The Neighbors: An Unexpected Journey

After a night where sleep seemed impossible, I am alerted by my brother at around 9:05 a.m. that a white car was parked in front of our house, and he was questioning who it was.

I had made plans with my friend Madi to go eat breakfast after her dentist appointment that I thought was at 9:00 a.m., but it was actually at 8:00. My alarm was set for 9:15. It was, in fact, Madi, so I threw on some clothes and shoes (forgot to grab a jacket) and rushed outside. This had been the first time I had hung out with her since before Thanksgiving due to the fact she has been away at college in Utah. We chatted and jammed out to tunes as she drove down the road, and we decided that we should go to Chick-fil-a for breakfast. We walked in and ordered our food, both getting a chicken biscuit meal. I remember that the cashier said she really liked my hat, and loved that it had the deathly hallows symbol on it. We enjoyed our meals, if you can call a biscuit and some hash rounds a "meal", and waited for the rest of the shopping center to open up so we could look around.

Our first stop was Target, which is where I purchased an iTunes card so I could buy Ed Sheeran's new music that is to be released on Friday. I had quite a difficult time with the self-checkout, because for some reason it wasn't recognizing the bar-code on my gift card. Thankfully, Madi helped me out. Then we went to JCPenney's to pick up a lipstick I wanted from the Sephora inside. I had NO idea lipstick was THAT expensive! (I also snagged the last one of that kind.) We waited at the counter for a while before someone who worked in that department noticed that we were unattended. Going in and out of the stores was probably the worst part, since I was braving the weather without a jacket.

Following our shopping excursion, we went back to Madi's house and played some card games before I had to go home; we played games such as "Chomp". "Speedy Recall", and another one having to do with knowing U.S. Geography. It felt nice to just be playing something simple as a card game with her because I get to see her so little. The rest of her family watched and talked with us while we sat at their kitchen table. Something I'll never forget is the way she throws her head back as she laughs, and it makes me laugh, too. She drove me home a little bit before two, and we said our goodbyes until she comes back in May at the end of her school year.

Next on the agenda was I was going to be meeting my other friend Hallie for a late lunch, but she ended up staying later than she anticipated at the doctor so we pushed it back until like 4ish. In between that time, my sister and I decided this would be a prime time to bring the oreo balls she made over to one of our neighbors. We walked over to their house in the chilly weather, and rang the doorbell hoping someone would answer. There was a car in the parking lot, so someone had to be home. Lara opened the door and talked to us for a minute. She informed us that her brother, Parker, was helping Jimmy do something at his house. We figured we would check it out and see if they were outside, and if so we would say hello.

As we approached his house, I noticed that there were significantly more cars in their driveway than normal. I saw a blue truck which caught my attention. I know someone with a blue truck. I thought, "Is that Reynolds's truck? It can't be."  And, well, it was. As we walked up his driveway, there stood some of the youth from our youth group and our interim youth pastor that we call Reynolds (or Matt, because his name is Matt Reynolds) assembling a basketball goal. At first I figured we would just pop by and greet them, but I ended up staying over there for about two hours.

It started out with my sister and I just watching them piece the thing together, but later on the guys started to rake leaves off the driveway and we aided them by holding the bags they put them in. I still didn't have a jacket on because I didn't intend on being outside for a long period of time, but I preserved through it. I may not have been able to feel my hands for a couple hours, but it was worth it. I love my church family and friends a lot, and I was pleasantly surprised to get to spend some time with them. Matt was mainly the one who got the basketball goal assembled, while Caden was in the back working on painting the inside of a shed white. Parker had some music on Spotify turned up loud enough and plugged into a speaker (I think) for us to listen to as we worked, talked, or did whatever. There was lots of singing weird songs in unison that somehow everyone knew except Keri and I, and Ethan throwing berries or nuts in people's faces. I went inside for a while to warm up, and their grandmother offered to make me some hot chocolate. Reluctantly I said yes, because when you're over at someone else's house you never really want to be a burden on them, you know? She was so sweet, and she explained to me that she put the hot chocolate in a mug that her daughter, Janicee, had got her for Christmas, along with the sock monkey socks she was wearing. When she handed it to me it made my hands almost feel like they were burning because they had been so cold for so long. I didn't regret asking for some, though, after I had finished all that was in the mug. I definitely felt a whole lot warmer by being inside and drinking it. By the time I made it back outside, they were basically done with the basketball goal and everybody was preparing to head out. We exchanged goodbyes, and I headed home to prepare to go on yet another journey away from home with Hallie shortly after that.

My phone buzzed at 4:44 pm, and it was Hallie saying she was already at my house. (Of course I don't remember that, but I checked the time I received the text on my phone for confirmation.) I hopped into the passenger seat and she pulled out of my driveway. She only had a short amount of time to hang out, because she had to be back home by 6. So, we grabbed a bite at the Panera in Hermitage and enjoyed some tasty food while we caught up with each other. I ordered a bowl of mac & cheese with a large drink, while she got a bagel and coffee. I've always been a fan of their macaroni because it is so good, and it seemed to fill my whole body with warmth after each bite. We talked about college, contrast IVs, and everything else in between before it was time for me to go back home.

I learned that there's a certain feeling that transcends time itself when you're in the passenger seat of someone's car. There's something freeing about being side by side by your friend, and for some reason when you get home you wish the ride didn't have to end.

Today has been such a good day, and I was surrounded by such good people.
Life is full of surprises, and moments that make life worth living.
To see my friends smiling and laughing together? You just can't beat that.

Love always,
Allison