Good morning!
I arrived back in Ocala yesterday and worked the early shift this morning. My normal schedule resumes! Though more travel awaits at the end of this week, it felt good to sleep in my own bed last night and spend time with Ryan and Sadie. I missed them!
Even though it’s great to be home, traveling and spending time with some of my best girlfriends over the weekend was so wonderful. I cannot help but feel a little sad whenever our time together is over.
I wish we lived closer to each other! My girlfriends mean so much to me and short weekends together remind me just how much fun we have together, even when we’re doing nothing but lounging around! When I was talking to my friend Leah this weekend, we agreed that there’s something special about spending time with friends you’ve had forever. It’s effortless and fun and they embrace every single part of you. They understand every facet of your personality and know all about your past and your family. They care about your future and only wish the best for you. I wonder if I can convince my friends to move to Florida?
Breakfast
After a 4:20 a.m. wake up, I headed to the gym to work through the morning. I took a break about an hour into my shift to eat the breakfast I prepared last night.
I made myself a batch of scrambled eggs with spinach, mozzarella cheese and chicken sausage. After microwaving the eggs to bring them back to life this morning, I dug in!
My shift at the gym passed quickly and I enjoyed seeing some of my clients after a few days away. I am training another client in half an hour and teaching water fitness class this afternoon.
See ya after class!
Of Possible Interest
- 10 Minute Ab Workout (FitSugar.com)
- No Fuss Three Ingredient Sides (Featuring my fruit dip - SELF.com)
- How To Make Burgers Healthier (My love for avocado makes a debut – SELF.com)
Questions of the Morning
- Do your best friends live close to you? If not, how often do you see each other?
- Do you remain close to your friends from high school or college?
My best friends from high school and college live all over the country (Chicago, Detroit, Denver, New York City), though three of my best friends from college live about two hours from me in Florida. I’m envious of people whose best friends from high school and college live close by!
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I’m so terrible at remaining close over distances. Sadly, some of my best friends aren’t close to me at all, but at least a few of them are. I get to stand next to one of my besties soon though at her wedding in CA. Woowoo!
I love what you did with your hair! So pretty! Its hard to stay in touch over long distances. i have a few friends from high school and college i keep in touch with- mainly through text and gchat- i dont know what i do without those!
I bet your glad to be home, I know when I travel I am always happier to finally sleep in my own bed. As for my friends from HS they all live in Corpus. And when I go down I’m usually there to visit my dad and don’t get a chance to meet up with them. They still get together at times and it makes me sad I have to miss it, but I also understand that life keeps us all very busy.
I live in Boston and my best friend lives in Biloxi, MS. I wish she could move back but her husband is in the air force and they were relocated there. We try and see each other at least once a year and we Skype at least once a month. She is coming up for my wedding next month! I cannot wait for her to be here, she’s truly like a sister to me.
I live in Columbus, OH and all my friends are about 2-3 hours away in different directions. We try and get together about once a month, or every other month. Sometimes it’s hard with holidays. I miss them all the time, and wish we lived closer.. but it does make the time we spend together more significant! I think since we have to work harder at our friendship, it shows we really care about one another, and want to be life long friends! 🙂
I feel you on this! My best friends live all over the place too – mostly in California where I want to college though. I miss them so much.
You are quite the traveler! I agree with you, there’s nothing like hanging out with your best friend from childhood.
I definitely relate to the sadness you feel when you have to leave good friends. It’s tough when everyone moves away and you can only see each other once and a while, but at least you have the memories.
My best friend from high school lives in china right now 🙁 I talk to her on Skype but she only comes home like once a year
I miss my college friends! Most of my friends from high school are local so I can see them often but my college friends are so far away and I miss being able to just walk down the street and see them!
My HS best friends are alll over! Rochester NY, NYC, DC, Las Vegas… and college stretches out to Seattle. I love being home for the holidays and getting together with every one. It’s the type of hang out where you go “hey lets hang, come over / I’m coming over” and that’s that. None of this “Okay what did you want to do?” stuff. It’s understood that it will be awesome no matter what.
My best friends live everywhere, too! I don’t see them nearly as often as I’d like. They live in Chicago, NC, and NJ, among other places, but I do have a few that live within FL driving distance.
I always love a weekend with my girlfriends from home, but feel kinda depressed afterward! It’s like a teaser of how it used to be in the old days. Glad you had a good time 🙂
Some of my friends still live close by. Even though it is hard to get together since all of our schedules seem to be all over the place.
I can relate to how you feel. I have had to move from Florida to Texas to California over the past five years and it has meant leaving behind all of my friends and family. It’s really hard but I guess it’s a sacrifice that you make for love!
