Guidelines for friends.

I have three very good friends... 2 of them I knew growing up, but they really weren't friends with each other; the other is my best buddy from the MCC ward and she doesn't know the first 2. I love them all in different ways and for different reasons. 

P is the happiest person in the world.  She's very confident, and open, and I want to be just like her.  P also is a cosmetic~savvy lady, so much so that I love to look at her eyes and the beautiful sparkly stuff that she puts around them.  Oh, and she has the MOST gorgeous hair.  Seriously, it's the most beautiful shade of red that you can imagine!  AND she has the BEST laugh in the whole world.  I would know her laugh anywhere; she makes me laugh just by hearing her laugh!

G has always been the one that I share everything with.  She helps me and I help her.  I love her and her girls.  Each of her daughters are SO different from the other, they are beautiful together.  G is the one that is patient with me, doesn't beat around the bush, and we share our trials.  She  has tried over and over and over to teach me how to crochet... it just goes over my head.  She knows just how to phrase things to make me feel better.

M, oh M.  The first time I met her, I hated her.  We joke about it.  I thought she was a snob, she thought I was a brat.  We were both right.  Then, we got stuck together on the stand in church and got to realize that we have the same sense of humor.  A few years ago, I was on bedrest and she had just had foot surgery to remove a pencil (ouch, long story).  I was bummed, so I called her.  She came over and we played "The Lord of the Rings" on the XBox for hours.  Lots of Hours.  When Curt came home, we bossed him into going to get us Chinese food.  Poor guy; it was like he had two wives, one on crutches and one on bedrest.  He decided that the polygamists were crazy... or deaf.

Anyway, my relationship with these wonderful ladies has been ongoing and we have had trials!  We have worked through them.  We have learned from them.  I love them as though the were my own sisters.  They will never replace my wonderful sisters and sisters-in-law, but they are very much a part of my family.

I was thinking about them today.  I was reading a book that talked about complicated friendships. We all have them, but what I've learned from them is monumental.  This mostly applies to friends, sometimes to family and hopefully, they are the same thing.

Sometimes patience is the only thing that you can give to a friend.

Saying "sorry" isn't the fix in every situation... but at least it's a start.

When feeling replaced by someone else, remember that they'll still always be there.

Don't sit by your friends in church... you might end up with the bishop staring at you to be quiet and stop laughing.

The best feeling in the world is getting a call from someone that you think has forgotten about you.

Forgiveness is key... even if you aren't quite sure what you're being forgiven for or what you're forgiving.

Silence is golden... especially when wanting to give unsolicited advice.

Letters matter... write one.

Emails are great, but they are no substitiution for good, old, face-to-face conversation.

Friendship goes way beyond friends... they become family; hopefully, family can become friends.

When a friend moves away... nighttime minutes are free but call on a Friday night.  That way you can talk for hours and not have to stress about getting up in time for something in the morning!

If you are going on vacation, always stay with your friends.  They miss you as much as you miss them.

Love your friends.  Love your family.  Love your neighbor.  All this is easier if you love yourself.

My Favorite Workout buddy

This is my new best friend.

If you have never worked out with a kettlebell before...

I HIGHLY RECOMMEND IT!

This is my friend that even when I am just swinging it around,

makes me hurt because I'm trying to stay upright.

I can do a ton of exercises with it, and it won't hurt my poor, sad back!

Here's the only thing to remember:

When swinging it, have a good grip.

It can fly far.  ☺

I love October

I think it's really funny that I LOVE this month.   It's not my birthday month, it's not my anniversary; it's just a really great month and I'll tell you why!

IT'S OCTOBER!

I LOVE:

* that the Arizona Desert starts cooling off.  I love that all the creepy things go into hibernation when it's cooler.  

* climbing into bed with a heat pack on  my still sore back.

* being cold and putting my feet on Curt's warm legs. (He's not a lover of this, but oh well.)

* wearing layers!  I can't tell you how much I love wearing 2 long sleeve shirts.

* wanting to drink Cocoa with marshmallows.  (and I love making homemade marshmallows, they are super yummy!)

* that even though all the trees here don't change colors, the trees an hour north do.

* the week before Halloween.  It's dedicated to watching scary movies and reading a scary book!  This year it's "The Historian" by Elizabeth Kostova.

* Making Halloween costumes! (It's my goal to have the costumes done a week before)

* winning the costume contest at the parties!  We're totally winning this year.

* Halloween Parties: Gena's and the Trunk or Treat (Myra, I'm sad that you aren't having one)

* the kids' fall parties! 
* Pumpkins ~ I can't wait to use them next month for pies!
* seeing all the other kid's halloween costumes
* ghosts ~ I have such an interesting view of them and think it's cool.
* kids crawling into bed with me just to get warm.
* the weatherman when he says the magical phrase, "The high will be in the 80s today."
* the early morning bus because it comes when it really is early morning!
* the electricity bill goes WAY down because the AC is off.
* the kids go to bed earlier because they think it's later than it really is.
* Green Grass... need I say more?

So, here it is... October and I'm loving this month so far.  I spent last night with friends at a book club discussing a wonderful and beautifully written book.

 The Thirteen Tale by Diane Setterfield.  Seriously, this is one of my favorite books EVER!  You know how some people have to give a book a few chapters before they even care about it?  This is the one book that has you absolutely captivated from the first paragraph...

 " It was November.  Although it was not yet late, the sky was dark when I turned into Laundress Passage.   Father had finished for the day, switched off the shop lights and closed the shutters; but so I would not come home to darkness he had left on the light over the stairs to the flat. Through the glass in the door it cast a foolscap rectangle of paleness onto the wet pavement, and it was while I was standing in the rectangle, about to turn my key in the door, that I first saw the letter.  Another white rectangle, it was on the fifth stop fromt hte bottom, where I couldn't miss it."

If you love books, and read a ton of them like I do, this book is a "must read". 

Anyway, back to my day of costume finishing.  I have to make my daughters and adjust mine.  It's going to be a beautiful day.