the awesomeness that is anne

its high time i devote a blog post to my friend anne jackman. and i dont even know where to begin or how to do it justice, but she is pretty much the most fantastic friend one could hope for. and i dont mean that in a trite insincere way. dead seriously, she is a wonderful person and i truly am blessed that she is my friend and has been for the past 15 years or so. and here is why, in no particular order. anne doesnt try to be anything she is not. she is straight up, straight forward, what you see is what you get. i never ever have to wonder about meanings behind her words or guess what she is thinking because i know i can count on her to be honest and give it to me straight. its so hard to find that! truly. i cannot tell you how much i value that in a person. and even moreso, the ability to be straight up but not ever rude. when you go to anne's house to stay, you know you will have delicious homemade-ness in many forms. holy crap the girl ASTOUNDS me with her culinary prowess. i am not even kidding you as i type this i am dyiinnnnggg for one of the incredible pumpkin cookies with perfectly brand new freshly whipped frosting that i had when i was down at annes for the marathon this month. holy frik. amazing. see, for me, i find a recipe or two that work and use them over and over. anne has a talent and interest in finding, creating, perfecting new recipes for friends and family on a regular basis and it makes me soooo jealous! she is so supportive of all those around her even when she may not understand what or why they are doing what they are doing. (like when i came down for the marathon and she had her kids make signs and came down to the course and waited and waited for me, or when we called her the morning after a rainy night camped out in a freakin old riverbed by her house and needed a warm comfy place to go) anne has a way with words. she thinks. she forms opinions. she cares about important things and asks opinions and gives hers and does it in such an eloquent way. she is always trying to do something to improve herself or help her adorable little family. she takes care of people. but not in a babying annoying way. she is organized and on the ball, reliable-the girl doesnt know the meaning of the word flakiness which is HUGE to me. she is passionate about so many things, loves what she loves, hates what she hates, and in that sense we are absolutely two peas in a pod. as years pass, i have pondered many times the reasons i keep in touch with certain people and not with others. it really is a lot of effort to keep in touch with people, and you simply cant really stay friends with everyone. but i stay friends with anne. because every single time i go see her or talk to her, i remember how much i value her friendship. we can always pick up and talk as if no time had passed since we have seen each other, even if it has been months or longer. and it is never obligatory. it is absolutely delightful every time because she always has interesting things to say. and fun. the girl is fun and funny and clever and tells stories like no other (i absolutely nominate her as the one friend of mine that needs to have her own column in a magazine). there are sooo many other things i love about the girl and memories and reasons why she is fabulous. this post doesnt do her justice, but suffice it to say that she is an absolute gem and i hope to call her my friend always. because she IS awesome.