As I have a majority of the mid-day off while most everyone else I know works, I am left with great amounts of bonding time with my personal art projects, comfy chair and my not-so-secret addiction to HBO series TV-on-DVD. Lately, I am once again working my way through the Sex and the City series. Half way through the second season this week, I watched an episode entitled, "Games People Play," which got me thinking. I remember the last time I watched this episode I began mentally trailing off in the same direction, but never wrote anything based upon this inspiration. Today is different.
 
I will vere away from what Carrie (the main character, a newspaper columnist) is discussing, but I will quote her column, ramble my thoughts, and bring it back to connect.
 
"We spent our childhoods playing games. Were they all just primers for the games we played as adults? Were relationships just a big chess match: strategy moves, countermoves... all designed to keep your opponent off balance until you win? Was there such a thing as an honest relationship? Or was it true? Do you have to play games to make a relationship work?"
 
I grew up in a small farming community in northeastern Nebraska, was raised (baptized, confirmed, and made member) in a small Christian (Lutheran) church 1 mile away from our home. I then attended and graduated from a strict, conservative, and very small Christian (Presbyterian) college in the heart of the Bible belt, Sterling, Kansas. Here, we acquired a "liberal arts, Christ-centered education" with servant leadership in the crosshairs and Christian matchmaking underlying every event and opportunity. We (as good Christian followers and marriage-seekers) were taught to "Love, honor and obey." At the time, seeking a Christian husband was my main interest, so I signed up for the most expensive college on my interest list, and accepted the least amount of financial aid offered to me of the three applications I sent.
 
Six years (and many, many life experiences) later, upon getting to know the newest member of management at my photography studio, and her similar-to-Christianity beliefs, I was actually quite excited to share my workspace with someone who understood my level of faith and devotion. Come to find out, her false sense of morality was merely there to hide her brainwashed version of faith which is a fixation upon following the words of men beyond the mental breaking point of morality and even reality. Imagine my surprise when this particular Studio Manager pronounced her obsessive, incessant belief in "obedience." She reiterated and mutilated the word "obedience," forever staining it into my memory's hall of shame.
 
An expectation of obedience, supported by her own conduction of this level of respect and honor for her superiors, brought down upon her co-workers and then used as the criteria for critique, was the official beginning of our team's demise.
 
Knowing what I know now, and having thought it through many times, I will have to agree with Miss Annie Oakley on this subject, "Love and honor but NOT obey." To me, obedience implies a hierarchy of one party above another. In a God/follower relationship, yes this is understandable, and even in the workplace totem pole, it exists. However, call me a feminist, but whatever happened to equality?
 
By asking me to "obey," I felt pressured not only to believe what this Studio Manager believed, but also worship in her same manner. Not only do I not believe in this company, but her method of "100% obedience" belittles me as an adult capable of making my own distinctions, decisions, and discipleship. Just as I am capable of taking orders from a manager and interpreting them into what I believe is best for myself and my team, I am also capable of interpreting marriage vows into a promise to treat and be treated like an equal relational partner. Even before marriage, this is what I expect to be treated as: a PARTNER.
 
When I questioned what was asked of me, I felt this Studio Manager took it incredibly personal, becoming defensive, taking it as a flat-out rejection. Whereas, I simply believe that when I ask a question, I deserve to be granted the respect of an answer with more fortitude than the classic, "because I said so." I am no longer in Kindergarten - hell, I don't even respond to my Kindergartners that way. When challenged, I justify and enforce my request or command in order to build validation and trust in my words with my students.
 
Romantic human relationships are not like that between a plant and the ground where one grows from the other while the ground receives nothing in return from the plant. Romantic human relationships are more so like the relationship that exists between plants and humans - what we need, they produce, and what we give off, they live off. EQUAL partners.
 
A pet obeys its master, because the master feeds, houses, and generally cares for the pet. A child obeys its parents because the parents know better, typically are looking out for the safety and best interests of the child, and not to mention clothing, housing, and feeding the child. Do these obedience stipulations carry over into adulthood? Since the corporate office signs the paychecks, does that mean the employee must mindlessly obey, following every command without reason or challenge? What about in a marriage? When a husband asks a task of his wife, do their signed and sealed wedding vows imply a responsibility of that wife to "obey" her husband's every request?
 
