If there is anything to be said about hometowns, it is definitely that they are small and somewhat incestuous. Perhaps not incestuous in the "I'm marrying my sister" way, but in the greatly interconnected way. The scarily interconnected way. The 'my best friend's boyfriend used to date the ex-wife of a friend's new husband, who also happens to be the older sister of another friend of mine' kind of way. Several weeks ago, I spent the weekend in Seattle visiting my brother, his roommates and met up with my friend Liz Harper. All of us are originally from Vancouver and when I was updating them on the ongoings of the people we know in common, they all collectively said they were glad not to be living here in Vancouver anymore. Not that Vancouver is bad, but because it is so interconnected. It's probably not even six degrees of separation in our town. Chances are, it's more like three.

I should introduce myself. I'm Betsy, a good friend of Sarah's and she text messaged me by poolside today, asking me to guest post on her blog as she is a part of the Blog 365 like I am. I am newly married and recently became a cosmetologist student at Vancouver's School of Beauty. I like movies and music, television and reading too. Wanna know more? You should read my blog too.

But this post is about Sarah. She has quickly become one of my bestest friends and I am so blessed to have her in my life. As I am sure a lot of you know, she surprised her older daughters with a trip to Disneyland. I have to tell you, there are few people I know of who are more deserving right now of a vacation to the Happiest Place On Earth than Sarah. In fact, right now, the only person who is coming to mind is her husband Rob, who is playing single dad this week as he cares for their 8 1/2 month old twin girls.

Sarah and I met almost two years ago, here on Myspace, of all places. (Don't knock it too much - I met my husband on here too.) And we instantly clicked. I have rarely ever met anyone who thought as similarly to me and there is something amazing about finding a kindred spirit like I have found in her. Really though, what I find even more amazing is the fact that Sarah and I have both lived in the Vancouver vicinity for so many years, had a number of friends in common and are just so similar, but we never met until 2006. How is it in this small city of three degrees of separation, we never crossed paths?

See, Sarah and I have the same taste in music, tv shows, humor and men. Small world as it is, Sarah's wonderful husband Rob and I went to elementary school together and were even in the same 5th/6th grade class together. Here we are, standing side by side in our class picture:



Not all that flattering of either of us, but yes, proof that at one time, I was taller than Rob.

But prior to Rob, there was her first husband, Seth, who I have known just about as long as I have known Rob. We met at church and kind of did the middle school crush thing on each other for awhile. I can remember a very lengthy and in depth conversation we had one night on the phone about the finer points of Ace of Base (hahaha!) and which song on their album was the best. In high school, Seth took me to my sophomore homecoming dance, as seen here:




In fact, it was finding Seth on Myspace that was the catalyst to me to finding and meeting Sarah. They say that when you meet a new friend, an entire new world is opened up to you. And truly, that has happened for me by meeting Sarah.

Sarah is the kind of girl who when she befriends you, she opens nearly her entire life to you. Her friends become your friends, her arms, heart, ears and feet are yours for helping up, holding dear, listening intently and walking the calories off with. The first time Sarah and I met in person, she and I and Rob took a stroll down by the Columbia River, walking from Beaches to Who-Song's and then back (after stopping for dinner at Who-Song's). The following night, she and I got together again for dinner at Red Robin and then we attempted to see "The Devil Wears Prada" but got the times wrong and ended up seeing "The Lake House" instead. No matter. Pretty much from then, she's always been at the top of my list for telling my sorrows and joys to, for hanging out with and scheming brilliant new ideas.

I am assuming that most of you reading this personally know Sarah and therefore know how amazing she is. You've seen her through the years, shining through even the dark times and never faultering in her devotion and love for those who mean the most to her.