you all make me a better person

my friends are so wonderful and amazing. there is truly nothing that they wouldn't do for me. i feel so fortunate to have them all in my life. so to say thank you i am putting it out to the world how each and every one of them has made me better for just knowing them. i am doing this in alphabetical order so that no one can claim i don't love them best. the truth is they have all made my life richer.

amanda- is the most self confident woman i know. she will fight for what she believes in with a ferocity, which in most people would be off putting, but in her is one of her best qualities. she is the kind of person that doesn't care what others think, she knows what she believes and that is all that matters. plus she is the only person i know who cans veggies and makes her own fruit roll ups, yes fruit roll ups, who knew you could even do that.

julie- calls me while she is driving home from work because she lives in the loudest house on the planet. she has 5 kids, all of whom are great, but they are so loud, i mean make your back teeth rattle loud. she and i are different people when we are together, and she can get me to do things i never would. like when she made me stop at a "winery" in new mexico (really it was a still in someones back yard), she bugged me so much that i backed up in the middle of the road, just so she would quit. it was on that trip i realized just how dangerous it is to take her anywhere without the kids.

katherine- has gotten me through my social work classes. seriously without her i would have given up, she has been an island of sanity and comic relief, that has made my education possible. she is also my mexican food buddy, which is more valuable than most people think. my husband won't touch the stuff, and texas girls need, must have, are required to consume, mexican food on a regular basis.

lacy- she has been my rock and my strength for years. she will go down fighting with her friends, and has with me more times than i count. she is the person who will tell you if your jeans make you look fat, and yet you can't get mad, because her honesty is one of her many fantastic qualities. as a mother, well what can i say, no child has ever had a better advocate, or been loved more than her son and daughter. she is the one who would walk with you to the death chamber, not because she thought you were right, but because you are her friend, and nothing means more. i honestly wouldn't have survived without her.

lynette- come on how many people can say that they are friends, real friends, with their ex-boss. she is one of the coolest people i know, and she makes a mean meatloaf. i don't know anyone who gets involved in more drama and i really think she does it just for the entertainment. i guess that just comes with the territory when you are the southern "fag hag" extraordinaire.

nacole- she is the one who would get you out of jail in the middle of the night, that is if she wasn't sitting next to you. no one works harder than her, and still finds the time and energy to do whatever you need. plus listening to her talk about her vegetarian husband will keep you in stitches for hours.

sam- what can i say about my sam. we became friends under the worse circumstances. i have done some awful things to her. she saw me through my first real relationship, which was odd to say the least. she is the person who i call whenthe world turns upside down, because she will sit in the misery and still somehow pull me out of it. and she will forever be my after dinner mint. how many people have a friend who can take the most embarassing moment of your life and make it the best joke in the world, on the same day.

i love you all so much, that i could never really put it into words. i am so lucky that i have each of you in my life. it will take me thousands of years to even come close to repaying your love and kindness. and watch out world if i ever manage to get them all together.