Family and Friends and Fall

My weekend trip to Michigan was filled with orange leaves, chilly air, little brothers, ma and pop, close friends, a few tears and lots and lots of love. 

I was able to fly home two weekends ago for the dual purpose of seeing my family and going to see my sweet friends Ashleigh and Josh get married. They are officially the first of my friends to get married as I enter this weird season of life so casually called, "My Twenties." (Holy cow, I want to barf.) 

During the weekend, I got to go to my favorite hot yoga studio (my Grand Rapids friends, click the word "yoga" and then go there immediately); go to my favorite food places (Noodles and Company, Yesterdog, and Bombay Cuisine); get manicures and pedicures with my mom and grandma; see my high school's football game; spend time with two of my oldest friends; spend time alone with just me and the brothers; see my sweet friends get married; dance with some of my favorite people. 

Here are a couple things I have learned from the great state of Michigan and those people living in it:  

Family is the most important thing. I have four little brothers that are my favorite human beings and a mom and dad that are a constant blessing. After being away for so long and realizing the number of weeks a year I'll be living in that house is slowly going down, I am much more appreciate of all the loved ones in the mitten. Shout out to the Feet, you da best.



Pets are family too. One of my favorite parts of the weekend - I wish I was kidding - was coming home and having my dogs and cats recognize who I was. I came in the house while Nelly was still locked up so I could properly hug all my family, but when my mom let her out she ran straight at me to give me plenty of licks. College makes you miss those annoying but cuddly, furry little critters.



Dancing like an idiot is good. At the wedding, I got to dance around with some of my oldest and greatest friends. After watching my sweet friends say, "I do," it seemed only right that we dance it out. Thank God for dancing at weddings. Additionally, when my parents tried to get me to come off the dance floor when they needed to go, my dad came onto the dance floor and basically busted the same caliber of moves Kevin James pulled out in Hitch.

Hard goodbyes are a blessing. I always have a hard time leaving home. Why? Because I love it so much and I love all the people in it. But, I never want an easy goodbye. I never want to be so distant that departing from loved ones is easy. However, I've realized the best friends and the best relationships I have are not ones I have to see every day, but the ones who you don't see for awhile...and then when I do see them, nothing has changed.

See ya in December, Michigan. It was a blast.