lovely ladies: part 2

Okay so here is part 2 of the lovely ladies in my life. I introduced you to Kelli, Katie, and Misty yesterday, and now want to talk to you about Cotter, Lori, Dana, and Jen (all of whom were bridesmaids in my wedding!)

From left to right: Kelli, Jen, me, Lori, Cotter, Dana

We'll start with Cotter (aka Megan, Meg-e, M-cot). Cotter and I have been friends for the longest out of all of my close friends. We met the 1st day of our freshman year of high school in our dance class. Lucky for us, we get to celebrate a friendship anniversary every year in August, and this August marked what I think was our 9th year of friendship! Cot and I have remained close every since that year, more specifically after our sophomore year of high school. We ended up being college roommates for 3 years (once she transferred to Tech from Baylor) and I cannot imagine my high school and college without Cotter (which by the way, I didn't start calling her this until she decided to require it among her friends as her nickname). I think out of all the people I'm friends with, I share the most memories with this girl. She is the best listener you will ever meet, has the most contagious amazing laugh I've ever heard, and is just plain fun to be around! (oh and the picture is from our Senior Night After Prom, 2005!)

I met Lori my sophomore year of college but didn't really get to know her until she was basically our 5th roommate my junior year. One of my favorite things about Lori is her random pieces of wisdom. She knows all sorts of home remedies to get stains out and clean carpets. She always knew the random trivia at the football games, and could probably tell you something about anything you asked her about. She's just so wise! Lori and I had the privilege of working together with Crusade as well, but she has recently moved to Canada for her husbands football career. The thing I admire most about Lori is her walk with the Lord. I feel like she truly knows what it means to walk by faith, to blindly trust the Lord with her future, and to abide in Him daily. I'm so sad to be so far away from such a great friend!

Dana and I lived across the hall from each other our freshman year of college in the dorms. We became instant friends after bonding over our obsession with The OC and were basically inseparable that year! Dana and I went through hard breakups together and finding our soul mates together. College would not have been the same without Big-D. She has walked through so much of life with me it is unreal. She was the first friend my age to get married and move away from "college life". She is one of those friends that I can pick right back up where we left off, even if we don't get to see each other/talk to each other as much as we used to. Living 5 hours away has not been fun, but I love and cherish the time that I get to spend with Dana. She has taught me what a true friendship can look like with frustrations and all, but you work through it! I'll leave you with a picture of Dana and I from freshman year (the typical Dana face has not changed much over the years :) )

I met Jen when I was born, although I don't remember meeting her. From everything our parents tell us, Jen didn't really like me. Something about having a new baby in the house and her no longer getting all the attention, I don't know?! Well anyway, Jen and I are sisters if you didn't get that much so far. She is my only sibling and I can honestly agree with the statement that you get closer when you are no longer under the same roof. We fought growing up...a lot. But we also had lots of great fun times. Overall though, I would not say a true friendship formed between us until she moved out to go to college my sophomore year of high school. Something about not living together really drew us closer, and we have continually grown closer ever since. I love hanging out with her and her sweet family (her husband Brad and 8 mo.old Braelyn). She is extremely wise and caring. We have so many funny stories from weird family vacations, to her leaving me in the parking lot in high school when she was supposed to be my ride. I care so much for my sister and never imagined calling her one of my best friends, but she truly is! Once again, I am sad to live far away from one of my favorite people in life. I'll leave you with this awesome picture of Jen and I a few years ago. She used to get really mad at me because I would want to buy the same clothes or shoes as her. It still happens often, but she doesn't get mad anymore. Here is a picture of us with the SAME haircut, SAME glasses, and SAME dress in the Target dressing room. I oftentimes don't think we look alike, but there is no getting around it here!

Hope you enjoyed hearing about some of my best friends and what they mean to me!