You know how people often say "You can't choose your family, but you can choose your friends?" And really when it all comes down to the nitty-grittiness of life, aren't your friends just a vast extension of your family? Over time you learn to know each other inside and out, find out what makes the other tick and create very special bonds among each of you. Well, after the great afternoon that I spent today with some friends that I consider to be apart of MY family, I knew that I had to blog about them and what makes them special:) Here's to you!
Today started as a typical Saturday off of work....get up, go to the gym and attend a wedding reception for the wedding I went to in July in San Juan for the guests that couldn't make it down to the real wedding. Nothing special, just ordinary. I logged onto Facebook this morning and my super-awesome, always positive friend, Shane popped online. I immediately said hi and asked him what he was doing today. Shane works as a property manager at Kent State in Ohio, where he resides but is originally from Western PA. I knew that he'd be home for the weekend and asked him what he was up to....maybe he'd be free to grab some coffee and a long overdue chat. After about 3 minutes of talking, we decided on having coffee at Starbucks around noonish. That made me happy:) I haven't seen Shane since about a year ago in October when we volunteered for Penn State's 'All That's Jazz' fundraiser, which by the way, we will both be participating in as Alums again this year! In Starbucks, I stood to get my refreshing Double Chocolaty Frap, and the door opened, Shane had arrived! We hugged and starting talking. I mentioned that we should sit outside because it was such a nice day and we proceeded to converse for a bit. Now, both Shane and I never really talked during our time at Penn State when we were both students. The only interaction that we really had together was for All That's Jazz last year. We both talked about what was going on in our corners of the world, what projects we were undertaking and just having a real good time talking and drinking coffee. Like I've stated before in this blog from time to time, it's nice to have someone be genuinely interested in what you have to say and I could tell that Shane was interested, he was even asking questions about my teaching position and my take on education issues. He was telling me about his job as a property manager and I found it very interesting and extremely awesome that he has that position. I wouldn't be able to do it, just like he said that there's no way he could do my job either. Apparently, the grass isn't always greener, even if it seems like it is. We talked about working out, finding apartments and just life in general....it was a really great conversation, one I haven't had in a long time. Shane then wanted to go check out some sunglasses at Sunglass Hut, so we ventured across the square and went in. Shopping with Shane is like shopping with a girl, lol. He tried on numerous pairs of sunglasses, only to table buying a pair until he weighed his options. I found out later tonight that he bought a pair. Either way, it was a great coffee conversation with an awesome friend. Thanks Shanerz!
Right after I left Starbucks, I immediately went to my best friend, Matt's wedding reception part deux, lol. I was excited to see him and his wife, Virginia, as I hadn't seen them since the wedding in July. It was also good to see the friends that I had come to know through Matt in the past 12 years since being a student with him at Penn State. So in essence, we've all become one big happy family of our own. We spent the time catching up, discussing my other friend's Matt and Lori's wedding, which is coming up in about 27 days, according to Lori. That's one of the weird things that I think about from time to time as well. I met these people when we were all trying to figure out what we were going to do with the rest of our lives. I really doesn't seem that long ago in the grand scheme of things, but in actuality, it is. Now, the focus of our little group is on things like, marriage, careers, having kids, etc. Plus, the level of
'adultness' for us has reached a new level. We're now all entering our late 20's or in my case, our 30's, and yeah, we all have our fleeting moments where we act like total idiots, we each know how to act in certain situations that sets us apart from our younger counterparts. It's amazing to thing about, how so few years can transform someone from a immature kid basically to a mature, functioning adult with responsibilities. My parent's and my niece, Addison were there as well. It felt good to be surrounded by the people that I care about and being able to spend time and not have to think about the everyday, mundane work-a-day world things like deadlines, students, paperwork and the things that take us away from what's really important. At the end of the evening, after I helped clean up and we all were saying our goodbyes, Matt's father came up and hugged me as I was on my way out. Now, he's hugged me before and I've thought nothing of it. But this time, he embraced me and held me in the 'hug' position for a little longer than normal and he basically said that he appreciated me being there for Matt. That made me feel really proud and comforted by the fact that I must be doing something right. It's bittersweet each time someone compliments me for the work that I do or the efforts I'm making in my career and school paths, mainly because I've worked so hard to get where I am at today and I have no intention of putting my brakes on for a while.
As I get older, I'm often reminded of the mistakes and blunders that I had made when I was younger, and I now realize that if I hadn't gone through what I went through, I wouldn't have the phenomenal life that I do right now. And it can only get better as time rolls on. Apparently, my life's like a fine wine.....I get better as I age.
