The beauty of simplicity: Hometown glory.

I set aside the next hour and a half to study, but I've been lacking inspiration for the past two days and of course I found it at 8 this morning, so here we go.

Friendships are the sweetest part of my life. I find the MOST joy in sitting in the presence of people I love. I like to talk and encourage them, but more than anything I love simply sitting with them. I speak my loudest words through silence and facial expressions. As much as I love and cling to words I find peace in the silent conversation going on between myself and the people around me.

It is no secret that I am LOUD, LOUD, LOUD. I can't tell you how many times a day someone tells me to stop yelling at them. (My parents actually thought I had a hearing problem when I was little because I talked so loud…) Sometimes people think I am in a bad mood or frustrated when I'm not talking, but really I'm enjoying the sitting back and listening.

I AM RICH IN GOOD FRIENDS. I have the 4 most beautiful, free spirited hometown best friends that I talk to all the time. These girls KNOW ME. They understand my silence and my loud, excited, high pitched squeals. The 5 of us ALL got together for the first time since Christmas last Friday and we had to leave the restaurant we were being so loud. One of us would walk in the door and we would all stand up and greet each other with the sweet hugs and big smiles. It felt like we were in a movie, five best friends reuniting, all trying to talk over each other, trying to tell this story and that story. I'm pretty sure at one point we had to start taking turns talking. All 4 of these sweet girls plan on being teachers and I do not so you can imagine how often I have to sit back and just listen to what they have to say. We moved to a table outside of the restaurant so we could talk louder and make all the inappropriate jokes we wanted to without being judged by the highly annoyed waitresses… For a good 30 minutes I sat back and let the 4 of them talk out student teaching stories, this kid did that stories and all that other teacher stuff I know NOTHING about.

I was looking off into the distance, letting them talk talk talk, while I took in the fact that I was at my favorite hole in the wall mexican food restaurant with my favorite people. I was also taking in the fact that things were about to really change for all of us. College has been easy, we have not lost an ounce of contact-- we talk ALL THE TIME. But real life is HERE.

Life is so cool in the way it is so consistent yet changing ALL the time. There are aspects of my life that alter, but ultimately stay the exact same and these girls are part of that consistency. It has always been known that every Thanksgiving, Christmas and at least a week or two out of the summer we would all be able to sit down and catch up face-to-face. A piece of that consistency will be changing in the next few months and that is just as sad as it is exciting. Since we were in high school we've all been working towards some kind of dream and now those dreams are being made into a reality and to that I say, "CHAMPAIGN ALL AROUND!!" But man it's a little sad at the same time.

I think my favorite and least favorite part about life is the change. I am huge on tradition and even bigger on things ALWAYS STAYING THE SAME, but at the same time I love uncertainty and all the adventure that comes along with that. I am constantly reminding myself to live in the now rather than in the tomorrow, I just get so excited about the next chapter of my life and I want to know what's next! I find joy in knowing that I am taken care of, all the days of my life are ordained and I have full faith that those days are filled with a whole bunch of dancing, good music, good food, lovely people, adventure, love and peace.

There will always ALWAYS be something special about driving through Mansfield with my 4 best friends and country music blaring. There is laughter and love and squeals and smiles and tears and love and hurt and uncertainty and beauty and everything lying in the hearts of each of us and together we can sit in silence and just know. That is special and something I will always cherish.

This morning I am especially thankful for Natasa, Summer, Whitney and Lindsey.