There's only one thing on my mind...
I have a lot to say and I have nothing to say, all at the same time.
Which is an interesting combination.
I have the best best friends ever. Seriously. As far as my list of best friends goes, every single one of them is amazingly awesome. And they just get better with time, and they're consistently awesome no matter how often I see them or how much time I go without seeing them.
It's insanely cool.
Anyway, as far as what I did the past few days... on Sunday, I drove down to Anderson and went to a Women's Chorus concert, and afterward Jael, Gretchen, Carolyn, and I went to a Mexican restaurant in town. Good times were had, and then Gretchen, Jael, and I went back to Jael's and watched Across the Universe. They both said they thought it was "weird." I think they're weird. It's AWESOME.
Then we talked for a bit and went to bed. Monday, I got up and went to lunch at the MP with Susan, Cara, and Trav. That was awesome, as it always has been. After that, I went with Susan back to her apartment, where we watched (well, I watched and she slept through) Jesus is Magic, Sarah Silverman's comedy DVD. Then Happy Gilmore was on, so I watched the end of that before Trav came over and started putting boring shows on. Then we got around and had 5:00 dinner, just like the old days!! So exciting. (Except that it's the MP, and the food therefore is mostly gross and really bad for you.)
After THAT, I tried to get ahold of Christy, but couldn't. Unsure of what to do, I called and left her a crapload of messages before calling Isha to see if she or anyone else in Indy wanted to get together (since I had been planning on coming to Indy anyway, and that way Christy could meet up with us if she ended up calling me back). Isha contacted everyone and she and I ended up going to Gregor's and watching Flight of the Conchords. GREAT show. A new favorite.
Later on, Christy texted me and told me she had just found her phone. So bummer, didn't get to see her. :(
Left Gregor's around 11, I think, and headed back to Jael's, where I went straight to bed. The next day, had lunch with Susan, Cara, and Trav again, and then Trav and I went to the Church of God Ministry building to see Susan's and the others' artwork in the gallery. It was supposed to be open, but was locked, so we called Susan and she ended up coming to open it and had to work it. Sorry, Susan!!
So we saw the awesome artwork, took pictures, and then Trav took me on a tour of the secret oddities of the Church of God Ministries building, which include a mine shaft, random furniture, etc. Very bizarre. So I took a lot of pictures as we explored the weirdness.
Then we went across town to an antiques shop, where I bought a vase. Trav talked them down on the price, so I got it for $5.35 instead of $7. Not too bad.
After that, we met his grandma for dinner at the Lemon Drop, the awesome '50s diner. Gotta love that.
We then went to the AU computer lab, where something pretty funny happened. We were walking in, toward the lab, when I see this guy sitting at a table and Trav, at the same time, says, "There's an Allison man."
I laugh and shake my head. "Uh, yeah. That's [Rico]." "Really?! I didn't know he was still around."
I don't know why I still refer to him as Rico. Pretty much everybody knows who I'm talking about. Heck, if he read this, even HE would probably know. :)
Then I went to Reardon for Jon's movie, which was fun enough. I liked the extra short, Battlestar Nebular, better than the actual movie. I ran into a few people I knew there, so that was cool, and then I left. I had nowhere to go, so I drove aimlessly around town. Went to Goodwill (bought nothing), went to check out the $2 movie theater (they're closed! like, for good), and went to Wal-Mart (where I bought Juno, a Twix bar, and some Mountain Dew. bad Allison, bad bad). Then I had nowhere else to go, so I drove back to campus and sat in a parking lot, waiting for people to call me back to say they were free. Susan finally did call, so I went over and we ended up watching Juno. T'was an awesomely fun time.
I left there after the movie, and ended up going with Cara to the art building and helping her finish up some paperweights. I also explored the department a bit, taking some pictures. Good times!!
After we finished, we went back to her place and talked for a little while before going to bed. And the evening and the morning were the... fourth day?
Today, I got up and had lunch with Susan, Cara, Trav, and Anita at the MP. Last time I'll probably ever, under these circumstances, eat lunch in the MP.
Then I drove home.
I noticed something about my friends during this trip. They are awesome. Oh yeah, I already mentioned that. But also, I really feel like I can be myself with this group of people. I don't feel like I need to put on a front in order to impress them, or act a certain way so they don't get annoyed with me. They love me and accept me the way I am, and we do the same for each other. If one of us (namely, me) does something ridiculously stupid, I'm not talked down to about it. Instead, I'm called out on my issues in a loving way and encouraged to do better, all while being built up with a focus on my positive attributes. In other words, they tell me I'm awesome, but not perfect, and that they're here to understand and to help me through it, not condemn me.
