I have been extremely fortunate to have been blessed with a "Best Friend". Although by now we've taken it so that 'best' doesn't really cover it. It's like Calvin and Hobbes meets Frodo and Sam meets David and Jonathan :)
Bella and I met forever ago in a pottery class. After that we would play with each other a couple of times, her house, my house, the park. I don't remember much, but I do remember that we'd put a bucket on Oli's head and call him "bucket boy", and she remembers the cliff in my backyard.
Something happened and we 'lost' each other, for whatever reason we stopped hanging out. The years would go by and I would sometimes remember 'that girl' who was named Bella, who talked with a slight accent, even though her parents didn't, and who put buckets on my brother's head. I don't know how many years it was until I started S.N.A.C (Saturday Night At Church - my youth group for the next 6 years), but it was long enough for me to somewhat forget that girl.
I jumped into SNAC mid January of my seventh grade year. I was the shortest, slightest, and youngest kid there, and was a little intimidated by this large (at that time large was probably about 10-15 kids) group who were constantly smiling, and talking, and laughing, and who met in the attic of a parsonage with a string of chili pepper lights strung on the beams. I knew some of the kids from Covenant Academy, a private school I attended in fourth and fifth grade, and got along well with them. That summer Sherry, the youth leader, asked for teen helpers at VBS which the church would be running. I was at an odd stage of in-between. I could be IN VBS for a last year, or I could be a teen helper. I did both :) The first couple of days I was a kid in the VBS, and that's when I ran into someone I knew!!!
BELLA! She was there. In that classroom. I couldn't tell if she remembered me or not...but that was ok. After the first couple of days I was really loving my class. Mr. Scholten was our teacher, and he was awesome! He was always my favorite teacher. But looking around, and seeing my 'fellow youth' help out with games, or crafts was making me feel slightly left out. I emailed Sherry and asked if I could be a Teen Helper, she replied with a 'yes', and the next day I was put in the 'recreation group'. That was...ok. I think the older 'youth' felt a little annoyed and indignant at me just hopping in. Me, the really wee, young girl, who was only about 11 years old and barely 4'4''. That day didn't go as well for me as I had thought it would. The acceptance wasn't there. Sherry, or someone must've noticed cause when I arrived the next day I was reassigned to another class, with young children...who apparently would run down the street from time to time. She was confident that I would be able to control and relate to the kids...and I did! That made me happy, to know that I could do something that was a great help to the adults. But I digress.
Summer went by and I survived my first year as a Teen Helper, probably the youngest one they'd ever had, and (ir)regular YG meetings started up again. A couple weeks into it, a new girl walked in the door. Bella. For a while she kinda just stood in a bubble all to herself. I don't remember anyone ever really talking to her, or vice versa. I'm not sure how it happenned, but one day we must've talked or something, and obviously hit it off well, we 'found' each other again :D
Over the past five years or so we've done insane things and had soooo much fun, and documented just about everything with millions of pictures and video(which is probably why my computer runs so slowly and is about to crash ;). We even became the Teen Helpers who LEAD and were in charge of the games at VBS or Kid's Club, and were the noise and life of the party at YG. We were, and are, the dynamic duo, complementing each other with our personality differences and our love of living life crazily!
So, thank you God for the awesomeness that is my bestest friend.
Oh yeah, make sure to check out her web site. She custom designs and makes just about everything accessory. Hats, bags, fingerless gloves, checkbook covers, you name it. And her bags are FANTASTIC! check it out!
http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=8276110
She has some more pictures of what she can do and has done on her blog: http://www.mynameisnotking.blogspot.com, they really are excellent.
Bella and I met forever ago in a pottery class. After that we would play with each other a couple of times, her house, my house, the park. I don't remember much, but I do remember that we'd put a bucket on Oli's head and call him "bucket boy", and she remembers the cliff in my backyard.
Something happened and we 'lost' each other, for whatever reason we stopped hanging out. The years would go by and I would sometimes remember 'that girl' who was named Bella, who talked with a slight accent, even though her parents didn't, and who put buckets on my brother's head. I don't know how many years it was until I started S.N.A.C (Saturday Night At Church - my youth group for the next 6 years), but it was long enough for me to somewhat forget that girl.
