It's her birthday

She was there on one of those days in life that could have been terrifying. I stepped into my college dorm room for the first time as a scared 18 year old freshman. This was the first face I saw. She said, "hi, my name is Jessica!" and gave me a big hug. That was the beginning of a life changing friendship for me. We roomed together all 4 years of college.
She is so much "cooler" than I am. I always wanted "cool" friends. You know, the kind that know all the other "cool" people and do all the "cool" stuff. She had the "cool" handsome boyfriend in the band.
I never understood why she chose to be my friend. My life always seemed so simple and ordinary. But she loved me for who I was. She made me laugh and thought I was funny. We had so many similar passions in life. We shared the same major and took many of the same classes. She introduced me to one of my favorite musicals, Les Mis, by singing the entire thing to me without music while we were in the dark room developing film for our photography class.
I remember vividly leaving our college apartment for the last time after graduation. There were LOTS of tears and hugs.
Her greatest desire in life is to be a Godly woman, someone who follows hard after Jesus. It's so evident in the way she lives her life. She's a wonderful wife now and mom to two little ones.
She has taught me so much and helped me grow. She is kind, truly caring and compassionate. She is one person I know I can depend on no matter how long it is between our talks. She means the world to me. And for the next few months, she's older than me!

I.LOVE.YOU, Jessica!

***this picture is from one of our visits to our other best friend, Rachel's, corner of the world. The 3 of us were peas and carrots our last 2 years of LU. This was our hike up Mt. Rainier. And the picture doesn't do the mountain/volcano's beauty justice.