alyssa

I've had a bit of blogger's block lately. I'm sure you've noticed, since you no doubt eagerly visit my blog each and every day, hoping for a morsel of wit and wisdom, only to be disappointed by a complete dearth of new content. I'm sorry to have caused such agony over this past week...but if you woke up this morning thinking you'd love nothing more than a long, nonsensical run-on sentence, then you need look no further than this sentence. And the one before. I try not to disappoint.

Wow. You see why I haven't been able to write lately? My thoughts? They make no sense.

But today is Alyssa's birthday. And for that, I have no lack of words. Which may have been evidenced in the comment I left on her blog today. It was approximately the length of...a real blog. To me, "leave a comment" means "write your own blog here." But whatevs.

So where do I start? I met Alyssa back in...pardon while I count on my fingers and do complicated Year Subtraction (I explained my troubles with this math skill earlier this year)...I'm going to say it was approximately 2003. It was at the Women's Retreat my sophomore year of college, and Alyssa had the great fortune of being roommates with me and two of my BFFs (Laura and Elizabeth). I'm sure there's nothing greater in life than being stuck in a room with three girls who are all ridiculous and weird and friends already...but Alyssa rose to the occasion and proved to be a most excellent roommate. So good, in fact, that we took the following photograph to document the occasion:

(from L-R: Laura, Elizabeth, Alyssa, me)

How's that for a relic?? Anyway, for the next few years I got to be better friends with Alyssa. We were part of the same small group for a few years, and we shared a mutual friend who was Alyssa's roommate, which meant we ended up hanging out on Tuesday nights to watch Gilmore Girls together rather frequently. Then we lived in the same neighborhood. And then we both became prayer interns at Wesley after we graduated. Oh, but graduation. We did that together, too. It was only right, since we shared the glorious honor of the Three Tassels. Three tassels, you may ask. What EVER did they do to earn three tassels? Oh, well to be a Three Tassels, you have to earn two degrees (bachelors of science and bachelors of arts) and also be freakin smart (magna cum laude). Then you get three tassels to adorn your hat with. And take photo shoots with. (And the whole 'freakin smart' comment is tongue-in-cheek. Our degrees weren't exactly in rocket science or anything. As evidenced by our less-than-lucrative jobs SINCE graduation, ha!!)

After graduation, while we interned, we took our Three Tassels status to heart and had a semi-frequent Book Club where we (yes, just the two of us. This was fairly exclusive...) would read short stories, poetry, and novels together and then discuss. This was most often done while sharing a couch at her house Charlie and the Chocolate Factory style...if you recall the four grandparents sharing the one bed (head to foot, foot to head)...that's how we rolled. Or laid, rather.

So anyway, Alyssa and I made many more memories throughout our two years of interning at Wesley. We continued being neighbors and carpool-partners, Pump it Up co-workers, and Three Tassel Book Club members. We also made lots of trips to the Gulf Coast in the year following Hurricane Katrina. These frequent trips gave us LOTTTTS of quality time in the car to become extra-ridiculous.

This was from a particularly chilly trip to Biloxi in December, 2005

One of Alyssa's more interesting finds during a New Orleans trip in June, 2006

It was Alyssa who ultimately convinced me that my "friend" Matt might actually be interested in me, and that I perhaps may also be interested in him. And she also told me that we should quit flirting so much if we were "just friends." I think that was sound advice (no wonder she's in grad school for marriage & family counseling! She's always had the gift!).

And then Alyssa had the nerve to move away to Tanzania. Blast her, she's always been so good at Following the Lamb...but it's okay. I think that's a good thing. :) She lived on the other side of the world for a year (which meant she missed my wedding, which I will someday forgive her for) and I was very happy when she moved back. She is Matt & I's "third strand" (see Ecclesiastes for details...and yes, we know that the real 'third strand' is God. It's a joke.) and we hate for her to be gone for long.

Then she lived in Athens for awhile, which I did not take nearly enough advantage of, and now she's moved off to Atlanta. But it's okay-- a few miles between us can't do much damage...especially now that she's blogging!!

So in conclusion, let's review. This is Alyssa:

She's silly.

And maybe even a little bit ridiculous.

And she's one hundred percent beautiful, and one of the best friends a person could hope for. And it's her birthday, so show her some love!!

Head over to her blog and wish her a happy one. But before you go, if you know Alyssa (or even if you don't but you WISH you did)...share your fave Alyssa Memory here! I'd love to hear from other members of the Alyssa May Fan Club!