the spirit of friendship.

This time of year makes me all sorts of sentimental. The other night, I had a Facebook conversation going with two of my best friends and I was in hysterics over what was being said. As soon as I signed off, it hit me; that pang of just plain missing someone.

I have amazing friends. AMAZING. We've been through so much together and we've made it to the other side. I've noticed that the older I get, the less amount of true friends I have, but the more genuine those friendships are. And I'll take quality over quantity any day.

There is absolutely nothing better than time spent with good friends. I adore my family, but sometimes I think they see me too much as "Mom" or "wife" and not enough as "Megan". And while I love being wife and Mom, I was Megan for 22 years without being those two titles. That hat, just plain Megan, deserves it's fair share of time too and no one makes me feel like "Megan" better than my girls.
In a good group of girlfriends, there is a spirit of friendship that can practically be felt. It's a bond so tight, that you can almost see it. That's the mark of a good friendship. After years of getting to know each other, my best friend has this uncanny way of knowing just what you need before you even realize you need it.

She has a way of showing up to watch movies in bed when you feel just plain awful. She's the one showing up with a night out outfit when you insisted you just want to stay home, but she knows you need a night away. She plans the perfect dinner for your birthday. She shows up at football viewing party at your house in the rivals' colors just to make you laugh (then you make her watch outside or change, hehe).

Each of my closest friends could not be more different from each other but every single one of them is perfect for me. It's like having four more life mates separate from my husband. We're kind of like sister wives. Only not. At all.

This time of year gets me thinking about how thankful I am for them. For how much they make me laugh. For how I can always cry on their shoulder (though sometimes you'll get a "buck up woman!" instead of a sympathetic ear!). For how we can have a disagreement and easily move past it. In these kinds of friendships, there are no deal breakers.
Our times together look a bit different these days. There is less tailgating at our college football games; much less drunken nights out; less crashing in each others' beds chatting and giggling til morning; but the spirit of our friendships are still the same. We still have fun. We still laugh a lot. We still drink too much on occasion (whoops) but those aren't what hold us together.

It's our history together. It's that we know basically everything about each other and still choose to hang out. It's that we chose each other; we chose to do life together. And we didn't take that decision lightly.

Good grief I love these girls. Here's to many, many more years of friendship. Cheers! I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls Collective, and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.

"This Holiday Season, What Do You Really Want?"

It's that time of year again. The "most wonderful time of the year".

 Every single year about this time, I write a post about how I just want to chill out and enjoy this time of the year. I make promises to myself that I'm just going to soak it all in and not stress and focus on the true meaning of the season. And then the day after Thanksgiving rolls around and I have seven shopping windows open on my computer and multiple lists strewn around and a running commentary in my head of who needs what this year and then, I can't breathe.

 I also realize that I've already lost the meaning of the season. It takes me no time to cram an activity into every weekend on the calendar. Heck, into every day on the calendar. I can take a simple shopping trip and turn it into chaos as I try to shop for every person on my list in one hour. I get so wrapped up in the "wants" of the season that I all too quickly lose the reason. That's not okay.

In an odd twist of fate, this year I am being forced to slow down. Because of all the changes this year, the multiple gifts and the traveling all over, and the mass commercialism is just not a possibility. And dare I say, I couldn't be happier?

This holiday season I want one thing; to spend as much time with those I love. That's it. I want cozy evenings watching holiday movies by the tree. I want shopping trips just perusing the aisles with my girl. I want family dinners at home where laughter is the main course. I just want good, old, quality family time.

This Christmas will also be the first one without my Grandma which is always at the forefront of my mind. I thank God that last Christmas we made the trek down to Savannah and spent the holidays with her. That was my last time seeing her and that trip taught me so much. There wasn't a lot of goings on because we all just wanted to be home with her. Usually I get bored with the whole sitting around thing, but not then. It was fantastic. Just sitting around letting BG and her cousin entertain us, making gingerbread houses, watching movies; it goes down as one of the best Christmases. Simple. Fun.

So this holiday season, that's what I really want. What do you really want?

 I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls Collective, and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.