Dear Buttercup

"my heart's never smiled so hard, 

baby. loving you is fun." 

[easton corbin]

I remember when my family moved up to Maryland I didn't really have any friends. But I slowly got to know different people and develop friendships, especially within my high school class. And there were some friendships where I honestly don't remember meeting them, but almost nine years later we are still best friends.

All through high school we participated in our church's youth choir for a while, worked in the youth drama plays every year, and after graduating high school we both volunteered on our awesome youth admin team and made sure we had a lot of fun - even though I was busy in college and she was busy working.

And what friendship would not be complete without the weekly talks about which boys we found cute. I remember it like it was yesterday. August 2011 - in a normal chat with my best friend she says the following: "so... drew. i think i like him =) i dont know. but seriously, i think he is so cute. and I dont want to imagine my life without him." January 2012 - "Hey. um, drew just called me to see how I was doing. AHHH!!!!! =D I like him. He know I was nervous about today and wanted to tell me he was praying for me. He could have texted that to me, but he didn't. HE LIKES ME! HE LIKES ME!!!! =D AH!" After 9 months of going back and forth telling stories with all the girly details of our "like lives" I received the best text message ever.

I had been home from school for 2 months undergoing treatment and my best friend was over at my house. I didn't have much energy so we ate dinner and were watching a movie in the basement with my mom.  And then, during the middle of the movie, my little heart stopped. "Hey Andi, is DJ over at your house?" "Um, yeah we are watching a movie. Why?"

Let's just say that I was not able to concentrate on the rest of the movie, and was too busy listening for the door bell upstairs ring. Once it finally rang (after what seemed a lifetime) I quickly jumped out of my chair and excitedly said that I wanted some Nutter Butters and asked if anyone wanted any.  Somehow I had energy to run up the stairs, and it wasn't for Nutter Butters. I think I was more nervous than he was about what was going on. But he just flipped on the light and walked downstairs and went over to DJ and asked if he could talk to her. Being DJ, she thought that something was wrong. So she immediately said "sure" and went upstairs to get her shoes on, her purse, her keys, etc.

I can honestly say that I really just wanted to sneak out the back door, follow them and take pictures. But I felt like they needed their space. A few minutes later the doorbell rang. I opened the door and DJ happily said, "Hi. Um, I would like you to meet my boyfriend." She went on to tell me what happened once they went outside. "We didn't even make it off the porch of your house and he grabbed my hand. I was freaking out and told him that we weren't suppose to hold hands. But he didn't let go and said that he talked to my dad. Shockingly I said 'Why would you do that?' He then told me that he had talked to my dad and asked him if he could date me. Then I cried and hugged him. We walked along the path but then got tired. So we just started to slow dance, even though the random people walking along the path were looking at us weird."

Back in August both of them moved down to Louisville, Kentucky to be a part of a church plant. Yes, my best friend was moving hundreds of miles away, but because it was going to advance the gospel of Jesus, I was okay with that. I think me going off to school at George Mason prepared us for this new chapter in our lives of not being right down the road from each other and not seeing each other every day. And there is kind of an unsaid rule about best friends that even though you may not see each other in person for weeks, you still talk all. the. time.

Well, it is now November and they have been dating now for 5 1/2 months. And man oh man have they been a wonderful few months, mainly for them of course. But this is my best friend we are talking about. I could not be more happy for her than I am. I would still like to think that besides Jesus and her family I was her first love. It's a best friend kind of thing. But I just get to enjoy sitting on the outside of their friendship and look in, and getting to have the following conversations with her: "I am just a girl...falling in love...with the man of my dreams. =D On that subject..GAH!!! I'm freaking falling in love!!!!!!!!! =D How crazy is that Andi?! This is him - the man I dreamed about all my life. It's Drew."

My best friend is falling in love, I'm officially in remission, and I haven't seen her for the past 3 months. Not. Cool. So this past weekend with the help of Drew and Brittany I surprised her for the weekend. Let's just say she was thoroughly surprised.

The weekend was full of fun adventures and giving me tours of Louisville. We also went to the biggest Forever 21 I have ever been to in my life. It was two stories and basically HUGE. There were so many clothes. I didn't know it was possible for a department store to have that many clothes and be that large. I think I got lost in the store. Also, at night if you look up to the sky, you can see bright stars everywhere. It was one of the most gorgeous things I have ever seen.

Besides just hanging out and being with each other, I had planned to do a photo shoot with the wonderfully, talented Brittany Kauflin. It was a beautiful, sunny day and the locations where we took pictures were stunning.

Cherokee Park

Cherokee Park

Cherokee Park

I have admired the photography of many - I'm Kristen, Lydia Jane, and of course my personal favorite one and only dad. I have done mini photo shoots with friends and family, but NOTHING was better than this. I dont even think that I can formulate words to describe the fact that my best friend is falling in love. So I'll let the pictures do all the talking.

Seriously, can life get any better than seeing your best friend fall in love? Well, maybe heaven. The best part about their relationship is the fact that they have an awesome sense of humor. Like seriously, I don't think I have laughed so much in one weekend.

They are my absolute favorite. I am so excited that I am able to share in these precious moments with them and have a first-hand look into their relationship and life. Just a few more pictures to end the post.

this is how hipsters stand.

and so they danced...