I just LOVE that. Don't get me wrong, my other groups of friends are great, too. But aside from some of my high school friends and this AU group, I typically feel like I have to behave a certain way, or NOT behave in certain ways, to keep them. Or to impress them, or to make them want to be my friends.
But these friends of mine... specifically, Cara, Susan, and Trav... are pretty close friendships. They're about more than teasing/making fun of each other and being silly (although that of course happens, too). It's about building each other up, sticking with each other even when we act like idiots, understanding each other, caring about each other. I don't know if I ever fully realized that before today. But that's a pretty rare thing, I'd say. Even lots of people who consider each other best friends never really get to a point where they're ACTUALLY that good of friends to each other. They only consider each other best friends because they see each other a lot, or have fun together. I'm a fan of the deeper connection.
On top of just being around some awesome people, I got genuinely built up while I was there. I've needed this for quite a while, and these were JUST the people to help me. I've felt so down lately, and for no real reasons. But these people just OVERWHELM me with their compliments and good treatment. They are SO good to me. I didn't pay for a SINGLE meal during my entire trip. They paid for everything. I did NOT expect that, at all. But it was really nice, especially since I'm running low on funds.
Also, as I said, they overwhelm me with compliments. I get compliments every so often, particularly from family, but these people just... I don't know. Are awesome. I sometimes don't even think about it, but Cara, Travis, and Susan are some of the best compliment-ers out there. I hope I make them feel as good as they make me feel. I doubt I do, so I'm going to work on that.
But Cara had this STRING of compliments waiting for me, it seemed. Your hair looks really nice, you look really good, I love your shirt, never change (about my laughing a lot), and my ultimate favorite, something about how she wishes I were there to follow her around all the time, because I laugh at everything and wear bright colors. :)
And Susan, with her constant hugs, "you're pretty"s, "I love you"s, etc.
You guys just... SHOWER your affections on me. Tons of hugs, smiles, appreciative remarks, loving comments... and absolutely nothing negative. I really needed that.
And now I'm starting to tear up, because I'm a huge sap. But thank you guys SO much. You're the best friends a girl could ask for. I don't know if I make my appreciation known sometimes, but I really do appreciate the awesomely nice things you say about me/do for me. I want to reciprocate more. You guys deserve it SO much more than I do.
So thank you again, Susan, Cara, and Trav. You guys are amazing, and I don't know where I'd be without you. :) I love you, and I miss you already!!!
Which is an interesting combination.
I have the best best friends ever. Seriously. As far as my list of best friends goes, every single one of them is amazingly awesome. And they just get better with time, and they're consistently awesome no matter how often I see them or how much time I go without seeing them.
It's insanely cool.
Anyway, as far as what I did the past few days... on Sunday, I drove down to Anderson and went to a Women's Chorus concert, and afterward Jael, Gretchen, Carolyn, and I went to a Mexican restaurant in town. Good times were had, and then Gretchen, Jael, and I went back to Jael's and watched Across the Universe. They both said they thought it was "weird." I think they're weird. It's AWESOME.
Then we talked for a bit and went to bed. Monday, I got up and went to lunch at the MP with Susan, Cara, and Trav. That was awesome, as it always has been. After that, I went with Susan back to her apartment, where we watched (well, I watched and she slept through) Jesus is Magic, Sarah Silverman's comedy DVD. Then Happy Gilmore was on, so I watched the end of that before Trav came over and started putting boring shows on. Then we got around and had 5:00 dinner, just like the old days!! So exciting. (Except that it's the MP, and the food therefore is mostly gross and really bad for you.)
After THAT, I tried to get ahold of Christy, but couldn't. Unsure of what to do, I called and left her a crapload of messages before calling Isha to see if she or anyone else in Indy wanted to get together (since I had been planning on coming to Indy anyway, and that way Christy could meet up with us if she ended up calling me back). Isha contacted everyone and she and I ended up going to Gregor's and watching Flight of the Conchords. GREAT show. A new favorite.
Later on, Christy texted me and told me she had just found her phone. So bummer, didn't get to see her. :(
Left Gregor's around 11, I think, and headed back to Jael's, where I went straight to bed. The next day, had lunch with Susan, Cara, and Trav again, and then Trav and I went to the Church of God Ministry building to see Susan's and the others' artwork in the gallery. It was supposed to be open, but was locked, so we called Susan and she ended up coming to open it and had to work it. Sorry, Susan!!
So we saw the awesome artwork, took pictures, and then Trav took me on a tour of the secret oddities of the Church of God Ministries building, which include a mine shaft, random furniture, etc. Very bizarre. So I took a lot of pictures as we explored the weirdness.
