Shout Out to JBrink

Happy, happy birthday, Jennifer dear,
Happy days will come to you all year!
If I had one wish, then it would be,
A happy, happy birthday to you from me!

Today is the birthday of a dear, dear friend: Jennifer Brinkerhoff. She has been an incredible tender mercy in my life, and I am so very glad that she was born! We were roommates for two years in Tempe, Arizona. I can't tell you all the crazy things we did together, nor can I number the times she asked me, "What are you going to tell your kids about me, your crazy roommate?" I don't think I've laughed or cried as much as I have with her. I've attached a few pictures here to illustrate the beauty and wonder that is JBrink. (Please know that most of these pics were taken over 8 years ago... but boy, did we have fun!)
I still remember how excited I was to go camping with our ward. I had only been in the deserts of Arizona for a short time and I couldn't wait to get back into the mountains! We arrived after dark and opted to sleep out under the stars. When I woke up in the morning, I saw that we were still in the desert, and if it hadn't been for JB, I would have cried. She made my desert experience bloom as a rose.
We were so not excited about our new University ward after the boundaries were reconfigured. I think we were the oldest in the ward. We decided to get all decked out for the ward Christmas party--black velvet, hot rollers in our hair, and the best part: our black joker glasses. We acted as if it were completely normal. We had a great time--but we did refuse to sit on Santa (the bishop)'s lap.
One summer a group of us hiked down to Havasupi falls. It was an incredible experience--between the beautiful water falls and playing in the water, to great company (remember singing Primary songs with Greg & Hopie, and how Greg insisted he had been in Honors Primary because he didn't know the songs we sang?), to pretending the bats in the horrible outhouse were butterflies. Ah, those were the days.When Jen came to visit me in Utah, I met her at the airport in disguise. She did not even recognize me. We loved dressing up. Too bad I don't have pictures of us doing yard work in our floppy hats, or laughing so hard at the thrift store when buying clothes for our 80s party, or dressing up as the four seaons one year for Halloween.Ah, the Nutcracker 5K. We had to run in tutus. What fun!

Happy Birthday, my dear friend! Here's to a great year of peace, joy, and delight!