One of My Favorite Birthdays!

I love birthdays! It’s a day of fun (and cake)! What’s not to love?!

Today is not only April Fool’s Day — it’s Carolyn’s birthday!

I met Carolyn at orientation at the University of Northern Iowa in 2000. After I met her, I told my parents we’d definitely be friends when we started college in the fall. My prediction was correct — I found her dorm room and then followed her around until she agreed to befriend me.

We shared a love for squash at the dining center. I’ve found that a shared love of squash really helps a friendship. Plus, we often say the same thing at the same time. This makes our friendship more efficient because we can say twice as much stuff!

Over the years, we’ve traveled to many states and have ridden many escalators. We’ve run a marathon. We’ve Rollerbladed, cross-country skied and tubed. We’ve “invented” car dances that probably resemble some sort of convulsion. 

We’ve had successful (and not so successful) cooking experiments.

We’ve celebrated Valentine’s Day together at a church potluck. (Which was way more fun than you might think!)

We’ve shared many bottles of wine — and figured out we’re totally capable of opening a bottle with a car key and a high-heeled boot.

We’ve jammed out to many songs, only to realize neither one of us know the words.

In the movie I Am Sam, Sean Penn exclaims, “I have the best friends in the whole world!”

I know exactly how he feels.