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I have awesome friends.

It's something I missed for those five years I was out in Dodge City. Having your best peeps in the same town as you are and have all the fun that comes with that. Don't get me wrong, I had some great friends in Dodge, but it just feels a little different here in Lawrence. Maybe it's because I'm home most of the time now, and not on the road so much. And, I've never worked with these friends. That I think is something different, too.

I have a pretty small core group of peeps in my circle here in Lawrence. They are affectionately known as my LFK Framily.

One of those framily members is Gal Pal.

Gal Pal and I are both homeowners now. We are both on the other side of 35. Neither of us has time for B.S., we're both single and looking for the man of our dreams, both professional, both have been in careers for about 15 to 20 years, and we have a lot of other stuff in common. The one thing we both share is a wealth of knowledge of being self-sufficient and independent.


We're fierce that way.

Having another friend in my boat, in the same town, who also just bought a house has advantages. One of those advantages is problem solving and resources.

One activity we've done as new homeowners is project night. So what is project night? It's food and accountability. We eat dinner, and then set out to conquer projects.

For example. I needed to work on a house plan, as in, what is my timeline for future projects. What kind of budgets will I need? When do I need to think about these things? GP required to work on listing items for sale on Facebook. She kept procrastinating, and so did I.

Project night was born.

I did my thing. GP did hers. All in the comfort of her new place after a delicious dinner. She lent me her internet to research, and I gave her a few vocabulary words. The goal was tackling these projects, and we did! When they were done, I went home. Feeling better about where I was and what I had accomplished with this new endeavor.

It was accountability. It was a friend not letting you get distracted. "Hey, keep working," was the attitude of the night. It worked like a charm.

We occasionally have these project nights. We also have work nights when resources are needed that the other may have. I have a ladder. Gal Pal had floodlights to change. No need for her to purchase a ladder if I have one. We have a few items that are fair game in the "homeowners co-op" as we call them.

Need something? Let's see who has it before I go buy it. It's very similar to sharing amongst neighbors, but we're just a short drive across town.

Homeownership (and life for that matter) can be a challenge at times and even overwhelming, but with the right support system, you can accomplish anything.

It took me a long time to learn that.