After my first semester of college, I decided to take a break and move 45 minutes away from campus to live with my aunt and uncle. Their three children (my cousins) and I were super close growing up and we remain that way today. I knew living in a house with 5 people in it already was going to be different than the dorm life I had grown accustomed to, but I didn't know how different. There are many things I love and hate about living with my extended family.

First of all, there are generally 5 women in this house, including myself. My cousin's girlfriend stays with us quite a lot, along with my aunt and her two daughters being permanent residents.

Having 5 women in the house means a whole lot of hair brushes and products, makeup, PMS, and laundry. Not to mention the three teenagers are close to the same size in clothes, so we all share everything. While having my makeup and clothes stolen by these girls gets tiring, there's no one else I'd rather have girl time with. These 4 other women are my closest friends. I can come to them with any problem and they know just how to fix it. They are some of my biggest supporters, too.

With an average of 8 to 9 people in the house at one time, there's going to be a ton of laundry to do. We fight over the shower, but luckily we have two bathrooms. Dinners are the best. The table is overflowing with hungry kids. The food is amazing and we always have a lot of it. The only two men in the house are our fiercest protectors and the greatest handymen.

We fight and yell and get on each others' nerves. Sometimes the house is a mess (most of the time really). There will always be blanket stealing and arguing over who gets to use the TV. Finding a few moments of silence is a rarity, but when things are quiet it feels weird. There are pros and cons to every situation, but in this case the pros outweigh the cons. There's no one else I'd rather stay up all night with, or share meals with, or fight over the shower with.