LeLe Photographers: Happy Birthday to the Ground!!!!!!!!!!

"I hope you don't mind, that I put down in words how wonderful life is while you are in the world."

-Your Song. Elton John

Yo. Check it. You are the sail to my boat. The haribo to my gummy bear. The grilled cheese to my taco. The extra shot of espresso to my Starbucks skinny cinnamon dolce latte. The faux to my giving. The H to my M. The tree pose to my scavenger hunt. The 5th bucket of ice to my Four Seasons room service call. The lost iPhone to every good night that we are "not going to stay out late".

From two miles away to two hours away. It does not matter. When it comes to friendships or any other relationship, if it is worth it, you make time for it, period. Otherwise, you make excuses. In March, my best friend moved from one exit away to one state away. I miss her daily. Our Monday nights sitting at her house watching HotRod and making strawberry milk.

They say that you have a twin out there. Sometimes in life you are lucky to meet that one person. Your soul mate. Your other half. The one that knows your thoughts, no words needed. The one that you wish you could have met sooner, because all of those years before suddenly make you feel like you were missing out on something. That something is a person, and this person reminds you of your best when you feel your worst. When something happens, this is the first person you call. You share in the excitement and are genuinely happy for their good news. When it comes to the real life stuff that leaves your heart crushed, this is the one person that can simply make it better, even when there is not a single word spoken. Their presence alone reassures you that you are not alone. This is the person who shares so many inside jokes with you, that when other people are around, they begin to think there may be something wrong with you. Then you can not help but to laugh that much harder as you think to yourself, "Wow. We are funny."

This is the one person who could blackmail you with the worst, but instead, brings out the best.

The person you would trust your life with, and give your life for.

This person is my best friend, Traci. Today is her 30th Birthday. I was lucky enough to meet her the day she walked into my yoga class. I thought to myself, "Ummm....who is this girl!? She is good!!" That one class turned into every single class. She had a spot directly to my left. Everyone knew that was her spot too. Trust me, they all knew better than to go in "traci's spot". OKKKURRR. I never knew that my life was about to change that day. That's the funny thing about life. Everything happens for a reason, even when you are not wise enough to see why at the time.

"Whatever our souls are made of, hers and mine are the same." - Emily Bronte

I'm going to try to keep this short and sweet. Traci, I wish you could see yourself how I see you. I wish for this year to be everything you deserve, because in my opinion, you deserve it all: the world, the moon and the stars and every sea to sail your boat on.

Here's to not only a new year, but a new era. The 20's will not hold a flame to what we are about to experience in our 30's. Here's to 365 more days of adventures, LIVING, "getting awesome", travels, moments, memories, inside jokes, Lonely Island skits, looking up necessary life lessons on YouTube, giving out business cards, drive-bys, and most importantly knowing with out a doubt that whatever life tries to throw our way, we are not alone. We are in this together.