A few months ago I was out Christmas shopping with one of my best friends, Kelly Ann. I wish I could go back in time and freeze that particular day at Target, the Target Snack Bar, Wal-Mart, Toys R Us and Hobby Lobby. It was a great day! Just me and her shopping the day away with no children, no husbands, just us! She's a pretty special friend. We have a ton of history together that goes all the way back to eighth grade. Not only did we attend the same junior high and high school but we grew up in the same youth group. We had a typical teenage, female friendship. There were some days we loved each other and other days we felt the total opposite. Our Youth Pastor can vouch for that! Our love/hate relationship probably had a lot to do with boys. She always had way more boyfriends than me. Not too long ago we were sitting in a Mexican food restaurant eating our chips and salsa (without our husbands) as we divulged many High School secrets. We discovered that we had kissed many of the same boys! Of course we compared notes and both agreed on the bad kissers. I know she is reading this so I have to say this for her. T.B=QB, A.W.=PK! Okay so enough inside jokes! And Janna, if you are reading this, I know you are totally disgusted by BOTH and probably shocked by the first one! Anyway! Kelly Ann had a her baby shower this past Saturday. The room was full of women, many whom I did not know. It was obvious she was in a room full of people that loved her. I sat next to some of her husband's relatives and shared some stories about my teenage years with Kelly Ann. As Kelly Ann opened her gifts, I could not help but think back to our journey together and how blessed I am to have her in my life.

In a few weeks, Kelly will have a precious baby girl named Schaefer. I feel like this baby is a part of me too. I prayed and prayed for her to come. I prayed for life in Kelly's womb and I even prayed for a girl. Not only did God answer her prayer but he answered mine too! Even though the room was filled with women that love Kelly, pray for Kelly and cherish her friendship, I felt pretty special. We've been through a lot together. From stupid boys to youth camps (where stupid boys were). From Mr.Dean in Junior High (Not only was he our choir director but Kelly Clarkson's too) to Ms. Douglas in High School, we have sang our hearts out in ugly choir dresses and so much more. No one can take our history from us. Our friendship runs deep and the memories we have created will last a lifetime. We can't be separated. Differences can't do it, life changes can't, distance or anything else! Our friendship has always been "meant to be" and it will last a lifetime, no matter what.

So I wish I could go back in time and freeze our Christmas shopping day. We were walking in the parking lot when Kelly begin to sing, "Ching-a-ring a ring a ring ching ching, ho a ding a ding kum larkey!" I almost peed my pants, which would not have been hard to do since I was eight months pregnant. Instantly I knew what she was singing. I can appreciate the musical pioneer Aaron Copeland now, but when you are sixteen years old singing Ching-a-ring chaw for UIL judges, you wonder what in the heck Aaron Copeland was thinking with this piece of music. As Kelly and I tried to remember the words, we both talked about how we had no idea what the song meant. We laughed, sang and laughed some more. It is a precious memory that know one can take from us, no one would possibly understand but us. Tonight I was thinking about all that is going on in my life and baby Schaefer who will be here soon. Things will be busy and our time will be harder to come by. Feeling a little sentimental, I found Aaron Copeland's Ching-a-ring Chaw on iTunes! Can you believe it? It's now on my iPod and I plan on putting it on cd for Kelly Ann. There is probably no one else on earth that would appreciate this song, except me, Kelly and some old women who sing in your local Chamber Choir.

Oh how I love my friends. I just couldn't do life without them. So here's to you Kelly Ann! I love you my friend. I am pretty sure we will talk tomorrow and how about let's hang out SOON! We live so close, there is no EXCUSE! :)

Ching-a-ring chaw!

Labels: friends