From Nikki

Leesh,

HAPPY 30th sweet thang!!!!! Man are we lucky that you were birthed!
It's been a blast...from the first day I saw you in the carrels,
carrying your motorcycle helmet and i thought, "oh heck yes, that girl
is gonna make this place worth it!" to now, when you are one of the
biggest blessings in my life. I thank my lucky stars that we were all
in the same class, that we had some of the best times of our lives
during those 3 years of law school, and that that was just the
beginning. Thanks for all of the talks, for all of the inspiration and
support, for the freakin hilarious and adventurous times, and for
sharing you. Here's to another bombshell 30! I love you!!

Love, Nik

1. Law school Prom -- we're so hot right now.

2. Halloweeny

Giggidy-GHANA!!!!

Le

who loves leesha? i do! i do! i do!

who loves my cedar sisters? i do! i do! i do!

Alicia the Soul Sister

With so many people in this world without a good friend and all the people without a sibling they enjoy, how did I end up with it all?

I have it all, you are the whole package.

Through all the shared experience we just are what we are. There is never any trying just adjusting. We've been shaped by our family, by our friends and by each other and we've grown over the years. I love what you have grown into. I love that I have been part of the life of such a strong individual. Strong yet soft. Soft yet determined. Determined yet balanced.

If there is anything in life that you aren't you will be. You see truth, you become it and you live it.

I know you and I love you.

I can't wait to be part of the next 30 years, and the 30 after that, and the 30 to infinity always and forever.

gratitude journal

Happy Birthday my leesha!! i love you! i miss you! As i thought about what to share, i of course was flooded with beautiful moments, memories and feelings that continue to move my soul! When asked which is my most favorite? i would have to answer by saying ALL and every moment i have ever shared with you has been one of my very most favorite moments of my day! & of my life! :) So with this being said my little birthday girl! i am about to share with you a journal entree- Of that day, the day I met my leesha the day my life was blessed by meeting you! ps..I hesitated for hours wondering if this would be appropriate to share on a birthday blog :)

October 24, 2007

dear Heavenly Father,
Thank you!
what a beautiful day! guess you know who i met today? its your alicia!
My first thoughts were alicia "the kingdom of God is within you" even in her heaviness of her heart i immediately saw her soul in its entre splendor! OH MAN! HOW B E A U T I F U L!! and humbling for me to witness as i placed my hands upon her back to connect,ground and balance her tired,giving stressed spirit. she was beautifully present in the best way she could be for that moment.
WoW! her reigning grace, her majesty!
she is truly a woman of faith, of compassion and charity. Yes her soul was gorgeous and illuminating.

do you know she is a roomate of jenn and of jessica? yes i know you know. as noted previously, i truly believe we often make too many external quests seeking for peace or maybe even fulfllment, you know what these 3 beautiful girls all have in common don't you? hmm... yes! could it be they rarely see the glorious possibility within them? i can't even begin to imagine how much they have already given to each other's souls!! WOW! beautiful teacher's to each other in many beautiful ways! are there more? i sense there are more?
hmm.. i must ask jenn.

so My thoughts are alicia is constantly giving nourishment for everyone but herself, there is no question.
umm..i wonder if she really has time to just free her spirit or does she continue to muffle her own needs to free and allow others's needs to distract? i do know i have pondered long and hard about the feeding of our inner self, of the one thing needful for our souls and how very easy it is for someone like alicia to neglect her own spirits needs. oh bless her heart!

awe, how humbling it is to give to one who gives SO MUCH! as i began working on her my heart was so touched. oh man i felt a continued flow of my tears fall upon my cheeks as i not only felt but witnessed her beautiful magnificence!
oh man! i worry she could hear my sniffles! i do hope i wasnt too distracting.

Thank you for allowing me to see into her beautiful soul. I feel her wisdom, her patience, it's really quite magical! i want so badly to say to her what my dear friend says to me. "run free! my wolf sister"! run free! the land beneath your feet rejoices to feel you dancing upon it!" i feel her spirit wanting to dance! she is a beautiful dancer isnt she? so how do we teach our alicia how to take her spirit out for a run? she is such a powerful source of wisdom, strength, laughter, joy and loving peace. WOW many people rely on her to be courageous and strong for them, to give comfort and light in those times of uncertainty, dark and doubt.

she is a leader of greatness, and inspiration. i believe she is the essence of charity am i right? i do know i have so much to learn from alicia. i sincerely pray i will be worthy, sensitive, insightful and intuitive enough to give her what she is seeking, those things her soul of beauty is in need of at this time in her life. i pray for your gracious loving spirit to guide me in those sacred moments we will share together. she is coming back isnt she? yes she is right?

