Friends are friends forever...

"Packing up the dreams God planted

In the fertile soil of you
I can't believe the hopes He's granted
Means a chapter of your life is through

But we'll keep you close as always
It won't even seem you've gone
'Cause our hearts in big and small ways

Will keep the love that keeps us strong"

As I sit and listen to my 5 year old try to explain to me how she's sad/mad that our neighbors are moving (they are a F-15E family heading back to North Carolina) and how she's tired of all her friends moving away, it breaks my heart and I know exactly how she feels. What she hasn't grasped yet is that this is just the beginning. She remembers leaving Utah (must have been the blue house) and remembers her real first best friend Lexi and while Emily doesn't remember as much, she chimes in with the excitement of our upcoming trip to visit Utah and our friends we still have there. I also remember leaving my friends in Utah and I had to be dragged away from that house and those friends. I sat crying for the first few weeks, okay so Eric would say months, we arrived in South Carolina wondering how God would introduce me to more friends that matched up to these other few wives.



Being in the military, we always are moving and meeting new friends and it's hard to leave one place and have faith that God will put other friends in your life at that next base. We go through deployments, numerous TDY's, long hours when they are at home and anything else life throws at us. Here in SC, I'm so thankful for the way the wives work together. In Utah, it was like we never stepped outside our squadron and met the other wives, but here, it's completely opposite. I rarely hang out with anyone from our squadron minus one wife, but the rest are in one of the other two squadrons and no ladies, that's not b/c the other squadrons are better :) I finally allowed myself to move on from Utah and knew that all those friends I made while in Utah, God had me meet them and build a relationship with them for a reason. And boy do I ever miss those gals, but I keep in touch with them and I love them for all they have been to me! Which all brings me to now. I have met some great gals here and again it's just that small handful that have gotten me through a deployment, even LONGER hours (if you can imagine that), more TDYs than I care to count, other life struggles that have come our way and even though they've all had their own lives going on, they've always made time to check in on me, even if it was 11 pm at night. I always knew who was calling if my phone rang after 10 pm and somehow we could talk until midnight and have no clue what we talked about in the end. Kim Mac, somehow we never put aside our crud tourney differences and took pictures together. :) Or maybe I just don't have copies of the pictures?! How is that possible? So, that's my shout out to you girl! I miss you! (Oh and so is the second song on here:)) Wives have come and gone, but I am so thankful for the few that have been best friends to me. Now as I sit with my husband home, well, on alert, (for now thankfully), I have 3 best friends who are missing their hubbies due to either Korea or the desert. I find myself hurting for each and every one of them and wishing I could take their hurt away, since they don't have the every day joys of spending time with their husbands and their children's Daddy, b/c I like them, know what it's like to be a single parent and it is one tough job! I know that eventually we will be in this same boat (Korea I mean) and we will be faced with some of the same trials they are all going through. But I know that even with them all going through these things, I could call one of them up, ask them anything and they would be there for me at the drop of a hat and they know I would do the same for them, b/c that's what friends do. Now, if only I could convince Eric to take on an additional 5 kiddos a few nights a month so the 3 of us could go for some girl time.... HA, right. The one thing I'm thankful for is that we all arrived here around the same time and will move on to our next bases within a few months of each other. So, here's to all my girls past and present (man I feel like I'm doing a Gambler toast)! Thanks for who you are to me, each other and everyone else you come in contact with. I love you all! Oh and Ryndee, Gamblers rock, your van even said so :) See Shari, I do show emotion ;)