Because we all Need a Friend

When Yosh and I first met each other, we lived in two different states. And in between our weekly or bi-weekly sightings/dates, I learned a lot about him through Lucas, bka The Match Maker. I remember going downtown with Lucas on July 3rd, three days after my first date with Yosh, and as we sat there watching the fireworks show, he informed me, "If you marry Yosh, you'll be marrying into a great group of friends." And he was being dead serious. 

Now take your pick at which part of that declaration you want to laugh about. I took particular shock in the fact that Lucas was talking marriage to me 72 hours after a first date. And even if we were going to talk about marriage, I wasn't comprehending what friends had to do with it. 

But, as the end of the story is already told, Lucas had the last laugh. I did marry Yosh. And I did marry into a great group of friends. 

These boys are like brothers. I guess. Or maybe just real close friends. But, whatever the relationship is, when they're all back together, it's as if no time at all has passed. Us wives get to listen to the same stories from the archive circulate. We're getting better at knowing when to laugh, when to ignore them, and when to go make ourselves busy with our own conversations. Yosh and I are coming up on 9 years of marriage this year, and obviously a lot has changed in that time. Friends no longer have the luxury of being top priority as we all have families of our own and way more responsibility than we ever imagined in our young, single/newlywed days. That being said, there are enough opportunities to make things happen and keep the love affair friendships alive. This last month either Yosh or I have seen almost all of his people.

And as an added bonus, we get to watch the next generation play together and pick up right where all those boys left off. 

{DJ and Amy were just at our house visiting for a few days. I'm getting real real frustrated that I can't pull any pictures off my camera.}

Recently, a hot topic in our house has been friends. Dallin and Porter are at the age where they're making friends. And, as comes when having friends, you find along the way that some make you feel good and want to do good. And on the contrary, you come across those that frustrate you and bring out ugly competition and make you not feel great. When the boys come home with different stories, we try to help them identify the discrepancy in different friendships. Obviously, I hope they choose to keep those around that help them want to be better people and keep those others at arms' length. 

I look at Yosh and his group of friends, and as cheesy as they are, these friendships have helped each one of them to be better in lots of areas. They're living proof of what good friends can do for each other. I'm hoping my kids can figure out this power and benefit from good friends.

And as they go about figuring this out, I'm hoping I can keep my tongue on a leash and let them learn things for themselves instead of cussing out their little friends that are punks!

stalk AGNG: