How can one go about building meaningful friendships during the transitional phase of early adulthood, when school is over and when college is over?

Friendship is not about who you have known the longest, but about who came and never left

Brunch with my girl @cat.bibi 👯‍♀️❤️☕️ * * * #boozybrunch #brunch #alcoholiccoffee #braziliancoffee #baileyscoffee #latte #coffeetime #lastingfriendship #goodmoment #joy #laugh #greenery #greenwall #instagrammable #niceatmosphere #tasty (à Ginkgo) https://www.instagram.com/p/BrxQ2Gog5xj/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=13j51z9ze9p36

Making a moment meaningful: . Our two Minnesota gals, sisters, young wives, making time together…doing Reese’s birthday celebration on a beautiful Sunday morning. . These captured shots are food for a mother’s soul of adult children, choosing to love and honor one another. . These are the rewards of motherhood later in life. . . #motherhood #lovefamily #lastingfriendship #birthdaygirl #celebratelife #celebrate #life #minneapolis #sistersister #57pearls (at Minneapolis, Minnesota) https://www.instagram.com/p/CQ0EGYujBUC/?utm_medium=tumblr

@aaronallsop found his home!!! So proud of this guy for his patience to endure a long search. I loved #makingmemories while discussing our love for 🍩 and our pups, having bizarre evening encounters during ❄️ showings and learning lots about being a new #landlord . Thanks for the laughs while building a #lastingfriendship , Aaron! @mortgagekit you killed it with the clear to close in 2 weeks! @brooketayloradair you’re always a great resource, quick to respond and have the best stories. @ladymartinez212 you’re a phenomenal TC and so helpful with this one! And finally... @tannershinnick THANK YOU for the stellar referral!!! #marcishomes #makingfriends #livingthedream #ilovemyjob https://www.instagram.com/p/BwS8HeeHkWW/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=go76b8gryjq5

I love these two folks right here. They are my friends through good times and challenging times. @kimchi.and.collards I thank God for you. The Fantastic Four @hudsonyards I love these folks. - #hudsonyards #fantasticfour #thevessel #thevesselnyc #hudsonyardsnyc #hudsonyardsmall #timewithfriends #friendship #goodtimes #qualitytime #lastingfriendship #love #couple #partnership #red #blackandwhitephoto (at The Vessel) https://www.instagram.com/ronlouisfoster/p/Bv5i9UkAzX0/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=ue7duftwviay

My First Semester of College 

Spring 2020 was an amazing semester for me because I got to experience so many great moments alongside my teammates who grew to be close friends with me. When I first moved to America in January to start college and join the team, I knew no-one, but after just a couple of weeks, I felt like I had known my teammates for a lot longer than I had because of how close we had grown. 

We got to travel to many different locations to play tennis for SWU and the trips were always amazing because we would entertain ourselves through singing and playing games in the van. In the pictures above, there are two that we took before two games where we played our hearts out and grew more as a team. The picture outside Newspring Church shows a moment when we all attended church together and the other two pictures are of us having fun in Florida. This was during spring break when we went to Florida and got to go to the beach and to Universal Studios. Those were my favorite experiences because it was the very first time that I went to the beach as I come from a landlocked country, and it was the first time I went to a theme park that big and going to these two places with this great group of people made it all the more fun.

All these places that I got to go to with my teammates and coaches helped us develop a great bond. I appreciated all these moments I shared with them because it made my very first semester of college in a country far away from home, a very memorable one. I will always remember and cherish the Spring 2020 semester and the new and lasting friendships it brought me.

Another dinner with my friends!! This time with a different fun group!! Saturday June 1, 2019 #elAsuntoEsBienSerio #aVerySeriousMatter #OutWithFriends #DinnerWithFriends #GoodTimes #TavernaOpa #PointeOrlando #LastingFriendships #UnconditionalFriendships #TrueFriendships #LastingFriendships #GreatDinner #GreekDinner #GreekFood (at Taverna Opa Orlando) https://www.instagram.com/p/ByNaf_QAIzs/?igshid=10p4j0nke9br9

GSMC Life & Happiness Podcast Episode 123: Mending Broken Hearts, and Blissful Memories

Finally made this reunion happen!!! 👆🏽💕💥 @lemon.18 I swear it was like 25 years didn’t occur and we just saw each other yesterday. I LOVE THAT! 🥰. . After all this time I’m still so inspired and energized by this woman. It’s also freakishly strange how much alike we are!! 😳🤯 #Friendship doesn’t know distance or time, instead it knows the soul’s #coastalchicks recognition and likeliness of others.😳💁🏽‍♀️😝❤️ #friendsarelikestars #friendship #timeisanillusion #lastingfriendships #reunion #likeattractslike #enfj #infj #supportive #inspired https://www.instagram.com/p/B9sXZUvpDPx/?igshid=1hpmnwhzrrkeq

Throwback Thursday: How awesome is this card that a special school friend @eikenbje had made for my 40th bday (all the way from Auz) feel very loved and special-Love it! #vogue #voguemagazine #oldfriends #truefriendship #turning40 #40andfabulous #myfirstandlastcover #socool #imfamous #voguecover #lastingfriendships #style #styleinspo #anordinarygirlnix #fitgirlnix #lifebeginsat40 #throwbackthursday https://www.instagram.com/p/B5ZXz8cHz0J/?igshid=nb01643cvt8d

