Introducing...

My Bridesmaids. My Best Friends.
I am going to list my girls in order of who I've known the longest amount of time. Starting with...

Whitney Michelle Wall
She is the eldest child in my family, and my second mom (JUST KIDDING. Being authoritarian is like unto Amazon Warrior Princess awesome (but not Xena, as I believe that to be mega-lame)). I guess you could say that Whitney knew me when I was in diapers, though she was probably in diapers too. She just brought my sweet nephew Asher into this world, and manages to chase two crazy-hooligan-sweetheart-little girls around too. Like I said, Amazon Warrior Princess. I love my sister, and I hope that one day I can be as smart and loving as she is ALWAYS.

Bonnie Elizabeth Rasmussen
is a style guru. I'm not just talking about clothes... it's all around aesthetic value. Her eye finds pure gold. My little sis is my fashion Yoda/Mr. Miyagi... annnnnd maybe I steal images off her Tumblr all the time. I can't help it. Plus, she is the most loyal and fun girl friend to have around. She just told me that her compliment was sub-par, so I will continue on telling you about my sister Bonnie: She knows what she wants, and doesn't hold back when letting you know what that is. I feel that this is the type of honesty that I wish I had. No one walks on Bonnie. She would trip them and make them get her a sandwich. But then she'd probably take them to a movie. See? I told you she was super fun? I really enjoy our time we spend together. Getting to know one's family should always be this fun.
Kate Anne Bagley
runs like a dragon. For this, and other hilarious inside jokes, hang out with me and Kate sometime. Smart as a whip, this girl is. And probably one of the sweetest most loving people ever to have lived. I'm not exaggerating. Who doesn't want to be the president of the Kate Bagley Fan Club? I want to head that up, walk in the parade, and make a pinata out of anyone who doesn't lockstep into the beat of Kate's heart. Mushy? I hope so.
Grace Marie Bagley

I wish I were HALF as talented as Grace. She is accomplished, like no buddy's biz, and will probably rule the planet one day. Maybe you will be fit to carry her scepter if you learn to to make a seal puppet extremely evil, or how to make baby dolls climb you chairs to stare at you while you and your friends eat starbursts (this happened last week). One thing for certain, Grace and I always have a lot of fun.

Meredith Mower Nickle
(Girl...why oh why did you leave facebook? Now I don't have enough pretty pictures of you to pull from?? I'm making do with old NCUR photos, which actually kinda works, in an off chance way... because if Andy Sherwin (drop down a photo) was female, I'd make him a bridesmaid too.)I'm always gonna love Mere. She is honest with me. How many people can you say are completely honest? I want to have a house in heaven next door to Meredith, so we can live up to our high school agreement to dance on the clouds together with Martha Graham (assuming that Martha makes it to Heaven. That lady was crazy, and only sometimes in a good way).
Melanie True Jones
is complete and total spitfire. You know who will always get your back? This girl. I've know MJ since high school... and I'm pretty sure we knew ABOUT each other in middle school. I'm glad she adopted me and made me talk to boys. It was touch-and-go there with out her. Mel (yes, she does have multiple nicknames) opened up a more extroverted side to myself. I'm quite glad someone forced it out. I was getting bored reading books and watching Sabrina The Teenage Witch.

Amanda Anderson Perkins
is my soul mate in girl form. I could endlessly write about this girl. Pages and pages, TILL MY EPIC POETRY TATTOOS THE NATION... But I won't. But she would get bored reading it and then make up some haiku or dirty limerick about my nostalgia, then we'd escape to Oregon, dye each others hair, and dress up as zombies/elves. Instead, I'm just going to say that I miss her.
All the time.

Jana Lindblom
I met Jana while taking summer classes at BYU... a trying time for any punk rock child's life, if you can imagine. She walked through the sea of grey people who looked and acted the exact boring way, into my intermediate jazz class, and I knew, I JUST KNEW I had found a kindred spirit. Maybe it was the Converse All-Stars on her feet, maybe it was the way she looked at people full in the face... I just had to be her friend. Jana has gone through a lot in her life, and has stayed so strong in the gospel. I really look up to her bravery and joy. If she is faking it, then she fakes it till she makes it. And let me just tell you, she's doing great.

Naomi Reid Davis
I am truly grateful to find such a friend as Naomi. Despite our miles apart, our long-distance-relationship, as it were, I know that she will always be my friend. She stays the same open, warmhearted and loving person to me as she always is. That is true friend behavior. I love that she is thoughtful enough to always call me with her big news. The days I get random phone calls or texts from Nay, are always good ones. This girl has been an enormous help to me these last few months during the wedding planning and the stress ball which is the wedding dress Easter egg hunt. We share a love for all things photo-shoot worthy, so I can't wait till she's here to celebrate my wedding with me. Plus, I GET TO SEE HER NEW BABY! YEAH!!! I'm excited to meet Miss Eleanor at last.

Jackie Danielle Stanworth
I re-met her at a friend's wedding, made her hug me, and she told me about muscle testing. Insta-guru. Which is why we've stuck together this long. I make her do things she detests and she makes me see my humanity. The world makes more sense with someone who can break it down into more sensible pieces. I love her the most when I can see her reach for towards the sun and the beautiful parts of life. When my Jackie is doing well, everything in this world seems a little bit brighter. Plus she is amazingly witty. I want to impact the world the way Jackie is going to.

Kari Jo Phillips
isn't like other girls.
There is never any cattiness or Mean Girl-ness, or anything at all malicious or competitive from KJ. She loves. She it stalwart. Wait, there's got to be a better word... she's TRUE. I don't know many completely real people. Kari Jo is one of the few, and she's leading the pack. We've danced together for many many years, and I love choreographing for her. She moves with such attention to detail. She has become my muse on many occasions.
Jessica Lorraine Peterson
It was love at first sight when I met Jessica. I remember sitting on the floor of some lousy house show telling Jessica all my boy problems, my aspirations and how much I liked her hair, all within minutes of meeting her. I was pretty sure that she KNEW RIGHT THEN I was crazy. The next couple of times Jess and I met, she "got to" see me at me best and my worst. And she stuck around. I often wax glassy-eyed at all the Jessica has done for me, about her talent in photography and making me laugh, and about her fast friendship (the holding long and forever type of fast. I found one of the good ones.

Katie Kathrine Brandeburg
I have a new sister. Her name is Katie B. I started forcing her into coming to family dinners a couple summers ago, and my family just glommed onto her. I adopted her into my fold even before we both broke up with boyfriends and had the best summer ever. We just clicked. She takes care of me, and I sure as hell try to take care of her back. I say this about miss B a lot- she is loyal. I know, from experience, that if anyone starts ripping my name up, she will take those poor fools down. She has stood up for me, has supported me, even helped me learn to perform better on stage. I really am glad Katie is my new sister-friend.

BUT WAIT.THERE'S MORE.

I'm even having a Georgia bridesmaid! Alice in Wonderland, meaning Miss Kelly Hicks (HAYES??? I'm banking on it, when Mike gets home. Is it weird to put that in writing?), can't make my SLC festivities as she's living the life in Orlando this summer. Thankfully she IS close enough to carry my train come August 13.

Rachel Lewis Clark
WILL ALWAYS be an honorary bridesmaid, no matter how far away she is. Love you.

These are my people. I want them to know how much I want them around me, meaning as much as possible. It's true. I lovelovelove my people. They are individuals. They are beautiful. They are superlatives in their own right. I'm very blessed to have such fine people in my life.