here's to you, Kate

This is the one time where I will treat this like a blog, as opposed to a normal food blog.  If you love Kate McKinney, too, please keep reading :) (that should be all of you, even if you don't know her!)

Today is my best friend in the entire world's 24th birthday.  Every time I introduce Kate I ALWAYS say "this is kate, she's my best friend. we learned how to walk together."  It's been 23 years of a friendship- and not just any friendship- a friendship that has withstood the test of time.  No matter where we have been- Tyler, TX and Peachtree City, GA, Sky Ranch, Memphis, TN and Lagrange, GA, Galeana, Mexico, Houston, TX and Columbus, MS, we have remained THE best of friends.  Kate has been my go-to person for 23 years.  The person who I know without a doubt will listen to me without judgment, the person who will give me tough love when I need it (and probably get kind of a high pitched voice and laugh a bit while she does so), the person who I can be the most vulnerable and honest with (besides my husband- don't worry, honey), the person who I can actually treat like a sister and even when we have to "process" things together (that's our term for working something out) there's never a moment where it's stressful because we know we're like sisters- we're in this for life! 


The most fascinating part of all of this- our friendship I mean- is that the odds were against us!  I mean, I moved away when I was 7- what 7 year olds keep in touch and remain best friends?  We did.  Not only was there distance, but kate was a "toot" (as we Texans say- it means to be mean) to me as a kid- I mean, a real TOOT.  She's grown up into quite the opposite, but even if she was a toot I have a feeling we'd still be besties :)  Our moms  helped foster our friendship because they are great friends and took us to the beach pretty much every year and we also went to camp (Sky Ranch- you who have kids- SEND YOUR KIDS!!! it's the best, most impactful summer camp EVER.  Correct me if I'm wrong, KK, but that's where we BOTH accepted the Lord, right?)  But still- we could have remained just good, family friends whose families get together once a year- but we didn't- we developed our friendship outside of our families on our own and THANK GOD WE DID because I couldn't imagine my life without my sweet KK.  Our friendship has developed and grown as we have.  We've gone from talking about boys, school, friends, to talking about husbands, social work, and lots, and LOTS of food (there have been many other topics in there but we won't go there).  Quite literally we talk on the phone an average of 2x a day- and sometimes about nothing! but it feels weird if a day goes by where we haven't communicated, ha!  She's helped me analyze every situation in my life- no matter how big or small- and if you know me, you know that I am an obsessor and have to analyze every nook and cranny of a situation before I feel resolved.  Kate does that with me.  One of my favorite things about Kate is how we laugh together- it can be so random but we both will laugh at the dumbest thing for like 5 minutes straight.  It won't even be that funny (and I can't even think of an example) but we just GIGGLE.  She has brought so much joy- and PEACE- to my life.  We have been attached at the hip- although those hips have been miles apart- for 23 years.  Here's to another 60+!  I love you, Kate!  Happy Birthday to the best friend God could ever give someone (again I will say, besides our wonderful husbands! but you gotta have your girl).  I could probably write a book including funny stories and pictures and everything I love about Kate and am grateful for, but I'll settle with this blog post for today.  That did give me an idea though....kate, shall we write a book someday?  hmm.....

I didn't write any of this as eloquently as kate would, and i'm sure as the day progresses I will think "I COULDN'T HAVE WRITTEN THAT!!" but kate, know that you are one of the most important people in my life and i just adore you.

Here's a birthday song I learned in Puerto Rico that I like to sing to everyone when it's their birthday:

Cumpleanos a ti, cumpleanos a ti, cumpleanos a ti, cumplanos a ti (ok here comes the good part- the rhythm changes but you won't be able to tell that, sadly):

feliz, feliz en tu dia.  amigita que Dios te bendiga, que reine la paz en tu dia, y que cumplas mucho mas!

i love you with all the fibers of my soul, KK!  thanks for being my besty :)