While the Traveling Journal keeps us connected year around, there’s nothing that can replace the excitement and thrill of getting together.  After our last minute trip to the Big Apple in July, we had something else to look forward to in October: The Dominican Republic.

On October 9^th, Morgenne, Dawn, Tonya and I met in at Dreams Punta Cana in the Dominican.  Alison couldn’t make it.  First off, people there couldn’t believe that we were 32 years old!  I just wanted to throw that in there because it made me feel really good.  We all dieted and exercised a lot to get ready for our swimwear.  Dawn’s husband, Dave was kind enough to treat us all to facials while we were there!

If you can manage to do a girl trip, take full advantage.  We took about 500 pictures between the four of us and we have so many new beautiful memories and pictures from our time in the Dominican.  From the new friends we made from the UK and Boston to the evening we played Truth or Dare.  There’s nothing like girlfriends that can make you feel young and free again.  I can’t wait to add my new pictures into our Traveling Journal.  

If you’re thinking of taking a girl trip and need advice or help, feel free to email any of us.  friends@thetravelingjournal.com For 12 years it’s been a tradition for the five of us to meet somewhere at least once a year.  This year, we were lucky enough to see each other twice. 

So while the Traveling Journal will keep you close during your ‘off’ time, there’s nothing that will ever replace human contact.

We love showing that long distance friendship works. That’s why we’re excited to introduce you to Jen and her best friend Ewuraekua. They’ve been BFFs for 15 years, but Jen is boarding a flight for Rwanda on September 13 to begin her service as a Peace Corps Education Volunteer. She’ll be gone 27 months– but they’ve developed a keep-in-touch plan that includes sharing a Traveling Journal.

TTJ: How does it feel knowing you’ll be away from your best friend for so long?

Jen: The prospect of going on this journey without my best friend scares me a bit and the idea of saying goodbye to someone who has been such a positive force in my life is heartbreaking.

TTJ: How did you and Ewuraekua meet?

Jen: Ewuraekua and I met in 7th grade, we were in a few classes together and had a few other mutual friends. I was kind of a nerdy kid and I kind of clung to her, she was really extremely welcoming. Coming into high school we became extremely close and continued that friendship when she lived in Ghana with her family for sophomore year, it was extremely difficult not having her here to share that part of high school – learning to drive, boys, new friends, school etc. We have always been close – she and I – and we have grown into our own people now and we’ve come to appreciate how special our friendship is.

TTJ: How have you managed to stay close for so long?

Jen: We can both get busy with life, relationships, graduating college etc – but we always seem to be able to come back to each other and it is as if nothing has changed. She has truly been one of the greatest friends a girl could ask for and the greatest gift I can give her in return is my friendship. She’s currently working with autistic children in Philadelphia while setting herself up to go back to graduate school for Psychology while I graduated with my teaching credentials and plan to come back and explore my options here as well as abroad. She will be the last person I say goodbye to before leaving for Rwanda, and neither of us would have it any other way.

TTJ: How do you plan to stay in touch while you’re away for so long?

Jen: A few weeks ago, we were discussing things we could do to keep in touch, facebook, iChat, emails – all of these seemed a bit impersonal. She came across your website and we instantly fell in love with this idea! We plan to use your concept in our own way – sort of – we have devised rules and a plan of how this would work but the bottom line is that for the entire 27 months of my service in Rwanda, I’ll be more connected to my best friend than I had ever imagined.

TTJ: How do you think having the Traveling Journal will keep you connected?

Jen: I know this way missing the events, the moments, the shopping trips and funny commentary – won’t be nearly as bad. I wanted simply to email and thank you for creating this project. I love the idea, I cannot wait now to start our first (of what I’m sure will be many) journal.

This was the first time I had ever been to New York City.  I had never really thought about taking a trip there because I am more of a tropical trip type girl.  I love nature and being outdoors, so if I was to plan a trip it would be to a place where I could be in the sunshine doing fun outdoor activities or laying on a sandy beach somewhere. Don’t get me wrong, I was very excited when I found out that my best friends and I were going to take a trip to New York City together. 

Alison and Melissa have been to New York City a few times so they already had an idea of what to expect.  The one thing I wanted to make sure we made time for was to go to Central Park.  That sounded like my kind of place in a big, cement filled city. Green grass, big trees, rocks, park benches, water and  running trails… sign me up!

As we walked to the park it was early on a Sunday morning.  I remember noticing that the streets were actually quiet.  Not much traffic, so no taxi cabs honking, and not even very many people out walking the streets. I was surprised to feel very relaxed and comfortable.  A little part of me was getting really excited to see the park for the first time.  I had my camera ready to capture all the scenery. 

We crossed the street by the Plaza Hotel and saw all of the horse drawn carriages waiting at the entrance.   We walked a few more steps on the trail and I immediately saw a small pond with ducks swimming around and a man fishing.  A small bridge with crawling vines was just behind him, just like a scene from the movies.  I thought for another minute, as I stared at the bridge, and I remembered that this bridge looked very familiar.  It had been used in a movie.

