Lately, with some of the medical issues that have been plaguing family and friends, it has had me thinking a lot about wellness. To me, a huge part of wellness includes reducing stress and enjoying life. And what better way to do that then to make time for friends. I used to work with a woman who was so totally strict about her diet, and she got a lot of exercise, and lived a "good" life. But she was a completely miserable person. She still wasn't "healthy" and was not a pleasant person to be around. I think that a huge part of her problem was that she focused so much on limiting things in her life, that she forgot to have fun and to laugh. According to Caloriecount.About.com...
"researchers at Vanderbilt University found adults burn an average of 1.3 calories per minute while laughing with their friends. That’s about the same number of calories you burn while taking notes in a classroom or standing and talking on the phone. But laughter has other benefits besides burning calories, including relief of emotional stress and a workout for the muscles of the diaphragm, abdomen, back, and shoulders."
Last week, I think I burned a lot of calories. My good friend, Stephanie, came over for lunch. We have been friends since we were 9 or 10... so just over 30 years. It is amazing. We've been through nearly everything together, but we don't actually get together very often these days. During our visit, we reminisced about all of the crazy things we did over the years and marveled over the fact that we didn't get ourselves into inescapable trouble with some of our shenanigans. It was such a great visit. By the time she left, my face actually hurt from all of the laughing/smiling we were doing. It was a great day. She sent me an email later saying that it was crazy we didn't get together more often considering we only live about a half an hour's drive from each other. But it is hard to find the time with all that each of us has going on in our lives. She has six kids, a husband, and she is going to school. I'm just finishing school and have Kennedy to take care of (which doesn't make for a lot of flexibility in schedules), but we decided that we definitely need to make more time to get together because it is so important and makes us happy.
Do you have a good friend who is so close to you that they feel more like family? One of those friends where, you can go weeks or months without talking to, but as soon as you start talking, it feels like no time has elapsed? Someone you can laugh with over stupid and embarrassing things, but is your total go-to person if you really need to share something?
Before Steph left for home, I made Jessica snap a quick picture of the two of us. I only have a couple of pictures of us together (one at my wedding, and then a couple from school days), but I wish we had more.
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| Credits: Meghan Mullens/Misty Cato - Life is Sweet |
This is a last minute layout I did for the CT I was on. When I have more time, I would like to scan some old pics of us and then do a Now & Then layout.
If you are lucky enough to have a good friend like mine, be sure to give them a call, send them a card or shoot them an email to tell them how thankful you are for their friendship.
Leave a comment to tell about a special friendship you have.
To enter the giveaway from Scrapworthy Lives, be sure to comment below! You can earn one entry per blog. So that means if you visit everyone’s blog and comment on each of their blogs, you can get 9 entries! All entries must be posted by Friday, July 8 at midnight Central Standard Time (Chicago, IL, USA). She will ship anywhere in the world. The winner will be announced on Sunday, July 10 on Scrapworthy Lives.
The next stop on your blog hop is Take a Picture and Remember This. If you get lost along the way or you just started here, the list of participating blogs is below.
Scrapworthy Lives
Scrapping Mojo
Pie for Breakfast
iStampScrap&Craft
Scraps & Sass
Take a Picture and Remember This
1200 Some Miles
Slife of Life
Our Life with Spiky Potatoes
Thanks for stopping by. Have fun and enjoy the 4th of July (if you are in the US).
7 comments:
I have a friend from high school that I never get to see. She only lives about 5 minutes from me. We occasionally facebook each other. We just had a 30 year high school reunion, I did not attend. But, I did call her and talk to her. We vowed to get together, now we have to follow through.
Great friend layout you made too. I need to do that too.
Good for you, having someone snap a photo of you and your friend! What a beautiful layout. I really love all the flowers. And good for you for taking the time to laugh and share with your friend.
It sounds like you had a really fab catch up with your friend - and laughing is always good :)
I've known my best friend for 13 years now, and whenever we meet up its like we've never been apart!
Very nice. I am going to email some friends right now to see about getting together before moving on to the next site on the hop.
Great post! I DO have a friend like you described where we don't get together often due to the miles in between but when we do chat, it's just like we've never been apart!
Keeping in touch is so very important! I need to give a DF of mine a call and see if she is going to be at a church event that I'm headed to back in our home state. It would be great if we both got back home for it so we could enjoy each other's families!!
Thanks for the info on the info on how many calories are burned when you laugh. I will be laughing a lot now!
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