I love my friends

I have had a nice response to my last blog which I appreciate. I know every woman thinks about how they should be a mother. I just like to hear others thoughts and experiences. That way I don't feel like I'm crazy for thinking so hard about it!
I went to one of my best friends wedding on Saturday. I have an overwhelming sense of pride when it comes to this group of girlfriends. I even cried a little during the ceremony. One of the reasons I love this group of 5 girls so much is because we have ALL put a great amount of effort into staying friends. We met when we were 12 years old in the 7th grade. I always thought that the people I met in college would end up being my lifetime friends but I was wrong. Originally there were 7 of us. We spent every weekend having slumber parties and talking about boys and just making it thru being a teenager together. We were friends during our akward years, and thru boyfriends and break ups and proms and cheerleading/pom stuff. We grew up together. I remember as the end of our senior year got closer we all got more nervous. The night before graduation we were at Regional Park up in the old spaceship. We were sitting in a circle and we around making predictions of how everyone would turn out. When we made the prediction of whether or not we would be friends ten years from then we all said, "Of course!" But inside we were all wondering how we would accomplish it. So we went off to college, everyone going somewhere different. We got together over holidays and school breaks. At first everyone came home for summer break. Then we all started staying near our schools or going to a town closer to our boyfriends. At some point we all went off on our own and established ourselves as individuals. A few years went by where we mostly just kept in touch by phone and saw each other rarely. I think we all thought that might be the point where we drifted away. But, here it is 11 years later and we are closer than we ever were back then. I am the most proud of my friends because we all went off, did our own thing, became our own person, and then came back together. Well 5 of the 7 of us came back together. I think it's an amazing thing that our friendships meant enough to all of us that each one of the 5 of us put out a huge amount of effort to maintain the friendships we built in 7th grade. I am proud of my friends and I feel honored that we have made it this far. I think if we've come this far then we will probably make it forever. Next summer we all turn 30. To celebrate how far we've come and how old we are getting (*wink*) we are taking a cruise together. 4 or 5 days of just the girls on a carribean trip. I'm really looking forward to it. My friends have always been important to me. My friends and family rank about the same to me. I was so proud to watch my friend walk down the aisle and marry a nice guy. It was a beautiful outside wedding too. Not to mention that my friends are incredibly fun. It's never a dull moment. They've also adopted my husband in quite well. I can't imagine not having them in my life. A few of my other friends moved off and got so wrapped up in starting a family and being married that they didn't really care to keep in touch. Now, when they do show up for things like weddings I think they feel pretty left out and kind of jealous. For the most part they don't have any friends. I can't imagine living like that. It seems really depressing to me. My friends are insanely important to me and my life would feel pretty empty with out them. That includes Chris's friends too that have generoulsy inducted me into their circle. I do think it's funny when people tell me that they are surprised that Chris and I are so fun. I always tell them that being married and being a parent doesn't mean I have to suck. I'm the same person I've always been. I just have more responsibilites now. Anyway, I'm proud of my friends and I think it's a huge accomplishment that we have made it sixteen years!