and then i got to thinking. while, i wrote a post about each of the girls and why they are so awesome, i didn’t really say anything about myself. if any of you are writers out there, you know how hard it can be to write about yourself: it feels awkward, and especially when talking about how awesome you are, it feels like boasting.

so i asked the best writer i know, nicole to say a few words about me…and my awesome.

awesome: lesley

words by: nicole birkhold

A rose by any other name would still smell as sweet. Just as a Lesley by any other name would still be as Awesome.

As I sit and contemplate my friend Lesley, it’s hard not to cry. Call me sentimental and sappy, but the tears are happy tears. They come because when I think about Lesley, it’s not just the memories she and I have shared or the hard times she’s helped me through or the many like interests we share that come to mind, it’s the overall feeling Lesley evokes and I can’t help but consider myself one of the luckiest girls in the world to call her my friend.

There are few people in the world as genuine as LB. And the thing about her genuine nature is it’s kind. She’s genuinely Kind. Loving. Forgiving. Caring.

And Awesome. Did I mention that?

On top of her nature as a friend, she is downright rad. She is down for anything from a rollicking karaoke night to a mellow evening Sex and the City Trivia. Also, rarely does a fun, social event come along where you don’t see Lesley.

One random Tuesday night a couple of months ago, my roommates Tawnya and Heather and I decided to walk down to the bar about a block away to check out a band playing at an art showing put on my a couple of friends of friends. We were keeping it casual, sitting around chatting when who should walk through the door but Ms. Betts. Was I surprised? No. Was I stoked? You bet. Because having her at any gathering means better conversation, better company, better laughs and better memories just for having her there.

When it comes to social events, Lesley is a go-to. But more importantly, when it comes to friendship, Lesley is second to none. A constant. The person you know you can call any time of day, any day of the week. Got a funny story? She’ll laugh. Got a juicy gossip rumor? She’ll be appalled right along with you. Have some good news? She’ll be honestly happy for you. Have eyes full of tears and a mind full of troubles? She’ll be over in no time with her ever-present shoulder to cry on and ear to listen.

That’s my Awesome friend Lesley. Read it again, and try not to cry.

ah the end.

its bitter sweet.

what a better way to celebrate the end of an awesome adventure, then to celebrate two awesome people deciding to be awesome together until death does them part.

it was a beautiful (yet, windy) gathering of friends at caitlin’s ranch, with lots of laughter, dancing, drinking, and by far the most hilarious wedding vows i’ve ever heard.

congratulations to jennifer and jonathan!

all gussied up for the fun.

one of the more exciting parts of the adventure was a chance to finally meet caitlin and wheel’s horses. including the baby horse (not a pony), papita, or as i will forever remember her as “pizza”

east coast friends!

meggs.

sean.

stormy weather scares. in the end we won, no rain.

babez.

this is a photo documenting just how short meg is.

hot dude party.

wedding!

full on double rainbow.

madness.

most awesome thing of the night?
jennifer iced jon with her guarder! classic.

and with that. awesome has been done.

and i truly meant it.

as some of you know, nicole and i got off to a very interesting start. we had a tendency to crush on same boys, so it made things a little bit awkward. we also both have larger than life personalities and tend to command the presence in a room (just ask all the chicks at our book club…), so we kinda clashed at first. but over time, the walls came down and what was left was an amazing friendship.

in nicole i’ve found someone who always has my back, is willing to listen to all my bullshit (over and over agian), loves singing karaoke, and truly lives the “30daysofawesome” lifestyle.

she is creative, inspiring, hilarious, and always down for adventure.

love you nicole.

i’ve been through a lot of awesome in the last three years – lots of skateboard falling, plane flipping, and road tripping awesome. but what did i ever learn? that sometimes you have to remember that its the small kind gestures in our lives that are the most awesome of all…

the smile of a stranger.

the flattering text from a boy you like.

being told you’re doing an amazing job at work.

a dog kissing your nose.

sharing a birthday with one of your best friends!

today, nicole turned the big 29 – and i wouldn’t miss sharing that moment with her.

to make it extra awesome, i brought beautiful flowers for the beautiful girl.

happy birthday miss nicole birkhold!

fun fact. kevin bacon was also born on july 8th – one degree of kevin bacon, you win.

more awesome happening for one more day at 30daysofawesome.com!

truth. we all love true blood.

no, i’m very serious. we all do.

who hasn’t been sucked in (pun fully intended) to the tales of sookie and bill. not to mention the beautiful face of eric northman, the abs of jason stackhouse, and anything lc says, does, or doesn’t do. i go numb when he’s on screen.

that aside, i love true blood. and so does my friend amy chinn.
so when she suggested having a wine and true blood night – i was all in, but how to make it extra awesome?

i know. play-doh. or as we’re now calling it. true-doh.

we decided to spend our time crafting our favorite characters from the show. something that is equally silly and challenging all at the same time.

see if you can guess who we sculpted.

finished product. see if you can guess who these characters are.

give up? find out here.

who is it?

here.

the best! who is it?

if you didn’t get that last one…you’re not going to get this one.

its….

of course, you should figure it out now.

true-doh awesome.

