Thursday, April 29, 2010

There are five of us

There are five of us.

One of us, my friend Keisha, got married last weekend, and is currently on her honeymoon in Fiji. I am having withdrawal symptoms. I miss her terribly! (And she's only been gone since Tuesday. That's two days people. I have a serious problem.)

Anyway, her wedding was a great celebration- of her and Adam, but also of the five of us. We danced for two straight hours. People wanted to be us. We always have the best time together.

A little about our friendship: The five of us (Keisha, Elise, Claryse & Laura... yes it was confusing with most of our names sounding the same!) met at different stages throughout high school.
We all started Year 7 with different groups of friends, but by Year 11 we were BFFs.

I've talked about Elise & Keisha before here.

I first met Elise at the end of Year 8. It was the summer holidays, and we'd both been invited to a class mate's birthday party at the pool. For some reason, we weren't swimming in the pool with everyone else, and we found ourselves at the food table together. (We have laughed about this so much over the years- what can I say, food brings people together!)

A conversation was struck up, although about what I cannot tell you, and we both left the party smiling. Fast forward to the start of the new school year, and I began a dogged pursuit of Elise at lunch times, wanting to hang out with her and be her friend. Slightly stalker-ish, I know, but it's like I just knew we'd be great friends. One particular day, it was her birthday, and a friend she'd had for years had brought pink heart-shaped lamingtons to celebrate. Much to this friend's disgust, Elise shared one with me, and that was the moment I knew our friendship was cemented. (See, I told you it was all about the food for us!)

When later on in the year, we went to her house to work on an assignment for Geography together, and I felt right at home amongst her family, that's when I knew we'd be friends for a long time.

When she was the first person I called when I heard that my Aunty had gone missing, and was later found dead, and she sat on the phone crying with and comforting me, that's when I knew we'd be friends forever.



I first met Keisha in Year 7, when we found ourselves in the same room at camp. If you can imagine a room filled with six 13-year-old girls, then you can imagine that we didn't get to know each other straight away, as there was so much talking and giggling amongst the group to get through as a priority first. :)

We had a gradual move towards friendship, it was slow yet natural. When we suddenly found ourselves as close friends, it didn't really come as a surprise. I don't remember the first time I realised Keisha and I were friends, I can just remember her always being around. We had different groups of friends until about Year 10, when the five of us started to hang out more. We also started to have more classes together. We sat through Design & Technology and doodled potential children's names in our books instead of technical drawings. We wrote quotes in our school diaries while everyone else was writing down our homework for that day. We talked about what had happened on last week's episode of The OC.

It wasn't until our last two years of school that Keisha and I really bonded. Instead of sitting outside at lunch time, the five of us would hole up in an empty classroom (with a teacher's permission of course. Our grade wasn't known as "The Golden Year" for nothing!) and catch up with what was going on in each other's lives. I remember countless lunch hours spent lying on the floor, alternately laughing and crying and talking about everything. I would lie in Keisha's lap while she stroked my hair, and cry about my Dad living overseas and being so far away, about the boy I liked who seemed to just dismiss me, about study and stress and everything that came from being in your final years at school.

In our first year at university, with the whole thing seeming so confusing, Keisha and I would meet up at her in-laws' house which was right next to uni, and compare notes. Even though we were doing completely different degrees (her: communications, me: arts), we would compare and contrast until we felt better about the whole thing. And then we would go to Gloria Jeans for an iced chocolate and continue. :)

Keisha has been my closest confidant. I've helped her move house, I've helped her plan her wedding, and now I've helped her walk down the aisle. Likewise, she is a constant encouragement to me. She is the one to reassure me of course I'm going to be a good primary teacher. Of course I'll get married one day. Of course my future husband will get me a brand new Volvo SUV that I've been lusting over for more than a year now. :)

We go to church together now, and there are still many times we look at each other and go "We need to go and talk." (Since Gloria Jeans isn't usually open late, these talks often must happen at the local McDonalds now. Sad but true). It hasn't always been easy. We both have very soft hearts, and we can get hurt easily. But of course our similar emotions have led to an even stronger connection. We are the "softies" of the group, and for that reason we have a friendship which is just that little bit different to everyone else.


I met Claryse in Year 7 too, although I think she remembers it a lot more than I do. She is one for details, for the specifics, where as I am just along for the ride. Claryse was in that faithful cabin room on Year 7 camp. We still commiserate on being kicked out of the room in the early freezing cold frosty morning, since our group was heard to be talking too loudly.

