Beloved friend box.

Last month I randomly decided to sign up for Cara Box. I’ve done blog swaps before and one of the most frustrating parts of it was putting my effort into getting to know someone only to have the conversation never get beyond “I love blue and caramel candy.” Even just the name of the Cara Box is up my alley – it means “Beloved Friend.”

The theme was to give the person you were paired up with something that began with the letter S.

Words cannot begin to express how much I loved e-mailing Susannah and Stacy. You can see what I sent to Stacy here. One day she’ll write more about it and I will share it here on my blog, but Stacy is from Newton, CT and went to school at Sandy Hook and it was amazing to hear first hand about the ways that people are redeeming the city and the strong spirit of support and love that is growing out of a tragedy.

My favorite thing I sent her was the Sandy Hook Pura Vida Bracelet. I obviously love PV, and it took me about half a minute to realize that Sandy Hook started with an S and so I was the most excited to send her something that was both so dear to me and so dear to her. It, to me, was a beautiful symbol of the way that lives can intersect and support each other, even across the United States.

And Susannah! Susannah had me, and after a few e-mails we realized we both live in the Portland area, so we decided to meet up instead of her sending it to me. It all happened during my really emotional week a few weeks ago, and she became one of those unintentional silver lining defenders.

We went to Monti’s Cafe, one of the places I got to add to my list of new coffee places. and it was there that I tried the LAVENDER LATTE. Seriously, it blew my mind.

So I probably should have taken these pictures in the daytime because I hear that the best pictures have natural lighting but…. oh well, right?

Seriously, did Susannah read into the depths of my soul or what? I’m just going to say… I never knew I wanted a star shaped candy dish for my office until she gave it to me, and it was just what my desk needed. Now I just have to figure out my least favorite candy to put in it, or else I’ll eat it all.

But my favorite.

My favorite.

One of the e-mails I sent to Susannah was really honest and told her about some of the things that were making my week hard. Like being sad that I wasn’t married. She responded with an honest, encouraging and sensitive e-mail and that was the moment I decided that she was awesome. So when I saw what she had made me… pink and glittery, I just melted.

There was an empty space on a shelf in my room, and when I walked in it was the first thing I saw and immediately put this there so that I can remind myself of the God who loves me and the friends who surround me in the moments I feel frustrated or discouraged.

These two came at just the right time, just the right moments, and I’m so overjoyed that I made two new friends.

Because you know me.

I love new friends.