Food, Funk, Friends (not necessarily in that order!)

When I was in 6th grade we moved to Wenatchee, WA. We weren't wealthy, I was insecure, and I was the new kid in school. That doesn't make for an easy adolescence. Little did I know that God had something in store for me that would not only make me wealthy, it would last a lifetime - through several more schools and moves, through foreign countries, colleges, marriages, & kids. That something was a friend, Laura Christensen. Our choir teacher introduced us, but it was our foundation in Christ that sustained us. Laura was the only christian I knew at school. She lived just blocks from me. She and I both played flute. We both enjoyed quizzing. Our love of God and what He was doing in our hearts and lives was our constant reconnection point, however. This past Thursday, after 8 years, 2 boys, and a few moves, Laura and I were together again! She is a lawyer in the Seattle area and she blessed me by putting things on hold, kissing all her men (that would be her husband Jason and her 2 sons, Brennan & Fox) goodbye & hopping a plane to Bozeman just to catch up with me. She tagged along with our home group too. We all had planned to go listen to Scotty's band, The Big Caboose & The Soul Penetrators, play @ Chico Hot Springs Friday night. J & I, Laura, Dan, Jess, Kaitlin, Sadie, Shannon, Abby, Jon, Sam, Sara, & Peter packed into 2 vehicles and headed out for a night of gettin' our groove on.

A night out with a bunch of friends isn't common for any of us and we were makin' the most of it.
Naomi was on her own little adventure this week, but Peter was thinkin' about her.
We stopped in Livingston @ the Rib & Chop for dinner. 2 of Laura's friends from quizzing days met us there too. The guys were salivating over the thought of devouring hurkin' slabs o' grilled flesh. Us girls wanted salads and soup and baked potatoes :o) Viva la differance! When we were thoroughly engorged, we loaded back up and drove down the road to Chico so we could work of dinner with Scotty's nasty, funk. A little Steevie Wonder, a little Ludacris, a bit o' Commodores, and of course Mr. James Brown and we were workin' the floor.
MOST of us danced until we were ready to drop. You can tell we all have jobs, families, and schedules though, because we didn't even make it til 1AM before we were saying g'dbye and cramming into our vehicles to come home and crash!
Laura and I mainly just hung out and chatted. 8 years of Christmas letters had kept us apprised of what was happening in each other's lives, but those are highlight reels. This was the time for the unabridged version. So we took walks and sat in the wonder of creation and found each other's hearts again. We still have so much in common after all these years. Our mindset of raising family, our desire to let go of what we can't control and let God have His way, laughing over our kids and their antics, our love for our husbands and cinnamon rolls...

Thank you, Laura. Thank you for putting enough value in our friendship to put trials and cases on (semi) hold, buying plane tickets and flying hundreds of miles spur of the moment without the boys, just to catch up with your insecure little cribbage partner from Washington Elementary. I love you!