Nathan Matson, we think you're grand.

Lobsters, today is our friend Nathan's birthday, [Happy Birthday Nathan!] and we felt that he deserved a post of his own. He is a super loyal friend, a fun, goofy guy, and an all around wonderful person. Nathan is one of the first people I think of when I remember college, which is interesting because we only ever had one class together. Some favorite Nathan memories:


[btw - as we try to do with our posts, but may be confusing here without stating it out right, Emily writes in this font, and Zoe writes in this font, so you know the difference between us]


In my first week at Westmont, I was going stir crazy on that tiny but beautiful campus because I only knew one guy there and I hardly ever saw him. So I decided to hop on the shame shuttle (the bus provided for those of us without cars, which was all freshmen) and go downtown just to explore. When I got on the bus, the one guy I knew was there with his roommate, Nathan! They invited me to hang out with them, and we had a blast eating at Ruby's and wandering State Street.


Nathan was super intense about his studies from year one. But almost every night freshman year, he would blare Run DMC's "It's Tricky" and completely spazz. I'm talking flailing, standing on his desk chair, jumping around like he was a one man mosh pit. Impressive stuff.


That reminds me about how addicted to coffee Nathan was/is. He would pound espresso like there was no tomorrow. I'll never forget the day someone told him there was such a thing as caffeinated soap. His responding look of extreme excitement was a little bit terrifying. 

We used to hike. A lot. And always to the same place. We actually went so often at one point that we named a pair of frogs that we'd hear along the trail (Frida and...crap, I forget the other).

The arches!

I also remember hiking up to the arches with Nathan, and hearing a rattlesnake in the bushes just off the path on the way up. It freaked us all out, and we ran past. On the way back down, the snake had ventured into the path itself, and we did not know what to do. Nathan, being the only guy in the group, bravely marched off, found a big rock and was about to lunge it at the snake, when mercy overtook him, he held back, watched the snake retreat, and guided us all past safely. The Texan in me was a little disappointed not to get to kill something that night, the me in me was a little bit ashamed of that disappointment and glad Nate was there to control the situation.


Nathan once took me to lunch and to see Hitch, just because.

Junior year, a bunch of girls wanted to surprise their boyfriends, who all happened to be good friends, for Valentine's Day. Nathan was part of that group, so I got to be his date that night! He tried to get me to eat sea cucumber. I declined. And Senior year, Nathan gave me a bouquet of flowers on Valentine's Day with the sweetest note about how much he valued our friendship. 


Senior year, as a last hoorah for college, a few of us went up to Yosemite for spring break. This shot of Nathan is one of the most memorable and happy moments of that trip:

Nathan and our friend Aaron took me to The Press Room for the first time. That's all I'll say about that.

One night, I was out with a big group of girls at a club. I got super uncomfortable and claustrophobic, so I left. But I was on State Street late in the evening without a car. Somehow, I remembered Nathan's cell number, called him, and found him and a big group at a restaurant nearby. You may recall my post on Comfort Friends - this was another perfect example. I felt instantly at ease when I found Nathan, Aaron, and the others that night.



One time, Nathan made me climb the giant boulder between our dorms.

Was that the boulder right outside my window? There were always topless guys on there, strange site to see at odd hours day and night! Glad to see you two had your tops on! That's awkward, Zoe.


I remember getting together with Westmont friends after college. Nathan, being a great long-distance friend, worked hard to make these occasions frequent. I remember a particularly fun get together, flying kites at Cesar Chavez park in Berkeley [the location where the happy kite-flying scene of Kite Runner was filmed, btw]. Nathan has a tendency to bring out the fun-crazy side of my husband, and I love it!

Manny & Nathan go fly a kite 

I remember when Nathan brought his girlfriend down from Seattle to the Bay Area to come meet some of his Westmont pals. To get to know each other and investigate whether we all approved of this stranger stealing away our Nathan, we all went to see a Harry Potter movie. I have blocked out which one it was for reasons that will momentarily be obvious. Within moments of the movie beginning, a drunken punk-face behind me vomited right on my head/shoulders. Everyone else was so grossed out and wouldn't get near me, but Annie, who works with little kids for a living, was entirely unfazed, dare I say, bored, by my little incident. I was impressed. I am glad we chose to give her our vote of approval, thankful for Nathan bringing her into our lives, and impressed at who she has helped Nathan grow into. 


Even after college, Nathan and I remained close. I'll never forget him opening one of the doors for me to walk down the aisle when Jeff and I got married. He said "This is your moment," which was so cheesy, and so perfect. I'll also never forget seeing him look so joyful the first time he saw his beautiful bride, Annie, on their wedding day.

Proof of beautiful bride, Annie, stolen from facebook.  Isn't she pretty?!

Not only did Nathan prove to be a great buddy throughout college, but when he moved to the Bay Area while Manny was doing grad-school at Berkeley, it meant we got to go to the same church together and have him as a good neighbor [you realize, Nathan, that you need to keep up this trend and move yourself and Annie out here to Maine now, right?!]. We got to be leaders for our church together, serve together with the nonprofit, Project Peace, visit the Vivarium and watch Nate geek out over lizards, visit nurseries and watch Nate geek out over cacti, play hours upon hours of Carcassonne/Mexican Train/Bang!/etc. [where Nathan almost always won], cook dinner for each other [once, he spent at least 3 hours preparing a rabbit stew for us - be impressed!], and generally enjoying one another's company. At the end of Manny's and my spring-break-staycation one year, an afternoon around Rockridge with Nate and Annie was a great way to end a great week. Here they are enjoying some affogato, remember how I mentioned Nate is obsessed with coffee? 

I was actually only pretending to take a picture of
Nate and Annie here to look smooth
 while trying to capture Danny Glover walking past.
It was a fail that turned into a cute picture nonetheless. 

I remember when Annie and Nathan allowed me to crash at their awesome pad for a week while I was homeless in the Bay Area finishing up my PPSC credentialing and Manny started his job down in San Diego. That week was filled with good talks that went into late nights, and a pleasant casual hospitality that exemplifies the great couple these two are. One moment in particular that stuck out to me was when they handed me a cute little gift for my baby Sofia [I was about four months pregnant]. Nathan was SO excited I was afraid he was going to pee his pants. I opened up to find a smattering of really sweet presents, mostly picked out by Annie. But it also included a "baby's first otter" Nathan had picked out himself at the Monterey Bay Aquarium. Seeing him so thrilled to love on my child that he didn't even know yet was pretty darn precious. Sofia loves that otter, btw!


Nathan, I am real grateful you were born! I hope you're enjoying a fantastic day today! Happy Birthday!

Nathan, I am proud to be your friend. Happy birthday, buddy!