It's Birthday Month... Happy Birthday Rhonda!!!

Rhonda, Rhonda, Rhonda... where to start? Some friends come into your life for a time and season and other friends are there for life. Rhonda is one of those people that is a "lifer". In fact, I really don't remember life without her. We have had our ups and downs, grown up together (not as children, only in maturity), confided, laughed, cried, laughed until we cried and other things, vented, raised kids together, cleaned ( my favorite...hahaha), fixed dinner, solved problems, created problems, joked, teased, prayed for one another, nursed each other back to health, protected each other and the list could go on and on. Here's to Rhonda on her birthday... Luckily, she turns 40 first!

Some of My Favorite Memories with My Friend/Sister:

• Her big smile that lights up a room


• Her strong accent that makes me giggle (especially after visiting Orange)


• Her laugh that is contagious


• Delicious Southern Cooking... and always lots of food!!!!


• Her jokes about my "Northern Cooking", especially my chili


• All the times we would try to escape the life of a young mother with lots of little ones and the 1000's of bath's that our children took together while we tried to extend our visit just a little longer


• The combined birthday parties that were incredibly silly for Rick/Rhonda


• The times that she would come over and switch my laundry for me while I was on bed rest and puking my guts out.


• Being the kind of friend (and pretty much the only friend that I would allow) to come into my house when it was turned upside down and inside out and we could laugh about it.


• Ummm.... going over to visit on a lazy Sunday afternoon and they weren't home so we broke into their house and stole hot dogs from their freezer ( I guess that one doesn't directly involve you since you weren't really there! hahaha) And she is still my friend after that


• Driving down the road while going to pick up my brother and laughing so hard that I had to use my inhaler to get air and had to pull over because I couldn't see the road because so many tears were falling down my face from laughter ( and if I remember correctly it was all because we were making fun of my little brother!)


• Her willingness to be in the delivery room with me even when she was 3 months pregnant herself and didn't need the reminder of what was coming =) Although, I think I blogged about that experience already and how that didn't turn out so good.... haha. But since it is her birthday I will not remind her of all the frustration she and Rick caused that night while flinging each other from the birthing chair!!!! hehehe


• All the times she watched my back and protected me from all the "Honey, you just don't know's" in the world


• Climbing in bed and covering our heads with the blankets when the world was too much to take... and the look on our hubby's faces when they would find us like that! hahaha


• All the sharing of Travis Hoyt as our girls were growing up... the phone calls saying "Ok, which girl is crushing on him now?" and the lectures that we would give each of our girls saying "Don't break his heart again!"... Poor Travis


• The blushing as she thrived on embarrassing me (it's getting a little harder though these days, I am broken in a little)


• The millions of times that the phone would ring and one of us would say "Oh yeah, just one more thing real quick"


• The hugs, tears and talks the last night we were all together right before we moved and knowing that it didn't matter the distance that we were apart, we would always have our friendship

This is just a few, there are too many to list. Thanks for sharing the years of laughter, tears, joy and sadness. Sometimes the Lord blesses us with tender mercies in the form of friendship! Happy Birthday.