Late Night Talks

This weeks shout out goes to one of my very best friends. We are fairly new best friends, but best friends non the less! She has helped me grow emotionally and spiritually so much this summer. She is the epitome of what a best friend should be. Someone who makes you want to be a better person and actually makes you a better person consciously or not!

I've had so many late night conversations with her that really just let me clear my head and figure things out. I feel like I'm a high maintenance, low yield friend and she is quite the opposite. She says I've helped her so much, but I don't know that she can really understand all that she has done for me.

This week especially, as both of us are making some big decisions in our lives, has been great! We talked on Tuesday for a good half hour on the phone, then decided on Wednesday that we hadn't seen or talked to each other in too long and that we needed it so we planned a girl date for Thursday. Well we ended up talking for an hour or more in my car Wednesday night and didn't know what we were going to talk about the next night. But of course we kept our date and talked for about 4 1/2 to 5 hours straight. THAT is a true friend. When you can talk for hours on end and never get bored of each other and continue to learn new things about each other. The more we talked, the more we found out how much more alike we are than we originally thought!

I can completely be myself with her. She's so accepting and patient with me. We've spent soooo many hours talking and she is so kind to anything I say. Like I've said some pretty stupid stuff, but she just laughs and moves on. We have so many inside jokes! People probably think we are lunatics, but really we are just best friends.

Her family life hasn't been perfect, but she has taken that trial and grown from it. She grows for everything she goes thru. That takes a conscious effort and for that I am amazed! She always takes the good from every situation. Like I try to, but for her it seems effortless. It comes to natural to her.

She has been a great example to me of basically everything. I don't know what I would do without her. My life definitely wouldn't be what it is now without her in my life for even this short period of time.

I'm so proud of her and the decisions she is making and the direction she is taking in her life. She knows exactly how to listen to the spirit and let it guide her every move. She will make a great missionary for the Lord.

So, Thank You, Sharon. You are one of my greatest examples and one of my very best friends.

New Beginings

This first post of the new blog I will dedicated to my Aunt Linda. She has been a great example to me throughout my life.

As far as I can remember she has made an effort to be at every family gathering we've ever had... and she's even married into the family. Even when her husband isn't there for various reasons, she is there.

Her family life hasn't been perfect, but she has always stayed optimistic and has never been slow to count her many blessings.

She is a wonderful example to me of how living the gospel, no matter what surrounds you, can really effect your attitude and outward view. Every time I see her she has a smile on her face and is always willing to help in any way she can.

She is a very determined woman. She's in her 60's and still does marathons. That is so incredible to me!

She was one of the few people that didn't live in Safford that came to the temple with me when I went through. She had to be back that night, but saw it important enough to drive a total of 4+ hours to be there for me at a very special time that only lasted about 2 hours.

There is so much more I could say about her, but I know she would be embarrassed because she is also a very humble person.

She is the type of person that I want to grow up to be like. She is what I would call a "low maintenance, high yield member." She doesn't need a whole lot of help staying on the straight and narrow, but because she does, she helps so many people either through her example or through her willingness to serve them.

Thank you, Aunt Linda! You are truly and inspiration to many, but especially me!