do you know who you're getting, portland?

today i have so much to do: moving some small furniture stuff back into the newly floored rooms (YES! they were finished in one day...wes & my brother, scotty are awesome & quick), putting the 2nd coat of paint on the quarter round trim (ugh, painting again), going to target & world market & tj max (they have the best prices for frames, btw), laundry, gardening.

but all of this is on hold because i can't seem to stop thinking about something else...my friend, christine, is moving to portland, oregon today.

so yea, the question is out there to all portlandites: 

DO YOU KNOW WHAT A GEM YOU'RE GETTING TODAY?!

(that's a picture from portland, btw)

christine...

i'm not one for labels on best friend. i have so many warm & loving & caring & compassionate & wise, etc friends that it would be nearly impossible to pin down a 'best' friend. but christine is my girl. we've shared a lot over the past decade. she has taught me so, so many things about love, forgiveness, god, art, friendship, honesty, humility, patience, compassion...i could go on & on. she is amazing. & i have been lucky to be her friend. 

since the moment i met her i have always thought of her as the most humble person i've ever met. & maybe the most honest... scene: i was ambling around a college campus (indiana wesleyan, you suck) looking for something to do & i see this girl with tears pouring down her face. she had on some pants with paint all over them, an awesome t-shirt (i also was sporting a cool shirt: maroon with "destroyers" written in white), & some early level dreadlocks. so i asked her if she was okay, why is she crying. she replied with the most sad, forlorn look ever: "why are they making our parents leave already?"

throughout the next year we got to know each other, fast friends. i mean, how could i resist getting to know a college freshman willing to admit she missed her mom already?! 

so then we made a plan to get the hell out of indiana wesleyan & move to columbus (well, the ohio state university) & get an apartment with a few other friends (shout out to holli!).  so for the past 10 years she has been my confidante, helping me grow closer to god & connecting me with the vinyeard of columbus & just loving on me the way friends should. i honestly don't know where i would be without her. i mean, god can do anything, but through her he did amazing things.

& yea, this is me doing the limbo 7 months pregnant with adeline.

christine is in the brown shirt, on the right

her with my sister, also 7 months pregnant at the time, at my sister's baby shower

i know what it's like to be the one moving across country, how exciting & terrifying it is, flying over the city that will be your home, knowing almost no one. i also know that portland & christine (& phillip, her husband) will be a perfect fit. i am so happy that she is moving there instead of somewhere else, because then i would've had to use my powers of manipulation to get them not to move...but since they chose this amazing city, sure--go ahead--move.

christine, you will meet people who will influence your life always. you will make new friends, find a church, explore parts of the u.s. that will take your breath away. you will grow closer to your husband just because this is your experience with him also--&, naturally, you'll have some crazy fights with him & feel so lonely, thinking maybe it's a mistake. of course, your great move experience will not be identical to mine. but i'm sure you will have the ups & downs, but i know you so i know you will find friends, grow as a person, explore & fall in love with this city--your new city.

somehow i can go weeks without talking to you, hell, we went about a year without seeing each other before. yet when i see you again or just talk with you again, it's like we've still gone through it all together. how is it that you are such a great friend to me? anyway. i will come to visit you. i--& hundreds of other ohioans--will miss you like mad. i promise to send you those awesome packages similar to the ones i know you'll send me, to write letters & also to figure out how to skype (argh, i hate computers).

christine when she visited me in idaho...i think this was around the bonneville hot springs, in an igloo or snow cave we came across.

yep, i miss you already, my friend. i really don't think i understood what a friend could be until i met you. so i know that this move will not exactly affect our friendship, just my ability to hang with you. so yea, i love you & hope the best for your travels & new home, new city.