The Cherry on Top of a Great Friendship

"What is wrong with America today?!"

That's what Jennie exclaimed at lunch today, in response to something I told her.
I'll back up and start at the beginning:
Jennie has my back. Always. This is a truth that I can rely on, and I love it about her, and I hope that I'm the same kind of friend to her that she is to me.

Year End Wrap-Up

Way back when, I posted some of my New Year's resolutions for 2010, and about mid-year, I gave a brief update. Well, here's the final tally:
•Continue running with LJ - oh, no ... that did NOT happen. But that was a conscious descision on my part.
•Run another half marathon -- again, didn't happen due to the realization that running a half marathon makes me a tired and sore girl.  Half marathon?! I couldn't have made the goal a 5K? I did that!
•Travel somewhere awesome -- yes! I went to New Orleans for my birthday. This is one of the ones where I realized I completed the goal after I had done it. But traveling somewhere awesome is kind of always in the back of my mind, so it's a good goal to put down every year.
•Continue working on tennis - oh and how. That's a yes.
•Double money earned on freelance projects -- I ended up doing this right in the beginning of year, luckily. And, by the way, doubling the money wasn't too hard, since I had earned probably $30 on freelance stuff back in '09.
•Take a writing class or attend a conference -- this was the biggie, and the one I focused on the most. Success! And it was lots of fun.
•Finish "the book". You know, "THE" book. The one that I've been working on forever -- this wasn't the year. In fact, I didn't write much in THE book at all. But I did write a bunch of fun short stories, and rediscovered my love of writing. I think I needed a break from THE book, and this was a great year to take a break. In a way, I don't feel unaccomplished on this one, even though the goal wasn't achieved. I'm thinking 2011 will be THE year to finish THE book.
•Read the Bible - check! Not as much as I should have, but a check. And this will be a recurring goal.
•Read Fearless with my girlfriends - yes. At least... we read as much of it as we could take. It just wasn't for us. But if you want a recommendation for an amazing book to study with friends: Plan B by Pete Wilson. Do it.
•Book Club - Nope. Total slacker on this one.
•Poker Night - well, you say no enough times and you just stop getting invited. So slacker on this one, too.
•Something out of my comfort zone -- hmmm... I'll have to think about this one, but I don't really think it happened. I am very much a "stay in the comfort zone" type of girl. I might try again for 2011.
•Make new friends/build relationships with old -- yeah, this happened, but it's always good to keep doing this. (Is it weird this is a goal? I feel like this is kind of a weird goal to have...)
Overall, I'm pretty happy with how I did on my resolutions. I think it definitely helped that I wrote them down and kept them in front of me all year long. On to an even better and brighter 2011!!

A Timeline of Friendship

Around the same time that I was actively trying to avoid becoming Jennie's friend, I was also actively trying to avoid becoming Loggins' friend. You see, with three of my closest friends - Anjalog, Jennie and Loggins - I pretty much tried to not be their friend. It's just one of my cute little quirks. But we're friends now!
When people ask Loggins and me how we know each other, we always exchange a weird look and stammer out some noises to fill the awkward silence. It's a long story, and not all facts are agreed upon by both parties. I'll explain, with a timeline.

Actual First Meeting:

Loggins has no memory of this, but we were introduced by a red-headed Clack at a church group. Loggins remembers the girl sitting to my left and the girl sitting to my right. In fact, she remembers everyone sitting in the row with me. Except for me.

Fake First Meeting: 

I threw a game night party at my house. Loggins was invited (because we'd met before... She thinks I somehow just invited a stranger to my house). We played Taboo and were on opposing teams, but were on the same team when it came to following the rules. Those kids played it all sorts of WRONG. They were subsequently never invited over again.

Next meeting:

I invited Loggins (and Jennie! this is when we were deciding we might be friends) to see Civil Twilight play downtown. At lunch that day, I ran into Loggins at Jason's Deli and informed her of their complimentary ice cream. Friendship cemented.

A Hiccup in the Budding Friendship:

I was downtown one day with another friend, driving down Main Street, when Loggins crossed the street in front of our car. "That's my friend, Loggins," I said, pointing to her. "Are you going to say hi?" asked friend. No. And then, of course, we see her minutes later and end up telling her the story. Word of advice: if you avoid a friend, don't tell them about it later, because you'll hear about it for the rest of your life.

