My dear friend Jessie and I have been friends since '95. That's going on 15 years, folks! Jess and I have a friendship made of gold. You know you have a best friend when you can do anything together and it turns out to be loads of fun. We could be swimming in a horrific mess of garbage in a sewer or something and come out saying, "That rocked, we're awesome, let's do that again!" Anyway, I'm sure you get the point.

From goofing off in high school...



To globetrotting galore...



Jess and I are two peas in a pod. I'd like to think I would have developed the itch to travel on my own, but I believe Jessie encouraged me to scratch that itch earlier than I knew I had it. We have been so many places together! I was thinking about how we always have found a way to meet up wherever we may be in the world and share in what the other is experiencing. When she was at school in Pacific U in Oregon, I went to check out her campus life. She ended up studying German in Austria so we were able to meet in Madrid and backpack Europe. Then I studied French in Switzerland and she met me in Neuchatel to check out the Swiss way of living. When I got married on a random Wednesday in October, guess what?



Jess made it somehow! A couple of summers ago Jess was in Guatemala learning Spanish and on some miracle I made it there to enjoy the gorgeous country and meander her stomping grounds. I want to thank Jessie for being an outstanding friend. And thanks for being present at my life events. With a baby being my latest life event going down, Jess came out for over a week to visit! She definitely witnessed that having a baby is not only just a life event... it is an event which has flipped my life over, around, upside down.



Now that Jessie has left she is of course off on her next adventure: India. I know it is one of her dreams finally coming true and I am so thrilled that she gets to partake of yet another new section of the world. The question is: Will I be able to meet up with her in India? Hmmm. The odds are looking grim, but pictures will suffice for Croz and me. Although... you never know. Thank you again Jess for taking time out of your busy life to spend it with Crosby and me (and D). We love you!