I jumped into SNAC mid January of my seventh grade year. I was the shortest, slightest, and youngest kid there, and was a little intimidated by this large (at that time large was probably about 10-15 kids) group who were constantly smiling, and talking, and laughing, and who met in the attic of a parsonage with a string of chili pepper lights strung on the beams. I knew some of the kids from Covenant Academy, a private school I attended in fourth and fifth grade, and got along well with them. That summer Sherry, the youth leader, asked for teen helpers at VBS which the church would be running. I was at an odd stage of in-between. I could be IN VBS for a last year, or I could be a teen helper. I did both :) The first couple of days I was a kid in the VBS, and that's when I ran into someone I knew!!!
BELLA! She was there. In that classroom. I couldn't tell if she remembered me or not...but that was ok. After the first couple of days I was really loving my class. Mr. Scholten was our teacher, and he was awesome! He was always my favorite teacher. But looking around, and seeing my 'fellow youth' help out with games, or crafts was making me feel slightly left out. I emailed Sherry and asked if I could be a Teen Helper, she replied with a 'yes', and the next day I was put in the 'recreation group'. That was...ok. I think the older 'youth' felt a little annoyed and indignant at me just hopping in. Me, the really wee, young girl, who was only about 11 years old and barely 4'4''. That day didn't go as well for me as I had thought it would. The acceptance wasn't there. Sherry, or someone must've noticed cause when I arrived the next day I was reassigned to another class, with young children...who apparently would run down the street from time to time. She was confident that I would be able to control and relate to the kids...and I did! That made me happy, to know that I could do something that was a great help to the adults. But I digress.
Summer went by and I survived my first year as a Teen Helper, probably the youngest one they'd ever had, and (ir)regular YG meetings started up again. A couple weeks into it, a new girl walked in the door. Bella. For a while she kinda just stood in a bubble all to herself. I don't remember anyone ever really talking to her, or vice versa. I'm not sure how it happenned, but one day we must've talked or something, and obviously hit it off well, we 'found' each other again :D
Over the past five years or so we've done insane things and had soooo much fun, and documented just about everything with millions of pictures and video(which is probably why my computer runs so slowly and is about to crash ;). We even became the Teen Helpers who LEAD and were in charge of the games at VBS or Kid's Club, and were the noise and life of the party at YG. We were, and are, the dynamic duo, complementing each other with our personality differences and our love of living life crazily!
So, thank you God for the awesomeness that is my bestest friend.
Oh yeah, make sure to check out her web site. She custom designs and makes just about everything accessory. Hats, bags, fingerless gloves, checkbook covers, you name it. And her bags are FANTASTIC! check it out!
http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=8276110
She has some more pictures of what she can do and has done on her blog: http://www.mynameisnotking.blogspot.com, they really are excellent.
"The years would go by and I would sometimes remember 'that girl' who was named Bella, who talked with a slight accent, even though her parents didn't, and who put buckets on my brother's head."
ReplyDeletei absolutely love that description. and i absolutely love you. <3
i should pick back up my bostonian twang again....i miss it.... and maybe i should stick a bucket on oli, for old times sake :)
well this is really interesting...
ReplyDeleteI loved hearing the account of your friendships early days :) I have a question though. Did Bella start going to youth group while we were still in the attic? The first time I remember seeing Bella in Youth group she was wearing camo kind of and was in the new church basement where we are now.
Had she been there for a while and I never knew?
i went @ the old church. i started in 8th grade...which was...in...i dont know what year...'05???? but it was when you guys were on spruce street in the attic/on the porch.
ReplyDeleteps: i remember you in the old building annie. so your memories are a little mixed up. :p
I know that at one point the group got to big for the attic and we met in that front room, I think that was when we started world view....
ReplyDeleteyeah. i was a front roomer.
ReplyDeleteem, yur slackin on the posting :P
ReplyDeleteah yes. I forgot about the front room. I remember Bella in the front room come to think about it. and luke olk. But you say you were there even before the front room? hmm. My memories are often mixed up especially during that time period so I totally believe you if you were meeting in the attic regularly
ReplyDelete....how did luke get brought into this?
ReplyDeleteyeah, he was one of the few people I knew when I entered youth group.....actually all the people I knew when i first started don't even go anymore...?