In all that goes on in our daily lives, sometimes it is very easy to take the little things for granted; the way the sunlight leaves long shadows on the grass, the way the house smells like coffee when you first wake up, the way your pillows have that familiar smell to them when you get cuddled into bed. It's especially easy to take the people who give us unconditional love for granted. Those friends that are with us through the ups and downs of life are almost so close to us that we don't even see them sometimes. This article is to give due recognition to the people that have seen us at our worst and still choose to be seen in public with us; our best friends.

It's important to keep in mind that some of the best friends we find in life aren't the ones we've known the longest or the ones we talk to the most often or the ones that live the closest to us. The best friends, in my own opinion are the ones that we can go months and months without talking and when we do connect, it feels as if no time has passed at all and we can pick up right where we left off. The best friends are the ones that you can sit in silence with and not feel awkward or bored with. The best friends are the ones that know your most awkward and embarrassing moments and will not miss the opportunity to laugh at them with you because you know just how weird your friends are too and you both happen to fit together perfectly.

To my friends that have never left my side: thank you. Thank you for letting me call you at 3am when I'm crying my eyes out and for talking to me until I can finally fall asleep. Thank you for answering those phone calls and listening to me cry wordlessly until we both fall asleep. Thank you for going on random adventures into the great unknown just to find something to do. Thank you for agreeing to spontaneous road trips and morning hikes with me. Thank you for not only for not judging me while I jam out in the car to my favorite song, but also for joining me in the fun. Thank you for never letting me make stupid decisions alone and knowing that if I go down, you're coming with me. Thank you for being my partner in crime and for letting me share clothes with you when I get sick of my own. Thank you for being the best of the best of the best and never letting me down.

At the end of the day when I think of all that you are to me and all that you bring to my life, I only hope that I return the favor and that you would be able to make a list of the things you're grateful for as well. I know that I couldn't imagine my life without you and I know that I would never want to. You bring happiness, stability, humor, stupidity, shamelessness and above all else, love, to my life. There is nobody I would rather call my best friends than the ones that have stood by me throughout the roller coaster of life and those who I trust with my deepest secrets, my sincerest feelings, my stupid thoughts and the honesty to tell me when an outfit makes me look fat.

Thank you for being there for me 24/7 and being my best friends. I wouldn't trade you for the world. (However, I might trade you for chocolate, but if you're my bestie, I'm sure you know that already).