My Kindred Spirit

This week my very best friend celebrated a birthday. Although we don't see each other nearly enough, this occasion caused me to pause and reflect on our special relationship.

I met Karla Ann on February 25, 1994. I remember this because it was George Harrison's birthday and, well, I have a thing for remembering such things! We met through our mutual friend Leza Bygrove - and all because I had a crush on a boy. Ha ha ha. I thought Mark Colvin was the cat's meow and when I found out that Leza went to his youth group, I arranged to join her. We caught a ride with Karla and her brother Jeff. That was the beginning.

After that we were nearly inseparable and our friendship grew into a true kindred spirit kind of friendship. Since I went to LCCVI and Karla was home schooled, we spoke on the phone every day - to ensure we were current on the goings-on. In fact, since it was long distance (ie: costs money) from our homes, I usually talked on the pay phone outside the girls locker room. Who knew teenaged girls had so much to talk about?

As we matured, so did our friendship. We went on trips together - exploring interesting corners of the world while making great memories together. We laughed, we cried, we had a lot of fun. But the one thing that strikes me about this friendship is the foundation it is built on. Our faith. Through all of life's events - ups, downs and in between, we can share in these moments with a similar lens.

Life was considerably different when Karla Ann got married and started her family. The essence of our friendship remained but we were at such different stages of life, we just seemed out of synch. Opportunities were fewer and further between for us to connect. Until one day when we met in Strathroy for coffee to catch up on life. I shared with her about someone I had met and she immediately knew where my life was headed. What fun it was to once again get together as we planned another wedding - this time it was mine!

As we sat on my porch one day, she said something to me that was so poignant. Jumping into life as a wife and mum might not have been in my plan all along, but God has a way of surprising us. "In fact," she said, "I consider this such a blessing that you have now caught up to where I'm at and our families can now get together because our lives are in a similar spot in life."

Brilliant. I had not considered this, but it was so true!

I recently watched the video from our wedding - including toasts and speeches. The tears trickled down my cheeks as I realized what a treasure I have in this dear friend. Time and distance may keep us apart but I know that she is a forever friend and cherish the memories we have and the foundation those have built.

Renovations

I've heard lots of stories about home renovations: they always take longer than you think, they always cost more than you think, etc. Well, it's all true!

When we moved into our house it had an unfinished basement. At the time, it didn't seem like that big of a deal. We could finish it the way we wanted and expand our living space. After nearly a year of unpacking and settling in, we decided to tackle the project.

We got a couple of quotes from local contractors that left my mouth gaping. Surely we wouldn't have to pay that much just to finish the basement!?! Well, no. We wouldn't. Because we found Mike. Mike is our neighbour who is very handy and has endless energy! He has quarterbacked this project - putting in countless hours at our house and he has had great ideas and suggestions because he's done this type of thing before. Devin has been helping out - which saves on our cost but he's also learning a ton along the way. A win win!

We started out with a mountain of boxes haphazardly strewn about the entire lower level. We had not unpacked all of Devin's stuff when we had to vacate my house. It was the hottest day of the summer when we moved my stuff so all of my belongings were shoved into the basement for the sake of "getting it done". After that, it seemed like an enormous task each time we went to the basement... a mountain of boxes to make our way through.

Slowly but surely we eliminated some boxes - unpacked for our use, donated to Goodwill, sold on Kijiji or just plain garbage. We still have plenty left to go through, but we at least had a manageable sized mountain to deal with. We moved all of these boxes into our "unfinished" area and Mike got to work on framing some walls. It was amazing to see how quickly things changed in the early stages. It went from a big ole empty room with insulation and vapor barrier to walls with drywall and eventually paint. Then came a bathroom, lighting, flooring and a fireplace!

We are nearly at the finish line and are so excited to have this new space to use as a family. The countless hours of working down there is now about to pay off. Although, it has me holding off on the pending kitchen renovation!