It's Not MY Birthday, But That's Ok

Hey there!  Hope you're having a happy Monday.  I know I am.  You know who else is?

That pretty pretty princess on the left up there.  Why is she having such a good Monday?  Well for one, she's on vacation.  That's right.  Go ahead and hate her because you're sitting at a desk deciding which color pen to shove in your eye while she's trying to decide which outfit she'll look the cutest in while skiing.  Spoiler alert:  she looks good in all of them.  But you know what?  She's earned a vacation.  As of today, she has officially been on this earth making it a much much better, more beautiful, amazing place for 28 years.  Wait a minute, have we reached the age where we have to say dumb shit like 'turning 21 for the 8th time'?  Was I not supposed to give away your age?  Oops.  Remember, you love me and have too many matching tattoos with me to ditch me now. 

I've been celebrating birthdays with that ladybug for fourteen years now.  Half of them together and half them in different cities from each other.  This year, she hightailed it to Seattle and decided to celebrate clear across the country from me.  Since we're adults now (28, remember?) I'm much less 'I wish she took me on vacation with her!' and much more 'I hope she's having a good time'.  Ok, I'm a little bit 'she owes me a vacation', but we'll work out the details on that when she gets back.

If you ever decide to be jealous of me for something, it should be the stroke of luck I had when I crossed paths with Shannon on the softball field in ninth grade.  I was minding my own business waiting for my time to shine during tryouts and she was bouncing around center field talking to anybody who would be still for a second.  It took all of ten seconds and I was hooked.  I know what you're thinking.  Yes, that is who you have to thank for me going from a quiet little bookworm to the chattiest person you will ever meet.  Ever.

Jesus, we're adorable.

It's funny that I can remember the exact moment we met, but I can't remember a time when we weren't best friends.  I feel genuinely, completely, 100 % happy when I'm with her.

I remember the first time I saw this quote on (what else?) Pinterest.  Who the f was stalking Shannon and me and decided to come up with a quote to describe our friendship perfectly?  Don't get me wrong, our respective boyfriend and husband are so so so much more than just guys we have fun with, we love them both an insane amount and they are definitely our soulmates too, but she is my soulmate on whole different level.  She is my rock, my lobster, my best friend, my sister. 

She is the person I can't wait to tell things to, miss everyday, and who I don't hate when it's her birthday instead of mine.  I love you, you sweet, beautiful, funny, strong, amazing woman.  Your only flaw is that you fell in love with and married a man who insists on living two hours away from me.  But, hey I did the same thing.  This is where I would insert a picture of the two of us with our boys, but I don't have one.  How have we forgotten to make that happen?  I bet they're pretty ok with the fact that we're too obsessed with each other to even realize they're with us. 

It's ok, there's room for them in our lives, but definitely not in our pictures.

Happy Happy Birthday to you, Shannon! Give yourself a giant hug and kiss from me.  I love you so so many.