Stuck Like Glue

How did any of this happen? How did the girl I messed with via Myspace almost 5 years ago become the person who will be by my side on my wedding day? Let's pull a Tarantino. Let's go back shall we? Freshman year of college, 6 of my friends and myself picked out the last 4 dorm rooms in a dorm so that we could all be together. Well, 2 of the friends transferred schools and so we suddenly had 2 new people who would be coming into our group. I had reservations about the situation to say the least. My friend called me one day during the summer and told me that she got the name of her new roomie and wanted me to look her up on Myspace. We discovered that this stranger was not only a FRESHMAN but also a CHEERLEADER. Gasp, I know. My friend then instructed me to pretend that I was her and start corresponding with said cheerleader. Never one to back down from a challenge I took it head on. An internet ruse can only go on as long as you don't meet the person face-to-face and with the move-in day fast approaching I knew the jig was up. The said cheerleader, hence forth to be referred to as "Kristina", moved in before the rest of us and obviously figured out that her roommate was not the person she had been corresponding with. I could not get enough of this situation. Her room was right next to mine and so when I moved in I went and stood in her doorway with a smirk on my face and just stood there until I saw the light bulb go off in her head about who I was then I simply walked away.

Time went by and it turned out that this little lady was actually quite stupendous. She was our missing puzzle piece you could say. Kristina's roommate was often not home and my roommate was often not home as well and so we began to talk more and more, through the wall. We shared a wall and would often use it more like a megaphone than a barrier. Then one day all of our friends were gone and we decided to hit up the Sonic, who knew that that would be our first date. Just kidding, sort of, but seriously we love to go to Sonic together. Nothing quite like Diet Coke's with real cherry, moz sticks, and ranch (lots of ranch in Kristina's case). Haven't had this combo? Get it done, mister. Here is the first picture taken of the two of us together.

Anyways, Kristina always played up being this tough girl from the stix but to me she was more like... how Chris Farley would say, "An M&M you have let melt on the dash of your car- a little hard on the outside but completely melted on the inside". That's my girl. Seriously people, she has the biggest heart ever. When E and I first started e-mailing each other Kristina was always right on the other side of the wall. She would hear me squeal and would know that in about 1.3 minutes I would come crashing through her door holding my laptop to read her the newest e-mails.

Kristina was truly my partner in crime during college. I was her co-pilot on the way to Butte, Montana (see "Am I Proud?"). I happen to be a very nervous front seat passenger and so it was always Kristina's rule that I had to sit on my hands while in the front seat. I tend to refer to Kristina as "my Kristina" because one of my roommates in college had the same name and so when people would ask, "which one?" I would respond, "my Kristina" and they always seemed to know what that meant. I do not mean that I own her. Back to the partner in crime thing:

We partook in Ultimate Karaoke, 

 

 multiple trips to the orchards

and the pumpkin patch,

the Lane County Fair,

 

Birthday Parties

and many others I do not have photos for but here are some randoms.

I don't know if this special lady knows it but one of my most grateful memories of her was when she stayed up until all hours of the morning talking me out of an anxiety attack. My OCD and Anxiety used to be sorta bad and I went into an anxiety attack one night and my beautiful Kristina stayed on the phone for hours calming me down. I will forever hold that memory close to my heart. One of those moments where people can easily walk away (or in this case, hang up) but she hung in there. Obviously no pictures from that one. 

We went through a rough patch for awhile but came to realize we couldn't stay away. We were stuck like glue. Not having Kristina for a friend for a few months was more painful than any breakup I had ever been through. That is all I will say about that. I am so excited to have Kristina as my Lady in Waiting for the wedding. I can't wait to get all dressed up with her, to take pictures with her, to have her there to keep me calm, and to dance around with her. Thanks for being by my side, Kristina. I hope you know how beautiful and loved you are.

Am I Proud?

There are some things in life you cannot be proud of, this is not one of those things. If you have never traveled to Butte, Montana for St. Patrick’s Day then you cannot truly understand and appreciate all that the holiday holds in store. I had the thrilling opportunity of partaking in an adventure to Butte during my sophomore year of college and would like to plan a return trip. Anybody interested, hit me up. There is nothing quite like leaving Spokane Washington at 5am, traveling through 3 states, looking for the best St. Patrick’s Day party this side of Dublin.  

Oh the memories: belting out “Baby Got Back” while driving through Anaconda Opportunity,

 risking life and limb to use porta potties precariously placed on a sheer sheet of ice,

wolfing down rice cakes and orange juice,

crashing house parties thrown by natives and taking pictures with incoherent frat boys covered in sharpie,

witnessing beer literally being tossed off of trucks to appease the masses, green barricaded streets so that the party could sprawl for blocks, 

one word: bagpipes, 

having my face munched on by complete strangers (no seriously, these two just came up to me and took a picture. Fantastic.)

 Everybody in life should have the chance to do something crazy like travel to Butte Montana with their friends and partake in such a fantastic holiday and rub elbows with the best the natives have to offer (see above). My friends and I had an amazing trip and made it safely back to Spokane in time for classes the next morning. I was just talking about this trip with some friends last night and thought I'd share the idea so that everybody may come to understand all that Butte has to offer. Let me know if anybody wants to go: I'm talkin to you Kristina, Liz, Ariana.