That's what friends are for...

Friends are such a wonderful part of our lives.

Yesterday a friend of mine from our time in Rio called me on Skype...

for those of you unfamiliar with Skype, this is a fabulous program that keeps us that live so far away in foreign countries connected to our family and friends in other parts of the world.

You sign up on your computer, and it is free for the most part. If you connect computer to computer, the calls are completely free. On computers, we can also see each other with either the built in camera or the attached camera too!

We also have a dedicated phone number that has the same area code as where our families are in the US. This phone number costs, but at a minimal charge per yea. Iit saves us way more money than if we had to actually dial direct from a place like Kazakhstan!

Ok, so my point of this post was not about Skype, but rather about friends...

so this friend called me on Skype. We stay in touch but have not called each other in a while. She now lives back in Houston.

She and I have a unique friendship in that we really find the right words to help each other through certain situations. She helped me so much yesterday with a few struggles that I am having with living in a fish bowl brings that I feel renewed living here today.

We talked about how when you make friends overseas, we make them quicker. I believe the reasoning for this is because you never know when someone could prove to be a really good friend, and that they may leave quicker than you hoped. So we delve into our friendships at a rather quick pace overseas to get to know each other. Sometimes it works out, sometimes it doesn't. What matters most to me is how true they are. I really do not like superficial, on the surface friendships. As I get older, I just feel like I have no time for them. I mean, obviously there are people that I see on camp that I am friendly with, but not hang out with all the time. Those are fine too...life needs them. The true friendships are the ones I crave, though.

Thanks my friend, you know who you are. I am so thankful that you skyped me last night, and that we had the conversation that we did. I look forward to visiting with you sometime soon!

You can't pick your family, but you can pick your friends...and I picked well when I found you!