#TuesdayTen: My Best Friend {linkup}

Today's TuesdayTen topic is one I have been excited about for a long time!! Today we are celebrating friendship because apparently this past Sunday was International Friendship Day. Whether or not it's a made up holiday from Hallmark, I think it's a great idea to honor and celebrate our friends. We have days for mothers, fathers, grandparents, bosses, secretaries, teachers and tons others, so why not celebrate friendship?!

My BFF and I met about 10 years ago when we were both helping with the youth ministry program at church. She was in college at the time and even though I was already out and working, we hit it off. I remember friendships at that time being slightly awkward because they weren't based on having a class together or being in the same club.  In fact, Julie is probably one of the first friends I've had who was not my age.

Frances' birthday party and the cake that was too big for the plates!

There are a ton of reasons I love Julie, so making a list of ten reasons seems like an incredibly easy thing to do. However, it's never quite as easy to enumerate the reasons you love someone as you think it's going to be. There is a lot more that could be said, but here it goes anyway!

1. She loves me as well as my whole family, unconditionally. I'll put this first because it's really the basis for all the other reasons. She sticks up for Ken when I'm complaining about him unfairly. She listens to my rants when the kids are driving me crazy and reminds me of how much I love them.
2. She motivates me.  When I'm tired and vegging on the couch, she texts me to assign a chore and I know I've got to get it finished. She checks in on me on a regular basis just to see how I'm doing.  She even did a surprise spot check one night when I had said I was going to be cleaning my kitchen. For context, you should know that she lives 30 minutes away from me and I had NO IDEA she was going to come over!!    
3. She's fun! She's had the most fun birthday parties for her kids. Her daughter's Princess party was an absolute blast!  I helped her find some college students to help at the party and all SIX of them dressed up as princes and princess to come to the party. It was amazing!
4. She's kind.  She is always doing nice things for other people (including me). She's also one of those people that doesn't think it's a big deal to help someone out. Recently after church she had plans to go shopping. She was already taking her own two kids with her, but when her daughter's (five year old) best friend asked if she could come, Julie just went with it.
5. She likes to party! She loves hosting parties at her house: Premier, Mary & Martha, Traveling Vineyard, BeautiControl, etc. And she doesn't do it for the hostess benefits, she just loves having people over and making AMAZING food for them! And when I need a particular food, she totally comes through for me, like this spinach and artichoke dip from Costco that she removed all the calories from!
6. She's like a second mom to my kids. She's Henry godmother, so she's supposed to help with him, right?  But she helps me with all three!  One night I texted her because they were driving me crazy and not going to bed.  She told me she'd give them all a treat if I could text her a picture of all three of them laying down.  They jumped in their beds and stayed their until they fell asleep! And she brought them ice cream coupons the next day!!
7. She takes care of me. When we left for vacation I told her she could have whatever she wanted out of my fridge.  When we came back, she had filled it with breakfast stuff for us. 
8. She and I share a faith. It's not a deal breaker for friends to have different faiths, but in our case, this is an added bonus.  We attend Mass together every week and we had an amazing retreat together last year. 
9. Our kids think they are cousins! This cracks me up, but since I consider her to be the sister I never had, I guess it's not too far fetched for our kids to be cousins.  We do spend a lot of time together. I love her kids as my own and vice versa. I can discipline her kids and they listen to me and the same for her with mine.  
10. She is the most awesome, caring, gentle, patient, loving, kind, person in the whole world I just plain old love her to pieces! You would too...but I had her first! 

How about your BFF?  Tell us about him/her in the comments or make your own post to honor that special person and link it up below.

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