I know without a doubt she is truly holiness and is being prepared for such greatness. she has already given many christ-like acts of holiness i can feel this deep with in me. i can't begin to imagine the many many lives she has already touched!!
yes! she is one who makes a difference!!

i immediately recognized her beauty and adventurous spirit so full of LOVE & LIGHT SO glorious!!!

Thank you, thank you for teaching me so much today. Thank you alicia beautiful one. i pray our paths will connect. hope to see you again soon.
but until then alicia, quiet your mind and be still. give to your heart what you are lacking. witness the breath of God within you. be still and allow Heavenly Fathers nature to be your nature. allow its healing to fill your soul in times of emptyness. oh man! you love nature! i felt it's influence within you! so pretty. its your peaceful retreat. allow our Heavenly Father's breath to be present in your breath as you heal and lift those that surround you.
thank you Heavenly Father it was truly a magical day meeting alicia.
thank you alicia for blessing my life today. i promise i will never forget what you gave me, what a gift your spirit is..WoW! so very giving! so very beautiful!

thank you

love forever,

terri

From Felic & Than

First, congrats on making it to 30! You're one of those friends of ours who seems to have 9 lives and who always seems to be doing things we're insanely jealous of. You're also that friend who sets her eyes on a goal, and goes after it - without reservation, and in each instance achieves that goal: college, mission, law school, africa, marriage, business, baby. In between each of those major life achievements there are a dozen smaller accomplishments that you can be proud of.

We're so glad that you have been a part of our lives over the last 14+ years (!) and we look forward to many, many more years ahead. When we get back to Boston, we'll dig through our photos and see what we can turn up - it's been fun to see what everyone has pulled out to post here!

Love you - and have a wonderful birthday.

xox

felic & than

heart of gold

when i was sitting down to write out some thoughts for alicia dear, "heart of gold" was the first phrase that came to my mind.

alicia: your heart is as pure as a new-born baby, as loving as i imagine mother teresa's must have been, and as open as the field that maria runs around in singing "the hills are alive...with the sound of muuuuusiiiiicccc". ok ok, so i'm not great with metaphors, but you get the point, right? ;) seriously, you are a one of a kind woman. my life has been greatly blessed and enriched since meeting you 13 years ago in those little hawaii dorm rooms when you came out to visit chelle. you don't often find someone with the WHOLE package: stunning beauty on the outside, adventurous, tough as nails, loving, giving, charitable, intelligent, huh-larious, party girl, introspective, spiritual, warrior, mother, best friend. alicia you are that whole package. i've really enjoyed watching you grow into yourself over these years, see and grow into your potential, and follow your dreams. i love that your dreams always include others; if there is a selfish bone in your body, you have certainly done a great job of telling it that it's not welcome in your life :) i feel humbled just thinking about ALL you do for others in your personal life, in those intimate relationships, and even more powerful--for those who you don't even know (ummm Sowers of Hope, just one example). you are a blessing to each person you meet.

a few memories that created my adoration of leesh and her selflessness:

-dance parties (too many to specify)

-surfing at castles where we met that sweet old hawaiian man (ummm name reminder please? bono? bozo? something?) and he talked about having a killer day of surfing and then closing your eyes at night and feeling the waves continue to rock you, and dreaming about it. that night i think we both did.

-your wedding party--you have always known how to throw a PARTY!!

-rock-climbing in provo canyon. we were so hard-core and set pretty rad goals for ourselves...maybe one day we'll reunite there and go hard again :)

-multiple trips to REI where she purchased extra tents, back-packs, outdoor gear, and clothes on sale to give them to others

-late nights and early mornings painting the hippie house when we lived there with the boys that first spring/summer

-a horrible car crash i got in where the first person i called was leesh, who helped to calm me and get me out of my state of shock with her cool-headed and loving calmness

-willingness to have late night chats whenever

-law school madness--you did it without drugs ;) haha.

-many more.

leesh, i love you. thank you for being such an inspiring example to us all. you are such a dear friend. i'm excited for our children to play one day, and only hope they can have lasting friendships to cherish such as the friendship you've given me and ALL of us.

I LOVE YOU!

jesse

ps. pictures to come ;)