You know how people often say "You can't choose your family, but you can choose your friends?" And really when it all comes down to the nitty-grittiness of life, aren't your friends just a vast extension of your family? Over time you learn to know each other inside and out, find out what makes the other tick and create very special bonds among each of you. Well, after the great afternoon that I spent today with some friends that I consider to be apart of MY family, I knew that I had to blog about them and what makes them special:) Here's to you!
Today started as a typical Saturday off of work....get up, go to the gym and attend a wedding reception for the wedding I went to in July in San Juan for the guests that couldn't make it down to the real wedding. Nothing special, just ordinary. I logged onto Facebook this morning and my super-awesome, always positive friend, Shane popped online. I immediately said hi and asked him what he was doing today. Shane works as a property manager at Kent State in Ohio, where he resides but is originally from Western PA. I knew that he'd be home for the weekend and asked him what he was up to....maybe he'd be free to grab some coffee and a long overdue chat. After about 3 minutes of talking, we decided on having coffee at Starbucks around noonish. That made me happy:) I haven't seen Shane since about a year ago in October when we volunteered for Penn State's 'All That's Jazz' fundraiser, which by the way, we will both be participating in as Alums again this year! In Starbucks, I stood to get my refreshing Double Chocolaty Frap, and the door opened, Shane had arrived! We hugged and starting talking. I mentioned that we should sit outside because it was such a nice day and we proceeded to converse for a bit. Now, both Shane and I never really talked during our time at Penn State when we were both students. The only interaction that we really had together was for All That's Jazz last year. We both talked about what was going on in our corners of the world, what projects we were undertaking and just having a real good time talking and drinking coffee. Like I've stated before in this blog from time to time, it's nice to have someone be genuinely interested in what you have to say and I could tell that Shane was interested, he was even asking questions about my teaching position and my take on education issues. He was telling me about his job as a property manager and I found it very interesting and extremely awesome that he has that position. I wouldn't be able to do it, just like he said that there's no way he could do my job either. Apparently, the grass isn't always greener, even if it seems like it is. We talked about working out, finding apartments and just life in general....it was a really great conversation, one I haven't had in a long time. Shane then wanted to go check out some sunglasses at Sunglass Hut, so we ventured across the square and went in. Shopping with Shane is like shopping with a girl, lol. He tried on numerous pairs of sunglasses, only to table buying a pair until he weighed his options. I found out later tonight that he bought a pair. Either way, it was a great coffee conversation with an awesome friend. Thanks Shanerz!
Right after I left Starbucks, I immediately went to my best friend, Matt's wedding reception part deux, lol. I was excited to see him and his wife, Virginia, as I hadn't seen them since the wedding in July. It was also good to see the friends that I had come to know through Matt in the past 12 years since being a student with him at Penn State. So in essence, we've all become one big happy family of our own. We spent the time catching up, discussing my other friend's Matt and Lori's wedding, which is coming up in about 27 days, according to Lori. That's one of the weird things that I think about from time to time as well. I met these people when we were all trying to figure out what we were going to do with the rest of our lives. I really doesn't seem that long ago in the grand scheme of things, but in actuality, it is. Now, the focus of our little group is on things like, marriage, careers, having kids, etc. Plus, the level of 'adultness' for us has reached a new level. We're now all entering our late 20's or in my case, our 30's, and yeah, we all have our fleeting moments where we act like total idiots, we each know how to act in certain situations that sets us apart from our younger counterparts. It's amazing to thing about, how so few years can transform someone from a immature kid basically to a mature, functioning adult with responsibilities. My parent's and my niece, Addison were there as well. It felt good to be surrounded by the people that I care about and being able to spend time and not have to think about the everyday, mundane work-a-day world things like deadlines, students, paperwork and the things that take us away from what's really important. At the end of the evening, after I helped clean up and we all were saying our goodbyes, Matt's father came up and hugged me as I was on my way out. Now, he's hugged me before and I've thought nothing of it. But this time, he embraced me and held me in the 'hug' position for a little longer than normal and he basically said that he appreciated me being there for Matt. That made me feel really proud and comforted by the fact that I must be doing something right. It's bittersweet each time someone compliments me for the work that I do or the efforts I'm making in my career and school paths, mainly because I've worked so hard to get where I am at today and I have no intention of putting my brakes on for a while. 
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