All wrapped up in a cute southern accent

One of the most beautiful people I've ever met. This is Kelli.

Friendship came so easily, mostly because we are so much alike, yet so different. Our friendship sparked off of her son's Baptism when she made the most incredible turkey sandwiches with homemade bread. I can hear her say right now "Nah, it was nothing", in her cute Kentucky accent. Kelli and her husband were living on one of the Church's ranches when we met, and because of them, we quickly learned so much about the whole cattle process from calving, weaning, AI (artificial insemination) and back to more calving. It really is such a fun process, especially hands on!

Kelli has been an inspiration and a breath of fresh air. She has taught me so much over the last year! One of my most favorites is bread making. Of course I won't show that picture again, but lets just say my first batch of bread grew a boy part. Yep, that sums it up. I gave that special loaf to Kelli and she adorned it for as long as she possibly could. We laughed about that silly bread for months! Besides bread, she taught me how to be more frugal and she didn't even know it. If someone gave her something, she knew exactly what to do with it and she wouldn't consider throwing it away. I LOVE that about her! She grew a vegetable garden this summer, but sadly we had a lot of hail and it didn't take off so well (no ones did) so when friends and neighbors started giving her things out of their gardens she kindly shared with me. I am so lucky! With her help and guidance I was able to put up (can) A LOT of food this year, peaches, pears, pickles, tomatoes, salsa, pear sauce, stewed tomatoes, spaghetti sauce, grape jelly and wild plum jelly. No, she didn't give me all of that, but she knew people who knew people. One afternoon, we went to do our VT and on our way back we stopped by one of her neighbors and she climbed up on a ladder just to pick more grapes for ME. This girl never slows down, and I often wonder if she ever sleeps, but that's besides the point..there is always something wonderful cooking in her kitchen and guaranteed fresh home made bread in the oven!

One of the best qualities in friendship is knowing your friend so well, that you just KNOW when they need something to lift their spirits, cheer up their day or just to make them smile...Kelli was just that! If I needed a good laugh, she would just call me..if I needed chocolate, she would just happen to leave my favorite candy bar on the seat of my car, or in my church bag. On my birthday, she surprised me by making my entire birthday dinner & dessert and drove it all the way into town, just for me! When I say into town, I mean just that..my Mother in law can vouch-Kelli lives over an hour away, down a single dirt road, over the hills and out in the middle of nowhere. Often, she would just drop by to bring me eggs, or books, or something new to try. Lucky for me, dropping by meant that she was in town running errands and she thought about me.

They say that some friendships are for a season, this friendship is forever! I LOVE this family so so much. They are so fun to be around, especially with 4 of the most adorable boys! "If only the boys were older" the girls say. They love them nonetheless. And to be honest, I think these darling little boys have crushes on my girls, they can't get enough of them...

Recently Kelli and her family moved back to Kentucky. As in less than a week! My heart aches. But the tears I shed are for joy, and for peace, knowing they are where they are supposed to be. It was hard. Felt like last year all over again, only I was staying and she was leaving. It was terribly hard to say goodbye-so we didn't. Quick hugs as though she were returning to the Ranch, and they were gone. Even though I won't be able to make that hour trip to the Ranch, Kelli is a phone call away, and a quick email...hopefully before too long she will get her computer up and we'll be able to video chat! Nebraska does feel like a different place now, even still, I'm so grateful to have had the opportunity to meet such an amazing friend and have the experiences we had. It's all part of the adventure.