I get by with a little help from my friends

I have amazing friends. The type of friends that have been together for 20 years and still will be when we are sitting around in muumuus in Boca. I like to think we are a mix of the girls from Friends, Sex and the City and The Golden Girls. Each one of us brings something different to the mix. I love my girls and would do anything for them. I have depended on them in some of the most difficult times in my life and have been able to rejoice and celebrate with them during some of the best times in my life. I have been in all their weddings (except one or two) and have the dresses to prove it - thankfully none of them picked any super hideous dresses but I have yet to find an opportunity to be able to "shorten them and wear again"! ;) In fact, we are so close, three of us even had baby boys within 2 weeks of eachother (not on purpose)!

Unfortunately, I miss my friends. They are spread all over the states, it seems. From Nevada to Virginia to Ohio. I do have one of the besties here in Michigan, but she's an hour away and between both of our schedules it's hard to plan an activity more than once every couple of months or so. I have "tried on" other friends over the years and only a couple have made the "cut" into my inner circle but most just fizzle and fade away. I almost feel guilty, at times, for trying to find "replacements" or substitutes for my girls but then I realize I will never be able to do that. They are irreplacable and have helped shape me into the person I am today.

Our pastor (Randy Wheeler - Twin Oaks Christian Church) did a sermon a couple weeks ago that made me think of my friends and as I listened to his words, I felt the Lord urging me to share some of his points. The series he's been doing has been called "Help!" and he's been using Beatles songs as a starting point! (Have I mentioned before how much I love our church?? :) The verses he used were 1 Samual 18:1-23:18 and I thought I post some of the points.

Why do we need friends?

-We need friends who will LOVE us
-We need friends who will WARN us
-We need friends who will REJOICE and WEEP with us
-We need allies who will DEFEND us
-We need teammates who will ENCOURAGE us

If you want to HAVE good friends, then you need to BE a good friend!

I hope and pray that that my friends can say the same about me. I love you guys and "thank you for being a friend"! :)

Autumn...my favorite time of year!

Ahh, fall is here! Ok, so it's been here for a few weeks, but I'm just now writing about it. :)

There's no comparison to fall...the beautiful leaves on the tree (and the ground), the cool, crisp air, apple cider and donuts, pumpkin ANYTHING and my personal favorite...Halloween! I love Halloween. In fact, I simply ADORE it...costumes, trick or treating, decorating the house - what more could you want??? One of my best friends has always joked that my favorite part is being able to wear fake eyelashes and fishnets! Truth be told, she's probably right; I love the big make-up and fake eyelashes. I secretly wish I was daring enough to be one of those women who always has big make-up and even bigger hair. I've always thought it was such a fun opportunity to get to be someone or something else for a night.

Ever since I was little, I have loved playing "dress-up". I could put on my petti-coat, some pink tights, a bunch of bracelets and Mom's high heals and I was instantly transformed into one of The Bangles, Barbie or even my own version of my mom! (No, she didn't REALLY look like that in the '80's but in my 5 year old mind, she did!)

I have realized, lately, that I have inadvertently passed this world of make-believe on to my son (who is not even 2, mind you). This should have dawned on me a little earlier when he starting using his blanket as a "cape", but I just thought he was being silly. My second glimpse into his world came a few weeks ago when we came across his Halloween costume from last year. I pulled it out of the box and he squealed in delight! He wanted me to put it on him right away and didn't take it off for TWO DAYS! Fast forward to today...we were getting ready to run some errands and I quickly opened the package we received with his new costume in it. I wanted to try it on him *real quick* just see how it looked and if it fit. Big mistake! He still had his glow-in-the-dark skeleton p.j.'s on and I knew I had to get him dressed before we left but I figured "What the heck" and went for it. I put his little costume on and it looked ADORABLE and he knew it!!! (Of course I had to snap a few pics!) Needless to say, he didn't want to take it off. So, that's how we left the house. I loaded up Baby Bear (Halloween p.j.'s and all) and off we went!

I'm sure one day when he hears these stories he won't think it was too funny that I let him out in public like that, but I DO know that today he had one of the best days ever! His behavior was amazing...no tantrums, no crying, nothing! I'm thinking that we may start having more dress-up days - Halloween or not!!! :)