Kristin "FSL"

The first sister-in-law to enter into my world was Kristin. Kristin is not only awesome because she was willing to marry my brother, but because she was already my friend.

I first met Kristin in jr. high when she moved into town from California. She seemed cool, but I didn't really get to know her until later at Bonneville High when we had some classes together. I'm not exactly sure when it was that we hit it off so well, but I have a lot of memories of the two of us being in Mr. Aragon's math class. He couldn't ever get her last name (Fryer) right. That's why I started using the nickname Freer. I also know for sure that she was in my AP American History class because she is the reason I passed the test and got college credit. No, it wasn't because I sat next to her and looked off of her answer card (I'm sure if I had, I would have gotten a better score). It was because the night before the test she and I sat at a table at our friend Braden's house and went through the entire history of the United States. She remembered everything that we had been taught, I mean EVERYTHING. There were a few things that she brought up that I swear I had never even heard about. But, her last minute tutoring did the trick. She not only helped me, but our entire class. When we walked into the library to take our test Mary Anne Moore was wearing the shirt that featured Rosie the Riveter. I announced to everyone that Kristin had taught me who that was. I was pretty surprised when the icon was the answer to one of the questions. Everyone was grateful for Kristin that day. I guess that Mr. Edwards deserves part of the cred, but without her memory, I would have been hurting.

I've heard people talk about how much they hated high school. I loved it and I think it is because I had friends like Kristin. We had a blast everywhere we went. I remember driving to Provo for some kind of sporting event (I'm sure she would remember which) and decorating the car. We wore our spirit skirts and played our music loud. While we were in Provo we met up with a couple of guys that we knew who lived out there and then got stuck in traffic and didn't get home until very, very late. I know that Kristin's mom was a little worried when she started hanging out with me. She didn't know how worried she should have been because I led her straight to my big bro.

We would always laugh and sing along to the songs on the radio. We would listen to the Shakira tape that Matt sent us from Mexico. The more I got to know her, the more I thought that she would be a perfect addition to our family. I knew that Matt would love her and I did my best to convince her that she would love him too. I would refer to her as FSL (Future Sister-in-Law). Sometimes she would hang out with me and Jill and people always thought that we were already sisters.

During our senior year Kristin and I would skip class and go to Carl's Jr. This was probably also the reason that I gained about 20 pounds. We would always get a Famous Star, onion rings, and a chocolate chip cookie. It was fun for me to have such a good buddy to hang out with. It reminds me a little of Anne of Green Gables (which, by the way, Kristin does not like) because she would always dream of having a really close friend. I had a couple of friends like that and they are still close friends today. But, it's even better with Kristin because we are friends and family.

All of our friends used to go to restaurants after games and stuff, and it seemed like when it came time to pay, nobody ever had any money but Kristin. She was so awesome because she would just pay and she didn't even seem to care that everybody took advantage of her generosity. I learned a lot from that example. I remember when the school was selling these neat stadium blankets with the BHS logo and we both decided that we would save up money to buy one.

Kristin, me and Emily - notice she's got the blanket.

Sisters 4 Ever!

Then one day I found a little envelope in my locker. It was some money and a note from Kristin that said that the yearbook teacher had bought her a blanket so she gave me the money that she had saved for hers. I was blown away by how nice that was. I'm sure that I would have eventually raised the money that I needed and otherwise forgotten about it by now, but I'll never foget the gesture because it made me feel so loved. That's still the kind of person that Kristin is. She's always got these dried mangos and whenever I go to their house I eat all of them. The last time I went over there she had a bag of them that she had bought for me to take home because she knew that I loved them so much.

When Matt got home it was great to see that my plans worked out. Once they were married I got to have my friend at all the family parties, and when we went camping. It is especially fun for me to be so close to their kids. Ethan, Joanna and Ginny are so awesome. I think that Kristin is a great mom. It was great when we were both pregnant and she had the experience to answer all of my questions. One night we stayed up late talking about everything I would need to know about going into labor. It reminded me of the night she prepped me for our history test. All her knowledge helped me out more than she'll ever know.