I never refused to do the job I was paid for. What I refused was to "follow the leader," obey my studio manager, blindly following her into the darkness. ("The darkness" is the term I began using when referencing the impersonal corporate management of our photography studio.) I have a mind of my own, capable of deciphering my own thoughts and making my own decisions. I refused to follow blindly, and I chose to leave. (Shortly following my departure, many members of what I now will forever refer to as my team, previously and partially still Brett's team, also chose or were asked/forced to leave.)
 
As children, we were taught Simon Says and Follow the Leader. Were these simply practice rounds for the tedious monotony of inadequate management in the workforce or our adulthoods? Regardless of the answer to that previous inquiry, it is my personal belief that some people have taken these youthful games far too seriously into adulthood, losing their own respect and capabilities, and greatly relying on the decision-making processes of others.
 
On a side-note, it is my belief that the corporation that desires thoughtless employees creates low-quality products. Not only does this affect the workers and their working environment, it also affects the company and the customers. A product created thoughtlessly is going to fail customer service quality requirements and therefore, fail profit input hopes. Corporations: let your employees think. You hired them for a reason, let them do their jobs to the best of their abilities and you might actually be surprised to see that they only want the same: to do their jobs to the best of their abilities, satisfying their customers, employers, and most importantly, their inner human desire to succeed.

As always, thanks for reading. ~AJF~

Alrighty ya'll... long post ahead (with the end stolen from my most recent facebook post).

For those of you who don't know, I was invited to spend a week in Costa Rica with my friend, Dawn. She spent four weeks in the Quepos/Manuel Antonio area studying Spanish at the Costa Rica Spanish Institute (COSI). She asked me to join her for her last week there, to travel and see the sights this beautiful country had to offer. So I gladly accepted, never turning down an opportunity to use my passport and see foreign lands, not to mention utelize some of the Spanish I learned all throughout middle-school and high-school. So here's the story...
 
I left Denver Monday night at midnight (so Tuesday morning), and didn't sleep a wink on the flight. I got to San Jose, Costa Rica at 5am, and Dawn (who had already been there for four weeks) picked me up at the only exit possible. It was so good to see a familiar face after traveling for me, and after four weeks in a foreign country for her. We caught a taxi back to her hotel, ate breakfast, checked out, and immediately caught a bus to La Fortuna, Costa Rica.
 
We got to La Fortuna around 2ish, checked into our hotel, and took naps. When we woke up, it was raining (a daily occurence this time of year all throughout Costa Rica), but we wanted to see the town so we took showers, grabbed an umbrella and walked to dinner. We ate at a place recommended by Dawn's Lonely Planet book, and had "La Comida Tipical" (the typical food which consisted of rice, beans, fried plantains, chicken or pork, and a little salad). We walked around town for a little, getting information from tour guides (without ever planning on taking a guided tour, we wanted to do it ourselves) and stopping at a couple souvenir shops on the way back to the hotel. We tried to watch some TV, but could only find Letterman in English, so we just went to sleep.
 
Wednesday morning we woke up and had breakfast in our hotel (desayuno tipical - "The Typical Breakfast" which consisted again of rice & beans, fried plantains, and this time, pancakes and fruit). We then rented a car, walked around town a little, and then took showers and drove out to the La Fortuna cascada (waterfall). It was raining, so we were trying to decide if we wanted to wait or if we should just forge the rain. We decided to forge and hiked in sneakers and swimsuits. We saw a tucan in the trees along the way, and took some really good pictures of the waterfall. We hiked all along the rocks at the base of the falls, and saw some crazy guys swimming in the base of the falls. They actually swam to the back behind the falls. We wanted to follow, but were not brave enough. We kept hiking down, to the calm part of the river where a lot of people were swimming with the fish, so we joined them just to say we did swim (even though we were already soaked from the rain and the hiking). Here, we met some Californians who told us about a great deal on the Hot Springs if you buy your tickets at a certain hostel, so we decided to hike back up to our car and get our tickets. We drove through La Fortuna, around the Volcan Arenal (Arenal Volcano), and up to a little mountain town called El Castillo and rented a cabin for the night, overlooking the volcano, in hopes of seeing Lava from our big picture window. We immediately drove back down into La Fortuna to go to Baldi Hot Springs where we had buffet dinner and swam in the hot water warmed by the volcano. This was the coolest hot springs I've ever seen - 25 different pools, hot and cold, swim-up bars (with drinks starting at $9 American), water slides, you name it, they had it! We left Baldi around 9:45 and went back to our cabin for showers and bed - we were totally exhausted. No lava to be seen. :(
 
