Nearly everybody told us that we were making a mistake. There is a really terrible stigma around becoming roommates with your best friend. People fear the proximity, or maybe the high levels of stress, will prove too much for any friendship to endure. When we announced that we were planning on living together, we heard a lot of sarcastic good luck messages and countless examples of friendships that have ended this way.

We, on the other hand, were different. We knew we would be. We have been "living together" in a way since long before this year of college. At home, we slept at each other's houses more than we did our own (get ready because this is totally starting up again this summer!). Your family is as close to me as my own. I've taken more naps in your bed than I can count. I can't think of anyone else's dog I would buy a party hat for. You're the best friend that I have ever had.

Let me start by saying, I absolutely could not have made it through this year without you. No person I have ever known has been able to handle me quite like you. When school got too much for you and my stress took over, you were my voice of reason. You always have been. You know what I'm thinking before I say it- and it makes all of the difference in the world. You can tell when something is wrong far before I mention it. From crying together on our first night away from home to tearing down all of the decorations we so carefully picked out one year ago, we've taken this challenge on together.

Without you, I think I might have driven home that first night and never came back. It was knowing I wasn't alone that make it seem doable.

When I look back on my first step into "adulthood" I will not think about the hard decisions to spend my minimal money on makeup wipes or toilet paper, I will think about watching Youtube videos in our lofted beds on Friday nights or getting caramel apples at the end of stressful weeks. You've always been my person, but it's different now. You are the first person I tell when I get my test scores back, good or bad, knowing we will mourn or celebrate together. You knew when to wake me up when I slept through my alarm, and when to remind me it was okay to miss class occasionally. You knew when to encourage going to the gym and when to encourage snack binging movie nights. You know that retail therapy is almost always effective, whether we can afford it or not.

I'll never be able to write the words to describe exactly what you did for me this year. There are few people who would stay up until 3 a.m. to talk to me about the future, my endless boy drama and everything in between. Not many roommates would happily wake up at 5 a.m. simply to catch up on my life before going to work. I lucked out.

Living together didn't ruin our friendship at all- it tested it. It proved that no matter what happens in life, we're always going to be best friends. It gave me roommate security for at least the next two years, and a really sad thought of eventually not living together to begin dreading.

Monica and Rachel lived together for years, so it wasn't ever really a question if we would. Thank you for helping me to prove everyone wrong. There is no doubt that the memories created in our first year of living together will live on (and most likely get incorporated in your Maid of Honor speech at my wedding).

I mean it when I say that I couldn't do life without you.

Here's to the next year, forever friend.