The Traumatic Event that Sealed our Friendship:

Speed dating. Dating is hard. Cramming 25 dates into one night is torture! Nothing can make people realize that they need to surround themselves with safe, good people like meeting crazies in 1-minute intervals.

We've won an award!

It is an HONOR to receive the "I love this Blog" award from Cyndi Clack.
Cyndi has a special place in both of our hearts. She is a very special lady with God-given, amazing talents. Cyndi is a great mother and friend. We are so privileged to have her in our lives. Thanks for the award Cyndi!

I, Jennie, will be writing on behalf of the both of us (Jennie and Christy). So here we go.
10 things we love:

1. We love friends. Friends are very important to us and we love spending time (and stories) with each one of them.
2. We love family. Family is very important to both of us as well. We have many stories, that we love to share, about each of our family...and their quirks.
3. We love missions. Christy and I both have a heart for missions. Spreading God's love to people across the world is something we both want to participate in.
4. We love reading. At any given time, we will both be reading SEVERAL books spanning from Classic literature to Young Adult to Self-help books. Reading is our passion.
5. We love to travel. Most of our travels happen inside of our minds, but we both have BIG expectations/plans for retirement. We try to plan mini-trips along the way :)
6. We love music. Luckily we have the same taste in music, so we can jam out together like Nobody's business. “RA-RA-RAMAMA, want your bad romance!” (that is for you Christy)
7. We love ice cream. Unfortunately due to my recent diet change, I haven't been able to partake in ice cream like I used to. I STILL love it though!
8. We love children. Christy has a BEAUTIFUL Niece and a VERY HANDSOME nephew. I am pretty sure I love them as much as she does, but SINCE she is their family.... Seriously though, We both love children and hope to have one or two...someday!
9. We love Sent by Ravens. They are a band (so they probably technically should be under music), but they deserve a specific shout out. Sent by Ravens is an amazing band, dedicated to sharing God's word with their fans. They are a group of fantastic men with amazing talent.
10. We love Chocolate. BUT then who doesn't.

10 blogs that we love:

1.NIE NIE Dialogues. A lovely lady and plane-crash survivor, Stephanie Nielson gives us insight into her daily struggles. She has 4 BEAUTIFUL children. It is a pleasure to see a glimpse into her love of life and family. She takes beautiful photographs, documents heart wrenching, as well as light-hearted moments in her daily life. She is an inspiration to both of us.
2.Jamie, the very worst missionary. God is an important part of our lives, so it is great to hear a realistic, refreshing look at the world we live in today. Jamie is so hilarious, we often find ourselves LOLing...in the office.
3.Baked Perfection. Risa has a passion for baking and I can definitely relate to that. I have made several of the recipes from her posts and they are delicious. Although only I read this blog, Christy has enjoyed several of the confections I have made from this site.
4.Stuff Christians Like. Jon Acuff, author and comedian, has a blog-turned-book called Stuff Christians Like. The blog is a rip off of the book “Stuff White people like” and Jon is all to quick to admit it! Jon tell hilarious stories about common Christianisms. Check it out, you'll laugh for days.
5.Oh! Sweet Pig!-Lori Ford, a loyal reader of I heart Banana Copenhagen, has started her own blog! She is a great story teller and has great insight on life.
6.The Beautiful Mess. I just recently found this blog. Candice is a photographer that lives in North Carolina. She posts highlights of her photographs for the month and also posts recent work in her albums. We have enjoyed looking at her BEAUTIFUL photographs!
7.Grit and Glory. Alece is an inspiring woman. I would love to be more like here. She has gone through a lot recently and still finds God in everything.
8.The Sphors are Multiplying. Heather shares intimate details of what it is like to lose a child and life afterwards. She breaks up the heaviness with lighthearted stories about her new baby, Annie, and her husband Mike.
9.Donald Miller IS-Donald Miller is an accomplished author. He is personally one of my favorites. He is working on a variety of projects in his spare time (although I doubt he has much). He documents all of it on his blog.
10.Brandon McDaniel. Brandon McDaniel was an amazing young man. He was ready and willing to serve the Lord in whatever ways possible. His life was short, but his memory will last for a long time. He touched many people and we are able to get a small insight into his thoughts, prayers and experiences.

Now recipients of the “I love your blog,” pass this on to your favorites:

1st--Thank the person who awarded you the “I love this blog”
2nd--Write 10 things you love.
3rd--Call out 10 blogs you love and why. Let them know so they can pass it on.