Besties

Do you have a bestie? You know what I mean...that one true friend that stands out among all the rest. The one that you turn to first with big news (whether it be exciting or devastating). The one that knows all of your embarassing secrets and loves you just the same. The one that is more like a sister than a friend.

I have a bestie. Her name is Sherri.

Before the days of babies and husbands,

there were the days of Sherri and Cheryl.

We met in 7th grade and have pretty much been inseperable since. Need a good laugh? Check out these early pictures of us!

Sherri and I at Camp Abegweit (Junior High)

We took frequent trips to Dairy Queen!

If you have a bestie, you know what I mean when I say that I can't imagine my life without her. She means the world to me and our friendship has grown so much over the years. When I lived out west for 2 years, we kept in touch via e-mail and Facebook. I was just looking through old e-mails today and realized that I had 387 e-mails from Sherri during that 2 year span (yes, she has her own folder). We may have been in different provinces, but we kept each other up to date on every aspect of our lives!

Conveniently, we met our husbands while working at Burger King (when we were 15) and they just happen to be first cousins. We quickly became the "Fab 4" and time together became even more frequent! I love that I get my "girl time" with Sherri, plus I get extra "bestie time" when the 4 of us are together (well, 6 of us now)! ;)

The Fab 4!!

Ha ha, this picture always makes me laugh!!!

This one is an oldie! Camping trip!

Sherri and I have been through a lot together and she as always been an amazing support system! It's impossible to put the importance of our friendship into words.

We have had our fair share of serious moments and many many silly moments. I seem to have more pictures of the silly moments! :)

80's Pubcrawl

LOL - model faces!

Sherri's stagette - back to our roots at BK!

She was my maid of honor when I got married in May 2008 and I was hers when she got married in June 2009. Her speech at the reception made me cry and I like to watch it on my wedding DVD frequently!

Getting our hair done the morning of my wedding!

At Sherri's wedding in 2009.

Do you and your bestie have matching pajamas??? Sherri and I sure do! We have worn them on more than one occasion!

We have shared some of life's most exciting moments together. When she told me she was pregnant, I was insanely excited for her. When I found out that I was pregnant about a month later, she was just a little bit excited too! This is a caption from her e-mail the day she found out that I was pregnant:

eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeekkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm so happy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  You are moving home!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Our babies will be BFF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Just like us!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I removed several exclamation marks and the opening line, which was HOLY F---! (with about 100 more exclamation marks).

We were SO excited to be pregnant together! Since I didn't move home until the end of June (she had her little guy the end of July), we kept in touch through e-mail and Facebook again, sending constant pictures of our bellies, comparing symptoms and asking a billion questions. It was the most amazing and special thing to be able to to share with my bestie!

Home for Easter break
Sherri - 21 weeks
Cheryl - 17 weeks

Pregnancy photo shoot
Cheryl - 32 weeks
Sherri - 36 weeks (delivered her son the next day)!

When we found out that our babies would be the opposite sex, it gave us an excuse to shop for cute boy things AND girl things! If she saw something pink that she liked, she let me know and if I saw something blue, I let her know! It worked out perfectly!

In true "bestie style", we couldn't wait to call each other after the birth of our babies. I will never forget that phone call from her husband at 3am on Harrison's birthday. He told me that she was in active labour and there was no way I was going to fall back to sleep after that. I was so excited that I was shaking. I was teary. I was overwhelmed. My bestie was having a baby! She called me as soon as he was born and I was so proud of her. I could not wait to get into the hospital to see them! See how I'm beaming like a new Mom is this picture? It's because he's like my own and always will be.

Harrison and his "Auntie" Cheryl

When I was in labour with Grace, I got Mike to call and let Sherri know. Once I had my epidural and was more comfortable, I called her from the delivery room. I couldn't wait to talk to her and share all of the excitement! I called her again when Grace was born and she arrived to meet her "niece" as soon as she could! Shhh...don't tell the hospital that we broke the visitor rules!

So excited to see my girl! Grace's "Auntie" Sherri! :)

I can't imagine what it would have been like to go through those first few months as a new Mommy without Sherri! We turned to each other with every little question (well, we still do) and we shared the tiniest little excitement with each other. It brought our friendship to a whole new level.

With our beautiful babies - Harrison and Grace

I know without a doubt that Sherri and I will be "besties" forever! You know that little acronym "BFF - Best Friends Forever"? I wonder how many people wrote that on their junior high notes and are still best friends with the people? I wrote that on MANY notes to Sherri when I was younger. I had no idea at the time that our friendship would develop into something as amazing as it has.

I also realized when looking through old pictures that we are very talented. I think it's safe to say that we have mastered the reverse pic! What do ya think? LOL

Our lives have changed a lot over the last 15 years, but one thing has remained constant. I will always have my bestie and I know that I can count on her for anything. We may not be as skinny as we used to be, we may have bags under our eyes from sleepless nights and we may be happier in our sweats than heels (who am I kidding? We've always been that way), but we are perfect in each other's eyes. Instead of seeing faults in your bestie, you always see their strengths. That way, when you are hard on yourself and focus on your flaws, your bestie will be right there to tell you why you're wrong! :)

The most recent picture of my bestie and I!
Sherri and Cheryl - April 2011

If you have a bestie, I hope that you realize how lucky you are. I know that I couldn't live without mine. Take a minute today to tell your bestie how important she is. Have a girls night in your pj's. Eat your favourite treats together. Laugh at old memories. Cry over sappy movies. Take silly reverse pictures. Watch old episodes of your favourite shows. Hug her. Thank her. Tell her that you love her.

To say that Sherri is important to me is a major understatement. Like I said before, our friendship just can't be put into words easily.

We're besties...a special brand of besties. :)

I love you, Sher! xoxo