Teacher by trade, Mother by nature: Best Friends

Real friends are a rare breed. I have met a lot of people in my life and most of them have become really good friends of mine. Distinguishing a real friend from a fake friend can be hard to do though. In my opinion, real friends are the people you can go to for anything, no matter what...they are the ones that see the good, the bad and the ugly. Where as fake friends may be your friend on Facebook, just to have a nosy at what's happening in your life. Over the years, friendships have come and gone but my REAL friends have stuck around through thick and thin. Although we don't see each other everyday, when we are together, it's like we were never apart...those friends in my eyes...are your REAL friends. I actually wrote this post about two of my best friends.

Here's a guide to figuring out if your friends are REAL or FAKE...

1. Support the choices you make
A real friend will support the choices that you make in life. Whether it's giving up smoking, leaving your husband or changing your career, a real friend will be there supporting you every step of the way.

2. You trust them with your secrets
Real friends stay true to their word and will not gossip about you or share your secrets with every Tom, Dick and Harry. They respect you too much for that. Fake friends will use your secrets as ammo or conversation starters to gain a few brownie points with other friends.

3. Encourage you to explore your interests
As we get older, we find that we like different things and discover new interests - may be something that is totally opposite to what we would normally do. A real friend will let you do your thing and whole heartedly encourage you to enjoy the new journey.

4. Be goofy
You know those random, goofy things that we do on a regular basis? - a real friend loves them...so much so that if they are a true friend - they will be standing right next to you doing the exact same thing!

5. Forgive you
There may be times that you seriously screw things up...fake friends might take it very seriously and can cost you a friendship. Real friends will know that you f*&#ed up and will forgive you because they value your friendship too much.

6. Know your little quirks
No one else knows you quite like your real friends...especially when it comes to the little quirks you have. It's when they notice those quirks - you have definitely found yourself a real friend.

7. They make time for you
Fake friends will contact you if and when they need something or want to know some gossip. Real friends are genuinely interested in what's happening in your life and make the time to do so.

8. They take you as you are
A real friend won't care if you rock over to their place in trackies and a hoody or even in your pyjamas - they might have a laugh and will probably be wearing the same! They don't care, they just want to hang out with their BFF! If you have to always wear nice clothes, and do your hair just to hang out, then you might have fake friends. Again, real friends see the good, the bad and the ugly!

9. Always there for you
One of the biggest differences between real and fake friends is how they deal with your ups and downs. Your real friends will be right there next to you listening to whatever you have to say, whether it's happy or sad, good or bad. If you are feeling down, a fake friend will try to sweep it under the carpet and may change the subject.

And just for fun...
10.

This post was part of the new One Word Blog Linkup hosted by:

Lisa of The Golden Spoons,

Janine of Confessions of a Mommyholic,

and Marcia of Blogitudes.

This week, the word prompt choices were Fake and Quiet.

Best Friends for 18 years
Kerry (left), Charlene (middle) & Emma (right)

Best Friends are very special people in your life. They are the first people you think about when you make plans. They are the first people you go to when you need someone to talk to. You will phone them up just to talk about nothing, or the most important things in your life. When you’re sad they will try their hardest to cheer you up. They give the best hugs in the world! They are the shoulder to cry on, because you know that they truly care about you. In most cases they would take a bullet for you, because it would be too painful to watch you get hurt.

That is exactly what these girls (pictured above) are to me. They truly are my BEST FRIENDS, the missing pieces to my puzzle of Friendship. We have been Best Friends since we were 14 years old. Almost eighteen years later and here we are - still best friends! We may not see each other very often, but we still consider ourselves besties! These girls are the sisters I never had (I have four brothers)...we have been there for each other through the good, the bad and the ugly. We have supported each other through losing loved ones, separation, break-ups, childbirth, becoming a mother, losing a mother...the list goes on. These girls are amazing! And I am so fortunate to have them in my life and call them my best friends!

My Our friend Kerry (pictured left) lives in London and is actually heading home tomorrow (*sad face*), however while she has been here (in New Zealand), we made sure we had plenty of catch ups, took lots of photos and reminiscing the good old days (as you do). Kerry has been away from home (New Zealand) for almost ten years, and the last time we saw her was in 2012. Seeing her again this Summer felt like she never even left. She is still the same bubbly girl that we all know and love!

Earlier this week we had a BBQ & get together at Emma's place...Great company, talking about houses, businesses, work & children...It's funny how things change - eighteen years ago we would have been gossiping about 'who had a crush on who', the First XI Rugby team (te he he) and maybe organising a girly sleepover.

Even though her visit was short and sweet, we have really enjoyed having Kerry home and filling that missing piece of the puzzle.
Miss you lots, love ya more!