happpy birthday laura belle!!!!

today is my (and our) very, very good friend laura belle's birthday!!! happy birthday lb!!

laura belle is just plain awesome. she's super laid back, and really, really fun at the same time. she's perfectly quirky and "herself." and she's really caring and loving and loyal, too.
when i think back over it, lb and i have done a ton together — we were in ministry together for three years loving probably — no, yes. definitely — the hardest group of high school girls ever, only because we were definitely not as cool as they are. and with the best group of leaders ever, who were just as weird as we were (leslie you look crazy...)

we backpacked eupore together, which i unfortunately don't have digital pictures of, but which was awesome and a once in a lifetime experience and brought out every minor difference in the two of us.

and now she lives in seattle, just under three hours from daniel and i!

laura belle has been one of the very best friends i could ever ask for (but i have a lot of amazing friends.) she's been there for me through everything, we've had more fun than i could imagine (and a lot of pictures to show for it, apparently. i had a lot to choose from), we've practically lived together without ever living together, and she's been the absolute epitome of "friend." plus, she's lived in china which is just crazy and amazing. and she speaks chinese fluently (okay, she wouldn't say fluently, but we all know it's true.)
i'm going to seattle to visit laura belle tomorrow, which i'm uber excited about, and which i'm sure i'll have tons more pictures of for the blog!

happy birthday, laura belle!!! we love you so much and are so thankful for "you" and i can't wait to see you!