Molly, Mandy, Mary...beth

I have been so fortunate to have so many good friends that I’ve grown up with. The hard part about growing up is that your world tends to change…friends get farther away. I’ve experienced that with my Shaw fam, especially Megs, moving away. And now my best Marybethy is living across the world in Italy. She’s coming back (December 21!) but I’ve still been missing her so much. I’m so lucky to have a friend like her. She’s been my bestie since we were 11 and has always been the one who knows all my secrets, who I could tell anything without feeling stupid, and who I could, of course, have loads of fun with! When we were young, we used to plan all the stupid plays that we never performed. (We just liked the planning) We also used to have an "Anne of Green Gables Club" and made a secret hideout for it in a tree back by the ditch at my parents' house. My brother (Dustin, of course) decided to break into our fort and mess stuff up, so then MB and I decided to try and trick my dad into deeding that portion of his property to us so we could then order Dustin off our land. (It didn't work, my dad is a wise man to not listen to 12 year olds when they say "here, just sign this) We were also quite beautiful in our younger days, with unique style unmatched by any, except ourselves. I don’t have any pictures on the computer of those glorious days, but here’s one of us a few years ago, returning to our former selves (in the exact clothes and glasses we once wore—why we still had them, I don’t know) to pick Meg up from the airport. (Needless to say, she was delighted. She was so excited, she kept on walking when she saw us)

Marybeth has always been the “sensible” friend. She brings balance to my craziness and puts up with my unusual moments. As she's grown older, she's even gotten a bit crazy herself! (This is when she was spending the night once and woke to discover Britt and I holding a lamp over her head, “sucking her brains out”) I need her kids to grow up with my kids, cause goodness knows what my kids will be like if they take after me!

MB has always been the one I confided in. She always listens to my problems and worries and stupid ideas. And she always points me back to the Gospel and encourages me to trust God. Without her, Ty and I wouldn't have gotten together nearly as easily. (Because I have a tendency to freak out about things) She's the one who told me to wake up and quit denying that Tyler liked me. She's the one who reminded me of how good of a friend he was to me and how he knew exactly who I was (crazy and all) and liked me because of it. She's the one who played 3rd wheel all the time. (Here's her and TJ, on our way to the Singles Picnic last year-before we were dating-when we got "lost" for 2 hours. I say "lost" cause Ty and I were quite happy to be lost and I had a map in my purse the whole time that I just happened to "forget" about)

MB and I have always had this weird relationship thing where we could tell exactly what the other one is thinking. We've had all these weird moments where I'd ask her about something and she'd be like "How do you know that? I haven't told anyone that!" My favorite memory of one of those moments is when I was talking to her about Tyler and she looked at me and said "Oh my gosh, Mindy Lawler, you're in love with him!" She was my maid of honor at my wedding and did an amazing job planning 2 showers for me (one was a karaoke-costume-junk food shower—heehee!) and helping me with pretty much everything from getting into my dress to buying trashbags and rugs for my apartment.

And then, shortly after my wedding, she set off on her grand adventure of living in the fine city of Mint Milano and doing Italian sorts of things. I must say I am very proud of her. Milan is one of the fashion capitals of the world. Big designers live there and though she has not made friends with any of them, (I'm sure she will if she waits outside their stores long enough) she is absorbing European style by doing things like shopping at Zara and H&M and...yes people, Marybeth Longtine is wearing skinny jeans!

All I can say is, what a long way she has come from the good (?) old days. (See first picture…or don’t, once is often enough)

She's also been traveling...she's been to London and Genovia and she's going to several other countries soon. I think she does school too sometimes... Here she is getting "friendly" with Big Ben...the clock, not a man.

I’m so excited for her and for all the amazing adventures she’s having. But I can’t wait for her to come back home to me so we can sit down on the couch, eat a pound of boiled shrimp, and talk about life. MB, I love you friend! Please don’t meet an Italian man and fall for his dreadful Italian ways…you have to come back here and live near me so my kids can call you “Aunt Marbf” or whatever they decided to turn your name into!