Baking and Sweet Friendships

As I have been baking up some low fat desserts that I am trying out to include in my "lifestyle change", I have been thinking. I know that this is a dangerous feat, and I promise that I waited until no one was around to begin.
What was I thinking about?
Well funny you should ask. It just so happens that I was thinking about how blessed I have been to have such good friends throughout my life. It seems as though we don't really appreciate our friends until we are going through some major life altering trial. However, right now this is not happening to me **knock on wood**, but I have been thinking about my friends a lot.
I wouldn't classify myself as someone who has a lot of friends. I am actually quite shy and get intimidated quite easily which causes me to have quite a few "associates" but not tons of friendships. But, once I make a friend, I seem to have them for life. I love my friends very much and I would do anything for them and I know that they would do the same for me.
This whole thing of friendship started when I was young. My mother, of course, would encourage me to have lots of friends (I think that she did this so that I would get out of her hair and so that she could visit with her own friends) and I remember always hanging around with the neighbor kids and taking turns playing at each other's houses. This continued into my preteen years where I became friends with a certain Science Geek, and then by default, (and choice) with her sister. These two girls inspired me because they were born so close together and they had a relationship that I was jealous of with each other. It is actually one of the big reasons that I had my Abby and Anne so close together. My friendship with the Science Geek's little sister really seemed to blossom when I became her fearless leader at a certain Young Woman's camp. And, I believe, that my friendship with these two is still very strong today even though I don't get to see them very often.
Another friendship that has really shaped my life has been the one with my cousin. I was privileged enough to have the opportunity to grow up with my cousins in my ward. I believe that our parents were very smart to do this because my friendship with my cousin kept me on the straight and narrow as a teenager and it caused me to have LOTS of great memories that I often look back upon. We used to be part of a "posse" of kids who did almost everything together! This posse was probably the highlight of my teenage years, and I remember being devastated when my cousin went off to University and left me here to fend for myself. I have always looked up to her and even though our lives are very different, I always look forward to seeing her and chatting with her every chance that I get. I sure do love my cousin and I would do anything for her.
I also had a couple of friends in choir when I sang after my cousin abandoned me in Calgary. I was lucky again to become friends with another girl and her sister. It was the reason that I went back to choir and it was probably one of my most fun years singing in the choir. I still love checking on her through her blog and chatting with her on facebook. . . .and I am excited that she is finally going to be the mother of a boy. . . it is an experience that I think every mother needs to have!
Having friendships has been something that has continued into my adult years. Otto and I have made several friends over the years, some of them couples and some of them individuals. I feel as though we have been truly blessed to have had such good friends as adults. Most of the people that I consider to be my good friend I have made since being married 10 years ago.
The friendships that I know will last forever, even though sometimes things may get difficult, are the ones that I have been able to establish with my own family. Growing up, I often felt as though there was me and then there were the rest of my siblings. I felt as though I was like a second mother to them sometimes and it was hard not to have someone to relate to in my own family. However, I had a special grandmother and aunt who took interest in me. They watched me grow up and they took special care of me and I always felt as though they were (and continue) to be some of my best friends. I always tell people that my grandmother is my best friend. . . and it does help that I live about 5 minutes away from her (well, when she isn't off visiting her playhouse in St. George).
Things have changed as I have watched my brother and sisters grow up. They have become some of my best friends. And I have also been so lucky that my brother married such a wonderful girl who has also become one of my good friends. Whenever something scary, bad, or frightening happens to my own family, I know that my parents and brother and sisters and sister-in-law are the first people on the scene. They are always the ones (along with Otto's brother and his wife and my grandparents) who give me the strength to go on. I am so lucky to have them as siblings and I love spending so much time with them as we all continue to grow older.
And finally, I have been lucky to cultivate friendships with my husband's family over these past 10 years. It has been so fun to be married into such an interesting family. I have two sisters-in-law who are very different from each other, but who have become my friends and completely accepted me with no questions asked. My mother-in-law has shown me how deep a mother's love can run for her child as I simply look at the way that she looks at my husband. Otto's brother is one of my most favorite people in the whole world. I owe him a lot because he is the one that told Otto to stop fooling around and either marry me or break up with me (I don't think I would like him as much if Otto had chosen the second option). I love that Otto's brother and his wife have kids the same ages (or close to) as my own kids and I love seeing them every time we go to Cardston.
So you see, as my cake comes out of the oven (and smells heavenly) and I wait for it to cool, I have a lot of people to think about because each and every one of these friendships that I have written about have helped me become the woman that I am today. And I believe that that, my friends, is sweeter than any cake that I could ever bake.
Thanks for being such good friends!