Roommates

When I decided to go to UNI, I was grateful to have 1 girl friend and 3 guy friends from High School to share the experience with. But, a few people had advised us that it would be better to go "potluck" for a roommate so we could meet some new people. My girl friend and I both hit the roommate lottery, being paired up with strangers who would quickly become friends.

I got paired up with K, who was from the opposite corner of the state. She was a truly a godsend of a roommate and we ended up living together sophomore year, then going to California for a semester exchange program at the beginning of Junior year. My High School friend and her roommate, my roommate and I, plus the girl who lived next door to us became fast friends and us five ate lunch together everyday at 11am on the dot, choosing between the old-school cafeteria food like chicken noodle casserole, cold sandwiches, or cheese sticks from the "make your own pizza" machine. We usually met up with the guys from my high school and their new dorm friends and I have many fond memories of college lunches with all of them.

I'm grateful to my roommate for putting up with all the "hometown" talk from my high school friends and I, my obsession with talking about my family, my constant cable-TV watching (Trading Spaces, A MakeOver Story, reruns of Saturday Night Live, and Late Night with Conan O'Brien),  my less-than-perfect housekeeping skills, and my periods of homesickness and negativism. College would have been miserable without her and I will always be grateful for her friendship!

In the 7 years since I graduated, I've seen my college friends at each of their weddings, but not very often otherwise. Coincidentally, after graduating and getting married at different times, my roommate and I both had our first baby (boys) within 4 months of each other. Last weekend I arranged to go visit her while I was at my sisters since it's only a 1.5 hour drive from there.  We had a great afternoon catching up and watching the little boys play. Hopefully the whole group can get together sometime this Spring/Summer! I miss all you girls!

At first, little K wasn't too sure about this other little dude invading his space.

 But he soon warmed up to the idea and the two little Hawkeye fans had fun with all the toys.

 Even though Ryan largely ignored him in order to play/bother their boxer, Malachi.

 Little K (16.5months) and Ryan (13.5 months)

Thanks for a fun day! Let's do it again!