It's March 15th!!
Do you know what that means?
To me, it means that a very dear friend of mine will be celebrating her 24th birthday today!!
Happy Birthday,
Nicole Elizabeth LaBate!!!!!!!
I so wish I could be with her to help celebrate her birthday but since I can't...
I just wanted to give her a shout out from my blog! :)
Thanks for being a best friend Nicole, you have no idea how much you mean to me!!
Nicole and I...well how shall I say it?? We go WAY WAY back!! :)
Like we met right after I was born....in the church nursery!!! :) It was special!! haha, well, I can't say I remember it exactly, but I'm sure it was special!!!! :)
We probably didn't like each other in the nursery...or maybe we did...
That was kind of how our younger years went. Some may call it a love/hate relationship.
Sometimes we LOVED each other and others...well, you get the point! :)
No, really, during our elementary days, we were buds!! Best buds!!! :)
The kind of friends that you made secret clubs with and told each other your deepest darkest secrets.
Because we all know that 4th graders have very deep and dark secrets!!! :)
And...we DID have a club...although I believe I am still supposed to keep the name of it a secret!!! :)
There were only 3 members and still to this day NONE of us will tell you what went down in our 'club'!!
(most likely because we don't remember...but that's besides the point) :)
Anyway, moving on into Jr. high and high school is when our friendship wasn't very strong.
We were "friends" but not as close... I don't really remember much of our relationship but basically we just had our own group of friends and didn't do much 'hanging out' during these years.
I know we had some drama too but honestly can't remember much of that either!! But that is how all high school drama is..seems really important then but you can barely remember it a few years down the road!
College came and we still ran in different 'groups'..no drama during this time but just didn't really have a relationship. Until Nicole's senior year (she was a year ahead of me.)
Nicole was placed on my father's bus route (a ministry of our church that picks up children and brings them to Sunday School each week). I had the job of driving our mini van to the outskirts of our 'route' and bringing children to the bus. Nicole was chosen to be my partner and ride with me every Sunday morning and afternoon. This is when our relationship changed! I am so so glad it did!
We spent so many hours for the next (almost) 2 years riding in that van. We talked and talked and talked and laughed and laughed and just became SO close!! She went from being just a girl I grew up with to being my best friend! I will always always look back on that time and be so thankful that we had the opportunity to share that!
During my senior year, I got engaged and started the long process of preparing for the wedding!
Nicole, honestly was the friend that was always always there! Not that my other bridesmaids didn't care and do a ton to help too but because she was there as in literally, most of the others in my bridal party had all moved away by this time, she was involved in all of it. She just went above and beyond!!
She always listened to me talk and talk and talk and talk....I'm sure I was so annoying sometimes!!
You know, when I think back at that time, she was such a great example of a SELFLESS friend, which is what a true friend really is, because if you are selfish in a friendship...it won't be a long lasting one.
Those of you that know her know this, but Nicole is single and isn't dating anyone and wasn't during that entire time of wedding planning. Yet she was just so genuinely excited for me and wanted to be completely involved in everything!! It would have been so easy for her to get maybe a little tired of all the wedding talk etc...but this is just NOT her. She is a great example of a giving, selfless person.
I'm so honored to be a close friend to her!
The wedding came and went and she has continued to be this kind of friend.
You know, when Julian and I came back from our honeymoon and I had a few days to say "goodbye" to all of those people that I love back home.
Honestly, besides my actual family, Nicole was my hardest goodbye! :(
I remember being sick to my stomach after saying goodbye to her. It was very very hard!
I'm so so so thankful for our friendship.
Basically, to sum it up...in the last (almost 9 months), the 2000 miles apart hasn't done any "damage" to our friendship. For me, it's just shown me who and what a real friend is. The distance doesn't matter. We are still so so close! We talk all the time. I know she is always just a text or call or skype away!!
So, Nicole, on your birthday, I just wanted to say....
Thanks for being a true friend. Always honest with me, always ready to tell me straight what you think whether you think I'll like it or not, always giving of yourself, just a REAL friend!
