I don’t take enough opportunities to thank you all for being in my life, so here we go.

You all have been there for me at various points in my life. You have seen the good, the bad, and everything in between. You have seen me bouncing off the walls from too much caffeine, and you have seen me go off by myself when I need a break from everything. I love you for that. You have accepted my particularly chatty moods, even when you had more important things to pay attention to than an excessively detailed description of how my day went, and you understand that sometimes, I need to just take a breather and be alone, and you never take it personally.

Thank you for not rolling your eyes too much when I go in for a fist bump, because sometimes saying “okay” just isn’t sufficient enough. Thank you for knowing that candy and baked goods are how I prefer to celebrate my good days and how I cope with my bad days. Thank you for filling my head with nice things, because we all need an occasional ego boost.

Also, thank you for putting me in my place when I needed it. It’s easy to float around life thinking everything is always going to go my way, so thank you for keeping me grounded and reminding me that life cannot be perfect all the time, and neither can I. Thank you for staying by my side when that reality check hits me in the face a little too hard; it isn’t always easy to deal with, so you rock.

The endless laughs with you will always hold a special place in my heart. On my worst days, I know I can count on you to make life a little brighter. You are the reason I am a glass-half-full kind of person. You know how I take my coffee (when you think there’s too much creamer in it, add a little more). You know I will get a little too pumped when certain songs come on. You laugh at me and helped me learn to laugh at myself. If I haven’t said it enough, thank you.

Some of you I haven’t talked to in a while; that’s okay. I know you are one text away and always will be. Some of you I see every day - thank you for doing life with me.

You are all my people, and you have all shaped me into the person I am today, for better or worse, but mostly better. I appreciate you crazy people.