Faking It

It has been so outrageously cold here the past week. I don't even know where I am, I thought it was El Paso but it snowed yesterday! Actually it started snowing Tuesday night and snowed all day yesterday. UTEP was closed Wednesday and they sent out an announcement saying they would be closed again on Thursday to keep people from driving in the conditions and to conserve energy. There were rolling blackouts throughout the whole city. My power went out twice yesterday before noon, and it was 9 degrees all day! Even in the middle of the day when it's 9 degrees with wind, it gets cold quick! Last night, however, my power went out at quarter after 6. When I went to sleep at quarter to 11 it was still out. I woke up at 1 a.m.-ish and it was back on but that was insane! I went out driving today, I had to go to the post office and get out of my apartment because I was about to go crazy, and there was ice on the roads and snow all over my car...it is bitterly cold here in the southwest....

That strip of pictures was me and Shelby from 2005. We had gone to Tucson to see our friend Monica act in the Vagina Monologues. We've been friends since we were teenagers and I don't think we've really changed as we grew up, we just became more clearly ourselves. My friendships with these girls mean a lot to me. Over Winter break, I flew back to Phoenix to attend my friend Shelby's wedding. Shelby was one of my best friends in high school and I'm so glad we've stayed in touch because I consider her to be one of my dearest friends. And it was very special for me to be at her wedding. Shelby inspires me because she makes herself available to give love and to be loved. She welcomes people into her life and makes you feel like you've always belonged there. As her friend all I can ask for is that she find what she wants in life. And I think she has, and will. She's pursued her own interests and found a guy who shares her passions. And of all the weddings I...