Hi there babies.
Today, I don't have any amazing projects or recipes to share.
Today, I'm celebrating the life of my best friend,
Inndia DeGraw Powell.
Oof, I hate this pic of me.
Today, would have been her 28th birthday.
She, along with her 2 youngest sons, passed away on November 12, 2011 in a horrible rollover car accident.
I met Inndia when Drew and I moved in next door to The Powell Family in May, 2008.
She was the first one to come over and welcome us to the neighborhood.
I'm sure she brought us a plate of delicious goodies, as she always did.
I kept telling her to stop it because she was getting skinnier and I was getting fatter.
I miss her goodies. :-)
I have SO many memories of her during the 3 1/2 years we were neighbors/BFF's.
She was much younger than I was.
She was the most amazing Mother and loved her kids more than anything.
Anthony & Inndia
Inndia with baby Alex
Even though I am much older and didn't have children, we still had so much in common and spent so much time together, sometimes, just sitting and talking.
Talking about everything.
We read the same books, we went to see the 'Twilight' movies together like giggling teenagers (I still can't bring myself to see the last 2 without her), we went on drives, got lost, went to concerts, our families had BBQ's, celebrated holidays and birthdays.
We laughed together, cried together, drove each other crazy, shared recipes and stories.
Celebrating Alex's birthday.
4th of July.
She was so funny:
She was so beautiful:
She loved running. Sometimes, she'd run like 10 miles while pushing all of her kids in a stroller because she loved it so much.
She loved sunflowers, lillies and poppies.
She loved people. She was one of the most generous people I knew.
She'd give you her last meal if she knew you were in need.
She didn't think I was insane for trying to treat our kitty, Nikita, for cancer.
Many evenings she'd come over just to see how 'we' were doing.
Well, if she did think I was crazy, she never made me feel like I was.
She'd hug me when I cried because we were having a rough time.
She was tall, she always had a perfect pedicure. She lived in flip-flops.
I'm haunted by the sound of flip-flops actually.
I still hear her front door open, and I SWEAR I hear her flip-flops and I expect to hear her knocking on my front door.
But, the knock doesn't come anymore, and I feel that awful sadness in the pit of my stomach.
We could sit around in our pajamas, just talking for hours.
NOBODY can make chocolate chip cookies like Inndia could.
I even have her recipe, but I cannot duplicate the awesomeness she could produce.
She wasn't just my neighbor, she was my best friend.
Happy Birthday Inndia.
I am forever blessed to have had you as my friend and neighbor.
You are so very, very missed.
XOXO