I have chosen a long time family friend, Paula, to be my July 2017 Lady of the Month portrait! I met Paula probably close to 25 years ago or so when her youngest daughter became friends with my littlest sister. Our families spent quite a bit of time together as we were growing up. We went on hikes, celebrated holidays, and also get together every year for a week on the beach (which is where I am writing this blog post). Paula is someone who I can always have an interesting conversation with and she has a great smile. And she is a lot of fun. One of my favorite memories is when she and my mom would have 40/50, 50/60 and 60/70 birthday parties. I’m glad that my parents became friends with the Dustons, and I think I have used that friendship to model some of my adult friendships after.