30 Days of Thankfulness- Friends

Friends are not always something I have had. I had some friends in elementary school. I did not have friends in middle school, until I switched schools, and then I did not have many friends. Sometimes this bothered me.  Sometimes I was not always thankful for my friends that I had. I don't think I was ever mean to them directly, but I know there were plenty of times when I wished I had more friends. I am very thankful for the friends I have today. My friends today are more important to me than some of the friendships I had when I was still in school.

My two closest friends are Kelli and Jess. Kelli and I have been friends since we were in 8th grade. We even managed to spend lots of time together after high school graduation, having weekly late-night TV viewing parties, going out to eat, and all these other fun things that I don't always get the chance to do anymore. I don't see Kelli nearly as much as I want to anymore. My work schedule gets in the way. My personal schedule gets in the way- there are weeks when I don't get to see Brandon very often because of our work schedules, and it is important to spend time with my husband. Her school schedule sometimes got in the way, and now her work schedule does. Social media makes maintaining friendships easier in so many cases, but she isn't online much, which is ok. Even though I don't get to spend as much time with her as I wish I could, I still treasure her. We have so much in common- we like a lot of the same music, movies, and TV shows. We have the same sense of humor, we like the same foods... when we were younger, we'd share cupcakes because she didn't like icing and I didn't like the cake part! If that's not the foundation for a fantastic friendship, I don't know what is.

Jess is my other closest friend. I am so glad that she came to work at my library. And I'm glad that she came back after she left for a better job at another branch! I'm glad we get to hang out when we work together on Monday nights, and I'm glad that I have her to talk to. In many ways, Jess often feels like the sister I never had.

I have other friends, too. Lauren, who has been my friend since we were very small. Sarah, who was the first person to even talk to me when I changed schools in 8th grade (and was, for a very long time, the only person who would even talk to me on the phone or come over to my house!) I have friendly relationships with people I have gone to school with or have met through the library, and most of those friendships are maintained online. It sounds weird, but I really am thankful for things like facebook, because without it, I wouldn't have as much social contact as I do, since I don't go out very often and am no longer doing things like going to school, where I'm constantly surrounded by people my own age.

So today (and every day) I am thankful for my friends, and the relationships that we have, and I'm thankful for the ways we stay close!

Kelli, Lauren, Sarah and myself at my birthday party thing this year (appetizers from O'Charley's and a Jurassic Park marathon. We know how to do it up right.)