Grateful: Day 20: BFFS

Being as shy and quiet as I am, I am extra grateful for a good stock of longtime friends, who I affectionately, like any other woman, call my BFF's ( Best Friends Forever).

Three of my besties and I have known each other since 1995! Mathematically speaking that's  16 ,17 years a long time.

You see, Jen (Miss Jen),  Dawn ( Mac) and I all met on the first day of training at  UCDavis. With the dorms yet to open, we were shacked up with an older teammate for the week, and we quickly learned how to navigate the streets of Davis on bicycles and have had a special bond ever since.

Our sophomore year, Mac and I lived together with one of our Aggies teammates, and Miss Jen lived nearby. A room opened up in her apartment, and this is how we met Sara (ma'am).

We spent summer days at the gym and the pool, and nights rollerblading the greenbelt, hanging out with our tomato truck driving buddies, and making brownies.

Man, those were the days.

 After college, we stayed close, although we moved in different directions. A brief stint in Philly for ma'am, a  marriage for me in Oregon, while Miss Jen and Mac stayed in California. As time would have it, Ma'am and I both moved back to California with failed relationships under our belts, and we all reconnected once again, before Mac went and got her Masters on at Rice (go girl!).

We four girls have been through the ups and downs of college life, real life, and all of that stuff that happens in between. Our paths keep crossing, and even after months of not seeing one another, we can skype like nobody's business and pick right back up.


Miss Jen's Birthday ( Me, Jen & Sara)

Mac, Me & Ma'am at my baby Shower

And then I have another BFF, Liz. I met her while living in Oregon during my brief marriage to her husband's cousin. I am super grateful that she and I have remained close friends throughout the years because we are two of a kind when it comes to baking, crafting, decorating and all that good fun girly stuff. She and her family usually come visit once a year, and last year we went to the LA fabric market together. It's a seamstress's dream. We had a lot of fun. Now that her family is moving to Vegas, we are within driving distance, and I look forward to some Vegas weekend trips to see her once we return.

Sending off the Bride. Liz's wedding day.

Our last visit with Liz & co. Sailing in San Diego.

And finally, my last BFF.

Meet Swanson. Also a Jen. But I call her Swanson, or Swanny. I just always have. That's what living with boys will do to you--everyone has nicknames. My old roommates ( the boys that I met her through) called her Swanson, so it stuck.

Swanny & me. Dub-T shindig 2009

We met a few weeks after I returned from Oregon. She and I quickly became buddies with tons of inside jokes, and we rarely went out to the bars without one another. I guess we were wing-women for one another, except for we totally had my roommates looking out for us, but still...we'd like to think we were looking out for each other.

I love the way she makes me laugh, her laid back attitude, and all of the good memories I have from spending the summer together raising Cain. Like my other friends, she moved off to North Carolina and then to Pittsburgh for a few years, but eventually made it back to California.

And lucky me.

She moved within an hour of our house.

And we have been able to continue the good times together, once again.

Zentil Farewell Party 2012

 I feel so fortunate to have all of these girls who know me, and like me for me,  as do I with them.

There's no cattiness, no competition....and no drama. That's hard to find these days, which makes our friendship even more valuable to me.