Congratulations Dianne and Family!

I want to send out a huge congratulations today to my good friend Dianne and her family. Dianne has been on a journey to adopt a little girl from Ethiopia. Today Dianne and her husband found out that their court date in Ethiopia was a success! They are now the parents of a beautiful baby girl :-) Congratulations Dianne and Chris! I am so happy for you! I know you are going to be amazing parents and your baby girl is lucky to have you!

Thoughts and prayers, please!

Please keep my friend Dianne, and her husband Chris, in your thoughts and prayers! They are in the process of adopting a baby girl from Ethiopia and have found out that their referral is sitting on someone's desk in Edmonton! I can't imagine what it must feel like to wait for something so important! Dianne is handling it beautifully though (you really are Dianne)! So like it says in the title of this post, please keep my friend in your thoughts and prayers this weekend!

Moving

Nope, I'm NOT moving just in case you read the title of this post and went "What?!" This past few days I've been trying to get our Juniors program organized so that we could move to our new summer campus. The move happened yesterday and it went quite smoothly actually. But that's not actually what this post is about. Today I helped my best friend unpack and organize her boxes in her new classroom at school. It was a bit of an overwhelming job for her and I was happy to go and help her. I would have helped her move all the boxes too if she'd needed it, but there were two teachers (only TWO, out of a school of at least 12) who kindly helped her move them on Thursday and Friday. Anyway, we spent a good 3 hours unpacking, organizing, and throwing things away. In return she bought me lunch and drove me all the way home. She didn't even need to do that; I was happy to help. But I did learn something in all of this. I think we both did. Both of these recent moving experiences has taught me that anything having to do with moving really shows you who your real friends are! Moving is such a grubby, yucky, exhausting experience that it seems like it really takes true friends to offer to help you. To my true friends who have helped me move in the past: THANK YOU! To the people who helped us move boxes and desks yesterday in anticipation of summer: THANK YOU! To the people who may potentially help me move at some point in the future (at an undetermined time as I have NO PLANS to move ANYTIME SOON): THANK YOU! To all of my friends and family reading this blog: if you are planning to move, I will help you. That's what friends are for!

Potluck Potpourri

Last night I went to an Italian potluck dinner. It was very, very yummy! I got to see some friends that I hadn't seen for a while - so hooray! I have to admit that I was a little concerned about going after having lunch with two colleagues from work on Tuesday. They were talking about all the times people go to potlucks and get food poisoning. One of the guys told us that his wife got sick two separate times after two separate potlucks. That's when I chimed in and said "gee, I'm going to a potluck on Friday" to which both guys just laughed. Sigh. Thanks M and B!

You'll notice that I am posting these thoughts on our potluck the day after the potluck. I didn't want to gross anyone at the potluck out, particularly after my friend Amy told me that she has been reading my blog. Hi Amy!

Once again I wished for my camera last night. When Jennifer and I took the bus to her place last night we passed by several houses who had gone all out to decorate for Halloween. I LOVE halloween and I really, really wanted to take pictures of the spookiness. Jennifer reminded me that I have a camera phone, but the quality of those pictures leaves a lot to be desired.

I also wanted to take some photos of my friends at dinner last night. There were LOTS of "kodak moments" when Jennifer and Lance broke out the Dance Dance Revolution (DDR) video game for little Kazzie to enjoy. He danced the night away with various dance partners including Lance, Jerry, Amy, daddy Koji, me, and Jennifer. Watching everyone dance was lots of fun.

Before I leave you all for the day, I want to share this pearl of wisdom from the four-and-a-half year old Kazzie: "my head gets really long when I jump!" It took me forever to figure out what Kazzie was talking about! We were standing in front of the stove checking on the progress of dinner. There was a big, shiny pot of water boiling on the stove for the spaghetti. The image in the pot was really distorted and lengthened everything! When Kazzie jumped up and down his head got really long. It was the first of many previously mentioned photo opportunities!

A Reason, A Season, or A Lifetime

“Friends are in your life for a reason, a season, or a lifetime.” Dr. Joy Browne.

I first heard that quote on the radio a long time ago and it’s stuck with me for years. I think it’s because for me it really rings true. When I think about all the friends I’ve had in my life I can identify the reasons, seasons, and lifetimes. I would also add to that category those friends who are so close to you that they are members of your family.

When I was in eleventh grade I met a guy named Chad. We became friends and stayed friends for over 3 years. He was the type of person who was always late to meet you, lied to you, and all the while tried to protect himself by hiding behind him mommy’s apron (yes ladies, he was a true “momma’s boy”). For some reason, even after he lied to me, showed up late for every single one of our outings, was inconsiderate and generally just a jerk, I continued to be friends with him. Finally, during one of my last years of University, I “woke up” and realized I deserved someone who treated me way better than he ever could. I basically “dumped” him and told him never to get into contact with me again. He seemed shocked that I could do such a thing, and I believe he said something along the lines of “doesn’t the word ‘friendship’ mean anything to you?” He was what I would call a friend for a reason. He taught me that I am a valuable person and I deserve to be treated with respect.

I have had many seasonal friends – people I hung around with for a while because we had classes together, but lost touch with once we finished the class. They were all good people and I sometimes wonder what they are up to now. My seasonal friends helped me explore different sides of my personality and made me just a little more adventurous.

There are a few people that I consider to be lifetime friends. These are special people who I know, no matter what is going on in our lives, I will always be in contact with. They are the ones, like my closest friends Sonja and Sheryl, who cheer me up when I’m sad, pick me up when I fall, and keep me from becoming a gigantic jerk. They mean more to me than anything and I know I can count on them whenever the chips are down.

In addition to those reason, season and lifetime friends I think I need to add a new category that I’m going to call blog buddies. These are the people whose lives I get to know through reading their blogs. Those people who I care about, cheer for, and pray for, but in many cases have never met. Some of these people you will find on my sidebar, others I have yet to discover. I'm sure they are out there though.