Tuesday, April 8, 2008

Happy Birthday Karen



Happy, Happy Birthday to the most loyal, hilarious, compassionate, caring, crazy, and wonderful friend a gal could ask for.

Happy 33rd Karen!




Here are 33 facts about my dear friend...


1-I met her when she was only three years old.

2-She had and probably still has her baby blanket that she so lovingly referred to as "wubbie".

3-She is an amazing ballet dancer. 16 years or so of dancing will do that.

4-She makes the funniest monkey face I've ever seen. And I saw it a lot as a child!

5-Karen is BY FAR, the most hilarious individual I know. It's all in the way she speaks.


6-She once referred to her chest as "Shock and Awe" and I almost drove off the side of the road from laughing so hard. (see what I mean, funny! her word choice skills are stellar!)

7-She is allergic to apples.

8-We threw a small party for the neighborhood kids when I was about 11, and we served skittles and gave wheelbarrow rides to our guests. We also encouraged everyone to "Mingle"! :)






(Karen and me camping in 1982, Being wacky circa 1987, typical day w/Karen-198?)



9-She has the tiniest little toe nails on her pinky toes! You practically need a magnifying glass to see them!


10-We once had a contest to see who could walk barefoot on the hot asphalt street the longest. It was a scorching Summer day! Look what boredom can lead kids to do.


11-We also tried to make a swimming pool out of a large cardboard box lined with plastic. Key word there is "tried".


12-We killed a cricket that we named Jimminey, buried him, and made a song up about him... we both still know the lyrics.


13-We loved to choreograph dances in her basement to the rocking tunes from Abba. (most of the dances started out with a fancy cart wheel as we entered the room!) We were totally rad.


14-We used to drive around the Kirkland waterfront while listening to Depeche Mode- hoping to see some cute guys.


15-She was the best Maid of Honor- EVER!



(Karen & Brad's engagement photo-1997 Karen's Senior photo-1993)


(Karen being the best Maid of Honor ever - Jan. 1993)

16-Her mom had a garage sale one time and we thought it would be a fantastic idea to make and sell egg rolls. What?? What kid sells egg rolls? Why not cookies? Weird kids from Renton that's who!


17-Karen has a phobia of driving off bridges into water.


18-I can't eat a egg salad sandwich without thinking about her. (Her mom would always make them whenever we went to Lake Wa. for an afternoon of swimming)


19-She is by far one of the most loving mothers I have ever known. She was born to be a mom.


20-She is a fabulous teacher!


21-She was always afraid to spend the whole night in our backyard camp outs. We always ended up going back inside to the safety of the house. :)



22-She makes the best salads I've ever had. And her homemade croutons are to die for.


23-When we used to play "house" as kids, she always pretended that her husband's name was Tom.


24-She wrote a poem about scotch tape that was published in our high school year book.


(Look at the little Freshman- 1989)


25-We went camping together at least once a year and each time holds a funny memory. (New inventions, vomit, boys... I won't go into the details.)



26-Christmas at her house was like someone winning the lottery. She had mountains of gifts to show me each year.


27-She loved "life", and by that I mean the boardgame Life. I actually had to hide the game because I was so sick of playing it with her. I told her I had "lost" it somewhere. Nice, huh?


28-There is a booth in a DQ in Renton that we claimed as "ours" because we would always sit there every time we rode our bikes for a "full meal deal".


29-She has amazing taste in clothing and always looks put together & absolutely beautiful.


30-One of her in-laws thinks she is Puerto Rican... And Karen has no intention of telling her the truth. (She's part Canadian and part Portuguese and has the best skin tone around!)



31-That girl is FLEXIBLE! I think she can still do the splits and I KNOW she can reach far beyond her toes- I'm extremely jealous, as is my hubby.



32-She's got amazing decorating taste- her home is lovely and welcoming.


33-She is a friend that anyone would be grateful to have... and I count my lucky stars that she was introduced into my life when I was only seven years old and that I get the pleasure of calling her my friend until my dying day.





I hope you spend this day doing something you enjoy. Maybe listening to a little Abba? Perhaps a lunch that includes egg rolls? Whatever you end up doing, have a happy day and remember that you are loved more than you know!



5 comments:

PRP said...

I am laughing and crying all at the same time! You MADE my day. Thank you SO MUCH for such an endearing post. You are the best thing ever----next to egg rolls at a garage sale that is....

THANK YOU!!!

Anonymous said...

The best part of this post for me was being nearby while Kelly was putting it together. Her multiple evil snickers as she scanned the pictures had me in stitches -- very un Kelly-like!

PRP said...

She is evil, don't think I don't know that. I guess I'll just have to dig through the vault to find some equally disturbing pictures....

Kelly said...

Evil-schmevil... I have no idea what you guys are talking about.

I'm purely angelic as there were OTHER pictures I could have included but decided against. :)

I love ya Karen, and hope you have a superb day!

tharker said...

I have been waiting for a list like this from you for such a long time! This was awesome Kelly!

I really want to see the monkey face now ;)