Claryse and I were friends for years, but there wasn't any real depth to the relationship in the beginning. Gradually, that changed, and when she started dancing at the same studio as me, we found something to connect on. We enjoyed a much closer friendship in our final years at school, and in our first few years at uni. We would always partner up and carpool to and from dancing events, and this would inevitably lead to us getting lost. To this day, if Claryse and I are driving somewhere together, we will get lost. GPS or not, we will end up somewhere we aren't supposed to be. And it inevitably happens while we're playing the Spice Girls or Britney in the car. It's the way we roll.

Claryse and I have all kinds of similar interests that tie us to each other. We are both fond of baking. She is the cupcake queen. I also think she is starting to get intrigued with photography because I always find her with my camera in her hands whenever I leave it out somewhere. Claryse is often like my personal organiser, reminding me of details and bringing me things I've left somewhere. She is like the part of my brain that I don't carry with me. Like a little Jiminy Cricket, but instead of a moral compass, she's a compass in itself. Except for the whole getting physically lost part.


I first met Laura later on in school. We always knew each other, but we never really actually struck up a friendship until our later years. Laura and I have a huge emotional connection. I don't know where it came from, but I'm grateful for it. We're both "feelers", who feel things first, before thinking or doing. Laura is more outspoken than me, but she's so proactive with everything that you can't help be taken in by her.

Laura and Elise were initially good friends because they both did choir after school. When I was in high school, I used to be jealous of their relationship, because I wanted to be friends with Laura! She is such a bubbly, bright personality that everyone in the room wants to talk to her. Actually, I didn't want to be friends with her, I pretty much wanted to be her! I remember she had this red and white striped rugby jersey-style top she wore on a camp once, and I liked it so much that I asked her where she bought it and promptly bought a similar one, in pink! I told her that story years ago, and she brought it up recently. Oh my goodness we laughed so hard over it! Me trying so hard to be cool!

Once the "five-some" was solidified, it was probably Laura and I who had the most distant relationship. And by saying this, I don't mean it was distant, I just mean we weren't as "in-each-others-pockets" as the rest of the group were. That all changed once we went to uni. We started meeting up regularly on Wednesdays in her final year, when we both had a big break between classes. We had a routine where we'd eat lunch at The Coffee Club, and then we'd hit up Bed Bath N Table. To this day, neither of us feels right walking into that store without the other one by our sides! The shop assistants there know us by name, and when we walk in they say "It must be Wednesday!"

Since Laura now has a full time job working in the city, it's harder to make time for those catch ups, but we make do with the weekends. Sleepovers are usually at Laura's house. :)
Seriously, this girl cracks me up like no one else. We laugh and laugh. She and I pour over wedding magazines, and home decorating magazines like no one else, just dreaming about the future. We are forever emailing each other pictures and ideas that will have to be stored in some huge memory vault for when the time actually comes. We also share a love of blogging, and are always sending links to each other of our new favourite blogs. It's so fun to share!


****


There are five of us. I think it's pretty amazing that five of us are each still committed to our friendships with each other. I run into people I know from school, and I notice that they're lucky if they are still friends with one person from school, let alone best friends with five.

You take one on, you take all of us on.
Through thick and thin, we have pretty much been through it all. With the first one just getting married, it feels like we are just getting started in this great game of life. It's so fun to do life with these girls. We joke that at 80, we'll probably all be in the same retirement home, pottering around and talking about our grandchildren. What fun that will be. :)

Until then, you never know what's next with us. We've come to realise that we're going to be friends for life. We can't even imagine life without each other. It's just so weird to imagine not being intertwined in each other's lives like we are. We see each other almost every day. If we're not meeting up, then we're texting or emailing or Facebooking. We just enjoy each other's company so much, and look forward to going through life all together. Laura's dad calls us "The Desperate Housewives" because we're in our early twenties, yet already planning ahead for when we have houses and grown up lives. Keisha's wedding was bittersweet, because she is the first of us to start experiencing that. It's so fun to be a part of.

Monday, April 26, 2010

Keisha & Adam's Wedding




Claryse & I giving our speech



The bridal table



Claryse & I with Adam & Keisha



With Keisha


The 5 of us- Elise, me, Keisha, Laura & Claryse


The end of the night- Keisha leaving the reception


Adam

Me




Bridesmaids

Photos of Claryse & I from Keisha & Adam's wedding yesterday.

Looking quite the bridesmaids!











Sunday, April 18, 2010

Graduation Photos

Yesterday I had the graduation ceremony for my Bachelor of Arts.
Of course I took tons of photos!

Shaking the Chancellor's hand.


Outside after the ceremony






With my mum


Posing with my degree!