28 days…see what the other girls of awesome got into today.

let me tell you a sad little tale of a girl named lesley betts. the girl who didn’t learn to ride a bike until she was 11. little did i know that out there in the world, groups of children were riding their bikes around enjoying summers, starting bike gangs, doing extra cool tricks, and having the time of their lives. i could have been a part of this awesome, but alas, i was afraid.

even after learning how to ride (thanks emily koning), i still struggled to ride a bike with any ease.

this photo should be an indicator of how awesome my biking skillz are:

however, after many years and a few attempts to get better. i decide it was really time to start being a biker. so i bought a bike. a big girl bike.

brand new felt brougham single speed sexy bitch.

this is how i felt when i got it (only watch the first 30 seconds…)

seriously. i couldn’t contain my excitement. i knew i had to tell someone, and that someone is mr. jonathan uda. king of all things hipster and bikes. infact, it was me drunkenly riding around his fixie in salt lake city that inspired my recent purchase.

he responded with these detailed instructions:

Step 1. Jorts (Jean Shorts preferably fraid) & Tanks (Typically the striped kind)
Step 2. Big frame sunglasses.
Step 3. Ability to drink whiskey like it is water
Step 4. Buy these.
Step 5. Listen to this.
Step 6. Wear these.
Step 7. Read this.
Step 8. Subscribe to this.
Step 9. get your upgraded components from here.
Step 10.. BE YOU!

Thats all folks. See you next time when you tune into how to be a hipster like Jon Uda

so i took uda’s advice, but on some jorts, and i took a 3 hour ride around on my new toy, with my old city.
i seriously felt like that 11 year old, who just learned how to ride a bike: anxious to go everywhere, smiling at everyone they pass, singing out loud with the song on my ipod. i am hooked!

yes we do!

more awesome can be found here.

its no secret that i’m a little crazy. overzealous in fact.

this is one of those crazy days, when i’ve decided to dust off the old rubik’s cube and attempt to beat my old high school record (1 minute, 3 seconds)

for about 2 hours, i tried and tried. its amazing how you know the moves, but how your hands can’t seem to catch up with your brain. i finally got back into the 1 minute, 30 second range. but alas, could not get under a minute.

so happy when i started, little did i know the frustration ahead of me.

eventually my hands got cramped, and the cube itself started to lock up. as you can see on attempt #25, frustration got the best of me, as i couldn’t seem to get the right corners out of the wrong places. over 2 minutes? i’m better than that.

then i started to get serious.

first i lubed up the cube with some lotion.

sean informed me that back in the day, packy and wallace used to brag about cube lube and speedcubing. packy told me his fasted time was the “speed of light”

after 4 hours…

i finally got 58.4 seconds.

and promptly quit.

lots of awesome happening. check it out.

happy birthday america!

today, sean and i ventured down to the cherry creek arts festival. lots of independent artists and fun fourth of july spirit.
sadly, these days i’m not pulling in lots of bank – so today we looked, not touched (bought)….maybe someday.

aching for art.

bubbles!

fin.

more awesome located here.

this morning was awesome. i played a little golf with my brothers (sadly…no photos), and shot a 94. i know, not impressive to rory mcilroy – but honestly pretty impressive for me. considering i don’t play golf as much as i used to. i read somewhere that less than 25% of all golfers can shoot under 100. that i call awesome.

in the afternoon i broke out some old boxes of photos, took a trip down memory lane and got creative.

a while ago my friend hannah gave me some homemade magnets. i had always wanted to get creative and make my own. thank god for awesome!

boxes and boxes of photos and memories from high school and college.

set list from less than jake.

tickets to all the shows from my youth…and of course the ticket to the infamous ultimate rock show.

when i was 16, i ripped this dress out of a magazine and promised i would wear it on my wedding day. (here’s hoping…sean…cough, cough)

kenny from starting line. ian from nfg. incase you didn’t notice, i liked music…went to a lot of shows…flirted with a lot of band dudes.

nsync and the neighborhood boys!

prom!

jackpot! photo proofs from our trip to chamonix. perfect size for making some magnets!

justin timberlake!

my brother! haha

my favorite magnet. a photo of courtney falling in chamonix.

buttons!

awesome. (also, cleavage)

30daysofawesome is happenign all over the world.
jess, nicole, tawnya, kait, heather, amanda , and angeli are getting awesome too. check their blogs for more awesome.