January 3

I love "chance" encounters. Of course, I use the term "chance" loosely since I don't believe in coincidences, but I'm getting ahead of myself. After the kiddos and I went to the Lego Minibuild at the mall this afternoon (Brady's first ever, since he's finally old enough! He was so happy to build a narwhal), we headed back to the car. In the parking lot outside of Sears --the only covered lot at the mall, which was a total must for a rainy day like today-- I ran into this beautiful lady:

Andrea was en route to the Build-a-Bear with her two kids and two of her nieces. We hadn't seen one another in person in several years, so we both did several double-takes, but I have to say: I was really happy to see her. She and I lived in a house in Castro Valley together way back in 2001, shortly after I graduated from college. She's a really cool chick, and though I don't see her often, we're connected on Facebook so I've been able to keep tabs on her life over the years.

But you know something? Even when I have a window into someone's life, it's such a blessing to run into that person in real life. Those moments of one-on-one connection are good for my heart.