Blessings in Disguise

This past weekend when I was moping around bummed that I wasn't packing for Mexico, my good friend Amy who lives in Seattle was packing for Chicago. I of course didn't know that because I am the WORST friend ever when it comes to keeping in touch (For real - how do I get over the fact that I hate talking on the phone?? Who's got tips for me?), but the good news is that Amy is awesome and she sent me a text when she got here saying that we should get together and catch up. I haven't seen Amy since my wedding, and haven't met either of her little ones, so you can imagine how much I freaked out about her being in town. We promptly made dinner plans for last night, and I was actually a little nervous to pick her up to come over thinking it was going to be weird because we haven't really talked and now I'm married and now she has two kids and now we both have careers... you know, adult stuff. Gone are the days of us babysitting for approximately 15 kids between us and taking group trips with them to the pool. No more shopping for the heck of it on a Wednesday and then wearing our cute new outfit to the bars that evening. Forget about swooning over cute guys that we see while we're out - we're both (happily) taken! Things are different now.

But I was so so wrong for thinking for even a second that anything would be awkward. It was perfect. I loved every second of catching up and it was like we'd never been apart. Amy is a natural-born mother and it was so incredible to see her doting on the kids. And her daughter?!? Dear God that child is amazing. Not an ounce of shy in her and a total chatterbox... so basically, me as a child only with a mess of blonde curls I'm super jealous of. She was giggling with me before we even got to our house, and was totally smitten with Dan within minutes. At one point towards the end of the evening I came downstairs from the bathroom and she stood up on a chair, held up her arms and said "Kelly!! Cuddle with me!!!" MELT. MY. HEART. Seriously. I almost cried.

So besides gushing about Amy and her amazing little family, the point of this post is to serve as a reminder - mostly to myself since I have a real hard time looking on the bright side sometimes - look for the positive. Remember the little things. Realize that if I were actually in Mexico this week I would have missed the chance to see one of my oldest friends that is only in town every couple of years.

I never thought I would say this, but I am SO glad I'm not laying on a beach right now. There is nowhere else I would have rather been for dinner last night than at home with Dan, Amy, Aoife and Collin.