Charming

So I was thinking, that maybe I should start out by explaining the name of my blog.

Toadly Good

It all starts way back in elementary school.

I was the shy girl that dressed and acted like a boy.

I didn't really have many friends to hang out with,

but I pretty much got along with everybody.

In second grade a new girl came to the school. Let me tell you, she was the epitome of girl. She had long, long hair that went past her bum and she ALWAYS wore dresses. My first clear memory of this girl was in the bathroom...she was looking at herself in the mirror, playing with her hair and twirling. My first impression of her was annoyance and disgust. I was the tom boy who wore baggy pants and t-shirts playing basketball and soccer with the boys during recess. The only time I wore a dress was on Sunday when it was time for church. But, honestly looking back at it, it was probably jealousy that I felt. She really was so pretty and I think deep down I wanted to act like a girl but was already stuck in my self chosen path of anti girl.

The next thing I remember is playing dress up at her house. Seriously, neither of us remember how we became friends. It was magic, there I was loathing her day in and day out, then suddenly best friends...completely inseparable.

My life changed that day, someday, somehow.

I went from being a friendless tom boy to an in-the-closet (literally) dress up tom boy,

best friends with the girliest girl I knew.

Years went by, still inseparable, still a tom boy and still shy.

I will save anybody who may be reading this the pains of middle school,

who wants to relive those years?

Enter high school.

We grew up in a mall town so we knew pretty much everyone we went to school with...at least their names. Some we knew enough to completely avoid, most we knew enough that we wanted to be included in their circles. We were still just a duo and we were okay with that, no stupid girl drama, no fights that made us enemies for a week then best friends again for a week etc. etc.

Maybe it was the fact that we were now in high school, you know

"the best years of our lives" that made us want to join forces with others. 

*Just for the record: I am realizing that I am making it sound like we didn't have other friends. We had school friends and lunch table friends (our lunch table was pretty big), we just didn't really have after school, hang out all the time kind of friends*

So there we were in high school ready to make our line of two points into something more, like maybe a triangle, a square or even better a really big circle. Now, besides my twin sister separated at birth (which we called each other, and made others actually believe) I had another friend. A friendship that formed during middle school. She was so different than my twin sister. I loved playing and spending time with both of them, but my two friends didn't like each other. So I was a dot in two different lines. Our sophomore year the three of us ended up taking the same class together.

Oh man oh man! Again this changed my life! Suddenly we had a triangle!!

And from that triangle came so much more than a circle!

These two girls became my foundation and my strength through some really tough times. They kept me sane by being insane.

We discovered so many stupid ways to have fun. (In a small town you have to).

They helped open the doors and bring down the walls that kept me to myself.

I was able to be "me" with them and let go of a lot of insecurities.

I am who I am, and I like what I like

and I owe such much of that to these two beautiful girls.

A lot of my future posts may somehow be linked back to them

so just a bit of a preview of what is in store.

Just a small list of highlights from our high school years together:

~Sliding on the icy farm roads on trash bags

~buying .97 cents worth of gas, cause that's all the change we had

~Playing LRC with Milkful candies as the prize

~Playing Super Smash Bro, Soul Calibur, and Mario Cart on the GameCube

~The Suck Game countless times....I was the ultimate winner

~Parties! this is where it all started for me!

*Alice and Wonderland Murder Mystery Dinner

*Nerd Party

*Clue Murder Mystery Group Date all over town

*Monsters and Villains Halloween Dinner

~Lots of game nights!

~Swinging at the Park

Okay, so now that we have the background story, back to my blog name. By the time I turned 18 I was well on my way to being a girl, and just had my heart broken, again. You see, just because I didn't completely act like I girl didn't mean I wasn't a girl, and didn't have feeling like a girl. I had two very big crushes (at different times), both lasting a couple years. With both times I was so sure that they had feelings for me and with both times, all they saw was "one of the guys".

So, here I am just turned 18 with the still fresh"rejected" stamp on my forehead

on my way to the park for some fun with my friends.

Little did I know there was way more planned than I had known.

"SURPRISE!"

That's right, a surprise birthday party just for me, including our circle of friends.

There was a water fight, cake and ice cream, games, movie under the stars and

a treasure hunt...for my very own Prince Charming!

I hunted for clues all over the park, with just a flashlight to help me on my way!

My treasure? Lots of candy, cute love notes from my best friends and Charming.

It's not the perfect picture, but this is Charming. He was given to me by these two very special, very best friends in a time that seemed pretty dark. Not just the broken heart but some home life that was pretty dismal. Like, the end of the world kind of dismal

(a story for a different time, but no doubt you'll find out). He brought love and hope.

And for the last eight years frogs have brought a smile to my face and light to my life.

For me, the frog represents good.

And that is what this blog is all about for me...all things good.

And it all started that day in second grade in front of the bathroom mirror.

Thank you my dear twin for your amazing gift of friendship, hope and for Charming.

*Ignore the date stamp on these pictures, they are all wrong*