the best

Once upon a time, I was living in Arizona and 9 months old. The year was 1994. Imagine me, adorably outfitted in some wonderful 90s dress, wandering the halls of church. Maybe not wandering, because I don't think I could walk yet, but you get the idea. Possibly I looked like this.

So there I am, crawlin' the halls with my Mom, when lo and behold a run into my best friend for the first time. Of course, in that moment I had no idea the friendship that was forming. The girl that approached me was Madison Baker, the talented and beautiful.

Well, time went by. We grew up.

And through it all, we remained the best of friends. At 7, I moved to Utah and she stayed in Arizona. Despite a situation that would usually result in lost friendship, and people growing apart, we've remained close - countless phone calls and summer visits have ensured that. When most people grow apart, we grew together, just in different states.

One time, I flew down to Phoenix to surprise her for her birthday. The plan was to hide in a box on the porch and jump out, but that went up in flames when she saw me before I could even get out of the car.

(Unfortunately [or perhaps very fortunately], I don't have easy access to any pictures of the awkward stage of life, and they will therefore be emitted from this post.)

Then one time (multiple times?) she came out for my birthday.

And last summer, we went to Disneyland. Which was an absolute dream.

Maddy had been with me through thick and thin (though honestly, it's mostly been thick with this girl by my side).

Honestly, I don't know if I can adequately describe the love I have for this girl. She honestly feels like a sister to me, because she knows me so well. I feel like we understand and connect in ways me and my other friends don't. Not to say I don't connect with my other friends, but me and Maddy just work out well as best friends. Perfectly, even. I know that she'll never judge me for what I do or say, and will always love me just for being me. She's held my hair back when I've thrown up (that's true love, people). She's the kind of person I can sit in comfortable silence with for hours and never feel obligated to say anything. In fact, that's often what we do. The other half of the time, we're talking like there's no tomorrow, though. It's a nice mix. I love this girl, and I know we're going to be friends for eternity. Bit much, you may say, but it's true! I also know that Heavenly Father put her in my life for a reason, and I'm so glad he did. We were friends before we came to this Earth, and we'll be friends once we leave it too.

I love you, Maddy. Happy Birthday! 18 years of friendship and counting.

PS. If you were curious, Maddy also has a blog. She periodically updates it with titles that always have to do with food. Because guess what?? She's going to culinary school!