October 27

I first met Nikki four years ago when Brady and her oldest son were in preschool together. I realized earlier today --after I took this picture following our walk-the-park/coffee get-together-- that I'm not sure I've ever written about her. And that truth is utterly ridiculous because at some point along the way, she became one of my closest friends. So here we go.

What can I say? I like and appreciate so many things about this girl. Though I don't love that she's actually younger than me (unlike almost all of my other friends), she's faced some tough challenges, so she's something of an old soul. She's also funny and self-deprecating, which as a fellow self-deprecator who likes to think she has a decent sense of humor, I find totally amusing. And she's a checker-in'er. I was telling her just the other day that I know that she'll text me to ask how I'm doing if she knows something big is happening or if she feels like something may be off; not a lot of people do that for me, so I'm always grateful to hear that ping.

I'm sure she's probably all kinds of embarrassed about now, but it all needed to be said, especially since her birthday is tomorrow and she's been a gift to me. Happy slightly early birthday, Nikki! Love you!