Whew! I'm exhausted! Its been a while since my last post 'cause... we moved! We are officially into our new place and we couldn't be more relieved! We moved progressively, a bit each day over a weeks' time. I was so glad we could do it slowly instead of having a huge task to do all at once. Last week we cleaned every day Monday-Friday. It got to be a lot. I was SO tired of having to go over there EVERY DAY. I was literally going on my lunch breaks to do a little bit, then going as soon as I got off work, staying til around 9:30, coming home and basically going to bed. It was awful. I felt like I was working ALL THE TIME. I love me some me time, chillin' on the couch watchin' my flix. Yeah, judge all you want. ;) I'll get pics up sometime soon of the new place, but its serving us really well. Tons of storage space and much cheaper rent, it's fantastic!
One thing that came to mind in the past few weeks was the nature of friendship. As a kid, friends are the hooligans you run around the playground with, playing your silly games based off your favorite books or movies, or of course, the natural "kissing tag" (where the boys chase you around trying to tie you to trees with plastic jump ropes... Wait, you didn't play that? Awkard... :S) If you're a really "cool," you'll maybe play night-games like Kick the Can or Ghost in the Graveyard on weekends.
As you age, you start to "hang" outside school and maybe even on weeknights. You fight with your parents about how its not a big deal to spend time with your girlfriends AND the guys you hang out with at school. They're so irrational! Why is it such a big deal to hang out with boys?
You get a little bit older and it hits you... Oh! That boy (or girl) IS kinda cute... You maybe start fantasizing about asking them on a date... But of course, you can't date them if it's just you guys (until you're 18)... So you settle for High School dances. You find creative ways to ask them out-- anything from trashing their bedrooms to making them crazy kinds of treats with papers in them. You stress for weeks about the dress, the hair, the date. Every nice thing they say makes you think "Maybe they like me!" The big night comes and its everything you dreamed it would be! Then the doorstep scene... and it all comes crashing down on you... That they're just your friend and you had a good time. Which when you're older and look back on it, it's great! Why did you have to put SO much pressure on that night and that person? They're such a great friend and you have a great memory together.
In college you realize you can hang out with WHOEVER you want at ANY TIME of DAY or NIGHT!!! FREEEEEEEDOOMMMMM!!! You pull all-nighters, doing stupid stuff, cramming for tests together, comparing answers on papers, and getting into the occasional bit of trouble. Dating isn't a huge deal, its cool if it happens or not. Don't get me wrong, there are definitely times of craziness, jealousy, heartbreak and tears, but at the end of the day, you've got your roommates. And they've ALWAYS got your back. You have your fights or frustrations, but you learn to forgive each other. You either think back fondly on shared experiences or BUST UP LAUGHING when you hear that one song on the radio all those years later-- life-long friends.
Then there's your BEST FRIEND. The one that gets you the way no one else does. You have shared experiences in your respective lives, that bring you SO close, that no one quite understands. Inside jokes abound between you. They are the one you call when your heart is broken into a million pieces, they're the only person that can put a smile back on your face, but at the same time, they can give you a shoulder to cry on and don't have to say anything to comfort you in the perfect way. An amazing friendship that is so hard to define.
Once you marry, it really changes. Hard to say how, it just does. You find couples you both enjoy spending time with, but there's almost an unspoken curfew again... It's not acceptable to hang out all night, you miss that! But at the same time, you want your own time together before you go to bed. Its such a weird and confusing desire.
I am so grateful for my friends. You know who you are. You have made me a better person. You've challenged me, supported me and taught me so much about life. I am so grateful for the opportunity to see you grow as I grow, to bond over the things we both encounter, and the things we each face individually. You are the absolute best! I can't wait to see what life has in store for us and how our friendship grows.
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