If You're Not Laughing, Who Is Laughing Now?

Because really, someone is always going to be laughing. So if you're not laughing, then who is laughing now? I hope my friends don't mind me using this picture on my blog (Haha, sorry, Stephanie and Maggie! It's so perfect!), because they really gave me the most laughter I've ever had when I visited them for Thanksgiving in November.

Since moving to Canada, it's been hard to stay in contact with those I always talked to in Texas, just because the daily routines are so different out here that things tend to be forgotten. Stephanie and Maggie are the closest friends I've ever known in my entire life. They've built me up, gave me more joy than I could have ever asked for in high school, understood me in everything I ever had to vent about, and would hang out with me all the time even if there was absolutely nothing to do. "Being bored together is more fun than being bored alone," is what we'd always say, staring absently into my floor carpet in my room on a lazy Sunday afternoon.
And even as closely knit-together as we were, all three of us seem to have a hard time keeping in touch. Which is only the inevitable, right? At some point, friends are going to separate from the one place they've always been together, and go on their own individual journeys. But that doesn't mean friendship is separated just because of distance and lack of communication--at least, it'd take a lot more than this for us three to call it quits!

So when I was in Texas for Thanksgiving, I had a little over a week to catch up and make the most of them. I have to say, it was a very warm welcome seeing Maggie and Stephanie again. It was as if I never left our tiny Texas town. So as I was being re-introduced to the Texan ways, I decided to re-introduce them to the Canadian ways, and took them to a college hockey game not too far away from home, just like I used to.

It just so happened that as the three of us walked into the arena, a guy was handing out free hockey jerseys to the first hundred-or-so people who walked in, and we happened to take 3 of the last 5 jerseys left! And they were matching!

Though the team I was rooting for epicly failed 2 to 9, I still drove us home with a huge grin on my face, finally being with the two people that could make me overwhelmingly happy without even knowing it, and also, we all looked the same in those jerseys! Which does something to a girl. Makes them feel closer and cuter somehow (haha!).We laughed almost every minute we had together until I was gone.

We said our goodbyes so simply. There was nothing more than a short hug and an easy, "See you later!" or something when we all knew I wasn't going to be coming back for a long time. But that's how we roll. No stretching things out. No stress. No worries. No tears. Just takin' it easy and letting whatever happens, happens, knowing we'll still be tight in the end.

So I just had to share something that's really made my life a fine one, and Maggie and Stephanie have really done it for me--along with plenty of other people! It's just sometimes, some people deserve specific praise for their invisible blessings. Is there anyone in your life that deserves some praise for bringing joy and blessings into you? Sometimes, they just need a little bit of it.

Anyway, the moral of the story is...Friends are the fine, fine life indeed.