Carson

I was in kindergarten when we met.  Although she seemed to talk way more than I did, we instantly became friends.

On ‘Show & Tell’ day that year, as I timidly stood at the front of the class holding my camera and feeling extremely shy and nervous, the most natural thing for me to do was to simply take a picture.

Wanna’ guess who I choose to take a picture of?  Yes, it was Kelli.

Here’s the actual photo that I still keep on my desk…

Kelli’s mom has some great stories about the following years when we did NOT manage to end-up in the same class; but, honestly, it didn’t really matter.  Throughout elementary school, we couldn’t have been any closer.  We spent hours riding my go-cart around my house, over my bridge and around my grandparent’s lake… talking and laughing the entire time.

As the years took us into middle school, whether it was at one of our homes or on vacations, we STILL spent a LOT of time together.

High school brought us even closer together.
Car pooling.
Early morning trips to Waffle House.
Prom.
Rebelling against the school’s pointless pep-rallies.

When I got married, Kelli was standing right there beside me.
At her wedding, I was in the same spot for her.

At some points in our lives, the miles between us didn’t seem that far.  But when we moved, literally across the United States, Kelli (being pretty pregnant and uncomfortable) and her awesome husband came to visit us in Arizona.

I have hundreds of stories, moments and memories, but, I’ll simply say that Kelli has been, and always will be, a HUGE part of my life.

I was so, so, so excited to see her and meet baby Carson!  I already love Micheal, Jackson and Reagan, so adding Carson to the love-list was very easy for me!