We walked further into the park noticing all of the people running and walking their dogs.I found myself having mixed emotions.  A part of me was very comfortable and relaxed to be in such a beautiful place, but the other part of me was excited as I noticed all of the familiar scenes.  I took so many pictures of fountains, stairs, street vendors,  park benches and pathways that looked familiar from some of my favorite movies. We even decided to go to “the boathouse” (from the movie  27 Dresses) to take a row boat out on the water. We spent an hour on the water laughing, taking pictures and enjoying Central Park together.

Central Park was just as beautiful, clean and inviting as it is in the movies! 

One of the hardest parts of my young life would have to be the divorce of my parents when I was seven years old.  I was devastated!  My dad moved out of our house and eventually bought a house on South Lemon Street in Sioux City, Iowa.  As I got used to his new neighborhood, I also started to make new friends.

One block away was my new friend Jessica’s house.  We would play downstairs in her basement for hours.  Our favorite activities were playing “business”.  We developed our own business and took turns being customers to each other so we could sell things and run the cash register. (That was our favorite part!)  We also set up a school and took turns being the teacher and student. This came very naturally to both of us because both of our parents were teachers.  We would pass out papers (extra math worksheets and color pages that I had gotten from my teachers at school) and teach on her small chalkboard.  Our favorite thing to do at Jessica’s house was to play “quizzard” which was the Sale of the Century board game.  Jessica enjoyed playing, for the most part, but she had to be the host of the game because she knew all the questions an answers. She loved to reveal all of the prizes that we had won by the end of the game.

As we grew up and went through middle school, high school and college we remained very close friends.  As we got older we started to spend the night often, sometimes camping in a tent in my backyard. When we got our driver’s license she was the one who had a car first so we loved to go to the mall, visit friends and “cruise the loop”.  We created so many memories by being in chorus, cheerleading, musicals, show choir and hanging out with our great group of friends.

 I remember her beautiful blue eyes and gorgeous thick, curly hair. She had a laugh that would make me laugh even harder.  She was such an intelligent, goofy and fun loving person.  I am so thankful that I had such a great friend in my life!Jessica taught me to live each day to the fullest and losing her reminds me to love, respect and cherish family and friends in my life.

Ten years ago today, I lost a wonderful friend.  I really miss you Jessica!

Slut Biatch.  That’s how Jessica and I became friends.  Who or what is Slut Biatch you may ask.  Slut Biatch was this little doll I had in the 10^th grade.  She was a little one inch cupie doll.  She wore a little orange and black crocheted outfit and she hung from my book bag.  Jessica was infatuated with Slut Biatch.  I was thankful to Slut Biatch because she brought Jessica and I together.

Jessica had beautiful blue eyes, thick dark curly hair, which she hated, and olive skin.  I can still picture her with braces and then her pretty straight smile after they came off.

She had an infectious laugh and might have been as weird as  me.   On my 16^thbirthday she made flyers with a swimsuit picture of me that said, “Sweet 16 and never been kissed” and posted them all over the school.  She made me laugh, everyday.

Jessica and Melissa dress up for 80's night in the summer of 1999.

We were in cheerleading, showchoir and musicals together.  We spent many hours at each other’s houses.  After graduation, Jessica headed to the University of Nebraska and I ended up in L.A.  The last time I saw Jessica was in Tonya’s basement Christmas of 2000.  That’s the last time both of us were home in Sioux City.

In the next several months, Alison, Dawn, Morgenne, Tonya, Jessica and I planned a trip to Las Vegas at the end of July 2001.  I even made ‘Vegas Baby 2001’ shirts for us all to wear while to  the NSYNC concert we’d all be attending.But tragically, Jessica never got to wear her shirt.  She was killed in a car accident the weekend before we were going to go.  I put the shirt I had made her in her casket, she was so excited to go on the trip.

Her mom still wanted us to take our trip since Jessica would have wanted it that way, so we did.  While we were all still in shock over the loss of our friend, but we still managed to act ridiculous and have a good time.  Jessica was there with us, we could feel it.

From that moment on, we knew how important friendships were and how fast they can be taken away.  We never take one another for granted now and we know we will always be friends, no matter what.  And when we all meet Jessica once again someday, I know it’ll be just like old times, with our group reconnected once again.

Jessica died 10 years ago today but her memory definitely lives on in the five of us.

Excitement filled my body as I got the news that my four best friends and I were going make an appearance on The Today Show.  My pure excitement soon turned to fear as I thought about all of the the things I needed to do before I took off for New York City. Nails, lay out in the sun, shop for the perfect outfit along with shoes and accessories. Getting just the right outfit was stressful enough, but having to do my own hair and make up would have be too much. Panic really set in as I realized that I would be seen on national television and I am not an expert, not by far, at applying make up or doing my hair. 

As the show approached we received more details about what would be happening  and I was so relieved to hear that the show would be doing our hair and make up. Thank goodness!!