Love you girl!
Happy 24th Birthday!!!
Hope your day is amazing and this year is even better!!!
Like we met right after I was born....in the church nursery!!! :) It was special!! haha, well, I can't say I remember it exactly, but I'm sure it was special!!!! :)
We probably didn't like each other in the nursery...or maybe we did...
That was kind of how our younger years went. Some may call it a love/hate relationship.
Sometimes we LOVED each other and others...well, you get the point! :)
The kind of friends that you made secret clubs with and told each other your deepest darkest secrets.
Because we all know that 4th graders have very deep and dark secrets!!! :)
And...we DID have a club...although I believe I am still supposed to keep the name of it a secret!!! :)
There were only 3 members and still to this day NONE of us will tell you what went down in our 'club'!!
(most likely because we don't remember...but that's besides the point) :)
Anyway, moving on into Jr. high and high school is when our friendship wasn't very strong.
We were "friends" but not as close... I don't really remember much of our relationship but basically we just had our own group of friends and didn't do much 'hanging out' during these years.
I know we had some drama too but honestly can't remember much of that either!! But that is how all high school drama is..seems really important then but you can barely remember it a few years down the road!
College came and we still ran in different 'groups'..no drama during this time but just didn't really have a relationship. Until Nicole's senior year (she was a year ahead of me.)
Nicole was placed on my father's bus route (a ministry of our church that picks up children and brings them to Sunday School each week). I had the job of driving our mini van to the outskirts of our 'route' and bringing children to the bus. Nicole was chosen to be my partner and ride with me every Sunday morning and afternoon. This is when our relationship changed! I am so so glad it did!
We spent so many hours for the next (almost) 2 years riding in that van. We talked and talked and talked and laughed and laughed and just became SO close!! She went from being just a girl I grew up with to being my best friend! I will always always look back on that time and be so thankful that we had the opportunity to share that!
During my senior year, I got engaged and started the long process of preparing for the wedding!
Nicole, honestly was the friend that was always always there! Not that my other bridesmaids didn't care and do a ton to help too but because she was there as in literally, most of the others in my bridal party had all moved away by this time, she was involved in all of it. She just went above and beyond!!
She always listened to me talk and talk and talk and talk....I'm sure I was so annoying sometimes!!
You know, when I think back at that time, she was such a great example of a SELFLESS friend, which is what a true friend really is, because if you are selfish in a friendship...it won't be a long lasting one.
Those of you that know her know this, but Nicole is single and isn't dating anyone and wasn't during that entire time of wedding planning. Yet she was just so genuinely excited for me and wanted to be completely involved in everything!! It would have been so easy for her to get maybe a little tired of all the wedding talk etc...but this is just NOT her. She is a great example of a giving, selfless person.
I'm so honored to be a close friend to her!
The wedding came and went and she has continued to be this kind of friend.
You know, when Julian and I came back from our honeymoon and I had a few days to say "goodbye" to all of those people that I love back home.
Honestly, besides my actual family, Nicole was my hardest goodbye! :(
I remember being sick to my stomach after saying goodbye to her. It was very very hard!
I'm so so so thankful for our friendship.
Basically, to sum it up...in the last (almost 9 months), the 2000 miles apart hasn't done any "damage" to our friendship. For me, it's just shown me who and what a real friend is. The distance doesn't matter. We are still so so close! We talk all the time. I know she is always just a text or call or skype away!!
So, Nicole, on your birthday, I just wanted to say....
Thanks for being a true friend. Always honest with me, always ready to tell me straight what you think whether you think I'll like it or not, always giving of yourself, just a REAL friend!
Love you girl!
Happy 24th Birthday!!!
Hope your day is amazing and this year is even better!!!
2 comments:
Awesome post! And the pictures are too cute!
Very good description of a long period of time!!!! God has blessed you with that friendship. Nicole is a blessing in many ways! Very nice post - Love, Mom
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