Beauty and a best friend

Pioneer Woman Photography's challenge this week is "beauty." I thought this was fitting.

This is my best friend Elise with her now husband while we were working on their 'save the dates.'

I've known Elise since I was in 6th grade. We met at orientation for middle school. I was the new kid, having just moved to the town and she was my first friend. Her mom started talking to my mom and the next thing I knew we were signing up to be locker buddies. Initially I wasn't particularly thrilled seeing as this was a fresh start and I had high hopes of at least being slightly cool, though I'm sure the kitten t-shirts and braids prevented that more than Elise did (though she was as dorky as me). And the fact that I was covered in freckles, extremely tiny, and had only just discovered that jeans were the proper pants to wear at school didn't help. And the fact that I'd moved from the country and my afternoon activities had consisted of running barefoot through the woods and climbing trees.

Anyway, as we stood in line to sign up for our lockers I had no idea I had met my best friend who would be in my life for the rest of it. We went to middle school and high school together. Ate lunch together every single day. I once yelled at some girls for making fun of Elise on her birthday (though thinking back that was maybe not a good idea). We went to church together. We sat together at every single event.

In middle school we once verbally (and possibly physically) abused a girl who would not get off the monkey bars where we were playing a game. Elise got detention. I didn't. She still holds it against me.

We played our violins in orchestra together. We performed together, she in her white turtle neck and me in my velvet black skirt. We cut down Christmas trees and paid for pie with the change in the seats of the car. We used to run up and down the street past the speed measurer (I don't know what they're called) to see how fast we could run. I think we hit 12 mph once. We worked at camp together. We were baptized together.
We grew up together. We went from kids to young woman to adults together.

I stood up with her in her wedding and she will do the same for me.
We've gone off our separate ways, living half way across the country from each other. But I will always consider her my amazing and beautiful best friend.