Skies Aren't Always Gray.: Sister Kortnie Hansen goes to England!

I went to East Elementary School for half of kindergarten up until I went to six grade at Desert Hills Intermediate School. One day when I was in third grade, during lunch, I went to use the bathroom. I saw a girl in there that looked familiar. I remembered the day before at church when her family was introduced in my ward. I asked her if she stood up at church yesterday and she said she did. I don't know what happened after that, but that was the moment I met my best friend. Kind of a weird way to meet someone, but it works I guess. I rode my bike to her house almost everyday and we were always together. I loved every minute I spent at her house with her younger siblings. I felt like I was apart of the family, and I'm sure her mom felt like she had to take care of one more child while I was around. We spent many days in her backyard jumping on the trampoline and catching lizards. We also scrapbooked a lot together.

Probably the most memorable moment with Kortnie was when her mom trusting us to babysit for about an hour or so (but it felt like forever). It was dinner time so we started boiling water for roman noodles. I don't remember if we even ate the noodles. Kortnie put a paper towel next to the stove and I moved it saying it could catch on fire and she said that her mom always put a paper towel there and she didn't know why, so she moved it back. Just a few minutes later, the paper towel was on fire and fell on the ground. We both panicked and instead of simply stomping it out, I grabbed a cup of water and flooded the fire. It left a nice burnt mark on the linoleum floor. We were pretty awesome babysitters. :) Pretty sure if everyone knew that story, I wouldn't have been the neighborhood babysitter growing up.

Kortnie decided to serve a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. She has been called to serve in the Manchester England mission for the next 18 months. She left a week ago and she says it is beautiful and she already loves it. I am so happy for her and the wonderful experiences she will have there. She is a wonderful girl and I am grateful for her friendship and example to me.

Kortnie, Brette and I became really good friends this past year. We are all doing different things and heading in different directions right now. Brette will be staying here as she was accepted to the Radiography program at Dixie State University. Kortnie is serving a mission, and I am awaiting my mission call. It is bitter sweet to know that we will be apart for a little bit, but I know we are all doing what we are supposed to. I have been so blessed to know these sweet girls!