New Friends

Before our big move to a little town, I had my friend circle pretty much made. I had the friends that I could always count on to have a glass of wine with after work on Fridays, a solid base of work friends, and the friends who would wear sweats over and gab while marathoning something on Netflix. Adam and I also had the most perfect couples friends for double dates, road trips, and random laughs. While we still have all of those friends in Des Moines and around Iowa, they no longer live just down the street.

Thus my 2014 goal: make new friends. We have been living in our new town for seven months now, and I am finally achieving this goal. However...making friends is down right hard for me! Speaking to people in a professional situation? Great. Being kind to people in the grocery store? Count me in. Actually open up and ask a brand new person to "hang out sometime"? Awkward.

When it boils down to it, making a new friend in adulthood is much like trying to find a date. You have to read the potential friend, make sure you don't come on to strong, and hope they end up liking you back. Once you're feeling pretty confident, you might even ask them out for a friend-drink. Whew, it can be exhausting!

So, how did I end up finally getting the courage to make some friends after five months? I joined a bootcamp. Apparently I am most comfortable when I'm sweating my tush off, bear crawling across a gym floor. Maybe it is because no one looks intimidating when they are shaking in a wall sit. But I really think it is because I finally had a common ground with a good group of people. Since the bootcamp started, I also started walking/running with a few of the women once a week, and it has been great. Beyond that, I found "my group", which is five other athletic ladies who push me and amaze me with their gumption...as well as their ability to go out and have fun.

Have I found a new best friend? No, but I wasn't looking for one. That position was filled years ago! What I have found is a great group of people that help to make our little town feel a little more like home.