Meet My People!
If you read my “Things I’ve Learned” blog, you’ve read about Amy’s love for flowers, and how flowers remind her of Papa’s intentional, just-because love for her.
I realized the other day that the things that remind me how much Papa loves me are actually my friends.
Friends are my flowers.
And so, I wanted you all to meet my people (some of them – I’m blessed enough to have a bunch)! These are my non-world race friends that I love with all my hearts. Honestly, I figured blogging about them would just be an opportunity for me to gush about them – my favourite.
ABBY
Abigail and I have been friends since we were 11. Meaning we somehow became friends in our weirdest year alive – you know that sets the foundation for a lasting friendship.
We like to make and eat cookies together, preferably chocolate chip, and preferably on June 6.
She also has the most bomb star-gazing backyard known to man, and on my prom night (because I wasn’t up for a good old night out) she blindfolded me, brought me out to her backyard, and revealed a blanket with candles outlining it, and a picnic basket with my favourite food. We then stargazed all night. Get yourself a friend that will treat you like Abby treats me (no, we’re not dating). She’s also never let me fall.
She’s the kid I’ve probably laughed with most in my 21 years of life thus far, and I love her dearly.
My little Abigail and I living our best colour-coordinated lives
NATALIE
Natalie and my’s friendship is the definition of “we don’t talk for years but once we’re together it’s like nothing ever changed”. The two of us SUCK at communicating. She moved to San Francisco (because she’s a BOSS and is getting her masters at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music!!!) and I’m moving around the world and we didn’t even have an in-person goodbye, that’s how much we suck at communicating. BUT, every time we see each other time stands still and we’re the best of friends <3
This kid took me in in junior high and high school, let me camp out at her house 24/7 and would feed me the yummiest of foods cause we lived a 5 minute walk away from each other, and she’s the reason I looked like a decent human being in my weird awkward teenage years – if that’s not a true friend, I don’t know what is.
She’s a lifelong friend and I love her. I’m also insanely proud of her!!
SHE’S JUST SO BEAUTIFUL
PJ
PJ, known better as Joanna to most, is my dear friend who I prayed for for 5 years. This kid came to be our youth pastor in my senior year of high school after 5 years without a youth pastor. I think I’ve followed her around ever since – but for some reason, she let me!!
We like to spend most of our time eating ice cream whenever possible and swinging (not in that order though).
She’s my New Glasgow friend that I do nothing with (as is Abby) and that I get to always talk about Jesus with.
She’s also super pregnant and I am SO invested in her child. I’m excited to spoil her and love her with Jesus’ love and speak words of life over her every time I get to see her. PJ’s also great in that she lets me kiss her belly every time I see her so baby can know how much I love her.
This one’s a keeper and I’m so excited for my love for her to grow as she becomes the mama of the child I love the most!
PJ and her NEICE, not her baby. Gotta clear that up right away
MOOTOO
Mootoo. Oh Mootoo. Mootoo’s first name is Jessica, but her last name (and the only name I call her) is Mootoo! This kid is a gift from God above – I seriously don’t know what I would have done in my undergrad without her. She’s the one who will call me out for believing lies instead of truth, will encourage me instead of rebuke me when I say I can’t hang out cause I’m busy hanging out with Jesus, and she’s the one who calls out the things Papa has called out in me when I forget about them myself.
She’s also just super fun (she’s a 7 you know)! She’s the one I get to eat pizza with in the wee hours of the morning, and road trip with to see our favourite bands.
I also spent 24/7 with her from first year to fourth, so leaving her for a whole year (even if I already live in a different province) is going to crazy hard, but so worth it.
This is a friend that makes me better, and I’m so thankful for her.
Isn’t she precious??
SARAH-LOUISE
This one plucked me out of my frosh week confusion and raised me into a full-fledged Gael at Queen’s University.
We bonded over music and physics, and then life as a whole. This one was definitely one of the my greatest influencers in undergrad – everything she did, I followed in her steps the next year (frosh week leader, friends, philosophy – which ended up being my minor by the way).
She also drove 18 hours straight through the night a couple summers ago with some of our other awesome friends just so they could come and visit me in Nova Scotia for 3 days – THE BOMB.
This one’s probably the reason I graduated undergrad, loved my courses and profs, and made such an effort to make sure life was way more than academics.
She also taught me how to love harder than anyone else (except for my mom, cause moms). My heart is filled with so much gratitude every time I think of her.
My greatest influencers of undergrad! Melinda on the left and Sarah-Louise on the right!
MELINDA
Melinda is the friend that I admire most in the world. Everything she does, she does in love, grace, and for the glory of God. She’s the other greatest influencer of my undergrad.
She loves with such a gentle love. She’s the wisest woman I know under the age of 24. And she also ate copious amounts of gelato with me. She had me over all the time just to feed me and have chai, because eating is meant for community.
She also let me come and visit her in Dubai last year because she’s actually the BEST. She’s also the friend that I love to brag most about – she works harder than anyone I know but still makes time for the Lord to do whatever He wants to do with her day. She also did EVERYTHING at Queen’s and did it in excellence. Now she’s in law school at Duke University and she’s dating a doctor who loves Jesus more than anything else – she’s so cool!!
I love her because every time we finish talking I want to be more humble, more loving, work harder, and ultimately I just leave loving Jesus more and knowing how loved I am by Him.
HELEN
HELEN! Helen. Oh Helen. Helen makes the best chocolate chip cookies in the world. She opened up her home (or Addie 2.0, or 119/111 Montreal – shout out to you gems) to us basically everyday of undergrad, and made us cookies and tea. We would sit and listen to vinyls in her room, or we would sit on the floor and talk into the wee hours of the night, even though Helen actually likes going to bed early – she’s a true friend. Or we would go to Chapters for a couple hours because Helen LOVES books. Seriously, I don’t know if I know anybody who has ever loved/read books as much as she does.
Helen is also the best story-teller I know. She’s awesome at taking anything you could ever learn about, no matter how dry it might be, and somehow make it so interesting that you want to sit at her feet as she teaches you about it for the next hour – anime, B-cells, math? I have no interest in any of these, but somehow Helen has captivated me by conversations about all of them.
This woman has such a hunger for knowledge and information of any type, whether it be academic, or your own personal life. She’s the best listener I know, she helps me (and most people) process their lives on the daily, and she loves more patiently than most people I know.
Helen is a special friend. I’m happy I get to know her.
HELEN! I love her!
BIANKA
This one. Bianka literally climbed the ladder of my heart in a weekend. I’d never met her, and then within one visit, somehow she became a person that I shared some of my most intimate thoughts with, was encouraged by, and just felt so loved by! This one and I like to travel together (we’d been to four countries together in our first four months of friendship lol).
She also has done the Nova Scotia-Ontario drive with me twice just cause – GEM. With that being said, you can tell that this is my adventure friend!
I love her very much. She’s a good one.
Little B on her first NS-ON road trip
And those are just a few of the friends Papa has blessed me with. I’m so grateful.
