I'm so honored and thankful that Marlene allowed me to share in such an incredible moment of her life with her. It was something that I will never forget. I don't think words can accurately describe how amazing a birth is. It's amazing how God designed our bodies to work. It's breathtaking how God knits together a little person inside of his (or her) mother's womb. It's just...indescribable. I am so glad that I was able to witness little Travis' birth!

the other is gold

I love my girlfriends. I may not have an over abundance of friends but I do have two very dear friends that I have known for a long time. One since third grade and the other since the beginning of highschool. We have a lot of shared history that I cherish.

We have three very distinct personalities, which, at times, can be quite interesting but for the most part we compliment the others very well. I have the tendancy to be a little bit more shy and reserved about things and my friends help crack open that shell. In turn, I help moderate their craziness.

I love knowing that no matter what I can rely on them. If I'm having a good day, I can call and share it with them. If I'm having a bad day I can share that too. If I need to cry I have two sets of shoulders and two sets of ears to hear me vent.

I am the "good" one of the bunch. Sometimes I feel as though I can never mess up because they will somehow think differently of me. Deep in my heart I know that if I ever made a poor decision or messed up that they would be there just the same. This, I think, is the true test of a friendship. To have someone who loves you in the good and bad, the ugly and the pretty, the joy and the grief. It is a rare thing to find, and I have found it in two people.

I am also the baby of the group so I am blessed with the oppurtunity to learn from my friends. Yes, I will lead my own life, and I will suceed and fail, make good decisons, and unwise choices, but that is a part of life. I know that my friends will always probably feel their weird sense of protectivness and responsability for me and I treasure that they go out of their way to watch out for me so that my life can be made that much easier. At the end of the day, no matter good or bad, I know I can come to them.

"Good friends must not always be together; It is the feeling of oneness when distant that proves a lasting friendship." -Susan P. Schultz

"Your friends are your release -- They're who you have the most fun with, and yet when the going gets tough, those people turn around and suddenly they're not just making you laugh, they're being this rock and giving you all their advice. Even though you're so much your own person, if you dissect yourself, I guarantee you your friends are in there. Their influence is incredible. Best friends are what you need most." -author unknown

Oh, the comfort, the inexpressible comfort of feeling safe with a person; having neither to weigh thoughts nor measure words, but to pour them all out, just as they are, chaff and grain together, knowing that a faithful hand will take and sift them, keep what is worth keeping, and then, with a breath of kindness, blow the rest away.-- George Elliot.