When four of us got a house with a giant dog, I wasn't exactly sure how it was going to go. I've had good and bad roommates and learned to live with both. I had high hopes for this year. All being mom friends meant knowing we'd likely be taking care of each other, but I wasn't prepared for what that meant.

I expected the house dinners to make sure all of us ate a decent meal at least once a week. The quote board, given our antics and sleep-deprived conversations, wasn't exactly expected, but it's not that surprising. The ice cream pint nights and Walmart sugar cookies and movie nights are expected just because of the kind of people we all are.

But I didn't expect to come home from a stress run to hugs and encouraging notes mixed in with my notecards. I wasn't prepared for notes on the dry erase board about how well I was going to do and then congrats on acing the test when I came home, even though I won't know my test results for a week or so. I didn't expect you to all stay on the phone with me for over 2 hours while making dinner and going to the store while I drove for 3 hours on 4 hours of sleep.

Knowing I can cry and be super upset and scream at my online professors and not be judged is something I didn't realize I needed. School is hard. We all want to give up half the time, but knowing you'll be there for me no matter what happens means the world. I could barely pass a class and you'd look at me and remind me that I passed, and that's all that matters.

I hope you know I'd do the same for you. Life is hard, and college kind of sucks. If you need ice cream, you know I'm your girl. You need some art therapy time? I have coloring books and canvases and all the coloring supplies. I have tissues if you need to cry, and I am ready to throw down with anyone who really pisses you off (even if we all know that we're all chicken and won't actually fight anyone).

We are each other's found family. In this house, we celebrate both the Autumnal Equinox and Christmas. We have Brooklyn 99 Halloween marathons and get excited about the Hadestown national tour 2020 (waiting for you in STL). We make fun compliment jars and scream through the house at each other. Above all else, we stand with each other, we have each other's backs. I love you to the moon and back about 7 times. I don't know what I'd do without you.