An Open Letter To My Best Friend

Being the oldest of three, I've never had an older sibling to look up to. I never had that older sister that you fought with over the shampoo bottle being empty or the fact that the hair straightener was missing again. Growing up, I never had someone telling me that she wanted to wear that specific hair clip out of what seemed like a million others that she could've chosen from or that she wanted to watch a different t.v. show instead of the one you were currently watching and obviously very fascinated with at the moment. Truth be told, I actually was that older sister growing up (Sorry Vyktoryah! Should've never thrown that remote at my face when we were younger!!) until my freshman year in high school when I met this blonde girl who was literally like half a foot shorter than me and was always laughing about one thing or another.

Meet Jenny a.k.a The Best Friend.

From our three to five sleepovers weekly (not even kidding guys I practically live at her house, I even have my own bed lol), to our 2 a.m. talks about whether or not we should attempt at making cake pops the next day (which didn't go too well...oops..), to our disputes over Lauren or Jojo, Robby or Jordan, Luke or Chase (#TeamLuke for the next Bachelor!!) and our mutual agreement that Chad needed to go home asap, to the both of us sharing each other's clothes- you're the best older sister that I never had and I thank God each and every single day for you.

If I'm being completely honest here, I have absolutely no clue how we haven't managed to pull each other's hair out yet. Like seriously, how do you put up with me sometimes? Though we may get on each other's nerves half the time, (let's be real here, what kind of best friends don't?) I am still so incredibly grateful for you and our friendship.

You've watched me grow over the course of about four years and I, you. I remember sitting there along with about 120 other students and watching you get baptized just seconds before getting into the water and being baptized myself, by you. We've tumbled together, worked the same job together, gone to the same school together and been in band together (go flute section!). We've gone to church camp together, watched the other graduate (she's a year older), we've been in color guard and marched at band competitions together. Most importantly though, we've struggledtogether and we've soaredtogether.

"As iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend."

Proverbs 27:17 NLT

I have no clue who I would be or even where I would be at this point in my life if God hadn't given me my best friend (and my family of course), my partner in crime and my older sister my first year in that 'scary' place called "High School". Who would I have been best friends with instead? Who would I have made all of those ridiculous memories and inside jokes with, if not you..? I have no clue.. and well, I'm really not interested in finding out because you're my best friend and there's nobody who could ever replace you (or the famous Titanic pose that we've recreated a few times. Since I'm practically a giant, of course I got stuck being Jack).

All of the memories, all of the inside jokes- they're what make us, us and our friendship exactly what it is. The late night uncontrollable laughs, the early morning struggles (just a piece of advice, don't try waking me up before 8:30 a.m. because I promise it will never go over well), the car rides that never fail to include us singing horribly at the top of our lungs about 'Taylor, the latte boy', our undying obsession over Marley (one of the cutest little pups ever. He's literally a white fluff ball) and our daily conversations about food. I'm thankful for all of it.

So here's to us, an unbreakable bond and a lifelong friendship as we continue to laugh our way through life one Starbucks S'mores Frappe and late night run at a time. Even though next year we'll be two and a half hours and 138 miles apart from each other, never forget that you are and always will be my 'Favorite Little Aggie' and words cannot even begin to express how proud of you I am. Love you and let's never forget the true meaning of an "E.T.A" and what that actually stands for.

"Axe 'Em Aggies" and "Gig 'Em Jacks"? I think so.

Pax