The Valenzuela's: Goodbye to the Blands...

I'm not even really sure if I can get through this post without crying. Seriously. Meg and I went to lunch yesterday, and when I said goodbye to her, just until we were going to see them again at dinner... I cried. I couldn't even talk. I just made her leave without saying anything. I don't even think I can write how much I love her and how thankful I am that she was here in AZ. Last night at dinner we were joking. Devin said that he was just confused. Megan cried when they moved down to Arizona and now she's crying again now that they are leaving. I joked with Devin and told him that I would pick up my check later. Implying that I'm the reason she's sad. But truly, honestly, I should write a check to Devin for choosing Arizona and that our lives collided. What would I have done without Meg? When we first moved to Arizona I was so nervous and so much in need of a friend. I had a few friends in California, but not a real good girlfriend. Living in Cali was fun and it was so good for Gabe and I. Our marriage really grew only having each other. But I have learned that girls need girlfriends. I prayed so so hard that I would find good friends down in AZ once we moved. I guess my hours of prayers combined with Meg's prayers payed off.

Meg and I knew each other when we were in the same LDS sorority up at the U. We never really hung out though, only at Beta activities and such. I remember having lunch with my girlfriends up in Salt Lake during Christmas. I told them our plans to move down to AZ come spring. Erica told me that Megan Firth was down there with her husband. "You know Megan, one of the cute blonde twins from Beta", she said. "Yes I do!" I searched through my old Beta email list and found hers. I emailed her right away and told her we were coming down. Long story short, a few months later we were sitting at the pool with 2 big diet cokes in hand and we were besties. Seriously. How did I find a friend that loved Diet coke like me? Loved the pool like me? Loved to shop and all the same clothes like me. Destiny... ha ha. It was that first day we decided to run the marathon together and started training. Hours and hours and hours and hours we spent jogging and gabbing, gossiping, sharing secrets, and planning our lives. And then we hit the marathon up in Sedona in bright tanktops that matched our shoes, sparkly headbands, earrings and lipsitick... ha ha. We were a sight! She has become one of my very very best friends. When we first started hanging out, it seemed like we were going to be in school FOREVER and that we would be living in AZ FOREVER!!! But here we are, one marathon down, and two little babies later and we're all leaving. Meg was such a huge part of AZ to me. And she always will be. I should've starting praying months ago to find another friend like Meg once we move. We can't wait to see where life takes our families. Wherever they end up, we'll have friends there. Thanks for the good times, all the dinners, all the diet cokes, all the pool days, all the runs, and the laughs... in fact, last night I laughed so hard the old man across the booth glared at me. We LOVE you Dev and Meg! And Londyn loves Beau!!!

Here's a quick look back....