Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Always (pt 2)


*in which the author tries in vain to describe the most amazing time ever*

The promised "part 2" has arrived.
I was down in Georgia for the last four days, two of which were spent with my absolute Best Friend. We had a bombastic time! I haven't seen her in 5 months, so, this was amaaaazing.
On Saturday morning, the alarm went off at 5:45 AM, and I sleepily stumbled out of bed to shower. We had to leave early in order to pick her up, a two hour drive away. Before long, we were driving down dark roads, and the sun was just coming up, streaking the horizon in a bloody red line that faded into violet blues; it was so beautiful. We stopped at StarBucks, and I got a peppermint mocha, happy for something that would wake me up.
     With excitement rising, we soon arrived on her road; almost there! She was downstairs when we got there, but after a squeal from her after being alerted to my presence, she came tearing up the steps and we giddily hugged each other, jumping up and down. It was so good to see her!
She's been working on a trailer for Cafe, and I got to see it while I was at her house. It. Was. Breathtaking. AAAHH! I've never seen a trailer so - so - AMAZING! We probably watched it 20 different times during the stay. ^.^
    Before long, we were heading back down the road, listening to upbeat music and going over drawings, sketches, and letters. The sunlight bounced and reflected off of towering skyscrapers; it was so pretty.
Saturday was spent catching up on things. Mom dropped us off downtown so we could go shopping; and boy, did we! We meandered in and out of quaint little shops, walking at an easy pace down the busy sidewalks, her sipping on a peppermint mocha (I believe that's what she got... correct me if I'm wrong, Mirriam!) and me on a caramel frappuccino. Ah... bliss. The weather was absolutely *perfect*, and the warm sun was shining brightly; the wind was blowing just enough to send a few leaves flying, and it was so busy; so many people. We found our way to the antique mall and spent a good 45 minutes in there, browsing the cool looking, old style glass bottles, old photos, making jokes about things the whole way. She bought some books, I bought a keychain and some black and white photos from the TV series "Gunsmoke" for dad.
After that, we sat outside the store by the window, laughing and taking videos and pictures, waiting for mom to come pick us up. (We felt SO grown up!)
    Back at the house, we changed into comfortable clothes, talked more, and officially opened our time together with a prayer. That night was special. We stayed up only until 1:00 because we had to get up early, though. We were staying in my Grandma's finished basement; there were two twin beds pushed together, plenty of nice furnishings, a couch, a kitchen *yay!!!* and a bathroom. We felt like we owned an apartment or something!
    Sunday we went to church, and I got to see some friends that I haven't in a while, which was very nice, and introduce them to Mirriam. I think she enjoyed it. :) The sermon was excellent, to say the least, and I enjoyed spending a Sunday with my Best Friend.
That night, I think, was the best. We stayed up until *5:40* in the morning! MEEP! That's the latest I've EVER stayed up! I'm pretty sure we both developed six packs from laughing so hard; my stomach is sooo sore today! If you don't laugh around Mirriam... you can't laugh. ^.^ She's so amazing! She read aloud from Cafe, and cracked me up with the accents she added; it was great! Practically everything we did got crowned with a private joke. We can't mention Jung Su (one of my characters) without saying shouting "DREAMS!" (to my dismay, might I add...), and can't think of my story without saying "Anyeong'shaou'!" (I'll explain that one here in a minute...)
At about 1:00 in the morning, we fixed a pot of steaming coffee, and I gave her a lesson in how to squirt whipped cream the right way to top the drink off. ^.^ Sometime between then and more talking, we prayed again, just because of the wonderful time we were having, and the things on our minds. One of the things we talked about (one, mind you...) was how we didn't feel like little girls any more. We weren't quite adults just yet, but we felt way older; I mean, we were 14 when we met! We compared old pictures, old journal entries (and nearly laughed ourselves to death on that one...), and discussed how good life really is.
We lounged around on the bed amid a mess of CDs, books, pens and paper, and she sketched some *amazing* pictures! (Send me a copy in the mail, Mirriam!) 
By the time all of that had come and gone, we decided to fix hot chocolate - at 3:00 in the morning. Hot chocolate and whipped cream that early was definitely something new! Since it was kinda warm in the room, we went out back to the patio and sat in the chairs in the cool air, freaking ourselves out with "weeping angel" stories and quietly trying to suppress giggles of merriment.
Finally, at 4:00, we decided to turn out the lights and lay in bed in the dark, the plan being to go to sleep at about 4:30. Not.
We laughed so hard it about killed us, talking about some of the best things that can possibly exist. ^.^ It really was hilarious! We were having the best time ever, 'spider webbing', as mom would call it, over all sorts of interesting subjects. >.<
The list of private jokes for this time aaaare:

