Jojo

I grew up in a small town in Colorado (Rifle) and lived 7 miles out of town. I had very few neighbors and even fewer LDS friends. So when an LDS family moved in right next door with a girl my age, I was thrilled! Come to find out, she became my best friend for life!! We each had capital letters in our names (JaNece, JoAnne) and every Christmas we'd get the same present! Like one year we each got scooters (hers was purple and mine was mint green), another year we got Cabbage Patch Preemies. We did EVERYTHING together. Swim lessons, 4-H, jumping on the tramp, making up dance moves/routines, sleep overs, walking to the bus, matching clothes and pajamas, sledding, riding bikes, watching "Princess Bride" over and over, playing "college" girls, or doing a British accent. She was a year older than me in school, but that didn't matter because we were inseperable. We went on each others family vacations and she was as much a part of my family as I was hers. She moved in when I was about 8 and she was 9. I was devestated when she moved to Utah after Junior High. Although she was far away, it didn't matter because we stayed in touch and visited each other. Later we became college roommates at Ricks. We had a blast there, just like we did when we were kids. She got married after the first year and a half, so I stayed behind while she moved on to the next stage in life. I was a few years behind her, but no matter the distance between us, we are still the best of friends. We went on a trip half way around the United States together and were in each others weddings and we stay in touch regularly. She has three adorable kids now and lives (lived) in Reno. She is actually moving to Washington D.C. in a couple of weeks. It's a long story, but she is moving to Turkey in another few months after her husband (who works for the DEA) finishes training in D.C. She was in town visiting her family in Layton and came by to see me. As always, things are the same between us and I cherish her friendship dearly! Love ya, Jojo!! I still can't believe it's been 23+ years of friendship. (We went through the big hair phase together and yes, we were pretty dorky, but hey, we had each other, so it was alright). Notice the twin towers in the 4th picture down. We went on a Ricks College "Mormon America Travel Studies Tour" there in 1996.