Friendly Resolution- January

Happy Friday and happy almost last day of January! This month has had some ups and downs, but I have tried really hard to focus on my word for 2015- Happy! It's been challenging at times, but I've been pretty good at noticing when I wasn't happy and doing things to change that.

I'm not big on resolution, because let's be honest, most of us rarely stick to them. I like to set mini goals for myself to accomplish throughout the year. This year, I've decided to focus on two goals- one professional and one personal.

My friends are my world. I try really hard to be a good friend and I try really hard to work on my friendships. It's so easy to let friendships fade if you move, get married, have a baby, start a new job...there are so many reasons/excuses for friendships to fade. I've always tried to maintain my friendships; generally one or two visits a year with texting, phone calls and Facebook messages in between. 

This year, I decided that every month, I would make the point to connect with two friends. How did I do in January?

Pretty well!! I actually ended up connecting with four friends!

D- A friend since high school, even though we lived hours apart. She currently lives about a 5 minutes drive from me and I see her maybe two or three times a year. I met her for coffee one Sunday, followed by some shopping downtown.

R- We used to work together, so I would talk to her every day and see her once a week- at least. She left for another job, lots of texting and phone calls. I was supposed to see her in October, the same day as my car accident. She did offer to come to the hospital with me (what a GREAT friend), which I declined. We met for lunch and then she came over to hang out for a few hours. 

C- Another co-worker. We used to work in the same office, she went on mat leave and when she came back, they put her in a different office. I see her every couple of weeks, but we haven't hung out in MONTHS. We had a nice, long and delicious brunch. Lots of laughs and great to catch up.

G- Yet another co-worker! She left to go to school and do her Masters. I have seen her twice for dinner in the past almost 6 months since she left, which is honestly pretty good. We had an impromptu coffee date one Saturday afternoon.

R- She lives a 5 minute walk from my house. We have both had a lot of changes in our lived over the past several months, and went from hanging out every other weekend to maybe hanging out 3 times in the past 9 months. I went over to her place for leftover lasagna, wine and girl talk. It was so great and exactly what I needed. 

I realize that I likely won't connect with so many friends in the coming months- I think that two is a realistic number- but I'm really happy with the number of friends I've connected with this month. I actually have Saturday adventure already scheduled with a friend for February and I have two friends that I want to touch base with in February.

I'm really hoping this is a 'resolution' I can stick with. Like I said, my friends are my world and I think it's so important to put time and energy to build and maintain friendships.