Chicago: Part One

A confession.

I've never had a ton of girl friends. I'm fortunate to have the best friend ever, Sara, as well as some other wonderful mommy friends that I enjoy spending time with. But I mean, I never even considered joining a sorority in college because spending *that* much time, with *that* many girls was a downright frightening prospect to me. So what I am about to tell you is still a surprise to even me.

I belong to a group of 15 girls. I talk with them every day and enjoy their "company" more than I can say. I've known them for about two years now, and they are just amazing people. Each of these girls brings something special to my life.

Here's the other side of the coin.

I've only *met* two of these girls. Some of you know about this situation, others don't have any idea what I am talking about, but I figure that it's time to come clean. Two years ago, after my miscarriage, I reached out. I looked for others were experiencing or had experienced the kind of pain that I was feeling. I found a message board online where all of the women had experienced pregnancy loss. We were all trying to regain our footing, we were all trying to start again. 6 of us got pregnant again near the same time and we had our babies within weeks of each other. (Eli is the oldest). Because of our connection, and the friendships that we had formed, we went on to form our own private website where we can talk, and share our joys and frustrations without the prying eyes of the rest of the internet.

I've not told a lot of people about the friendships that I have with these girls or how important they are to me out of fear that someone wouldn't understand. I finally realized though, that in a day in age where people meet their spouses online, why should it seem strange to have found a group of girl friends on the internet?

Now, back to the subject of my post: Chicago. The main reason that Matthew and I decided to make a trip to Chicago on a random Wednesday in February, (Other than the gorgeous winter weather in Chicago!) was to meet up with a couple of my friends from online, Jen and Joell. I've actually met Joell before, but this was my first time meeting Jen as well as the rest of Joell's family. We went to Rainforest Cafe, (Which was AMAZING!!)

Joell and I

and then Jen and I went out for drinks at our hotel. It's funny because it felt like sitting down with old friends. I'm 100% sure that no one on the outside could have guessed that it was our first time spending time together!

Jen and I

Jen. Me. Joell.

You often hear that blessings come out of tragedies and that is so true for me. I honestly can't imagine my life without these girls in it. I don't know if we'll ever all be in one place at the same time as we are spread from coast-to-coast, and across three countries, but I hope that one day we will. I would love to be able to hug each and every one of these girls who have forever touched my life.

To Jen, Joell, Emily, Michelle, Kyla, Leeta, Megan, Kimberly, Sara, Jac, Jacki, Chi, Noelle and Kelli- I so hope that we can all finally get together one day. I treasure each of your friendships, and am so thankful to have you in my life. You helped put me back together, and you're forever a part of who I am. Thank-you for always being there for me. I love you all!