Ode to Nat-Bat

Today my very best friend in Utah took off for Arlington Texas. It even sounds like a hellhole. Anyway I will begin my "ode." The first time I ever saw Natalie was on October 30, 2009. I interviewed at Sports Academy for the first time that day and had a cute boy waiting to go ring shopping with me in the parking lot at the time. During my interview Natalie came back to get something and was introduced to me as the activities director, in my mind I automatically created who she was probably late twenties, 3-4 kids at home, part time job, VERY LDS. When I actually started working for Sports Academy in early January I didn't think twice about Natalie until she asked me if I knew how to speak Spanish. Thinking it was a joke I responded with "si" and she asked if I could help her with her Spanish homework. That is when I found out she was actually just a year and a half older than I was, and in college, a history major which I thought was really cool. We chit-chatted a few times later until it was around her birthday and she was talking about getting "plastered" I basically died laughing until I realized she was serious and found out she wasn't LDS at all and was from Reno Nevada. I don't know why, but after that our friendship blossomed, and fast. I think we both recognized that we were both from towns very different from Logan Utah. We related over places we had and wanted to travel. We talked boys, she was the first person who knew my entire story about "the missionary I almost married" and was there for when I was engaged and then married. Natalie also was there for me when I said I was thinking about leaving D, she encouraged me to stick things out it had only been 3 months, she was the first person aside from Tippy and my Parents who I told that D had cheated on me, and was the first to say that people make mistakes and to give him a chance to redeem himself, she was the person who I knew I could cry in front of and talk to about all of my inner demons, and how badly I just wanted to end my life. Morbid and poor her, but she was always there and instead of telling me I was an idiot, or worse pitying me, she talked me through, She has talked me through everything for the past almost 3 years non stop. She has been the person who I tell scary things, funny things, COMPLETELY inappropriate things, hopes and goals to. She was the first person who told me how bad D looked when she saw him after our divorce knowing that I needed to hear it even if it wasn't true, she also glared at him and was a total brat and even now hates him for me because she knows that SOMEONE in my life needs to. She has been my voice of reason and laughter and more times than I can count someone that I can trust and in my life, especially in the last few years that has been about 5 people. As soon as she knew that I was getting a divorce she found a deal to go to California knowing I had never been to Disneyland and how badly I wanted to go to the Ocean. In May I had asked her if she wanted to go to Carrie Underwood with me, she told me she had gone 4 times, we decided not to go, and she surprised me with tickets for my birthday. Remember how I said I wanted a Christmas tree so badly? Well Natalie knew that and got her boyfriend's truck last, (the night before they drive to TEXAS)to help me get a Christmas tree even though she is allergic to them, (which she told me when we were picking one out.)She has just been one of the few people that has just got me, automatically. I can't think of a time that we have ever been angry at each other for longer than an hour, and that is saying something when it comes to two hard heads like us, she has never judged and has always encouraged me to be my best self. Natalie truly is one of the most Christ like people that I know. She is a completely real and genuine person. She sees people for what they are and doesn't judge them based on it, only encourages them. She has the biggest heart and is the most stubborn hard-hearted ass I have ever met. I will miss her more than I can think about, but I know that she is following the best path for her and I can't wait to hear about her new journey. I love you Nat-Bat, thank you for being everything I have needed so badly for so long, I literally wouldn't be alive without you. You're the greatest. Below I have added some of our pictures, somehow we always make the weirdest faces and catch them on pictures, but I think that fits us better than anything else.