I am not going to lie to you, it was a little scary moving to a place I had never been before, where I knew no one at all. But I have learned something that is a really amazing thing: friends are everywhere. What I mean by that is that 1) anyone that you meet has the ability to become your friend, 2) that friendships can form instantly and, 3) friendships can mean a great deal to you and change you, even if they don't last for very long.
The first friend that I made while here is Lauren. Lauren is my NJ sister. I had never spoken to her until the day that I was standing in her home ready to unpack my bags and move in. It is amazing to think about that considering that we are now incredibly close in just 5 weeks time. We love to joke about being real sisters and we have sucessfully (with the help of her mom) tricked a car sales man into thinking we are sisters! Last night, while observing us together, one of her friends even said, "Are you sure you two aren't sisters?" We always have a good time together, whether we are at home playing Jenga or out getting Slurpees. I know that Lauren and I will be lifelong friends.
 |
| Us on 7/11/14 |
On site, my BFF is Ron. Ron is the crew leader at the Sea Bright site (which is the site that I am at most often). Ron loves to randomly burst into song and yells, "LILLY! LILLY! LILLY!" whenever he sees me. He is kind of a dork but that is what makes him so awesome! He is very good at his job which is very hard and stressful. He is always joking about cutting me a check for being his therapist because I always listen to him talk about whatever problem has occurred that day while we eat lunch. All of the guys on site are good friends to have. I know that they are all looking out for me and have my back- especially Kerwin who literally had my back when I fainted due to heat exhaustion last week.
 |
Ron
(it is hard to get a good picture of Ron because he is always SO busy) |
 |
| Kerwin |
I also make new friends every week with the volunteers. It is the volunteers who taught me that you can be friends with someone and that they can impact you a great deal even when you don't know them for very long. Some volunteers that come to Habitat work for a week. These are often youth groups or college groups from different churches. It is these groups that I get to know on a deeper level than those volunteers who are on site for a day. I will probably end up knowing what is their favorite toppings on a pizza, what type of music they listen too, or what the name of their dog is more than the volunteers that I know for the 6 hours that we are on site together. They are all equally awesome and I love each and every one of them.
 |
| With Danielle in Union Beach |
 |
| Katherine, Amy and Diana |
However, I have been changed and learned so many lessons from the daily volunteers that I meet. Maritza, for example, is the most positive person I have ever met. Her enthusiasm for life is contagious and makes you feel like there is truly no obstacle in life that you couldn't overcome. She has such a love for life and loves to try new things and learn new things. She had never been on a tall ladder before and was a little apprehensive of going up on one. She decided she should try it once before she decided whether or not it would be a fear that she wouldn't be able to face that day. But once she was up that ladder there was no getting her down. She loved it up there. One of the lessons that Maritza taught me is that you don't know what really scares you until you do it.
 |
| Maritza |
Another example of someone who I only knew for a day but really had an impact on me was Kaitlyn. Kaitlyn is 26 years old and she is a nurse here in NJ. When she was in college she started getting involved with Habitat and it has taken her all over the world. Every year she goes on a 10 day international trip with Habitat; she has built houses in the USA and tons of other countries. Now, she is leading these trips and taking other people from all over the world on trips with Habitat to build houses for people in need. Talking to her about all of the places she had been, people she had met, and lives she had touched made me realize that I want to do what she does. In the future I fully intend on spending my spring breaks or vacation days in a foreign country building houses with Kaitlyn as my leader.
 |
| Kaitlyn |
I had always thought of true friendship as being something that is hard to come by. It took me being thrown completely out of my comfort zone and being surrounded by people who I didn't know to realize that friendship is something that you can have with anyone. You can know them your entire life or just for a day and they can do everything from teaching you lessons, to making you laugh, to making you feel safe and loved. All that you need to do is be open to it and amazing people will come into your life and bless you.
