Life Long Best Friends

In my lifetime I have had a lot of friends who walk in and walk out of my life very quickly. Growing up overseas there was one of my friends family that moved away pretty much every year of my life. I remember when I was in junior high I decided it was too hard to get close to someone and then just have them move away or I myself had to move away from them. I thought it would be easier for me to have surface relationships rather than let people come close and then have to say goodbye and feel that emptiness over and over again.

Well that thought didn't last for long... I have always been a quality time type of girl. Some of my best memories with friends have just been sitting and doing nothing but just enjoying being together and having a good conversation. My friends make my life feel brighter.

When I came to college I was ecstatic that I would be able to have the same friends for four whole years. That I would get to live right next to my friends and go to class and do everything with this close knit group of people. Saying goodbye was not a worry because I knew that it was a long long way off. I could forget about that pit that would form in my throat as I said goodbye because I had four years of freedom from it.

And now after 7 years of that freedom the goodbyes began today. Today I said goodbye to one of my best friends. I am so very excited about both of the new adventures we are getting to experience with our husbands and with being able to pursue ministry passionately. That we are following God with our lives and with what we are being called to do. Yet there is still sadness in my heart.

Candace I first became friends when we were RA's together at college. Through our different girls meetings and RA Adventures we started to form a bond. We soon realized we shared a lot of the same passions for life. We also connected through both of our parents being missionaries in Thailand. We were able to share our feelings with each other knowing that the other would understand because we were in the same boat. We then decided to room together after that year and be roommates with our RA (Leanna). As everyone knows you must have a very strong bond with a friend to be able to live them and not come out of it without having lots of drama but rooming together only strengthened our relationship. After that the three of us girls decided to move off campus into a apartment. During that time we both were dating (our now husbands) boys that were also best friends. We both got engaged within 6 months of each other and then were both married also within 6 months of each other. Our life experiences brought us even closer together. Through both being married we were able to talk to each other about all the different things that marriage brings and our husbands did likewise. Now Candace and David are both moving to Colorado in two weeks because David has been asked to be a worship leader at a church.

This weekend they came out to say their goodbyes to us. We had such a great weekend getting some good quality time with our best friends. I tried to soak up every moment of it knowing that we are not sure when we are going to get to see them again.

Roomies! We ate lunch at Rubys diner at the Huntington Pier. 

California girls

Best friends

Best buddies!

Where it all began....

What a good looking married couple!

We enjoyed a yummy pasta, salad and garlic bread dinner with Candace's sister Aubrey and her friend Joy.

We love you Candace and David! Thanks for a great weekend. We cherish the memories we have made with you and look forward to the vacations and visits with you guys in years to come. And for the next few months we look forward to our skype dates!