10 years friendship Holiday tradition * * * #lastingfriendship #coffee #brunch #lifeinpurple #fashionfriends #holidaytradition #creamofthecrop #squad #supersnanas (à Café Saint-Henri micro-torréfacteur) https://www.instagram.com/p/Bsaf7thgMIx/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1u6oyt4xn4uli

Graduating with my old friend, Hubert, back in ‘96. Happy Birthday, my brother!! You’re always awesome and forever family, but... I’ve always been biased and quiet proud of you, too.✊ #bff #awesomeindividual #friendship #lastingfriendships #oneofakind #我最好的朋友 #amazingpeople #drwho #familyfirst #noblepeople #honorable #eternallyindebted #tbt #graduation https://www.instagram.com/p/Bt5DhBrAzUe/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=103xirfz1n26q

. Let's be honest - we are ALL busy!!! You’re busy. I’m busy. #busydisease . . When someone shared this opportunity with me, my first reaction was "I can't do it! I'm wayyyyy too busy!" It was at that moment I realized I NEED this business so eventually I can be LESS BUSY!!! . . Once I said "YES", I discovered how simple it really is! Let me tell you what I DON’T do... . . 👏I don't stock inventory. . 👏I don’t ship products. . 👏I don’t have to host parties. . 👏I don’t have sales quotas or minimums. . Wanna know what I do exactly? . . I partner with a company that pays me to use the #1 Skincare Brand in North America and tell people about it. I help others get the best skin of their life and boost their confidence - or I help them build a substancial income of their own🙌🏻 . . HOW do I do that? . . I'm provided with my own FREE website that I send people to. And all the logistics, marketing, resources, training and backend support is right there. . . When you place an order, our logistics department ships it directly to you. Not me! . . Delivered to the wrong address? They handle it. . . Stolen off your front porch? They replace it. . . Got the wrong products? They exchange it. . . Want a full refund? They give it to you. . . This company has my back and I have yours.👊🏻 . If your suffer from #busydisease feel free to PM me and let’s see if this is right for you too😊 . . #multiplestreamsofincome #luckyme #be4everfearless #lastingfriendships #yourvibeattractsyourtribe #community #timefreedom #financialfreedom #beyourownboss #workfromanywhere #1skincarebrand #clinicallytested #provenresults #sharingiscaring https://www.instagram.com/p/Btv0LO3hxkp/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=18wdgvlz67900

Holy Encounters

Lying awake at weird hours of the night seems to be my reality the last 2 months. This time however allows time for me to think, process, pray and work through whatever is currently keeping my mind awake in the first place.

Last night was no different and found me awake around 5:00am for almost two hours. Pondering on variety of recent events, some as recent as the last couple of months, some as “recent” as the last couple years, I began seeing God’s beautifully woven design. Even though at the time it seemed more like a tangled mess.

I was thinking that if I had met my husband of seven months, seven years ago when he started his job just down the road from where I worked, how life would have been so different. I am not doubting it would have been good. It would have been. Great even.

But I also realized that if God had granted that gift coming seven years ago, how much I would have missed. In doing some quick math I am pretty sure that at least 20 relationships I currently have with certain people would NOT be anywhere special in their closeness as they are now.

When you are single you tend to form close relationships with a variety of people to fill a variety of needs, but also to fill the gaps in your loneliness. My life is so much richer because I had the time to pursue these relationships which now have a better potential of surviving once married.

But I also realized that certain things I met in life or on the job I would have not encountered, good and bad, thus pushing me to grow in faith. For example, my husband and I both would have been seven years younger and would have probably started a family fairly quickly, thus meaning I would have probably quit my daytime job to be a stay at home mom.

Now I realize that being a parent can grow you in enormous ways and not being one I haven’t encountered those growth opportunities. But I also believe that in His wisdom, God needed me to grow in other ways that could ONLY have come from my job, my relationships, my singleness, my good times and my bad.

And while I am never one to say, “Whoo-hoo! Bad times ahead! Rock on!” I am also not one to dismiss the great refinement or teaching moments they hold. We can, none of us, ever be refined enough.

This then means that by 6:00 this morning I had concluded that even though I would loved to have been married earlier, I’m thrilled I am not the one in control of my story. The way our story was woven together, the way my story was woven before I met my husband, the way his story was woven, it had to be done the way it was to encounter God in the ways we do now.

And…He knew that.

#tbt when I asked @1yarayarayara to join me at the #GoruckHTL. She registered the week of the event and so #grateful she did! I had no doubts finishing the #Heavy, however, after we took a short break to start the #Tough, I really had my doubts... the blister on the bottom of my foot was extremely painful and I had a bad rough cough going on. But she didn’t let me give in, I had dragged her into this and we were going to finish. Thank you!💕💝 I am also grateful for @pglaze14 and @urfriendalberto for feeding our bellies and being there for us! Thank you so much! Thank you for shadowing and taking so many awesome pics! 💕 #throwback #thankfulthursday #goruck #lastingfriendships (at San Diego, California)