Monday, January 17, 2011

Melanie and Shara

Well, I am combining these two girls into one post for one reason - not because they aren't both super important in my life, because they are, but because the way that I became friends with both of them is the same to me. You see, Christina worked at the 4am job before I ever did (obviously since she got me the job) and she met all these really awesome people, Melanie and Shara included. And then when I started hanging out with her she introduced me to all these awesome people, Melanie and Shara included, and they just treated me like we had known each other forever, which was awesome. Really, I don't remember actually meeting either girl. I remember meeting Christina, and then after we started hanging out, I was suddenly friends with all these people and I am not sure how that happened - but I loved it! I went from not really knowing anyone at BYU to feeling like I was suddenly part of this amazing group of people. And it rocked my socks off.

Melanie is a tall, blonde, beautiful girl who I am so lucky to have had the time to hang out with. I lived with her for a summer and that summer was amazing! She didn't work the 4am job anymore when I started there, and then not too long later she graduated and moved back to her home town (which I think was in Nevada although ... I might just be sucking here). Then after realizing that she wasn't supposed to be there, she moved back to Provo and lived with Christina and I. It was great. It was only us in the apartment for a while and we had so much fun together all the time. We watched shows all night and invited boys over and we girl talked and just had a blast. Melanie was gone for a chunk of time there because she went on a trip to Italy. She loves traveling and every year she saved as much as she could so that she could take a huge epic trip somewhere. She was always talking about where she was going to go next - what the next stamp in her passport was going to be. We always talked about going on a trip together but that never really happened (which was sad - we still all need to go to Ireland together!). After I lived here for a few years, and Melanie had moved to Texas, her and few friends decided they wanted to come to the Pacific NorthWest so they could check out the area, and go see Forks Washington, and just experience a different climate for a while, so she came to visit me. That was so much fun for me. I didn't get to go to Forks with them (sad for me) but they stayed around the area a few days and we went to see Multnomah Falls, and I tried to take them to Powell's (giant bookstore in downtown Portland) but I got lost because I suck, although driving around was still fun, and just hang out with them in general. Melanie recently got married to man she met since living in Texas and every time I see pictures of them she looks so ridiculously happy that I can't help but smile.

Shara has always been the sweetest girl ever. She is so accepting and loving of everyone and always sees the positive. She takes care of people all the time, even if they probably would be better off not being taken care of. She was one of the two girl engineering majors I knew in college (and I sure knew a lot of male engineering majors though!) but she was so nice and so personable that you would never have guessed that's what she was (I know it sounds terrible, but usually there is a certain personality that engineers have, and she doesn't). She ended up going to Africa (I think) for a project with her department in the final year of college. And she brought me back some shells she got there. It was so sweet. She always made me laugh because she was the cutest, nicest girl you could ever meet, and every time that she even thought a guy might be interested in her she would say "I am afraid he likes me". We would always ask what was wrong with that and she would say "I don't know" but I think it was just that she was so worried about hurting someone's feelings that if she wasn't sure she was interested she would get worried for them. She got married to a man who is perfect for her and they live in Washington now (I am so so so embarrassed to say that I have never been to visit them). I know she had some problems with her shoulder causing her pain for quite a while there, but when I talked to her about she was just so positive. She would say things like "It hurt so bad and I couldn't even move my entire arm for a few months because it hurt so much, but it's okay, I got through it and we are good". To me, her attitude is so inspiring.

I learned from them that it is okay to let someone in quickly. I learned to always be nice, no matter how frustrated you are. I learned to always be worried about other people's feelings. I learned to always be who I am, even if it is unexpected. I learned to look on the bright side. I learned to laugh and have fun. I love both of these girls a ton (and am now thinking about how long it's been since I talked to them ... I think I need to give them both a call!)

1 comment:

Christina said...

Okay, I remember some stuff on this one. Shara, we met because she kept saying "hi" to us everyday when Bunny's crew would come in. We didn't get close to her though until after you went on a trip home, and I had the scary experience with Chris. Since her roommates were all gone for the summer to do fish in Alaska, she started hanging out with us on a regular basis.

Melanie, you met through me when I was living at Glenwood. I got to know her because I finished early one day, and Lynn told me to go talk with someone. Mel was on the list. About a week later, she invited me to go to Carrabas with her, and I told her that I was going to have you come too. That was the start of the relationship. I think that it took you guys a little longer to become closer though.