Thursday, we had breakfast at our cabin (desayuno tipical - typical breakfast of rice & beans, fried plantains, fruit and french toast this time). Then we checked out, drove down the mountain and back up the volcano to the Volcan Arenal Observatory Lodge. This place was incredible. It had once been a scientists' observatory, but has since been transformed into a very peaceful and HUGE Americanized resort, with private balconies, pool & hot tub, swinging bridges, relaxing hikes through the rain forest, guided hikes up the inactive volcano next to the active volcano and the lake on top, etc etc. This place was incredible. The whole time we were there, we could hear the volcano rumbling and gurgling, but again, no sight of lava. We hiked (alone, no guide) through the rain forest on a short hike, and saw monkeys eating fruit in the tops of the trees. We saw a lot of cool butterflies and got totally attacked by mosquitos in the process of photographing these things. It began to rain, so we decided to head back down into La Fortuna. We had to return the rental car by 12, which we did within seconds. Dawn needed to find an internet cafe, and I wanted to walk around town for a bit, so we dropped our super wet sneakers off at a lavanderia (laundromat) and had lunch at a soda (like a streetside cafe) before splitting ways to each accomplish different tasks. I found a grocery store and bought some coffee for my friends, and tried to find a ring (similar to the one I got in Scotland) but no luck there. We caught a shuttle at 2 to head to Manuel Antonio for our next adventure. This drive was terrifying. It was REALLY fast, and curvy and crazy. The shuttle was filled with college-aged girls all studying Spanish, but they were all kind of lame. Dawn and I played cards, talked and joked in Spanish, and planned the rest of our trip along this crazy drive. After getting stuck in a traffic jam (where Dawn's outlook totally changed the way I saw it after she said, "It could have been us."), we ate a quick snack (Snickers and chips) at a rest stop before getting back into the scary shuttlebus. We got to our hotel in Manuel Antonio around maybe 9pm or so and checked in and had dinner there. It wasn't very good dinner - some Americanized version of chicken over rice with yellow sauce, neither of us liked it very much (my choice, sorry Dawn). We then went to bed and relaxed our stomachs after a gut-wrenching drive through the mountains.
 
