Kerny.

Tonight, I'm having a hot dog and popcorn for dinner. A turkey hot dog and 94% fat free popcorn. And when I have hot dogs, I think of Courtney. Just go with me on this.

We always made good choices. Always.

Court transferred to Otterbein our sophomore year and pledged Theta Nu the same time I did. And thank god. If there's such a thing as fate, then it was definitely at work here. I wouldn't have made it through pledging, staying in the sorority, college, or just... Tuesday... without her. I've been missing her like crizazzy lately, so you people are subjected to a sappy post. Not sorry.

Some of my favorite memories of Courtney, in no particular order:

• Any time I had someone to make snarky comments with at chapter meetings.
• Having someone to talk to during pledging: as sophomores, we were definitely in the minority and sometimes Not In The Mood For This Shit because we were soooo much older and wiser. Right. But it was always good to have someone I could roll my eyes at while I crammed three facts about each active member into my head.
• The time in college I was real upset (about something stupid, I'm pretty sure), but tried to eat pizza anyway and wound up cry-choking on the crust. It was special.
• Watching her glow stick battle in a club in Indy.
• Sitting around, drinking wine, solving all the world's problems. I do believe this is what was happening in the above picture. Clearly, we are problem solvers.
• Convincing her it's ok to like a boy. No really. It's ok.
• Introducing her to the manfriend. And her subsequent approval.
• Any time we went to Cici's. And that's all I'll say about that.
• Seeing Kathy Griffen live.
• Her dance moves.
• The guy carrying his drunk (CLEARLY underage) ladyfriend out of a bar and dropping her on the concrete sidewalk, while her friend screamed "JESSSSIEEEE!!!" in her passed out face. Ok. Courtney isn't really the star of this memory, but she was there and we still laugh about it.

My college memories are pretty much all a blur of theatrical productions and Theta Nu shenanigans. With Court right at the center of the latter. And her hair. Damn, I was always jealous of that hair.

If it weren't for Court, I probably wouldn't have been so successful losing and keeping off the weight. If it weren't for her, I definitely wouldn't have started running. She convinced me to start running and we did a 5k together in Indy. My obsession with running is a direct result of this race. So, it's all her fault.

We won.

Court has always been my biggest cheerleader and my best friend. She's amazing and wonderful and 110% supportive, even when you think it's a good idea to dip Oreos in whiskey. I'm so lucky that we've been able to stay so close despite living 6 hours away from each other - and in different time zones. I'm so lucky to have a friend who will call me on my bullshit, let me ramble on about views on the world or cookies, travel across the country to see me, and always, always pour me another glass of wine. It is my sincerest hope and wish that we'll remain close friends for the rest of our lives.

We're grown ups now.