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

About

About to go pick my grandparents up from Sydney Airport- they are flying in from NZ for my graduation. So are my Dad and my other grandma (and they all read this blog so I better give them a shout out!)

Yesterday I went over to my friend Elise's house. She had her graduation ceremony this past Friday. She went to the University of Sydney, so her ceremony was a bit more traditional (think Harry Potter-style, in a huge Great Hall, with candelabras and all the trimmings).

I don't think mine will be like that.

I'm pretty sure ours is in the university gym.

OR an auditorium of some kind.

But still- no great hall. I don't think the University of Western Sydney even owns a great hall.

It's just not the way we roll.

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

Kitchen Tea

Last weekend, I hosted a kitchen tea bridal shower for my friend Keisha, along with her other 4 bridesmaids.


We had a great time catching up and eating homemade food that everyone had brought.


We played lots of fun games - including the "Make a bridal gown out of toilet paper" game!

Corinne & Sheree (2 of Keisha's sisters)


Danielle, me & Claryse


Cassie, Keisha & Polly



Sam



The 4 "brides" - Sam, me, Corinne & Keisha




Claryse in the mess created after we all ripped our "gowns" off!




Laura, Elise & Keisha



Cassie & Claryse



Playing Celebrity Heads - Disney character style!



Elise, me & Laura




Polly



Keisha opening presents



She is a huge Jodi Picoult fan!



The present I got her- a t-shirt that says "Soon to be Mrs Coleman"!

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

It's that time again

I'm at uni, with a three hour break.

Do you feel like this is the only time you ever hear from me?

:)


Last week was Mid-Semester Break at uni, which tied in with Easter as well. Having a whole week off was soooo nice! Sleeping in, not having to rush out the door, doing whatever I wanted for the day = bliss!

That's not to say I wasn't busy. I spent a lot of time with my friends, we had a spontaneous pizza and movie night and then on another night we played board games and watched DVDs. This is how my friends and I are - we'd rather stay in than go out ANY day!

On Good Friday, after I went to church in the morning, Mum and I decided to go for a drive. It was "go-for-a-drive" weather. We had plans to go to Wollongong, but after getting on the freeway and seeing the traffic backed up for like 5 kilometres, we turned around and headed in the other direction. We ended up at Pancakes on the Rocks in Parramatta (yum!) and then we got home in time to see a movie. We wanted to see Dear John, but we missed the only session it was on, so we saw The Last Song instead. They're both movies based on Nicholas Sparks novels, so in my opinion it didn't really matter which one we saw!

By the end of the movie, I was in tears. It was SO sad. I won't spoil the ending, but oh my goodness it was a tear jerker.

Then again, that could just be because I'm a "feeler". At my friend Laura's dinner party on Friday night, the 5 of us (Laura, Keisha, Elise, Claryse & me - Laura's dad calls us "The Desperate Housewives" haha) were talking about whether we're think-ers, feel-ers, or do-ers.

We all know each other so well after having been friends for so long, that most of the time it was unanimous. Laura and I are both feelers. But we differ in that I'm a feeler, then a thinker, then a do-er, meaning I feel things first, then I think about them, and then I act. Laura is much more of a do-er than I am :)

I'm a ponderer. I think about what I'm thinking about. (We call that "metacognition" at uni)
But regardless of all that, first and foremost, I am a FEELER. Big time. Emotional, romantic, deep and meaningful. That's me.

I love hanging out with my friends who know me so well. The 5 of us can talk for hours, without even realising that time is passing. It's true. It happened on Friday night. Before we knew it, it was 2am, and everyone else had left hours ago. I love that :)

(I'm all about the smiley faces today!)


Later on the weekend (on Saturday) I hosted a Baby Shower for my dance teacher with some other girls from dancing. It was so fun to see the hall all decked out in pink, and full of yummy food. (I may have gone on a baking binge a few days before...)


Yesterday, on Monday, I had to work all day, but it was worth it because of the public holiday rates :) We were surprisingly busy... well not busy, but constant, which was surprising because in a small little shopping centre like ours, public holiday usual equals deserted. So that was a pleasant surprise.

However, before I knew it, it was the end of the Easter long weekend and back to the real world - uni.

Waking up early this morning was not fun, but it's only another two weeks before we are on break again. I can't wait. But in the meantime, I have a few assessments to get back to... the life of a uni student!

Monday, April 5, 2010

Happy Easter

Saturday, April 3, 2010

Dinner Party

Last night my friend Laura had a dinner party for her birthday. She is a huge fan of the Style Me Pretty blog, which focusses on weddings and other pretty things, and so she went all out with her table settings.

Here are some pictures. It's all very "Twilight" inspired to me!