Friday morning we tried to wake up before the sun to go watch the sunrise over the ocean, but we fell back asleep, and woke up around 8. We had breakfast in our hotel (desayuno tipical - typical breakfast of rice & beans, scrambled eggs, fruit, fried plantains, and Raisin French toast). We then caught a bus into Quepos (really close little town at the base of the mountain) and bought bus tickets to San Jose for Saturday morning. We then immediately caught the same bus all the way back up the mountain to the public beach at Manuel Antonio. Since this is where Dawn spent her previous 4 weeks at school, she knew a lot of the regulars at this beach, so she introduced me to her Tico (this is the term that refers to Costa Ricans) friends Daniel and Johnnie the surf instructor and lifeguard, an American woman who has moved to Manuel Antonio, and a couple others. We walked around this beach for a while, enjoyed watching the dogs play in the water, we got our feet wet, and just explored for a while. We found this really cool HUGE rock a few feet out from shore, where we saw some guys climbing and we really wanted to climb it also, so we walked out through the shallow shore water, and began our ascent. Before climbing to the top, I noticed the tide was coming in a bit stronger, and was splashing up against the rock, making for a really cool photo opportunity. So I walked out to the edge and Dawn took some cool pictures of me. I then convinced her to walk out to the edge and I took some cool pictures of her. I then discovered the self timer option and set up the camera on top of a shirt for stabilization, and I convinced Dawn to come out to the scary part, where the waves were hitting harder (because that was the only place I could get the camera to focus with stability), and she argued but realized it would be a cool picture so she walked out there for me. As I was on my way over, a HUGE wave came crashing against the rock and I turned to cover my own head to protect myself. When I looked back to see Dawn's reaction to the massive wave, she was no longer standing where she was a mere moment ago. She was laying on the rock below with a terrified look on her face and blood on her hands, arm and leg. I quick grabbed her, put our stuff away, and we walked to shore to check for broken bones, any massive cuts or injuries, and to clean her up. Thank goodness I had my anti-bacterial sani-wipes with me. We checked everything and it didn't look as though she had any massive lacerations or broken bones, she was just going to be VERY sore in a few hours. We cleaned up her injuries and decided we'd had enough public beach for now. We decided then to head toward the Parque Nacional Manual Antonio (Manuel Antonio National Park) and take a nice hike. Before going in, we bought some sandwiches to-go, some Smirnoff in a can (so cute) and some really good ice cream for the walk (which didn't even make it past the store entrance we ate it so fast). We packed our bag, and hit the road. It was maybe less than a half mile hike to the park entrance, where we paid our fee, and began hiking. This hike was pretty easy, gravel road, trees and animals all around. A baby deer actually crossed the road less than ten feet in front of us, completely unphased by our presence. That was pretty cool, despite my intense fear of deer. We decided to go a different route than what Dawn had done before in her previous 4 weeks there, in order to find something new and exciting - and also in hopes of finding a semi-private beach to have our lunch and be left alone from vendors and Ticos (again, this is not a derrogatory term, this is what they are referred to, and they are actually REALLY cool people, we just wanted to speak freely and have some lunch). So we hike to this little beach where there are a few people, but we hiked past where they were, past the big rock, and found our own little private area on this beach in the national park. We laid out a big beach blanket, took off our shoes, cracked open a beer, began munching on our sandwich and felt very serene and happy. We were watching the tide come in and crash against the big rocks on this beach, discussing how lucky we were to have avoided any really serious injury in our previous encounter with the water on the rock. It was about this time out of nowhere, a HUGE iguana came sprinting at us from the left. I freaked out (these things look like crocidiles and thanks to my uncle Rick who just watched a documentary entitled "Killer Crocs of Costa Rica" and felt it totally necessary to share with me right before my departure, yeah you can say I was terrified). He stopped about 20 feet away, and Dawn tried to calm me down, saying, these animals are peaceful. He was probably just running on the beach and didn't notice us. That's why he stopped. So we both believed that, continued eating, keeping our eye on him the whole time. He then moved a little (maybe 2 feet) towards us again, and I panicked and ran to a nearby rock (barefoot, keep in mind, sandwich in hand), as Dawn followed. We stood there watching him, as he watched us eat our sandwiches, discussing how to manage this situation. We both agreed, that since he didn't seem to be after US, we would calmly eat the first half of our sandwiches, wrap up the second half, quickly but calmly grab our belongings, and be off to a different beach (sans, scary iguanas). It was about this time we realized that with every movement Dawn made with her hand holding the sandwich, this nasty iguana was following her with his eyes. That was really scary. At this time, he made a huge dash for us, and we lost our cool. I fell over the rock I was standing on, cut my leg open something nasty, and threw my sandwich toward him in the heat of the moment. Dawn began yelling at me, "Why did you do that??" I began yelling back, "Because I'd rather him eat my sandwich than my hand!" As I examined my leg, it was bleeding really profusely, and I was terrified, barefoot, and very vulnerable. Dawn devised a plan, she had decided in her head that this iguana was not going to ruin our trip, and now it was on. It was him vs. her. She told me to run around the big rock seperating us from our shoes, and that she would keep her eye on the iguana. So I did, but as soon as that salty sea water (which was coming in much stronger than before, because once again I will remind you, the tide was coming in) hit my leg, I was weakened but I knew I had to get to my sneakers. So I grabbed onto the big rock for support against the tide, and what happens? A LOT of little black crabs crawl over my hand and start scurrying all over the big rock. Once again I panic, and just began running toward my shoes, all the while ensuring Dawn still was watching the iguana like a hawk. I got to my shoes, quickly put them on (over my bleeding foot and ankle), and watched Dawn's plan of action unfold. She was still holding most of her sandwich, and began tearing small pieces off it and throwing them past where our stuff was piled on the beach. As she threw the pieces, the iguana would chase them and eat them, thus giving Dawn time to pack up the beach picnic site. I was watching all of this from atop a large rock about 30 feet away, giving Dawn updates on if the iguana was out of food, if he was moving, etc. She continued to throw food, and pack up the campsite and I continued to watch until we got all of our belongings and she met me on top of the rock where we had placed our sneakers. She quickly put on her sneakers, threw her last piece of food toward the beast, and we ran for the hills (also known as the bigger, more crowded beach on the other side of the national park). We encountered a couple groups on their way to the beach we just left, and made sure to warn them of the dangerous, very aggressive iguana lurking upon that secluded beach. They did not seem scared, but I was bleeding and knew the danger was real. We briskly hiked to the beach Dawn had previously visited, which was bigger, full of people and mokeys and had a park ranger. We explained to the park ranger what had happened, and he did not seem to care, and laughed at us. I was upset at this time, and found a secluded tree to sit under where I could clean up my injuries and sit in my own pity. Once again, those anti-bacterial sani-wipes came in very handy. While I cleaned myself up, Dawn yelled at tourists feeding monkeys because they are the reason that iguana chased us. The park ranger wasn't even doing anything about it, and we were getting upset. After we calmed down a little, we decided to swim on this calmer, safer, more open beach. The salt water hurt my leg, but Dawn thought it might be good for the wounds. I swam out pretty far and met an American woman who had lived there 11 years, who reassured me that there were no animals in the water we were currently wading in, that iguanas do not attack humans, they simply want food, and that the trip will be much more serene and relaxing from now on. She was very sweet. We swam for a while, watched the monkeys and the raccoons play and steal food from tourists, and the park ranger actually pointed out some natural wildlife hidden in the shadows of the dense rain forest. It was really cool, actually. I asked him where there were crocidiles in Costa Rica, and he said usually right here, but not today. I was pleased to hear that. Dawn and I decided we'd had enough rain forest/national park, so we walked back to the public beach and told her friends of our adventures for the day. We then boarded the bus and headed back to our hotel for some showers and R&R. After our showers, we caught the bus into Quepos for some dinner and to walk around (this is the town where Dawn lived while she studied in Manuel Antonio for four weeks). We wanted to see her Mama Tica (her Costa Rican host mother), but nobody was home. She also wanted to take me to her favorite restaurant in town, but they were closed (breakfast and lunch only, we found out later). So we found a cute little restaurant with CHEAP prices and good food. We were both sore and beat up and dehydrated from spending all day on the beach, hiking and swimming, battling the ocean and a scary iguana. We asked our waiter for a lot of water, quickly please, and he brought out a HUGE bottle, saying he was out of small bottles and would this big bottle be ok. We looked at each other and knowingly agreed we didn't want to pay $8 for a bigass bottle of water, so we said no, and he asked, "Is tap water ok?" We said yeah sure, so he brought us some iced tap water, and I drank my whole glass immediately (I bet you can see where this is going, but you'll have to wait). Dawn ordered a beer, and I then drank half of her glass of water while waiting for the waiter to refill my glass. Our food came (Dawn and I shared one order of El Plato del Dia, con pollo - The plate of the day, with chicken, which consists of rice & beans, fried plantains, chicken, and a small salad, and Un Hamberguesa - hamburger with cheese and tomato), and we devoured it, along with the rest of our (tap) water. We walked around town a little more, saw some drumline rehearsal which was really cool, found an internet cafe and a local soccer game, and got some ice cream before catching the bus back up to our hotel. We crashed hardcore this night, as we were both totally completely exhausted.
 
