Blend . . . er

What a perfect color to start the morning with.

My dear Laura and her husband have been in Costa Rica for a couple months now. Before leaving she entrusted something unexpected (and wonderful!) to me for safekeeping . . . brace yourselves . . . a Vita-Mix!

My thoughts of gratitude today are two- or three-fold but kind of blend together. They are as follows:

I'm so grateful for Laura. I met her back during freshman year and she really became a rock for me. She lived down the hall in what became my dorm-away-from-dorm. We joked about putting up a hammock for me to sleep in. (A year later, she gave me one she had bought and mended for me. hahaha!)

One night, we splashed around campus in rain puddles during a heavy downpour because she missed Oregon and this was the one Oregon-like rainfall we'd had all year.

She introduced me to Michael Jackson music videos, which . . . in case you were wondering . . . are awesome. (My favorite is Don't Stop Till You Get Enough, just 'cause Michael looks so friggin' happy.)

We found an abandoned Christmas tree on a late-evening ramble and carried it back through the Cannon Center to VaughnEric's window. It later ended up as part of Taylor Hall's landscaping . . . till the Hall Advisor discovered it and made us haul it off to the dumpster.

I'm so grateful for the Vita-Mix she lent me. I can make smoothies without using juice! All I need is yogurt, fruit, and (because I like mine green) spinach. It's beautiful! And it's been such a blessing.

But mostly I'm happy with how the Vita-Mix reminds me of Laura. I see it on my counter and I'm reminded of how happy I am each time we talk. How after my mission I felt like a stranger in a strange land, so many things had changed, but Laura was still Laura.

At the end of freshman year a lot of girls were getting promises from other girls that we would "stay in touch." In the moment, I honestly thought that I would keep in touch with each of them (that hasn't happened so much). But, I remember when Laura and I were saying our good-byes, I was really sad of course - but also, I remember us talking about how we didn't need to "promise to keep in touch!" because we knew we just would. 

Months and years at a time have gone by without us being in contact, but when we do get the email or phone call or text, we pick right up where we left off.