When I got into a relationship, I figured there'd be a lot of time spent together.

I would learn about what he liked, listened to him ramble about things he loves, and I'd meet a bunch of people from his life. The way I saw it in my head was I'd be close with his family, and I'd know his friends just enough to get by.

For some reason, that seems to be the way it is for girlfriends: meet the friends, learn their names, join the group a couple times a month to hang out. It's always suggested that relationships and friends are two separate things, and aren't meant to come together often.

Obviously this hasn't been the case for us.

When this relationship started, I slowly started to learn names, and eventually got to put them to faces. I'll admit it took a couple times to remember who Chandler was and who Jon was -- I'm not good with faces, sue me!

Remembering Isaac's name was easy since I met him last -- briefly -- in the front room of my work. After the first couple times of meeting everyone, I figured we wouldn't meet many more times.

Boy, I was wrong about that one.

Every weekend I was asked if I wanted to "hang out with the guys." At first I thought, "They're just being nice, and everyone's wanting to get to know the new girlfriend," but after a few months, I was still being invited and didn't get why.

Even in the summer, when everybody had moved back home, I was still surrounded by the same group of guys playing the same ridiculous games and making the same bad wisecracks. I liked this new regular group and making these inside jokes.

I felt like a reoccurring character in a show with a very regular cast.

This is until last month when we tried to figure out the details to an event. Between texts trying to get more info, someone looked at me and said, "You're one of the guys, just so you know."

In all honesty, that was one of the best things a friend has said to me. It changed the way I saw myself in the group and it changed how I saw the group as a whole. I didn't feel like a reoccurring character, but an addition to the cast.

So here's to you -- my boyfriend's friends.

Thank you.

We've celebrated birthdays and Tuesdays, and I've felt included in so much more than I ever thought. Thank you for including me in your D&D campaigns and putting up with my 200 questions. Thanks for enduring my bad jokes and my endless rambling sometimes.

I tell people I got pretty lucky with my boyfriend, but I think he's lucky to have such good friends.

Honestly, you guys are a**holes -- and I'm sure you know that -- but you're coolest ones I know and I hope that never changes.

Thank you for the good times, and here's to many more.