you see, i can be myself now. finally.

as tradition goes with soul sister and me, birthdays require the following in technology world:

happy birthday text--a given.

facebook post on the wall--we're cool.

a blog post--here we are.

call us nerds. but that's the way it is. and that's what it's become.

i'm not complaining.

well looky here. it's april the twenty-sixth once more!

which means just one thing round these parts.

the day of birth of one lauren celeste wertz!

so exciting, we know.

two full decades.

is she old? probably. c'est la vie.

but then again, she is getting married. and you have to be kind of old for that.

whatevs.

but really. on a more serious note.

anyone who reads this is probably sick of hearing it, but i really just love my la. a lot.

she's the sister i never had in my immediate family. and i've decided lately that the only reason for that was so that her whole family could become mine as well as just her. all on top of my own family. i know, you should probably be jealous. having two families is the best. the wertz's are essentially family to me. i love them lots.

i think one of the sure signs that you're really a part of a family is being able to spend time with them without the one person that brought you into that family even being there. while not feeling the slightest bit awkward. sherry spends time with us without doug all the time. la spent will's mission hanging with his family. and i don't think twice about it if la isn't there while i'm with her fam bam. i love it.
(never you mind the fact that everything about us is kind of like a couple. it's fine. someday i won't be the perennial third wheel. also fine.)
the other day we exchanged the following texts:

e: i like how i essentially just count you as family at this point. like, i like it a lot. :)

l: aw i like it a lot too. :) in fact i absolutely love it. and i feel the same way about you. :) :)

sometimes we use multiple smiley faces when we're more than happy.

and we're definitely both offenders of the usage of many smiley faces.

we are friends, but we're not at the same time.

it's different. in a way i can't even really explain.

it just is what it is.

a different sort of relationship that's more like family, even though we're not blood related.

we kind of are anyway.

and quite frankly, there is nothing that brings me greater joy.

family is truly the greatest blessing of anything else in this universe,

and la la is a part of that for me.

and that's the thing. she was my one of my first friends that i ever truly felt like i was being myself with.

and she never had a problem with it. ever.

and that was the first time i'd ever experienced such a thing,

and it's most definitely contributed to who i am today.

and the fact that i've become so very comfortable in myself.

because being yourself is invited when you're around us, because we're dorks ourselves.

to the max.

and really, what i'm really trying to say, is that i'm awfully glad she was born twenty years ago today.

and that our paths did cross.

and they just keep going forever parallel to the path of the other, even farther than the eye can see.

la, let's go visit our lamb chops and east canyon together once more before i go?

we celebrated today,

she might be a recovering diet coke and paradise cookie addict. ok, so we're both obsessed with the latter.

and i gave her a cd playlist for her 'summer sans em.'

and wrote out my reasoning for every song.

she thinks i'm almost as funny as i do.

(laughs)

baaahahahaha. ha.

but really it's an incredible playlist, if i do say so myself.

at least in regards to ourselves.

and because i look like a complete sicko in the pictures on my camera we took together today,

and laur looks completely adorable.

(i blame the romania immunizations this morning.)

i'm adding another fairly recent one for good measure. in which we both look our best.

haaaaaaaaaaaaahahahahahaha.

we already know we're super duper cool.

don't ask what movie we were seeing in 3D in the above picture.

just don't go there.

(also you probably shouldn't ask about my uncontrollable laughing fit during the previews of the aforementioned movie.

in a mostly empty theater. that was otherwise dead silent.

besides my laugh, of course.

yeah. about that.)

ok. so really all i'm saying is this.

thanks for being born, laursy. :)

love, ems.