Thursday, January 15, 2009

Now and Then

The last few months have been full of happy reunions with old friends and people from the past. I haven't always had my camera with me, but we got some fun photos from a few gatherings and I've dragged out some pictures from scrapbooks to show the early days when we first met. I have been so blessed throughout my life with wonderful people around me--I feel like I can honestly say that I have a lot of "best friends." Here are a few of them:

Here I am with my friend Lisa just before Christmas. We met at church on my first Sunday in a new ward in 1989. We were just getting ready to start high school, and I wasn't very happy that we had moved. I remember seeing her in the hall and she asked how old I was... she said she was 15 and I got so excited... I said, "Oh! I'm 15 too!" Then I asked what her name was and when she said "Lisa" I said "Oh! My name is Lisa too!" We became fast friends and spent lots of time together--working at her dad's store and doing caterings, fighting over a cute boy that we loved, and watching and rewatching "Saturday's Warrior" on Sunday afternoons. Lisa is great--I'm so glad we have remained friends after all these years.

Monster Mash was our first dance at Cottonwood High--none of us girls was 16 yet (shhhh, don't tell my kids) but we convinced our parents we should get to go to this girl's choice dance. Our friend Sara is on the left. The boys (all in our ward) were good sports when we told them they got to wear eyeliner for part of their costume. in the middle of the prayer on the food the table started tipping and everything slid towards me. We laughed and laughed--I think I caught a big bowl of spaghetti. I still love to laugh with Lisa.

Loretta (left), Patrice (right) and I became friends during our sophomore year of high school, almost 20 years ago. Our other best friend Kim wasn't with us that day (she lives in Indiana and didn't come for Christmas this year) and we missed her! Patrice and I were roommates during our first quarter at USU, but we found that we were better friends if we didn't live together. Loretta lives in Georgia now, but she comes home once a year and we take advantage of the time to get together, eat good food, and visit. These girls have been with me through good times and bad and they are wonderful, in so many ways.

Here we are at another (girl's choice) dance in the spring of 1990 (nope, still not 16). We are with some other friends--on the back row is Kim (mentioned above) who now lives in Indiana; Heidi is on the front row and lives in California (I got to visit her a few months ago!), and Mary, also on the front row, lives in Nevada (and I've happily reconnected with her on facebook recently). We have no idea where those boys are now!

Heather (left), Lesli (right) and I met at the MTC in November 1996. They were companions and we shared a room and were in the same district with a bunch of mostly cool Elders. There was one Elder who had a serious attitude problem, so we decided to kill him with kindness. We were so nice to him and after only a couple of days he turned around and ended up being a great missionary. We all went to different missions, but we've kept in touch over the years and we try to get together now and again. I love that we spent two months together learning Spanish and strengthening our testimonies of the gospel while preparing to embark on one of the greatest adventures of our lives.
My companion Hermana McLaughlin (we don't know where she is now), me, Lesli, and Heather in the MTC--Good times.

We thought we were so funny posing for this picture of us climbing up the stairs to our room (on the 4th floor!), exhausted after our long day in the MTC. We had no idea what was in store for us when we got into the field!

I love staying in touch with friends and rekindling friendships from years gone by. I'm so thankful for the great women in my life!

**Did you go on "dates" before you were 16?
**How do you stay in touch with your friends?

9 comments:

Julie Pia said...

I love your pictures Lisa. It's kind of funny though because you really haven't changed. You look exactly the same as when you were in high-school....no fair!

I love your comment about killing the elder with kindness. I might use that in my own life. It never hurts to kill someone with kindness or love. Thanks...

Linn said...

Those are the greatest pictures ever! Thanks for sharing and I am so so happy that I can count you among one of my fabulous friends!

Kristi said...

It comes as no surprise to me just how many friends you have because you are such a wonderful friend yourself. I'm sure you just attract wonderful people because YOU are so wonderful. I always love reconnecting with old friends.

Lula Mae said...

It's funny but it seems I've been finding a lot of old friends lately that I haven't seen in years. (Gotta love Facebook.) I'll admit that for the past several years I've let my volunteer shedule dictate my social calendar. I've found myself missing friends I haven't seen in awhile. We'll have to get together sometime.

Sara White said...

I dated before I was 16. My mom was a fool.

Jennifer Gerritsen said...

so funny about going on a date before you were 16 because I had some girls that lockered next to me that were a year older and wanted me to ask one of the guys that was friends with the guys they were asking so I did. It was a pretty awkward date and I wished I hadn't have done it. Peer pressure!!

Anonymous said...

That was such a fun post to read! But it did leave me feeling a bit sad....we lived such separate lives for all those years. Different high schools, colleges, and everything else. I wish I had been more involved and supportive in your life back then -- it's funny how when we are teenagers, friends come before everything. Luckily, family never goes away, so we can make up for lost time :o) By the way, you are very photogenic! Your hair always looks fabulous. How do you do it?? No "frumpy-Mommy" hair for you!

Heidi said...

Since I met those cute friends of yours in high school, it's so fun to see them now. You've done a great job keeping up with friends! I enjoyed reminiscing with you in your post!

emilyw said...

This was so fun to see. I wasn't the only one who went on dates before 16. (I'll have to ask my parents why they let me...) I have been having fun finding old friends on the computer lately. I've LOVED being able to see into your life a little more through blogging. Thanks for letting me in. :)