Ode to Melissa

I have an amazing friend Melissa. She recently pointed out that I have gotten many shout outs on her blog but she hasn't gotten any on mine....which is partially true (she forgot about this one), mostly because I sadly don't get to see her much since she lives on the West Coast. So...this is my ode to Melissa!

Melissa and I met in Sevilla, Spain in the Fall on 1999 when we were both studying abroad. This was pre Snapfish/Kodak gallery thus I have no pictures to post. One of my favorite memories is when we were in Cadiz and got yelled at by the hostel owner for giggling too much in bed.

Melissa went to grad school in San Diego...which meant many fun visits to Southern California for me. Favorite memory from those times is the early morning before Daron's graduation when Dom suffered the night of no sleep due to a late afternoon coffee in La Jolla...so funny!

Melissa is super crafty! She makes fabulous jewelery and scarves...she taught me how to make the jewelery when I visited her in Namibia and knit me a fabulous red scarf one year!

Before Melissa went to the Namibia for her Peace Corps assignment we went to my parent's place in Mexico for some R&R.
I was lucky enough to visit Melissa in Namibia for 2 weeks!
After summiting Dune 45!
Melissa will recall my perfect sand boarding form - that was for the single runs, but we did a double once!
Entrance to Ethosha National Park.
In the countryside near where Melissa lived.Hopefully I will make it out to Portland soon to visit!!!!