My friends and I are spread out over the entire country! I’m in Boston, two are in Florida, and one’s in DC. Each year we try to a few reunions where we’re all able to get together for a long weekend to spend time with each other. Usually we’ll plan on in the spring (helloooo beach!) and then in the fall (for football season/alumni wekeend!). It’s true what you were saying, there is NOTHING like your best friends. They’re irreplaceable! Luckily snapchat videos help us feel like we’re right next to each other rather than thousands of miles apart 🙂
So glad you got some time with your girls! 🙂
I just had my best friend in from out of state this weekend. We’ve been friends since we were in 7th grade, she moved 15 years ago and it really kind of stinks since we only see each other once or twice a year. She’s possibly moving again by the end of the year about 5 states further away so I assume our time together will be even more scarce. My other best friend I’ve known since 3rd grade. My best guy friend I’ve known since I was 14. So safe to say I stick with my old schoolers! 🙂
I know this has been asked before but what brand and favor chicken sausages do you prefer?
Thanks!!
Al fresco or Aidell’s! Both are delicious!
All my best friends from school are back in California, where I’m from. The military moved us, literally, across the country in Charleston, South Carolina. Haven’t seen my family or friends in over a year. 🙁
I hope those people who live so close by to their parents, siblings and friends cherish every moment. I would do anything to see mine. Thank God for Skype!
My friends are not local but fortunately all within driving distance. I live in lower Connecticut now and have friends about an hour north in CT and anywhere from 1-2 hours south in NJ. It kind of stinks that it always has to be planned out and involve a drive back and forth these days, so we don’t get together as often as I would like!
I am lucky and all my close friends live close to me. I am still really close with my best friends from high school and we all live within 30 mins of each other – like I said lucky!
I’m the same way!! All of my best friends from high school and college are either back home, which is 5 hours away, or are spread across the country as well!! Sometime’s it’s nice to get away from my husband and dog and spend some quality GIRL TIME! It really is refreshing, and they accept you wholly, and you can laugh and cry and joke about everything cheesy under the sun just like old times!! It’s crazy how growing up makes everyone spread out so far, but you’ll have those best friends that when you see them again it’s like you never left!
I’ve moved to London while family and friends are still in the US so I only get to see them about once a year, if that. VERY tough!
I’ve had the same four best friends since kindergarten! Although none of us live in the same city anymore, we still try to see eachother at least once a month. I miss them all the time though! Most of my friends from university live in the area so at least I get to see them on a regular basis.
Your breakfast looks super yummy! You said you prepare it the night before, and then you just warm the whole mash up in the morning? I’m getting bored of packing yogurt and oatmeal!
My best friends from high school live in Chicago, but my college besties are all over! Bloomington-Normal, Iowa City, San Antonio, and one is moving to DC at the end of summer! I guess the thing with having long distance friendships is that you always have a place to travel, and it forces you to keep in touch!
I feel you on the long distance friendship front! My best friends from College live in Tennessee and Mississippi. I only get to see them once, maybe twice a year. It is so hard to go so long without seeing them. Talking over the phone just isn’t enough!! And now one of my two closest friends who lives near me is moving 7 hours away!
I definitely stayed close to my college friends. I love catching up with my High School friends when I see them but I don’t make the effort that I do with my college buddies. They are my friendship soul mates.
My best friend lives in the same city as me – though not for very long! Her husband just got a new job so they’re moving three hours away. I’m going to miss them, though I’m very glad that they’re within driving distance for a weekend visit.
My friends live pretty close. Most of my close friends are from college, but I still have a really good friend from highschool too. They live just far enough away that I don’t get to see them as much as I would like to.
Hands down your blog is my fave! I love your simple meals and your circuit workouts! They both have helped me on my own fitness journey! Thanks 🙂 The best thing about the healthy meals you make is, the ingredients are some thing I probably already have. I like that. Thanks again! 🙂 <3
My best friend (from HS) lives 4 hours south of me and I only get to see her once every 3-4 months. We talk on the phone twice a day and are always texting back and forth, so it’s kind of like she is always right by my side.
I actually have the same best friends from high school and college! Sure, I made new friends in college as well but my BEST friends were the same. We all went to different colleges but they were all in the same town so we stayed very close. Now that we’re out of college, we’re all within 30 minutes of each other and RARELY see each other 🙁 We all work different schedules and there’s so much going on. It makes me very sad! We do talk daily though!
Your blog today totally pulled at my heart! I can totally relate! I live about 4 1/2 hours from some of my best girlfriends and reading on fb that they went out or had lunch makes me miss them all the more! Luckily, because of that, I feel I probably treasure the time I do get to visit with them even more. Kind of like a blessing in disguise! Plus, anytime we do get together we celebrate because it doesn’t happen every weekend! silver lining! Love your blog girl!