Benjamin Franklin! ("Best Friends" in Mirriam talk - she misread my letter!)
Anyeong'shaou' *said with a stopped up nose* (This is the 'Chinese' version of 'Anyeonghasayo' ; 'hello' in Korean. While she was reading my story, she pronounced it wrong, and it came out like that!)
Have You Checked the Kefir? (Kefir is a fermented drink that she had with her, and it was placed in the fridge; every so often, there would be a knocking noise, and we came to the conclusion that the kefir was knocking... don't forget to check it.)
Simon Says: "Boom". ^.^ Story character joke!
And, of course, the old time favorite... Blue Jeans.

Oh, there were sooo many more! I'll have to find 'em; I wrote them down somewhere. We had such an amazing time. By the time 5:40 rolled around, we *had* to get some sleep, even if we could have kept on talking for a while. Monday morning, she had to go home. It was sad to leave, but, like everything else, it can't stay that way forever. Hopefully, I'll be seeing her again in another 5 months - I can't wait!
We closed our time in prayer, just as we had begun it; and it was so much better doing so. We're going to make this a habit together. The best and most beautiful things start and finish in a letter to God! 
Mirriam, thanks. We had such a blast, and I love you so much! Right now you're sick and in bed; I hope you feel better very soon! Saranghae!

This trip was named


Always

because we'll truly always remember it.
To my Best Friend: FIGHTING!

Love,
hannah



On the way back from church


 In the woods
 Hot Chocolate!!!



The 'Merry and Pippin' look!
 The Dragon look
 Again...

 And again...

 Puppy eyes look
Best Friends Forever look!

4 comments:

Blythe said...

Looks and sounds like you two had a blast!!!!
I wish I had a friend to hang out with like that....I mena I do,but we rarely have as much fun.

Hannah Leigh said...

Aaaw! Thanks!
I never thought I'd have a BFF like her - but at the Father/Daughter Retreat in GA two years ago, it started with a friend introducing us; the funny part was the first thing I said to her: "So, I hear you're half elf?"
She'd had a blog at the time and I'd been to it once or twice, but never thought I'd meet her; I did, however, know enough to read her blog intro, and she claimed to be 'half elf' - she was SO interested in elves and stuff, so, that started things off the right way! We NEVER thought we'd be this close two years later! It's AMAZING the things God can do!
Don't give up - you'll find someone that close at some point... like I said, I never thought I would; but it pounced on me when I least expected it!

Fighting!
- Hannah

Anonymous said...

Hi,
I've been reading your blog for like soooooo long now; and I've never commented on it. Sorry about that. I really like reading it. You're a fantastic writer btw.When I read your posts I can totally see and feel what your writing.You sound like such a godly person. It's really nice to read about other people that are going down the same path that I'm going down. Thanks for the encouraging posts.:)
Don't you just love best friends?! I have a really close friend like that.We can tell everything to each other. We also live kinda far apart; but when we do see each other it just makes it ten time more fun.:)
Have a blessed day,
Maddy H.

Hannah Leigh said...

Hi, Maddy!
I'm SO sorry it took so long to reply - I kept forgetting to!
I adore getting new comments from readers - that's encouraging to ME! =D Please do so again when you get the chance; I'd love to hear from you!
How long have you been reading my blog? I've had it for about 3 years now. (LOoong time to be blogging!)

I'm glad you find my posts encouraging; once again, that's encouragement to me. I like to speak my mind (which sometimes, dearie, can be a bad thing for me!>.<) thus the blog. I think it's so important to stand up for what we believe, especially in the world we live in. I hope you visit again! Thank you!

FIGHTING!
- hannah