boom boom pow

so today, i am thankful for my friend emily:) i met em when we were both in kasey's lifegroup. em is such a great friend to me; she challenges me, holds me accountable, and is passionate about things/people in her life. she is also a lot of fun, i mean we can go to a country concert and sing our hearts out, stop for an oreo mcflurry out in the middle of deliverence, and have the best time:) em has had to deal with a lot in the past year, and the way she has really relied on her faith in God and her relationship with God has been such a witness to so many. i love that em will talk to me on the phone for hours, when she has time too... she recently started a new job at elevation which has totally changed her life. she doesn't have a lot of free time, but she still manages to squeeze a call in here and there, which i am so thankful for. em was able to get me to face my fear of athletic conditioning and she was so ENCOURAGING to me. she would stay back with me and jog/walk when i couldn't keep up with the fast runners, and not let me get down. she may never know how much those few months of athletic conditioning meant to me, as i never thought i would be capable. em is such a wonderful friend and today i just wanted to say how thankful i am for her:) love you em!

candice, you made the blog

so today's (which should be nov. 7th) post is dedicated to my sassy texan friend candice:) you see, my story about meeting her has made the blog before, but she called me out for having a new coach purse during our mina project at church, and then we served in the nursery together that night...she invited me to her small group and that group changed my life more than they probably know. i could write a small novel, but she knows how depressed i was at the time, but God knew what he was doing when he put us on that bus together:) i was so encouraged spiritually, grew so much in my walk with God, and gained a dear friend during this time in my life. candice led me to kaleena, heather, and ashley as well, all of which i love dearly. candice is such a great friend. she will say whatever, and most of the time it is pretty hilarious. i remember relating to her in a lot of areas when i joined the group, but none other than being single. her desire to find her future husband was so clear. she prayed, had hope, and trusted that God would send him to her. candice has an amazing story of how she met her future husband while on a mission trip to belize:) now candice is so faithful to pray for her friends. even though i don't live in raleigh anymore, i love the times we get together to hang out and catch up. when God is the center of a friendship, you know that you will be friends for a long time no matter how long it has been since you last talked. candice is also very thoughtful. when i moved from raleigh, she made me a scrapbook, which was awesome:) she is the only friend to ever make something like that for me; i will always cherish it. she has recently started taking up photography and is absolutely fantastic; real talent there:) love you, girl.

my favorite J

i met jillian from my friend kasey, and she makes me feel so normal... we have so much in common, in that we both are neat freaks, love things to be neat and orderly, we LOVE organization, don't really like change, and like to plan...the list could go on:) jillian is such a great friend, and so caring. after my first lifegroup ended, i joined jillian's lifegroup. during this time, jillian and i got a lot closer. i loved that we had this time, as i would go early and we would eat dinner and just catch up about life, her wedding planning, family, or anything:) when she decided to step down as the lifegroup leader, which I fully supported, she needed a break and had lead for several years, i was kind of sad that we wouldn't have the time out of our busy lives. we are still very close, but we definitely don't get to see each other as much as i would like. we recently celebrated her wedding to jake, which was absolutely one of the best weddings. we got to wear cowboy boots, stay in a bunk room with all of us girls (SO MUCH FUN), and it was at a beautiful plantation home. i am so thankful for my friend jillian, that she cares, listens, and loves Carolina as much as ME:) oh, and one more thing, i love how detailed she is.. if you need a story retold and want every single detail, this is your go-to girl.

casey-c, so blessed (nov. 5th post)

so, casey-c and i have a great story as to how we met... so i moved to charlotte from raleigh three years ago (around september 2008) and casey moved to raleigh (from charlotte) about 3 years ago (i think around july 2008), so basically we switched... the best part though, God had plans for us to meet and be the best of friends and for that i am so thankful. casey is friends with kasey and jillian, which is how we managed to meet despite the fact that we moved around the same time and never lived in the same city at the same time. casey is the most caring friend in the world. she is similar to lindsey in the sense that she is always putting others first... she cares for others so much:) i have to go to chapel hill for work every 6 weeks or so and i ask if i could stay with case while there; literally she is the most accommodating and never complains that i am crashing and cramping her style. i love that we get to catch up, hang out, and spend some quality time together, as sometimes our weekends we all get together are just too short. i am so thankful that i have casey as one of my friends, and cannot say thank you enough for all the gchats when i should be working (i do still get my work done, hehe)... thank you for hotel of no top sheet, thank you for always making me see things from the non-dramatic side of life, and for loving me even though i am a bit dramatic, haha. so thankful for casey and love her so much. oh, i forgot one other thing, she so taught me how to crochet:) she has A LOT of patience. i really wanted to learn to knit, but she knew how to crochet (either one would be just fine with me), so one sunday after church she literally sat down and taught me for like three hours, the hardest part for me was learning how to start the chain, haha.

