Long Lost Friends & Sparkly, New Step Brothers.

I've been fortunate in my life to have some pretty amazing people around me through the great times, the good times & most importantly the worst times. I've been stupid enough, though, to take that for granted once or twice. Anna was, & is, the greatest friend that I could ever ask for, & also, my first friend. All of my childhood memories involve her. I had such a fucked up childhood, but Anna showed me that not everything in life is bad. She never, ever, looked down upon me. She always gave me the benefit of the doubt & always found a way to cheer me up. We were pretty inseparable for a good chunk of my life. Through all the crap, I knew there was always tomorrow, & that tomorrow would contain birthday parties for our stuffed animals or forts made out of snow tires confiscated from my grandparent's garage. Thinking back, I can only smile & hope that my daughter finds a friend that genuine & true. Although we grew (painfully) apart, & I spent a couple years not realizing how great of a friend she really was, & what an influence she had on my life, I know now that one of the greatest mistakes of my life was letting that friendship deteriorate. The next person to leave a footprint on my heart, my beloved Joey. Who knew this kind of intense, passionate, at times heavily dysfunctional (I love you baby!) romance could exist? He is the other half to my heart, in every way possible. Joey showed me that true love really is waiting around the corner, in the most unusual places. Not a day goes by that my love for him doesn't grow. He has managed to show me how to love myself, how to smile again, how to find the happiness in every day. Where would I be without him? Surely, nowhere. He is the sunlight on every rainy day, the soundtrack to my life. It makes my heart beat faster knowing that I am the lucky girl who gets to share her life with him. Joey's given me the greatest gift I could ever ask for (diamonds..), our beautiful, gorgeous & intelligent little girl. He gives me butterflies every day, & I could spend my life talking about him.. Essentially he is every love song I've ever heard, all wrapped into one, dipped in chocolate & wrapped in bacon.. but maybe I'll keep all those amazing qualities he has to myself so nobody can try & steal him! Hehe.. & then of course, you have my awesome best friend, someone who I totally consider my sister, Kayla. She is the sister I never knew that I wanted, but that I desperately needed. It's amazing having a sister, someone who you can go to no matter what & who just gets it. I'm lucky to have her in my life, & I know that no matter how much time passes, she will always be my sister. And of course, there is something amazing about finding a new friend friend who turns out to be nothing short of your kindred spirit (step brother is more like it). Kristen is someone who can finish my sentence, & we've only really been friends for a few short months. It's amazing how alike we are, how we have the same thought process & how I've managed to survive without her. I have a pretty good feeling that she is a missing piece to my essential people list. She's one of the only people that I feel like I can be myself around without getting judged or laughed at (unless she's laughing with me!) & I hope to have her as a step brother for the rest of my life, because I don't think life would be very entertaining without her. Lastly, I have to give a shout out to a very special friend in my life, the always amazing Bridget, who shares my twisted thinking while teaching me some amazing life lessons. Thanks "Mom." ;)

These people all hold keys to my heart, & all will continue to have huge factors in the kind of person I grow to be... & I am beyond lucky. I love you all, so much.

♥