Day 7: Your Best Friend

So I am one of those very blessed people who have many wonderful, loyal and supportive "Best friends".  I could list a dozen of them but had to narrow it down to a few;) so if you aren't on the list and you KNOW you are one of my dearest friends, don't yell at me the next time we talk, ok? Now I also have to mention that my siblings would have dominated this list, but I have posts coming up on them soon!

 I'm starting from my "oldest" best friends...Alii (above) and Kalani (below).  I have been friends with these guys since elementary school!  I'll start with Alii...we met when we were asked to be in a play called, "The Safety Kids" together.  We practiced every day and were so excited for our debut performance...and then our teacher got engaged and married and the play was postponed indefinitely ;) But it brought us together.  As you can tell from our picture...we just adore each other and have been there for each other through thick and thin.  He is truly my brother and we have seen each other through some pretty crazy situations. I know what Alii is thinking before he does and I can call him on his BS in an instant! But mostly we just get each other...and I love him with all my heart:) The night of Lee's accident, Alii was the first person I called after I got off the phone with Lee.  He is the one who got up in the middle of the night and rushed to be with me because I was in such a panic, who held me when I didn't have the strength to stand up, who stayed with me all night because I was in shock and who kept telling me that everything was going to be ok and although we both knew it wouldn't, he made me feel like it would.  Although we may go months without seeing each other, I KNOW that when I need Alii, he drops everything and comes running and I do the same for him.  We always have a joke that we are both going to live longer than our spouses and end up living together and fighting, laughing and eating until we are 100 (and Kalani is a part of this plan too;P) 

Kalani and I have been twins separated at birth since we met (but of course shes the evil twin and im the angel twin hee hee).  If I listed ALL the crazy, mischievous things we have gotten ourselves into, it would take 10 posts! Our lives have taken several different paths but we ALWAYS seem to reach certain milestones together.  I will call her and tel her that I am thinking of doing something and she will say, "OMG I was just telling so in so about the same thing".  She lives millions of miles away in England but I know with one phone call, I can laugh until I cry and feel like she is next door.  She came to Hawaii for our 31 Birthdays (we exactly a week a part) and had the BEST time together. She really opens my eyes to new and different things and I just love every moment we have together. She and Lee had a few "battles" but ended up loving each other almost as much as they love me:) This picture just sums up why I love her so much...she has a carefree, spontaneous, fun and crazy attitude that is contagious.  I do the dumbest things when I'm with her and we just laugh until our sides hurt.  Oh and lets not get into our karaoke battles and our re-enactments of SNL skits!!!  If I had one wish...it would be that she and her beautiful family would move in next door!!!  Kalani will always be the twin sister I never had and I cannot imagine my life without her!

Leah and I met when I was in college...well we knew of each other most of our lives but became friends when we were in college.  I wont go into deep detail of how we met, but let's just say we had our "rebellious" years together;P Funny story is that I was actually really good friends with her husband BK first and boy oh boy have we had some fun adventures.  Road trips to Vegas, roller coaster debacles and bloody noses (I will tell those stories another time).  Leah and I have not lived in the same state for most of our friendship, but have always managed to come into each others lives right when we need it.  And we have seen each other through some doozies! For the past few years have actually lived just a few blocks together and I couldn't be happier!  We are both so crazy busy but Leah never fails to be there right when I need her.  She has a gentle yet strong presence that just makes me feel safe and loved.  Oh and I just LOVE her kids...and sometimes I love BK too (heehee)...but if I ever need someone to hear me out and just comfort me...its Leah.  I'm going to be sad if she moves away again (which will most likely happen) but I know that no matter how far she moves, that our friendship will never ever change. 

Miss Kristen, I met through Lee's best friend, Bryan.  Bryan and Lee are like brothers and so when he married Kristen I knew we had to try and get along because we could be in each others lives forever.  But little did I know that I would find a soul sister in Kristen.  We have only actually seen each other in person a few weeks over the past 8 years but you would think that we grew up next door to each other. through phone convos and emails, Kristen and I have pulled each other through Bryan's several deployments to Iraq/Afghanistan, baby mama drama, health problems, kid problems and everything else in between. She is the kind of friend that would defend me like a mama bear defends her baby cubs.  We think so much a like that it's kind of scary;)  And our husbands are so much alike its hilarious and convenient to know we can call each other and understand exactly what the other is going through!  She is another one that I would have live next door and we would get pedicures, eat chantilly puffs and go on double dates with out hubby's!  Its very rare that you find wives of best friends who are best friends, but when we are together you would think we all grew up in the same neighborhood because we are so close and that has been such a blessing to all of our lives! 

Katrina and her wonderful family moved in to the other side of our duplex almost 3 years ago.  Lee and I were going through a lot during that first year so I really didn't have much of a chance to get to know her.  But over the next year as we interacted, I found myself just really enjoying spending time with her.  She is always willing to help in any way possible and we have really similar views on life, parenting, etc.  But I think what really impressed me the most was how she would respond when I ran into problems.  She would listen intently, ask really good questions and give me really helpful, rational and positive advice on how to react to things.  I'm used to most of my friends, who like me, are quick to react and are super emotional...whereas I know with Katrina that I will get an unbiased reaction.  That may sound weird to you, but it really has been a huge blessing to me.  She makes me think of things in different ways and I like that.  I respect her opinion and really admire the kind of mother she is.  I also never have to wonder what she's thinking because, like me, she lays things out on the table and is very matter of fact in a sweet way and I LOVE THAT.  So as our friendship progressed, I went from seeing her as the responsible, reliable and supportive friend to the super funny in a subtle way, there for me ALWAYS, supportive but not enabling kind of friend that I never knew existed!  We can laugh about the oddest things and I know that when I go to her for advice, she will tell me what I need to hear, rather than what I want to hear and do it in the kindest way.  Oh and the cherry on the cake is her family...they have loved and treated Lee and I like family and her kids are the apple of my eye!  I fee like a real Aunty to her girls and have been blessed to see their milestones and be included in their life like my sister would with her children!  Her husband, Mike, is always there to help me with all the "man jobs" around the house that I'm not used to handling and does so willingly and usually without even being asked!  They have me over every Monday for dinner and Family Home Evening and I really couldn't see myself getting through the past 2 years without them!  I never thought when they moved in that I would gain friends that I hope to have for Eternity!