Soulmaties

I've found THE ONE!  And this is she.  The cookie of my heart. 

One of my very, very, very best friends. 

I simply adore this picture of nerdy Emily.  Look at her tie! It kills me. 

And the best part is: that she really is so, so smart.  

Just not this overt about it.  

Over the course of multiple football games, movie nights, and birthday parties, she is woven through the last five years of my life like a sparkling optimistic thread in my college tapestry.   

She is one of the happiest people I know, as well as one of the most genuine, sincere, and enthusiastic listeners. 

Plus, she has great style!

 And I can talk to her for hours.  One of my biggest and most pervasive fears (besides getting lost at sea or having food in my teeth) is running out of things to talk about with someone, though (thankfully) such has never occurred between Emily and me.  Instead, we stay out at restaurants until we're the last patrons there, until it's 1 in the morning and my voice is hoarse from talking.  And we're still not even done.

 It helps that she is always more than eager to know "ALL THE THINGS"  about my life, which, of course, makes me feel like a million bucks. 

Each year of my college experience, I have very specific memories with Emily.  

We met my first year at BYU through my sister, whose roommates had grown up with her.  

I think the very first time we really hung out was when six of us piled into her civic to go see "17 Again."  

And then there was the time, while I was still a freshman, when Emily took me to the movies to see the Jonas Brothers' Live Concert Tour movie at 11 in the morning on a Friday.  3D movies were still relatively new at this point, which made the experience all the more over-the-top, and we were the only ones in the theater, so we sang our hearts out.  

 My sophomore year, Emily and I lived together, and even shared a room.  This was the year of silly parties, pulling pranks on boys, watching Grey's Anatomy together, group dates, and our Autumn Equinox cake.  

(UNRELATED: It was also the year that I managed to take naps in all of my roommates' beds.)

My junior year, I lived in the Foreign Language housing, but Emily and I still made a point of seeing each other on weekends, for Zumba, or most memorably, late-night grocery trips that turned into hours long life discussions in the parking lot.  

My senior year, Emily lived just down the street and was a frequent visitor for movie nights, dinners, Roommate Christmas, trips to St. George, wedding planning (not mine!), and all of our parties, including the Thanksgiving dinner where we all dressed up as Puritans. 

The summer before I moved, we celebrated "Emily and Katherine's SUMMER OF FUN" together, which included horseback riding, Lagoon, aquariums, water parks, outdoor movies, fireworks, Provo Beach Resort, Gourmandise, Step Up 4, the zoo, laser tag, unilateral Taboo, Salt Lake, Park City, and (duh) shopping.  

 She even flew out to Tennessee two summers during college to meet my family and spend time with Laura and me in the OL' HOUSE. 

 The night before I moved to Arizona, she let me stay at her apartment, and she was the last Provo Person I wished a tearful goodbye to before I set off, which was probably the perfect way to part.  

 Since I've moved, we've been so good at keeping in touch.  There was the group visit with NV to California to see The Marrieds that involved riding in a helium balloon, brunching, Laguna Beach, Balboa Island, whale-watching, farmers markets, and nighttime beach bonfires after some hilariously tumultuous ocean experiences.  

 There have also been multiple visits out to Utah for me, visits down to AZ for her, and sometimes even meeting up in the middle in Vegas.  

So far, we've managed to see each other every 3 months or so, and we intend to keep it that way.  

Her love for elephants is unparalleled and adorable. 

And this little lady KNOWS her TV shows.  Don't even toy.  She is a "Friends" aficionado who will bamboozle you with her extensively quotable knowledge of the show.  

Or at least give you some pretty stiff competition in a heated round of Friends Scene It.  

This last weekend, she was in town and boy, did my heart sing.   

Most of what we did involved eating, and I wouldn't have had it any other way.  

 And though marriage is still a ways off for me , I've frantically asked her multiple times if she most definitely will still be one of my bridesmaids because, well.  

What else could I do? 

 ^^^ This was from Emily and Katherine's SUMMER OF FUN when the guy monitoring our horseback escapades asked if we wanted a picture of us both sitting on the horse. 

 It was like he was inside our minds. 

 I am so comfortable, so at home with her, that I often think "this must be kind of what it's like to be married," just to always be with your best friend.  More than once, after a long day of activities, I would turn to her and exclaim, "After all day together, I'm not even tired of you!"  True friendship, right there.  

 It seems like the majority of love songs and poems and movies are about this unrealistic and quixotic romantic type of love, but there are so many other kinds of love out there as well. I mean, this friendship love is pretty darn great, and I feel like it needs more recognition,  besides the "traveling pants" kind.  

Sometimes I think about what it would have been like if I were to have married while in college, but then I immediately discount it because, if so, I never would have been able to meet such amazing girlfriends (especially this one!) with whom I'd have such silly memories.  

 Like the night of the Cuphands.  Or the cupcake-throwing contest on her birthday.  

 Or back tickles and warm chocolate melting cake and our wolf shirts. 

LYLAS, girlfraan.  And I mean it.