Making Time for Friends

A few weeks ago, I was sharing with one of my med student wife friends how, first semester, I felt like I had a lot of friends that were fellow med student wives, but that now I didn't really feel like I was friends with many of them at all - I hadn't seen anyone, I hadn't heard from anyone, etc etc. God has given her the gift of tact, and she lovingly questioned if I had made an effort to see anyone. Hm. Good point. I had, 2 times....in about so many months. Not exactly a great track record. And, I'm one of those type A introverts that likes a routine, and likes to plan in advance, and doesn't mind going home in the evenings and on the weekends and having time to myself...and it won't bother me for months that I haven't really seen anyone, and then suddenly something will trigger a harsh light that shines on my reclusive relationship tendencies...and being a recluse never looks pretty in harsh light.

So. I made an effort.

And, lo and behold, I HAVE FRIENDS.

(I know. What a shocker.)

Here's what I've been up to in the past week:

Weston, MO
Jordan and I visited Weston the weekend after his GI final with 2 other couples. We had a great time poking around the shops, having $0.25 shots (limit 2) at the McCormick Distillery Country Store, sampling fondue and chocolate (from the same company that does Scentsy), sampling scotch at the Irish store (that was hubby, not me), dining at O'Malley's Pub, and playing up and down the river (a card game) in the underground pub. An all around good evening.

LuLu's Thai Noodles
I enjoyed the Yellow Curry lunch special with a med student wife this past week. This restaurant is now directly out the back door of my office, and their lunch special is $8 - a great deal (when it comes to going out for lunch, at any rate!). We had a great time catching up and made plans to get together again in May.

KCKS
I've talked about Emily, Rachel and Jenny before - we try to get together every other Monday, just to be intentional with our friendship. It's always refreshing to see these girls, and now half of us are pregnant! (I'm not in the pregnant half, fyi. Don't spread that rumor around.) It's fun to celebrate with each other and be honest with each other about our lives. So thankful for these girls.

Cosentino's Market
Another friend and I made plans to meet up and use a groupon that was expiring soon for The Drunken Fish, but when we were told the wait was 3hrs, we walked around and decided to get a hummus tray from Cosentino's Market. This is the grocery store for the people that live downtown...and it's priced like you can afford to live downtown. We had a great time discussing frugality and our frugal habits...it's nice to know that there are others out there as crazy as me!

Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day
I joined a friend for spaghetti and movie night at her apartment and we watched the cutest movie. I'm not going to spoil any of it because you really should go watch it yourself. It was darling. And worth seeing.

Swagger
Jordan and I split a groupon with another couple and checked this place out last night - it had to be good: it was featured on Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives. The groupon included 2 appetizers, 4 drinks, and 4 entrees. Bring on the grease. Beer-battered onion rings, loaded baked potato fries, deep-friend burgers (for the hubs, not me), a mound of fries with your burger...so delicious. (And so unhealthy.) Another great evening out with friends.

The Croods
I am a sucker for animated movies. So when another med student wife suggested we go to a movie, and that this would be her 3-yr-old's first movie, we naturally had to pick the only kids' movie in theaters. It was very cute, and I'm still amazed at how far animated movies have come just in my lifetime. It's pretty impressive. Afterwards, we went over to Zona Rosa for ColdStone Ice Cream. That place will also be fantastic to me...mostly from working there all through college. Great ice cream.

Yogurtini
Tonight, while Jordan grabs coffee with our biblestudy leader, I'm meeting up with the biblestudy leader's wife for frozen yogurt! She's a wonderful woman, and I'm certainly thankful for friendships outside of the med student wife circle.

It's been a busy week full of the blessing of friendship. And I'm so very thankful for that.

I think this introvert has her friendship tank filled to the brim - and that's not a bad thing.

How do you stay intentional with your friendships?