After checking in at NBC Studios, we headed to the green room to begin our television transformation.  (We thought this might take a while!)  Minutes after setting foot in the green room we were all called over to the chairs.  Melissa, Alison and Dawn started with their hair while Tonya and I got or make up done first. Then… the switch. I was really impressed with how quickly they got the five of us ready for the show. I think I was in the chair for maybe 15 minutes.  They really can make miracles happen in a very short time! All of the hair and make up people were extremely friendly! Everyone involved at The Today Show really made our experience great!

Being in ‘The Wall Street Journal’ has drawn some excitement into my life.  Before the article, not many people knew me.  And now, thanks to the article, maybe a few more people know who I am!  But most of all, people who already knew me or perhaps met me briefly recognize my name or picture in the article.

Here's the second picture of us published in the Wall Street Journal.

I work in concerts and events for my full-time job.  It surprised me to hear from someone I had recently worked with from Live Nation.  Live Nation represents big names like Tim McGraw, Sugarland and Ke$ha.  So it surprised me when I heard from someone with Live Nation who remembered working with me earlier this year, recognized me in the Wall Street Journal piece.

A local radio station in Sioux City also thought it was a big deal.  Since I work in concerts and events, I’ve been on the radio on a few occasions in the past, so they called me early in the morning to talk to me about the article.  Tony Michaels and Candice Nash with KSUX 105.7 woke me up the day after the article came out.  Tony always refers to me with my first and last name so when he first woke me up around 7:30 in the morning, I didn’t realize I was on the radio right away.  Then I caught on.  You can kind of hear that in my voice.  Melissa on KSUX 105.7

I talk about The Traveling Journal for most of the interview, but Tony and Candice also ask me about the other thing that made me very infamous in Sioux City.  My ‘We Built Sioux City’ video.  Go ahead and watch it.  I made both videos on this website and I made ‘We Built Sioux City’ around the same time last year.  It got a lot of local and a bit of national attention.  People often think the city of Sioux City or the Chamber of Commerce made the video, but that’s not true.  I did, on my own time.  Some people collect stamps, others make model planes; I enjoy making videos.  So when Tony and Candice ask me about the video at the end of this interview, that’s what they’re referring to.

My internet and Wall Street Journal fame have both been fun.  They’ve both been good conversation pieces and both made me somewhat famous.  In my mind anyway!

Often times people just wanna hear about the good things or the exciting things that happen in life. When people ask, “how are you doing?” They want you to say that everything is alright because sometimes people don’t know how to respond to, “it’s not a good day.” You’re true friends want to hear about the good, the bad, and the ugly.

I am so lucky that I can share those bad days with four best girlfriends and they will love me no matter what. My father passed away this year and I could not have received more support from each one of these girls. This event will definately be something I add in our journal. So know that this journal can have its ups and downs throughout it but what is amazing is how you can look back at these challenging events in five years and see how you’ve grown from them!! It has been a difficult year for me but I know my friendship with these women and our traveling journal are constants in my life and give me something to look forward to. So don’t be afraid to add the hardships that come along in life with your journals! “That’s what friends are for….in good times and bad times I’ll be on your side forever more….thats what friends are for…” haha …click here to see the video!!  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0oSpBp4QX74

I have a slight obsession.  Any show that starts with these three words, “Real Housewives of….” Beverly Hills, Orange County, New York, Miami.  You name it, I watch it.  It’s quite shameful, you know.

I’m mostly obsessed with the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills.  I went to college in L.A., so I think that’s why I feel especially close to this show.  I’m inspired by Kyle Richards to be a smart, sassy and classy woman.  Her sister Kim Richards makes me want to stop after just two drinks.  Lisa VanderPump is gorgeous and I would kill to look that good when I’m her age.  Camille Grammer needs a hug and Taylor Armstrong needs to stay away from the lip plumper.

Why are so many of us obsessed with the “Real Housewives”?  It’s simple, it’s because it’s fun to watch the drama that goes into these so called “friendships”.  I mentioned that Camille could use a hug, but really she could use ‘The Traveling Journal’ and some best girlfriends to help fill it up.  Camille obviously wouldn’t choose any of the other women on the Real Housewives to write in her journal, but maybe her friend Alison Dubois, the medium.

The key to “The Traveling Journal” is having your very best friends help to fill the pages.  Don’t waste your time sending it to a fare whether friend, make sure she’s worth the effort.  It’ll make you feel so much love when you get it back, something I know Camille could have used, especially all those times Kyle Richards ended up picking on her.

And we all know that Lisa’s only journal friend would ultimately be… Giggy.

Instead of holding a diamond, an orange or a peach, these 'Real Housewives' are holding our 'Traveling Journal'

We here at The Traveling Journal love staying fit. We all have our own workout routines, but sometimes we need help keeping fitness fun. That’s why we fell in love with Fit Bottomed Girls. BFFs Jenn and Erin launched the site together but ended up moving to different parts of the country. Jenn is in the Midwest and Erin is in New Jersey. They had so much fun and experienced so much success that they decided to launch Fit Bottomed Mamas. We wanted to know more about these long distance, blogging buddies  which is why we made them the focus of this edition of Friendship Files.