the day i missed the school bus.

Sara and I met my first day of Jr. High. It was the first time I had ever gone to a school that didn't require knee socks and plaid skirts, and the first time I ever sat in a classroom that held more than 10 students.

I was transferring to a public school halfway through the school year, and I still remember how nervous I was that morning. It's as if I can still feel the butterflies floating around in my stomach when I imagine myself walking down those hallways for the very first time. Fourteen years old, shy, scrawny, and at the epitome of my glorious awkward stage, truthfully, I was a social disaster. It was a miracle I made any friends that year at all.

But now enter: Sara Ann Reed

Sara and I sat at the same lunch table that first day of school. In the following weeks, we were usually surrounded by the same group of girls who would whisper to each other near our lockers waiting for the final bell to ring; but for whatever reason, Sara and I rarely spoke to each other. Sara says she used to refer to me as the "scarf girl" who wore scarves all the time, and to be honest Sara, I remember you were the girl who would trade her lunch with others and I thought that was just gross (haha - just kidding).

But then one day after school,
after we had both missed the bus,
and as we both stood awkwardly waiting by the vending machines for our parents to arrive,
we finally started talking.
I don't remember what exactly took place during that conversation,
but it must have been something special
because wouldn't ya know -
I made a friend that day who would end up being a best friend for many years to come.

I could write for hours and hours about this girl, (and by the looks of it I basically have) but there's a reason why and it extends beyond the fact that she's become one of the dearest friends I'll ever have. Sara is truly lovely inside and out. She is happy when I'm happy, and sad when I'm sad - and that has always meant a lot to me. She happens to be the sweetest girl whose ever walked the planet, and I do believe this is partly why half of Utah loves her, (and why every boy Kylie and I ever dated secretly loved her too. True story.)

Sophomore year,
7up girl notebooks,
Our matching sweaters,
Rooming together in the cell-block-like dorms our freshman year of college,
It seems like some of my happiest memories include this young lady.

So in honor of her birthday, I have written an entire novel (which will make up for the lack of a birthday post last year, something she never lets me live down :)

But let it be known:
Sara Ann Reed is my best friend,
and she has been ever since we were 14.
She's as beautiful, and as radiant as ever -
But now she's 22.
She deserves the best birthday ever,
And you can bet your bottom dollar we'll still be celebrating her birthday 22 years from now too.

Good thing we both missed the bus.