Saturday morning we woke up early to catch the first bus up to the beach at Manuel Antonio, to simply collect some sand and seashells for a memorial jar I wish to make. We then caught the bus back to our hotel, ate breakfast, and packed up. We caught a taxi to the bus station, where we boarded a bus to San Jose. Dawn read while I slept (typical bus rides for us). We got to San Jose around 1:30 or 2, and simply by chance, Dawn's favorite taxi driver (Alex) was standing there as we exited our bus. He took us to our hotel (the same hotel she stayed in last time she was in San Jose), and they let us check in early so we could drop off our belongings. We planned a walking route through the city, grabbed an umbrella (because, of course it was raining), and headed out to see the sites. My friend Ross had spent some time here a few years ago, so we took some of his advice and checked out some typical tourist stuff like the Teatro Nacional (National Theater) and the big Catholic Church in the center of the city. We also visited a few city parks, and found some cool buildings and statues, all in the pouring rain. We then went to the mercado local (local market) which was huge and very interesting. We had really good comida tipical (typical food) here for really cheap and it came with a Coke in an old glass bottle! We then walked around this area a lot, bought some pyrated CDs of Costa Rican music, and a couple tee shirts for Dawn's family. We decided we'd had enough rain since we were both completely soaked (even though we were using an umbrella), so we headed back to our hotel. We really wanted to see the San Jose nightlife, so we decided to take naps, then showers, then go out on the town for one last hurrah before we fly out in the morning. Well we fell asleep around 6, and woke up around 9 or 10. Dawn showered first, and as she was getting dressed, I quietly asked her, "Would you be really upset if I said I didn't want to go out tonight?" She answered, "OH Thank God! I don't want to go either, but I didn't want to disappoint you." So we decided to simply pack and get ready for our flight, and go to bed. We got to bed around 11ish, and set our alarm for 3:15 (since our cab was coming at 4). It was really cold in our hotel room, and we blamed it on the rain and the wind. I literally shivered and shook all night, and was feeling very ill. When we woke up at 3:30, I told Dawn I really felt like crap.
 
