she used to babysit you.

They say a good friend is hard to find.

for me though, that hasn't really been the case.

For starters, it's a bonus when God starts off your life with a best friend in a wombmate. But it just gets better when I think about all the careful crafting that went on to land me the friends I have.

I returned home Sunday from our second annual fill.in.the.blank.palooza. This year, it was held in Grand Rapids at the Veenstra household. With the collection of high activity, time in the sun, and nights out late, logically, it should have added up to an exhausting Monday morning. But that's not the case either. This morning, I started off work energized. I probably slept more total hours on Sunday night then the previous two nights combined, but even beyond that, it just felt good to be me today. Over the weekend, I'd wake up after our short sleeps, and want to get up right away. Like Christmas morning. I just couldn't wait to spend more time with my friends. I spent the weekend with women who have known and loved me for years. With women who it's still kinda hard to even call, "women", because most of the time, we laugh so much together that it still feels like we're school girls.

Times change, people move, some marry, houses come, jobs change, and in the midst of it all, we love being with each other all the same. We have a warehouse full of memories we've created, and when we're together, we run up and down its aisles and pull out the good ones, dust off the old ones, re-share the best ones, and store up some new ones. It's the best. For those who are married, the husbands come too. And it works out so well, because these are the men who married these women because they realized the gems that they are, and they get us. they do. and I love them for loving my friends. I love that Bryan constantly handed out DC's because he knew Katie and the bangles love them. I love Ryans generosity, buying our hostess dinner out, and drinks all around. and I loved Jeff on the beach, making us literally laugh out loud by telling us about buying Sarah computers and bags of turkey for their anniversary, because those are the things that she really loves.

Each girl... or woman, whatever, is so unique yet so comfortably predictable. It was no surprise that Sarah wanted to play volleyball, that Aud would make sitting on the beach look glamorous, that Emily would dance with an elbow winding groom, that Katie would make sure we always got coffee [home.starbucks.AND.church], or that I'd fall for a piano player because he could rap.

We talked about life, ate good meals, planned for disney, passed drinks full circle, danced amongst strangers, missed deepa, sang while we walked like Egyptians, didn't bring her into it, slept little, laughed lots, shared secret recipes, watched a chicken dance, made a pact to buy watches if it rained, and when it didn't, we ate blueberries on the beach instead. we spent more time laughing about "wits 'n wagers" than actually playing it, sat on the porch, talked too much about Urine Vandersloth, took pictures, bbq'd, and did one thing after another because we just know what makes each other laugh.

We loved it. every minute. and we'll do it again next year, and the next, and the next. And we'll keep doing it forever, really. Because we know that for many people, a good friend is hard to find. And somehow, we managed to find good ones a long time ago, and with seemingly little effort. And at the end of the day (or any palooza weekend), we know that something this good needs to be held onto tight. so we will. because when we say 4L, we mean it.

B4L love.