Dear A1 since Day 1,

I knew it was the start of something awesome when I met you in a kindergarten class of some of the last true 90s kids. Your pink Crocs and pigtails were too stylish to ignore, and we bonded immediately over our love of all the OG Disney movies. When we weren't playing dress up or fretting about boys being gross, we were stuffing our mouths with the quintessential snacks: popcorn, Goldfish and fruit punch.

Over the next 15 years we grew into adventurers, music connoisseurs and each other's favorite comedians. There are a few things I want to thank you for because, without them, I might still be a self-conscious tomboy with our infamous box-cut fro bangs.

Thank you for being my biggest fan. Even when my perception of myself was in the basement, your encouragement and kindness put me on the roof! You were always the first to call when I achieved a goal and the last to doubt that I could do it. Every successful hero has an ego-boosting sidekick - you just happen to be both!

Thank you for allowing me to release my inner Mia Thermopolis. You have more awkward things happen to you than anyone I know, and that allowed me the freedom to embrace the awkwardness life throws at me and say, "I'm fine, you're fine, it's fine!" Also, can we take a moment and recognize The Princess Diaries as one of the building blocks in the foundation of our friendship?

Thank you for challenging me by example. You may not realize it, but you are one of the kindest, most pure-hearted people I have ever met, and it makes it hard to be negative or frustrated around you (which is a good thing!). I am reminded of how to treat people even when the situation is difficult when I am with you. Thank you for that blessing.

Thank you for including me. You always invited me to go on the coolest adventures with you and always made time to hang out. Life is busy, but you continued to pursue our friendship without a second thought as to what is most important. I have never doubted the status of our friendship because you have always made it easy to reciprocate the pursuit.

Thank you for eating with me. We have likely consumed more calories when we've been together than I have personally in my entire adult life. But I wouldn't trade our annual Christmas cookie baking or monthly fro-yo runs for anything.

Finally, thank you for listening to me, being there in the hard seasons, and going above and beyond what I often feel I deserve. Aside from all the memories we have made together, I can always count on the serious talks and venting to be just as fruitful. Plus, it is always comforting to know I have goofy videos of you to lift my spirits when you aren't around.

There are so many more things to thank you for, but this is what I could fit in an article. You are my "A1 since Day 1," and I'm sure I will have another popular slang nickname for you in the next 15 years, but until then, as the final song in Freaky Friday by Lindsey Lohan states, "You're it! You're the ultimate!"

P.S. Thank you for introducing me to Jimmy Fallon. We will see him live one day!