Julie… I completely relate to your post! Like you, I live in Ocala. My closest friends from childhood are spread out and we only get to see each other two times a year (if that). We are a group of five and we’ve been the best of friends since we were all little girls. One lives all the way in Australia! However, when we get together it’s incredible. I love that we can catch up right where we left off. We just had our annual “Girls Weekend” at the end of May and we always manage to have a “GNI- Girls Night In” every December right before the holidays. We’re lucky that our parents still all live close to each other so we have a common meeting place. We are planning a NY trip for our next girls weekend and I can’t tell you how much I look forward to these weekends away with the girls. I agree with you, there is something so special about those “long time friends.” I feel so fortunate to have them in my life even though we don’t see each other nearly enough.
My closest friends are post-college friends. They all live in California and I am not in Wisconsin. It is tough being away from friends but it is so much fun to see them. I moved away almost 2 years ago and it looks like I will see them about once a year. Thank goodness for the internet and telephones.
I’m home from college for the summer so I do get to spend time with girls I went to high school with. I’m not very good at staying in touch over distance, but whenever I see them we always pick up where we left off. And one of my best friends is getting married this weekend so that’s some extra time. I dread the day that college has ended and when we all go our separate ways. I love seeing my sorority sisters throughout the week during school and I know I’ll miss that when we graduate. Thanks for the reminder to really cherish my friendships and enjoy every second I have with them!
I moved across the country to go to university, and now I’m staying in that same town, so all of my high school friends are back on the West Coast. I have a couple of friends from university, so they’re a lot closer to me, but my best friends are still the ones I grew up with. I’m just glad that there’s so much technology around to help us keep in touch between visits, since I only fly out once or twice a year. Plus I have a good old-fashioned pen-pal relationship going with one of them, which is super fun.
I moved to Florida from Puerto Rico almost two years ago so most of my closest friends are still there. I’m lucky enough that I can visit various times a year to catch up with them! I’ve actually known my best friend since we were four years old! So, like twenty years!
My best friends in the world are girls I’ve known since elementary school. We live scattered across the US… 1 in Colorado, 2 in Texas, and I’m in NY but we make a point to get together when we can. And we can pick right back up where we left off… chatting and laughing over a glass of wine 🙂
Thanks for the post, J! It made me smile to think of my girls and how special they all are!
One of my best friends from college is in Chicago like I am, but both of my close-friends-from-high-school-that-I’m-still-friends-with never left Michigan. I rarely see them, but man, those occasions when I do get to see them are the absolute best. I love hanging out with my old friends!
LOVING that dress color! I am slightly obsessed with royal blue right now!
And I hear you. I live thousands of miles away from my best friend, which can be so rough sometimes! 🙁
I just graduated from college but luckily it was my state school so most of my friends live nearby. I know it won’t last forever but even when some of us move away, short weekends like the one you just had will be great! I especially can’t wait for everyone to start getting married–all the festivities that come with a friend’s engagement seem so fun!
I made your fruit dip for a get together and everyone LOVED it! It was so easy to make and absolutely delicious! I ended up using the leftovers in a “grilled cheese” sandwich with beets and avocado, which was fantastic!
My very best friend lives about 10 minutes from me, so I am very lucky. Most of my high school and college best friends live scattered around California (where I live) so it’s not too hard to see each other! I think we all love Cali too much to leave!
I am still very close with my highschool (some even junior high school) friends and we all still live in our hometown within at least 20 minutes from each other.It is great to have my friend so close but at the same time I find that because of the convenience we almost don’t see eachother enough. We attend the mandatory birthdays, weddings and children’s events. But those random girlfriend’s nights out or even weekend getaways absolutely never happen. I think because we all live so close we don’t really feel that urge to do those fun outings. On the other hand we do have one or two friends that live very far away. I find whenever those friends are in town we make more of an effort to get together. I think when you are far from each other, you tend to appreciate the friendship more. You make plans to have a get away altogether, you take time to call or send messages to keep in touch. Good and bad of both I guess.
Almost all of my high school and college friends live in Chicago and I live in St. Louis, feel just like you. I absolutely love my weekend trips with them, but I feel sad whenever I come back to St. Louis. Great friends are just the best though!
I’ve always heard that you know a true friend when you don’t see/talk to them for years and then you can pick right back up where you left off without any problem! So glad you have such wonderful friends in your life 🙂
All of my high school and college friends live far away too. Even though we don’t get to see each other very much, when we do get together it’s like no time has passed and we just pick up right where we left off!
My friends live all over. It’s hard not getting to see them as much as I would like. I’m excited that my wedding in a week and a half will bring us all back together.
I love all my high school friends even though I live so far away from them. We actually all reunited for a girls weekend in Las Vegas just two weeks ago.