9/11... Happy Birthday Wendy Lou

I started writing this yesterday...
but it was 9/11....
the 10 year anniversary of the attack on the twin towers.

I think we all remember exactly what we were doing and where we were at, when it happened, a decade ago.

I was 17 but hadn't left the house for school yet that morning because I had a 1st period college class (with Fluff Montano) that didn't meet that particular morning. My mom yelled for me to come to her room and watch the tv... we saw the 2nd plane hit, live.  What we thought was a bad mistake by a pilot was instantly turned into war by a 2nd plane. All day, every class, we just watched the tv and the footage.... after school I waited in line for 30 minutes (or longer) to fill up on over-priced gas.  I remember I cried that day, my biggest emotion being fear.  (mostly of the unknown)

But yesterday, 10 years later, now a mom to 2 boys-- I have completely different emotions when I recall that day, and see the footage.  I can't help but feel hurt for every mom who lost a child.
Like deep, inside my chest, pain.
My biggest emotion now is sorrow, and I realize now, why my mom cried so much.

My best friend Wendy's birthday is September 11....
I wanted to post her pictures from her party.
And celebrate her.
But I had to wait until today.

Breastfeeding hormones had me in tears most of the day-- and I wanted a happy post to gush about a beautiful person!

I wish all of my pictures weren't still packed away and I could share pictures from the very beginning.
Her wedding.
Our trip to Vegas.
Concerts.
Parties.
Our younger days.

Wendy and I met through my brother somewhere in the late nineties.
Kind of.

She was one of the older, pretty, "Decatur girls"--
who came over to hang out with my brother and his friends--
and I was the "Weeder's little sister" and looked up to them like they were something special!
It is hilarious now, but back then, they seemed way older.

My brother would threaten me to leave them alone...
and to stay  in my room...
but I wouldn't.
I would find any way to talk to them...
and usually, they would end up in my room, chatting me up!

Flash forward...
To the days that Lance and I first started dating (late 2001-early 2002) and we would hang out with his friend Pepper. [Mark]
Pepper told me about a "hot girl" he worked with named Wendy and I told him I knew her and was going to hook them up.
I was working at a movie store back then and Wendy happen to come in.
She thought it was funny that the "shy" guy at work had a crush on her, but was going to talk to him.
He asked her out...
and the rest is history.
They ended up marrying before us...  and we were both in their wedding.

And then, after our 3 year engagement, they were in ours also.

Here are a few pictures of Wendy and I together from previous blogs that I have posted.

 

 

And here are a few others from over the years  that I had stored on my computer:

Wendy is a friend that I do not need to talk to daily or even weekly...
we can go months without seeing each other,
but one conversation will pull us right up to date.

I will always have a friend in her...
and her in me.
Always.
[We know way too much about each other to ever part!!]

My friend Wendy, never meets a stranger, she is incredibly honest and is just as beautiful on the inside as she is on the outside.
Ask anyone who meets her.

She is a talker... and if her mongo boobies don't pull you in... her huge, white smile will!
Wendy has no enemies, and can find the good in anyone.
Tie her hands up, however, and she may go mute!

In our 10 year friendship, we have had one argument.
It ended with her knocking on my apartment door at 3:00am and I think we may have kicked Lance to the couch so we could have the bed!

As great of a friend a she has been to me-- she is equally as loving to Lance.
I have joked over the years that if I ever walked in on her and Lance together in bed, my first thought would not be an affair-- and it probably wouldn't even be my 3rd.  Not because I trust my husband so much (though I do) but because I truly trust her to my core.

When my other friends first meet Wendy they usually say all 3 of these things:

1. She is so pretty.

2. She is so nice.

3. Why do you say "my-friend-Wendy" every time you say her name?  We know she's your friend!

30 minutes after meeting her, you will feel like yall have been friends for years!
That's Wendy.
 
And I love her.

***
Yesterday was Wendy's 30th birthday.
And next month, she is expecting her 3rd child, another girl.

A baby bump permits a huge to-do,
so Saturday, we threw her a little party at her mom's house to celebrate.

I took my camera with big plan for pictures...
but mingling got the best of me...

[hmmmm.... apparently someone else is also a talker.  No wonder we love each other so much!]

I think there were probably 30 to 40 people there, excited to celebrate Wendy... just as we were.
I know they are all excited to meet miss Mayli too, in just weeks!
Happy Birthday Wendy Lou!
Love you!