This is now Sunday morning, and we packed up, verified our ride in Denver was confirmed, loaded the taxi, and headed to the airport. This whole time I was feeling ill. We paid our taxes to return to America, and I sat down on the airport floor and cried while Dawn stood in line to check us in. I didn't get much sleep on the 5-hour flight (excpet when I fell asleep in the bathroom), and just felt worse and worse. We got to Denver around 12:30pm, and our friend Emily took us to Dawn's house. My car and my cell phone were both at my house, but I was in no shape to do anything but sleep. Dawn let me immediately go to bed at her place. She checked my temp at around 3, and it was 103. Her friends gave her advice of how to lower it, unless it hit 104, then to the hospital. So she gave me IbProfen and checked it again around 30 minutes later. 104.5 - to the hospital we went. They checked me in, hooked me up to an IV saline drip, took blood samples, urine and stool samples, and asked a lot of questions. We narrowed it down to the water we drank Friday night, and they started doing more focused tests. They gave me 6 potassium pills and 3 Tylenols and a bag and a half of saline before releasing me. ‎
 
24 hours later (Monday afternoon), I got a call from the Charge Nurse saying "its urgent please return this call, I have your test results." Come to find out, they found amoebas in my stool sample, a certain kind that latches onto my intestines and will live in there and grow if left alone. I was prescribed an antibiotic which I started last night and it could make me feel even worse before I start feeling any better. But at least I'm standing now, my fever is down, and I am capable of forming sentences and tying my own shoes. So then last night after we got my test results back, we decided it was probably best to get Dawn tested too since we both drank the water and she wasn't feeling well, just wasn't feeling nearly as bad as I was. So we took her in, showed her doc my test results, and they got to work right away. She got the same prescription, so we will see where it goes from here. Not exactly how I intended this amazing trip to end, but all in all, it was still totally worth it.
 
Dawn and I both took cameras, but we usually used one per day as it was easier to keep track, so I will consolidate those photos and post them to my facebook shortly. 
 
I hope you all are well. Lots of love, April Joy

I have the best friends in the world.

I love hard, regardless of outcome or response, I love hard. Even when I'm hurting, I love the people around me with all I have. I am a giver. I believe in the power of touch and the healing in words. I believe in honesty, and that it is the ONLY way to build a true, real, and whole friendship. I also believe that love heals ALL, and ignorance is not bliss, but quite the opposite. Ignorance is naiivety, and education is always the answer. I also believe that once you accept yourself, and stop projecting your own personal insecurities upon others, they will begin to accept you for who you are. And you will eliminate those in your life who don't - which is a hard but healthy process.

I say, "I love you," a lot. I express total joy in many things. I have a wild fascination for much of this world's expressions and beauty, and I am not afraid to show intense enthusiasm and excitement. I have a general interest in all people individually and as a whole, and I almost always try to give people a chance before making judgments. I have requirements for friendship in my life, and I genuinely love the people who return that love.

I have the best friends in the world, and I really couldn't ask for much more. At this point in my life, the healthy relationships which I have worked hard at achieving and maintaining, these are my main priorities and my biggest accomplishments all at the same time. I thank the people in my life for every step of my journey. I thank the people in my life for every kind word, pat on the back, motivation, and for those of hard truths, painful realizations, and criticisms of all kinds.

Honesty truly is the way into my heart. Food gets you in the door, laughter keeps my attention, touch props open the door of communication, but honesty is what seals the deal.

I cannot say enough how much I appreciate the real friends in my life, who aren't afraid to say what they think, who never hesitate to ask the tough questions, and don't abandon me when I do the same in return.

I have the BEST friends, in the world.