How Great Shall Be Your Joy

I choose quality over quantity. I don't have many friends but the ones I do have I consider to be my best friends. Each best friend has a different niche in my life- -my workout best friend (Sarah), my spiritual best friend (Shauna), my daily best friend (Jen), my advice best friend (Dad), my everything best friend (Tyler), my working best friend (Liz), my talk to about Scotty Best friend (Mom), and then there's my overall best friend, Chelsea.
Chelsea and I met day one of our BYU experience in U-Hall of Deseret Towers at BYU. I was 305-U Hall and she was 321-U Hall. We clicked right off the bat. She & I each had a missionary serving in the Pacific Islands- -mine in Fiji and hers in New Zealand... (as a side note, she ended up marrying hers and I upgraded to one who was in freezing cold Chicago at the time :-).
We did mostly everything together. From each other's hair (ok, she did mine...I remember braiding hers once), to taking elevator rides at 1 in the morning, to sleeping in on Saturdays (I used to drag my mattress into her room and sleep on the floor because my roommate enjoyed getting up early Saturday mornings...crazy). We did the napster thing, Halloween thing, talk about your future thing (we named our first daughters together and put pictures of them up on Chel's mirror that we'd clipped from magazines), did silly dress ups (Chel's classic was a Hawaiian princess), had our March Birthdays , took an aerobics class together in the RB, had the same Book of Mormon Class & New Testament classes together, and dreamed of a wonderful future. It was awesome! We were & are truly "bosom buds".
Chel married Mike in June of '01 and lucky for the boys, they get along. They do the scooter thing together and talk cars, putting up with their wonderful wives silliness in the meantime. A little less than a year later, he took her away from me and moved up to Livermore, CA. :-)
We made sure to visit frequently, she even came to Provo to help me pack up my apartment before Tyler & I moved to sunny CA ourselves. (well, she did pack up my apartment...I think I may have taped a few boxes together at one point)
We visited their new home the weekend of the San Francisco Scooter Ride a few times and had a blast riding scooters around San Fran together. Chel & I were able to go to Les Mis one of those trips as well. She & Mike also come down about 1x a year because her brother lives nearby.
After Tyler & I found out we were pregnant, Chel was the first non-relative who found out. I was a little hesitant to tell her because she & Mike had been trying to get pregnant for the past 4 years with no luck. I didn't want to seem insensitive to her feelings. However, how could you not share the second most important event in your life with your best friend? She was so supportive about it, and very helpful as I made my gift registry online (she teaches at a Montessori school so is well versed in infants & young children).
We talked weekly on the phone (a regular ocurance since the move to CA) while I drove to aerobics & she home from work. I got to share my pregnancy experience with her and keep her involved in my life as well as I in hers. I was even there (on the phone) when Mike brought Ralph home, too. Their little baby :-)
After Scotty's birth, Chel was so supportive and we got back into our weekly phone call habit we've had for the past 5 years.
Having Scotty made my heart ache even more for Chel as they continued trying to conceive and I now knew how wonderful it is to have a child & what they were missing.

Chel's thing is cards. Every birthday, anniversary, and Christmas she manages to find a card funnier than the year before. So this year, I thought nothing of it when I heard a voice mail from her saying she'd found the perfect card and put it in the mail that day.
A few days later, I checked the mail and this is what I found.


I could not hold back the tears as my heart lept for joy! She was gone all day but when she got home, there were at least 7 messages from me.
Since that time, she has had an ultrasound & heard the little Barlow's heart beating.

Chelsea, I love you! Motherhood is the most wonderful thing that has happened in my life and I am so excited to see you become a mom. You're going to be great.
Erika
xxoo