friends

I have always had a really hard time making friends. Ever since I was little I was the type of person with 1, maybe 2 friends, and that was it. I am a fairly quiet and incredibly shy person and that has always hindered me.

The year that I spend at Bible college in NY was one of the best times of my life simply because of the friends I had. I had the most, and best friends I'd ever had there. Leaving was one of the hardest things to do.

The time Dahvede and I spent in New Zealand was difficult for both of us, because neither of us felt that we had many really close friends. I had my family, and having grown up homeschooled, that was very normal for me, but Dahvede really struggled.

Moving to Arizona had me really scared for a long time. I know how hard making friends is for me, so I was really worried.

BUT - here comes the best part of the story!!! God proved Himself to me in such an amazing way and blessed Dahvede and I with so many amazing friends! While Dahvede was away, many of his guy friends got engaged and married, meaning insta-friends for me :)

Last night we had "a few friends" over to play games. The short list of friends included 10 people!! Maybe to some people that doesn't seem like much, but to me that is amazing! They are all such amazing people who are not only FUN to be around, but encouraging and uplifting! They are the reason I am falling in love with Arizona! They are my family here, and I love everyone of them!

Eric, April, Katie, Christian, Jason, Marilyn, Meaghan, and Justin you guys are amazing and we love you so much!!!!

A Precious Memory

For the last two months, Susie and I have been planning a 25th Wedding Anniversary Party for our Parents. They were in Samoa on the day of their Anniversary and were not actually able to do anything special. We were able to surprise them and have our two sisters fly in from the South Island and from the States. If you want the full story on that one, head over to Susie's Blog.

The weekend went great, as did the party on Sunday. I realized something after Mom arrived and when I was looking back through the pictures this morning, I knew I had to share the story.




My Great-Grandmother on my Mom's side had an engagement ring with 5 (yes, 5) opals in it. When she got older, she decided that she wanted to have the ring broken down and made into 5 seperate rings and give them to her 5 grand daughters. I've always known the story about the rings and knew that my mom haad one of them. It always stayed locked up in fireproof box we owned, ever to actually be worn by mom.

Except once.

She wore her Opal ring on her wedding day. She said she had always struggled with her lefts and rights, so when she got her engagement ring it made life a lot easier. Well, on her wedding day she had to think which hand to give my Dad because they both had rings on them. I think it's kinda funny.

Anyways, so for the first time in 25 years, she wore her Opal ring out. I think it's quite fitting and a very special memory. I think it would be nice to have a piece of Jewelry that you only wear on your wedding anniversary. Something special that you get to look forward to.

Melody also lent her the opal necklace she has to match the ring for the special night.