In Awe of A Friend

I went to Joplin on Thursday to visit my friend Kim.  I first met Kim when we worked together at a real estate office.  We didn't hang out or anything. She probably lived about 5 miles from me out here in the country, but we never visited each other.  We just worked in the same office.  I really didn't even get to know her at all.  I think it might have been a stressful time for both of us and we stuck to business. Three years later (and thanks to facebook) we have reconnected in a much better way. Since then, she has moved from a farm near me, to Joplin, 65 miles away.
She is so amazing. She is a military mom with 2 sons in service to our country (and for YOU).  Thank you for your service Dylan and Jared! She is involved with the Patriot Guard, a group that every American should be proud of.  During the immediate aftermath of the Joplin Tornado, she jumped in and helped in ways that would bring tears to your eyes if you knew.  In fact, when my husband went to Joplin with a truckload of supplies very shortly after that disaster struck, Kim was one of the first people he ran into.  She hugged him. It was the first thing he told me when he came home that evening.  She told me yesterday what she had been doing on that day....I hope he hugged her hard.
On a lighter note, we had been talking a little on facebook and I was admiring some of her work she does at her business "Junk n Pretties".  (She can take something ugly and make it really beautiful.)  I told her she was living my dream and I meant it.  So one night last October, I was working at our haunted maze and I heard a familiar voice call my name.  I looked around and there was Kim and her husband, Chad!  I didn't even know she was coming!  What a great surprise.  We had a nice, but short visit and she invited me to come to Joplin.  It took several months to get there, but I went yesterday and had a blast! 
She is so cool.  She has a cool shop in an old building in downtown Joplin and we went there first.  You have to get in one of those old freight elevators to get up there and I've always wanted to ride in one!  Here is my friend Kim in that cool elevator:

Her workshop is so huge and packed with tons of treasures she's working on.  I felt like a kid in a candy store looking at all of that.  I also realized what great vision she has and how hard she works at her passion!  Here is a part of her workspace and some of her cool treasures:

You can check out some of her finished products at the Junk n Pretties link on the right under "Blogs I Love".
After checking out her workspace, we went up to her her home.  Did I mention that she lives in loft apartment right downtown Joplin?!  She is so hip!  It is beautiful. It was on the loft tour last month. Some of her Christmas decorating was featured on Country Living Magazines website. It is filled with lots of her awesome work.
We went and checked out some of the shops around that sell stuff similar to hers.  That was fun!  Then she took me to see a place where she sells some of her stuff.  It was so cool!  She is very good at what she does and keeps on top of what is hot on the market. 
We ate lunch at Panera, checked out another shop, had coffee at Starbucks and then, sadly it was time for me to head home.  I wish we didn't live so far apart.  I learned that we have a lot in common and she is the kind of person who lifts you up just by being around her.  I'm so glad that we got a chance to get to know each other better and I can't wait until she comes here and we can go poking around for some treasures!