Then we went across town to an antiques shop, where I bought a vase. Trav talked them down on the price, so I got it for $5.35 instead of $7. Not too bad.
After that, we met his grandma for dinner at the Lemon Drop, the awesome '50s diner. Gotta love that.
We then went to the AU computer lab, where something pretty funny happened. We were walking in, toward the lab, when I see this guy sitting at a table and Trav, at the same time, says, "There's an Allison man."
I laugh and shake my head. "Uh, yeah. That's [Rico]." "Really?! I didn't know he was still around."
I don't know why I still refer to him as Rico. Pretty much everybody knows who I'm talking about. Heck, if he read this, even HE would probably know. :)
Then I went to Reardon for Jon's movie, which was fun enough. I liked the extra short, Battlestar Nebular, better than the actual movie. I ran into a few people I knew there, so that was cool, and then I left. I had nowhere to go, so I drove aimlessly around town. Went to Goodwill (bought nothing), went to check out the $2 movie theater (they're closed! like, for good), and went to Wal-Mart (where I bought Juno, a Twix bar, and some Mountain Dew. bad Allison, bad bad). Then I had nowhere else to go, so I drove back to campus and sat in a parking lot, waiting for people to call me back to say they were free. Susan finally did call, so I went over and we ended up watching Juno. T'was an awesomely fun time.
I left there after the movie, and ended up going with Cara to the art building and helping her finish up some paperweights. I also explored the department a bit, taking some pictures. Good times!!
After we finished, we went back to her place and talked for a little while before going to bed. And the evening and the morning were the... fourth day?
Today, I got up and had lunch with Susan, Cara, Trav, and Anita at the MP. Last time I'll probably ever, under these circumstances, eat lunch in the MP.
Then I drove home.
I noticed something about my friends during this trip. They are awesome. Oh yeah, I already mentioned that. But also, I really feel like I can be myself with this group of people. I don't feel like I need to put on a front in order to impress them, or act a certain way so they don't get annoyed with me. They love me and accept me the way I am, and we do the same for each other. If one of us (namely, me) does something ridiculously stupid, I'm not talked down to about it. Instead, I'm called out on my issues in a loving way and encouraged to do better, all while being built up with a focus on my positive attributes. In other words, they tell me I'm awesome, but not perfect, and that they're here to understand and to help me through it, not condemn me.
I just LOVE that. Don't get me wrong, my other groups of friends are great, too. But aside from some of my high school friends and this AU group, I typically feel like I have to behave a certain way, or NOT behave in certain ways, to keep them. Or to impress them, or to make them want to be my friends.
But these friends of mine... specifically, Cara, Susan, and Trav... are pretty close friendships. They're about more than teasing/making fun of each other and being silly (although that of course happens, too). It's about building each other up, sticking with each other even when we act like idiots, understanding each other, caring about each other. I don't know if I ever fully realized that before today. But that's a pretty rare thing, I'd say. Even lots of people who consider each other best friends never really get to a point where they're ACTUALLY that good of friends to each other. They only consider each other best friends because they see each other a lot, or have fun together. I'm a fan of the deeper connection.
On top of just being around some awesome people, I got genuinely built up while I was there. I've needed this for quite a while, and these were JUST the people to help me. I've felt so down lately, and for no real reasons. But these people just OVERWHELM me with their compliments and good treatment. They are SO good to me. I didn't pay for a SINGLE meal during my entire trip. They paid for everything. I did NOT expect that, at all. But it was really nice, especially since I'm running low on funds.
Also, as I said, they overwhelm me with compliments. I get compliments every so often, particularly from family, but these people just... I don't know. Are awesome. I sometimes don't even think about it, but Cara, Travis, and Susan are some of the best compliment-ers out there. I hope I make them feel as good as they make me feel. I doubt I do, so I'm going to work on that.
But Cara had this STRING of compliments waiting for me, it seemed. Your hair looks really nice, you look really good, I love your shirt, never change (about my laughing a lot), and my ultimate favorite, something about how she wishes I were there to follow her around all the time, because I laugh at everything and wear bright colors. :)
And Susan, with her constant hugs, "you're pretty"s, "I love you"s, etc.
You guys just... SHOWER your affections on me. Tons of hugs, smiles, appreciative remarks, loving comments... and absolutely nothing negative. I really needed that.
And now I'm starting to tear up, because I'm a huge sap. But thank you guys SO much. You're the best friends a girl could ask for. I don't know if I make my appreciation known sometimes, but I really do appreciate the awesomely nice things you say about me/do for me. I want to reciprocate more. You guys deserve it SO much more than I do.
So thank you again, Susan, Cara, and Trav. You guys are amazing, and I don't know where I'd be without you. :) I love you, and I miss you already!!!