It would be super nice if I had the kind of life where friends would drop by my place all the time, unannounced.
But, this isn't a T.V show, and my college years are long gone. Instead, my friends are spread out all over the country and many of them live inside my computer (haha!). Thank goodness I married my best friend or I would be the crazy cat lady.... ahem.
Still, there are times when I really wish I had local friends that I could call up to go shopping or out for a bite to eat. Getting together with friends from work has been difficult, and there's only one other person I've befriended since moving to Texas.
It doesn't help that I'm rather introverted to begin with... and tend to do better hanging out with just one or two other people at a time!
I absolutely love blogging, and I cherish the personal connections that I've made from it! There are times, though.... times when I miss the face-to-face interaction.... ya know?
Linking up with Casey
i agree. i like more face to face interaction. plus on the phone... i tend not to pay attention if i have too much distraction around me... i do own a cell phone either.. so yeah... even w/ friends in the same city.. our lives are so busy. . . but we all do have to make the effort to get together. :)
ReplyDeleteThere is just something about those college days that I miss so much too. I have quite a few friends that I go to church with AND they live in my neighborhood AND we all have kids with similar ages which is so fun, but gone are the days where we just run to the store or go eat together. I mean that happens sometimes, but it's much more of a production. I get it. I really loved college, especially - gasp - dorm life. I really hope that some new creative and fun friends pop into your life here soon. It's so great that you have your best friend hubby and friends all over, but it's true that having someone else around to do things with can make life a bit more fun. :)
ReplyDeleteoh girl, i can relate to this SO much. i moved five hours away from my family and friends a year and a half ago because my boyfriend and i were tired of being long distance. it has been, in a word, hard. i moved in the middle of winter to western new york! not an ideal time to make friends, and for a few months i felt so isolated. i, too, am an introvert and tend to be shy around new people so it has been a long journey of meeting people, getting to know them, and hoping for friendship. it's exhausting too, always feeling like i have to work to put myself out there. i'm ready for the part where people just know me! it's hard, too, because it seems that most people around here are from here, already having their circles of friends and history, etc. i'm praying that God would provide me with a few best friends here, ones that will drop by, unannounced, and now i'll be praying that for you, too. (:
ReplyDeleteI hear you - having friends around and looking forward to spending time with them on the weekends (with no responsibilities or other priorities attached)in just innocent, carefree fun ways were the best days ever. Lately, I have also been a bit nostalgic about growing older and having to be the strong, independent, lead figure in the household (husband works long hours) with nobody to lean on for comfort or support. And what I hear about Texas is this, you're stuck in the house or anywhere air-conditioned due to the extreme heat so that would make it more difficult to go out and make new friends. I say you have a girls' weekend where you invite your friends in from all over the US/CAN and just have good, old-fashioned girl fun with slumber parties, movies, shopping, and girl talk!
ReplyDeleteI was having this same conversation with my husband yesterday. I feel like it's even more challenging now that I have a baby on top of it all. My close friends don't live nearby and a lot of my friends work outside the home so sometimes it gets lonely during the day. I am grateful for blogging and twitter b/c it's brought some great people into my life, but yes, it would be nice to meet someone at the park now and then.
ReplyDeleteI am working on this in my life. It's much harder than you would think. I have spent the last 10 years having children. Taking care of them was a full time job - didn't realize how much I cut myself off from friendships. The good news? It's never to late to get out there. I am challenging myself to make a date with a friend a week.
ReplyDeleteohhh, such a beautiful post! I agree with you about the friends thing. I still live in my home town and many of my good friends from high school and college have moved away ;-( It just helps you cherish the times when you do get to see them even more! Happy Weekend!
ReplyDeleteSounds like we're one in the same. There are so many times that I've wished for my friends to live closer. These days, most of my friends are little messages on the computer too.
ReplyDeletehttp://mandycrandell.blogspot.com/
http://twitter.com/#!/MandyCrandell
Ditto. My best friend from college lives 2 hours away. I have some local friends that I met through blogging, but we can't keep a consistent monthly get-together going.
ReplyDeleteIt's harder when you work all day and just want to go home and veg after. {that's not just me, right?}
I agree that it's much harder to develop adult friendships the way we did when we were younger. I mean, when you're living, schooling, socializing with people all the time, it makes sense that you get close to them. And then when you don't have that any more, it's so hard, or it takes so much longer, to get to that point in a friendship.
ReplyDeleteI work in the city and live in the suburbs and basically all I do is go to work and hang out at home. I have . . . two friends in the suburbs. One I haven't seen in a year, the other I'm trying to go to karaoke with sometime. I'm great friends with my co-workers, but they're almost all single or childless, they live in the city and are 3-8 years younger than me. I go to happy hour with them sometimes and every few months go out a bit later with them, but mostly? I see them at work, socialize there and then go home to my family.
I do have people I consider close girlfriends, but they live in my computer! Even the ones I know from "real life". What I wouldn't give for someone who lived near me that I could drink wine with while we watch Grey's Anatomy, or could swap babysitting with, or could just lay around in our sweats together, or could go check out a new store together, or SOMETHING.
I've got a bazillion girlfriends I could do this stuff with, but they all live in my computer. Sigh.
I totally know what you mean. I mostly speak with my friends on facebook because they all live on the other side of the country. i have a few friends that are local, but not the kind of friends I feel I could call up if I had a problem. I've struggled with that for years, but I also have a boyfriend who is my best friend. Without him, I would be very lonely!
ReplyDeletethis post made me things that...I'm your similar situations...I have not so much friends here around to talk with or go out for shopping...
ReplyDeleteAnd...I'm missing this so much...
thank Godness...internet exist...
Wonderful post. And I couldn't agree more. I cherish my online friendships but because I'm more introverted in person, making friends following a move has been challenging. One thing I AM changing about myself for this upcoming move.
ReplyDeleteMy real life friends here in town have become my online friends. Raising two boys alone and working two jobs, I can't find the time to hang out anymore. But then again....I am 33 years old. So, I guess my hanging out days are over! :)
ReplyDelete