Frick and Frack ... Who is that?

Frick and Frack.... Who's that?  

Over the years, friends tend to lose touch.  Life gets busy and before you know it, 3 years have gone by since you saw that old "bestie" of yours.  Thankfully, with some friends, no matter how much time goes by.... you always pick up right where you left off.

That is the case with my friend, Lisa.  You may know her from imanokie.com ... but I know her as Lis, Marv and the other half of my Frack. 

Lisa and I met in the early 90s.  Just two girls who had their hearts set on being the next Shannon Miller or Kim Zmeskal.  We were teammates who turned into friends.  We quickly bonded over all things Backstreet Boys and our love for Nick and Brian.   We were the ultimate teeny-boppers and we loved every minute of it.

(Me - back row, 2nd from L / Lisa - back row, 4th from R)

Bangs were all the rage!

When gymnastics ended, we kept in touch...

Lisa's 16 bday

College

College

And she was even with me the night I met my husband.

2 years later, she was a bridesmaid at our wedding ....

Bachelorette Party

4.4.08

Lisa has always been the friend who supported me... even when I made the dumb decisions or when other friends thought I was crazy.  She didn't care whether it was crazy and supported me regardless.  I love that about her.  


In her old relationships, I never got the sense that she had that thrill that I think all relationships should have.  She never felt special or needed the way I think she should have.  But it was her life to live how she wanted whether or not I thought that she deserved the world + infinity.

Then she met Chad... 

When she first told me about Chad, I remember being thrilled. ECSTATIC actually.  She was being thrilled, needed, and accepted.  She was feeling the way a woman should feel and she was getting the love that I thought she has always deserved.  She seemed at peace for the first time in a long time.  And I loved it.  

When we made our visit out to Oklahoma over the summer, it just happened to coincide with Cora's birth.  We of course made time to go visit them in the hospital.... which was our first time to meet Chad.  I was nervous.  I know that's silly ... but she is one of my best friends which means Chad had some major impressing to do ;)

Getting to see them in that hospital room as a family was all I needed to know... Lisa had found home in Chad.  And vice versa.  Seeing her be 100% Lisa and comfortable and happy was humbling and exciting all at the same time. 

So... when we got the invite to attend their Wedding in Breckenridge, J and I jumped at the chance to be there.

to be continued ...

Even though the same people don't read my blog, I am not going to post the wedding recap yet.  I want to make sure she posts about it in her own words before I go talking about it.  It was a beautiful weekend... and I am so glad I got to share it with her :) 

a Utah Wedding

If you haven't been to Utah, let me just tell you: It's Beautiful!  And way better than I ever expected before moving here.

Recently we had a friend's little sister get married in one of the Canyons and it was gorgeous.  Instead of doing a long recap... I'm just going to post some photos. :)

Baby Shower ... via Skype.com

Growing up, I never thought I would live anywhere except Oklahoma. Many of my friends were the same way. Born and bred Okies destined to live in that fabulous state forever....  But of course. That didn't happen. A year after graduating college, I loaded up my car and headed to Utah. Slowly, a lot of my Oklahoma friends also started moving out of our beloved Okie bubble.

One of my closest friends fell in love with a handsome Brit .... Which meant, off she went! Now that she lives "across the pond" we keep in touch via Skype.

During one of our catch-up sessions, we got talking about the cultural differences between England and the US.  Apparently, the US tends to be shower happy.  As in, shower obsessed.  In England they don't do the typical American idea of showers to celebrate the birth of a new child.  Things are either loaned or the responsibility of the parents to purchase.  I couldn't imagine having to purchase EVERYTHING myself. Babies are expensive.... And so is all the items you need for the baby. Clothes, furniture, etc. etc. etc.

I immediately got the idea that I wanted to throw her a shower. But with her in England, me in Utah and the rest of our friends in Oklahoma and the Carolina's, I knew I had some research to do.  Long story short... I decided to throw her a Skype shower. 

In order to get everyone all the Skype info, I made the invitation like a newspaper page (thank you Pinterest)... Thanks to my handsome husband for photoshopping it all together....

Everyone mailed their gifts to Jen and she opened them over Skype we also did a quiz about her and her husband's childhood for the shower game. 

We ended up with a 4 video Skype shower. All the Oklahoma girls skyped from one location. Then I had one from Utah, Jenny in England and Em is South Carolina. 

It was so fun to get everyone together and laugh and chat and be the same silly girls we've always been. 

Jen's little boy made an early entrance and was born exactly a week after the shower. Even though it wasn't a huge shower, I had so much fun being able to honor her and her husband with the long-
distance shower :)

 

Congrats to Jen and M!! Love you both :)

Ryder Landon

I have been a very poor blogger this month. September is my busiest month of the year at work so I had 19 events plus conference calls. Now that the craziness has died down (a little), I thought I'd try to catch up with my posts. 

For starters.... I am an Aunt to a precious new baby boy...

... And I couldn't be more thrilled! Ryder came a little earlier than expected but is the cutest little boy EVER :) 

J and I won't have a chance to meet him until Christmas. Luckily, I've been able to facetime with my sis a few times.  (Thank you Steve Jobs).  So excited to have a little boy to spoil! 

 

I'm a lucky Aunt :)