Ode to my Living Companions

and by living i mean the ones that i LIVE with.
One thing about my situation here is that I spend a lot of time with the same people. I'm friends with the family at the Comedor and I talk to the teachers that work at the school with me, but for my close friends, I have my roommates (Catelin, Jennifer, and Shelly) and the marriage couple (Maggie and Tyler). We eat together, we work together, we shop together, we hang out together, we vacation together... Basically I've spent the last 10 months in a six person caccoon. While there is always potential for this to turn into a disastrous position, this year has actually turned out to be quite lovely. So, to honor the dear friends I am going to be leaving soon, I've compiled a small list of some different memories I have of each from the year. (Well, Maggie and Tyler are a joint unit for the purpose of this list:))


Jennifer
Jennifer is so great. I have been able to have so many fun teacher talks with her, and she's so easy to talk to. I think Jennifer is the one that I've walked to town with the most, and we've been able to have lots of great talks on our way down the mountain. She is always more than happy to listen and add insight with her own life experiences. I also remember one time that Catelin and Shelly were gone and Jennifer and I pulled out the mattress and watched a movie (two maybe?) together. That, for me, was when I really felt connected with her. We've also recently come up with a completely awesome way to sing Jennifer's name... which I will totally demonstrate for anyone that cares to listen-- and which she is stuck with for the rest of her life!:) I am also particularly fond of the line, "Who is Josh Groban? Kill yourself!"from Glee ... mostly because of Jennifer's influence. Also, there was this one time that we found a Feris wheel, and Jennifer had the pleasure of being my seat partner as I freaked out thinking we were going to die. :) Jennifer also courageously filmed my epic pila dive, and is always my cuddle partner for movie night. Finally, I've been able to spend lots and lots of time with Jennifer as she's been preparing for the end of the school graduation. Our school has a graduation for K5 and 6th grade, so both of our classes participate. Jennifer's class has a huge musical and dance production, and since I don't have class the last period of the day, I've been going and helping. It has been pretty awesome. :)


Catelin
OH Catelin. Catelin taught me how to enjoy cooking this year. I was not that great of a cook last year, and didn't start out that great this year, but Catelin very patiently taught me the best way to cut onions and carrots and watermelon. Now I feel confident in the kitchen!! Another Catelin+Laura Beth= moment is Sons of Anarchy. Catelin and I watched this show together and it was SO GREAT (also violent and stuff. so.... I'm not necessarily recommending it to everyone :)) Mostly, it was just a great thing to share and talk about. I am also pretty fond of the failed highlights day. Catelin asked me to help her highlight her hair (WHHHEW. alliteration) which I had never done before. For those of you who have not had the pleasure, I will explain. Catelin put a shower cap thing on her head with places to poke holes through. I poked the holes out with a crochet looking hook and pulled her hair through. Catelin's long, beautiful, thick hair was pretty tangled which caused this to be very difficult and for me to be irrationally angry at myself for not being able to pull hair through a shower cap. We finally got it all done and I put the peroxide/highlighting formula on and we waited the alloted time. Nothing. She never got highlights because the cream never took. All that work would have been for nothing except we got to spend it with one another. ;) Also, remember that one time you let Shelly get the Lempira?

Shelly
So, Shelly and I were sort of friends before this, but mostly in a way like "our parents are friends and we know about each other so she's probably cool" kind of way. Good thing our parents are great at choosing friends with awesome kids! :) Shelly is great. One of my favorite things about her is that she totally dominates our quote board. Yes, we have a house quote board, and yes, like most quote boards, if I were to write down one of the quotes she's said and explain why it's so funny, none of you will laugh. So, just trust me. They're great. :) Shelly is also really good at getting us to do things. Example: One night, we had no power. Shelly suggested we play Sardines. We all laughed at her, and then to humor her, decided to play one game. IT WAS AWESOME. One of our favorite memories in Honduras. Another great all group activity is our Saturday night movie. This was started by Shelly, and all 6 of us have enjoyed each other's favorite movies, as well as random ones after hours of voting. I'm all for tradition, so this has been a great one. One more Shelly memory is on one of our bus trips back home. We took the 1 am bus, and Shelly and I talked together ... the whole time. Everyone else took the opportunity to get some sleep, but Shelly just sat and graciously listened to me ramble. Shelly and I have also learned that we can never shop together, sit on the bus together, or be around a cute boy together because we act like middle schoolers. So, thanks Aunt Shelly, I'll be excited to share Des Moines with you soon! :)



Huizengas
Finally, the Huizengas. Maggie and Tyler. You guys are so great. The Huizengas are actually my first married couple friends. Before my married friends yell at me, let me explain. I'm friends with married people, but always with one of them before they got married, and then things change after the marriage. It's been really great getting to know Maggie and Tyler as a unit first, and then as individuals later. One of my first Huizenga memories is when they still lived down in the house by the school. I had to go pick something up that I'd left in my classroom, so I ran down there and decided to stop at their house. I ended up staying for a long time just talking about our experience- and then had to walk back up in the dark. :) Thankfully, they lent me their headlamp. That actually happens a lot where I run over to the Huizengas' to borrow some butter or something and then half an hour later remember I needed the butter for supper. I just totally lose track of time talking with them! I also have some pretty great Santa Rosa memories with Maggie and Tyler... particularly the Parkour. And the infamous Copan-nose picture. :) I have also spent a lot of time on the soccer field with Maggie (both "playing" and watching the boys). I love having Maggie on my team cuz we stick together, even when no one else wants us :) I also have had a great time sharing history podcasts with Tyler and picking his brain for answers to how guys think. :) These two have been a great example to me, and I can't wait to have a marriage like theirs!

So, thank you to my BHG family and los matrimonios. It's been such a great year, and all of you mean so much to me. Can't wait to hang out in our normal habitats! :)

Love, Love, Love,

LB