heather's day...

Today is Heather's 28th birthday. We've been best friends for nearly half our lives--ever since the day we met.

Heather and I met by chance at cross country (CC) practice the summer before our freshman year of high school. I signed up for CC because it was a high school sport I didn't have to try out for. Heather signed up because her older brothers used to run CC and they told her she'd love it.

I think CC practice began sometime in July of that year (1996). Our coach was a nerdy 9th grade English teacher with skinny legs and short shorts. He led his team on a "short run" that first day of practice; a mere 3 miles. (!)

Varsity ran with JV at practice, and although there were a handful of freshmen, most of the rest of the team were all returning members from the year before: running was in their blood.

Running was NOT in my blood, nor in Heather's. We were soon both at the back of the pack, and once we'd run a few blocks and found ourselves at Pioneer Park, we decided to walk a minute to catch our breath. We ended up sitting on swings and talking for the remainder of our "run."

After some time, we decided to jog back to the high school where we met up with the rest of our team.

This quickly became our tradition: start running with the team, lag behind, and end up finishing our run at a snail's pace.

Obviously we weren't cut out for varsity, but I like to think that we both joined CC that year not by chance, nor for the actual sport of running, but to meet each other and become the best of friends.

Heather's family lived in Mantua; her house was roughly 4 miles from mine. We spent tons of time together that summer (thanks to our mamas for driving us back and forth between Mantua and Brigham...)

That fateful summer day was just the beginning. Heather and I were best friends throughout our entire high school careers. There was just something special between us from the start.

Here are some of my favorite Heather moments:

-Little Valley Days
-Making Heather laugh so hard she had to sit on her feet to keep from peeing
(which happened almost every day)
-"THERE'S A MAN IN YOUR CAR!"
-Watching millions of episodes of The X Files (That Mulder is such a Fox!)
-Watching her eat an entire jar of green olives in one sitting
-Going to a Raptors game with my folks and porking down on cotton candy
(that she may or may not have dipped in mustard. On purpose)
-Our trip to Bear Lake with her folks where Heather caught a fish with her hands
and named it "Frincess" (Yes, I spelled that right)
-My first date with Heather's then-boyfriend's best friend
(who sat super close and came in for a kiss. ACK!)
-Being constantly amazed at her natural ability to flirt
(while my flirting came across...awkward)
-Buying penny candy at the Country Market. (LOTS of penny candies!)
-Making our ridiculously embarrassing music videos
-Color Guard
-LOTS MORE!

Heather's been married now for 8 years, and I'm still single. She lives in Zion, and I live North-of-Zion. We don't get to see each other very often, but when we do, it's like exactly NO TIME has passed; we revert back to what we were in high school, laughing all the while.

I miss my Heather. I'm glad she's been a part of my life since such a tender young age. And I'm glad she married an awesome guy who lets us be silly when we get together, letting us do what we do without judgment. (If Kris does judge, I haven't heard about it...)

Here's to you, Heather! Although a lot of time and space are between us, I still consider you to be the best! LOVE YOU!