Long Lost Friend

Have you ever reconnected with someone you lost contact with for several years? Maybe you and this person were good friends and for no good explanation, contact was completely lost. You spend the next few years, off and on, making small attempts to locate this person and no such luck...then by the grace of Mark Zuckerburg you FIND that person. It is the coolest feeling in the world! I found my friend last weekend just randomly...here's our story...

Once upon a time, in a hidden alley of Everett, WA, an adventure seeking little girl named Torie lived in a small, green house. This house was located at the opening of this seemingly parallel world. She faced many trials and tribulations as a young girl there. However, she had a friend to help protect her and his name was Tyler.

Tyler lived on the edge of the alley too. Between his house and Torie's, was a senior living condominium. The back of his house faced the alley while the front faced the rest of the world.

For roughly 6 years this dynamic duo were scene running around, end to end, in the alley way. They played baseball, cops and robbers, climbed trees, played music, had sleepovers and everything in between! If you had to find one kid, the other one was right there.

In this alley however, lied many obstacles and enemies. All were blocked and defeated from harming Torie because Tyler always stood up for her. They taught each other loyalty, friendship, and one day they learned how to tell "Yo Momma" jokes! Those always came in handy with a group of little rascals.

When the summer of '95 (maybe '96) came, is when it all began to slip away. Torie's family found a bigger house to buy 2 miles down the road and coincidentally, around the same time, Tyler's family also found another house...25 minutes away. At first, the two were very disappointed but planned out to be together on weekends and during the summer. The innocence and simplicity of a child can be poetic but not typically realistic.

They saw each other a few times after the move. When the two were in their teens, they made an attempt to see each other but it never worked out...

This all happened 16 years ago....3 days ago Torie decided on a whim to look up Tyler on Facebook. To her surprise, the VERY first person to pop up was the Tyler she grew up with in the alley on 52nd street. A few messages later and a long awaited phone call, the two reconnected. For an hour and half the two swapped memories and caught up on a 16 year absence. It was a phone call long overdue, but the pair didn't skip a beat. Hopefully, these two long time friends will keep in touch this time! Maybe even get to meet each others new families and continue to make more memories.

THE END

I know this is long but I thought it would be fun to write a little story. I suck at writing so no comments on how I suck at it!! lol. Besides, if you know me, you know I can RAMBLE on...and I sure could with this story so I did my best to keep it simple. Ya know what I am now realizing? How much of a sappy girl I am! I think that is what makes me unique though. I am very passionate about my relationships with friends and family. Never miss a moment to tell someone what you think about them and how much you care. You could just turn someone's day completely around! Anyways, this is probably the coolest moment of the year hands down. Thank you for reading my story!!!

Long Time Comin!

Wow its been awhile since I've written a blog! Between work, the flu, and getting back into the coaching scene I've been SOOOO dang busy.

There are a lot of highlights though from the past month. One of the BIGGEST once was my UW Softball Alumni weekend! Here's a link to a small web album of the day:

UW Alumni Game 2011

There were a TON of pictures but I only re-did a few. The rest are on FB somewhere. ;) Festivities for that started Oct 15...well a Friday (whatever date that was) with a tailgate on the softball field and the football game afterwards. The following day was the actually softball game which was AWESOME. Brought back a lot of memories as well as silence all my inner battles with the past I had involving my time there when I was a kid. I made some terrible life choices in the past that completely changed my life but as it turns out, no one cares. They are still proud of me, love me, support me, and we laugh like we never missed a beat. Whether the team (past and present) and myself talk much, if at all, when we are together we pick up where we left off. Friends for life and I know I can't count on them if I need them. Dawgs for life!

For the past couple months though, I typically work about 15 days in a row before a day off. Even though a work day may only be 5 hours, sometimes its 7, sometimes it 9, sometimes its 14. If its a good day its 14 hours. Even on some days off, the only reason I'm not "at work" is because I have something else planned the whole day. So a day off for me doesn't mean laying around and chillin. It means helping someone, going to a coaching event, or celebrating awesome achievements my friends have made. All good things but my body told me to knock that shit off last Sunday at about midnight. Haha. Had a fever for a solid 35 hours. Took 2 days off work, 3 days of nothing, not I'm back on the grind. No time to relax but its a fun ride!

I apologize to all my family and friends that I haven't spoken to in a long while. When I do have time to myself, I prefer to just turn the world OFF for a minute. Yet, I'm still thinking of you all and I appreciate your patience. I still have some learning to do when it comes to balancing work, outside events, free time, my relationship and family.

Life life happy, enjoy it, and smile lots! Next time I post something it'll be a real story not just an update. ;)