Friendship Project: Perfect Strangers

Sometimes the world looks perfect, Nothing to rearrange.

Sometimes you just, get a feeling

Like you need some kind of change.

No matter what the odds are this time,

Nothing’s gonna stand in my way.

This flame in my heart,

And a long lost friend

Gives every dark street a light at the end.

Standing tall, on the wings of my dream.

Rise and fall, on the wings of my dream.

The rain and thunder, the wind and haze

I’m bound for better days.

It’s my life and my dream,

Nothing’s going to stop me now.

When Balki Bartokomous travelled halfway around the world from Mypos to Chicago to live with his Cousin Larry, he took a huge leap of faith. When it comes to making new friends, I’m pretty fearless, too. Much like Balki, I feel that there’s no reason to hesitate in putting myself out there. The way I see it – if we weren’t friends before, and you don’t like me, then there’s no loss. Boy have I come a long way.

My dad made us move so much when I was younger that I changed schools close to 30 times from K-12. I actually lost count in middle school. Always being the new kid at school was horrible. Most of the time, I wouldn’t talk to anyone for weeks. I’d hide behind my hair, never making eye contact. I was a clique of one everywhere I went. It wasn’t until I discovered music and surfing did I finally find my place in the world. But I still shied away from most of my classmates.

Now, I’m making friends with perfect strangers and I love it. Through the magic of BlissDom, I’ve managed to make friends I haven’t even met yet. I have plans to room with three people I only know through words and pictures on a web page. I’m nervous, excited and so happy that I found them and can’t wait to see how we all fit together in a few weeks. Allow me to introduce them to you as I know them now, before I really get to know them in person.

Leigh McMullin Dusek is a passionate chica with a big heart. Leigh writes at Funky Faith Girl, owns Funky Faith Designs and writes for a few online magazines about faith, family and crafts. A stay at home mom of three, one who is a high functioning autistic, Leigh was sweet enough to step out on a limb and invite me into her world at the upcoming BlissDom conference in Grapevine. I needed a roommate, she needed another roommate. Neither of us were serial killers so it worked out – so far. I love her entrepreneurial slant and hope she doesn’t mind me asking all kinds of questions when we finally get to meet in real life. She’s also a native Texan, but from Allen, which is pretty much Oklahoma to me. I kid…

Nicole Braun Scott writes over at As Many As We’re Given. Nicole and her husband were blessed with six children, which I’m almost positive would have killed me by now. But she seems to manage it all with smiles and grace. Nicole is a sports loving, stay at home mom who can run a pretty quick 5k (less than 27 min! geez) and has run in at least one half-marathon. I’m uber impressed with all of these things about Nicole. She’s also a native Texan, which I love, even though she’s from north Texas (see Oklahoma comment in previous paragraph). Again, I kid. Nicole has resolved to write more in 2013 and I really hope she does. Can’t wait to meet her in person!

Stephanie Roy Suire is a petroleum engineer by day, fitness and health blogger by night. So very cool. You can read about her journey toward healthy living at Food and Fitness 4 Real. Like me, she realized that if she didn’t start making healthy life changes now, it would never happen. Stephanie blogs about the small, healthy changes she makes in her life every day and inspires readers to do the same. She’s also a mom of two super cute kids and she is an avid runner. I want to be her when I grow up. Except we are the same age. Hmmm. Stephanie is from West Virginia so I can’t make any snarky comments about Oklahoma. Well I could, they just wouldn’t make any sense.

So there you have it – my three roomies for BlissDom, who are also perfect strangers to me. But I don’t think that will be the case for long. At least until I show them my Dance of Joy. (I don’t really have one. Maybe)

Side note: did you know that Family Matters was a spin-off of Perfect Strangers? Yes, the Miller-Boyett team that brought you Balki also produced Urkel. That’s pure sitcom gold, people! Solid gold.

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