hp, not harry potter, that's holly patterson to you (nov. 4th post)

so, holly is my best friend from college... we lived together for three years after college, she has probably been the friend that has seen the most change in me, as she saw a big transformation in my life, but through all of this she has always been there for me and always been a great friend to me. holly is super loyal, dependable, and caring. she is such a good listener, followed by offering her opinion... i love that she takes it all in first:) even though we don't live in the same city, we have still managed to stay close. it has definitely been a transition, as we saw each other every day for so many years. i wish we had more time to visit each other, but we both know how much we love each other. our catch up phone calls tend to last a long time, which i love this time. i am so grateful that i have holly as one of my best friends:) recently, holly has been so supportive and praying for me, which means so much to me. i cannot thank her enough for being there for me during the rough times, during the great times, and for just being her:) you are the best, and i cannot wait to see her very soon. love her so much.

kasey-k (should have been nov. 3rd post)

so, today i am thankful for my best friend in charlotte kasey:) i met her just a few months after moving here, and without a doubt, i know God put her in my life for a reason. she is the wisest, most dependable, reliable, and loving friend ever. when i first met kasey, she was my life group leader. at this time in my life, i was in a point in my life, when i wanted to grow in my relationship with God and she was just the friend God sent to help me do just that. as many of you know, i tend to read things and not understand, between lindsey and kasey, i immediately know, especially when it comes to not understanding a Bible verse. kase has challenged me to do things and to trust God more. i remember we read a book in our group, Crazy Love. this book really made you think outside of the box and i had been praying for God to give me the courage, the faith to step up and give back. i was so scared to go on a mission trip, but kase was about to go to the Congo. by seeing the awesome experience that kasey had and how God showed up in mighty ways, by reading Francis Chan's book, and with support from her... as you know, i just returned from my first mission trip to Haiti. kasey listens to me tell the same story 100 times and never complains, for that i cannot say thank you enough. we can have fun cutting out art for the children on sunday morning, watching football games, going shopping, trying some new recipe (have i mentioned she is the best cook), going to disneyworld (can we go again, please), or pretty much anything! today i just wanted to say how thankful i am for my friend kasey! i can't imagine my life without her and love her to death.

continuing to be thankful, Crystal

so, this person has been my best friend since kindergarden. we played in mrs. bradshaw's sandbox together, we loved mrs. nixon in 2nd grade, we made it through the awkward years of middle school, we rode in each other's cars for the first time on the day we got our license, lots of memories together. we have cried over more boys, and goodness you would have thought life was ending many times, but i am glad our dramatic ways have kept us on our toes and provided laughs after the fact. crystal is my friend that will be there for me no matter, she is so loyal and always has my back. i find so much comfort in my friendship with crystal. there is no way i would be who i am today without her. she provides more laughs than any other of my friends, you cannot be around her and not laugh... put her and nicole together and you are probably crying you are laughing so hard. crystal and i didn't see eye to eye when it came to college, she wanted to stay home and i wanted to go away... i didn't want to be away from her, but knew that despite what everyone said, we would still be best friends... every chance i got in college, i went home and we hung out just like we hadn't missed a day. she came to visit and it was great:) i'm happy to say that ten years since high school, we are still just as close as we were the day i left for school, luckily now i live only about 45 minutes from lincolnton so we get to see each other more often. crystal has always supported me and been there for me no matter what. no matter what i am going through, no matter how upset i am, if i call her, she is there for me, and for that i cannot say thank you enough (i may have already called ten times before, but i'll try to say it differently each time, she still listens). crystal recently got married, and i was so worried that our friendship would change, but it really hasn't. i am so happy for her and dusty, think the world of him and so glad that she found the man God had for her. today, i just wanted to say thanks for being there for me, for loving me, and for being such a wonderful, loving friend to me:)