I met Colleen when she was in high school as my roommate's girlfriend's sister. Felt like a friend-of-a-friend. We had some mutual friends, and we conversed a bit. We had some similar tastes, and that strengthened the friendship. Out of the blue she calls me, wants to hang out, do some fun college activities. They went well. We start hanging out at bars (not sure if she was ever my wingwoman). She lived close to my church, so I'd visit her after mass almost every Sunday on top of weekday and weekend nights. One of my best buds.
Years later, I go to NYC with another one of my best friends. His first time there, and he decides to drive. Awesome day there. When I came home, wanted to talk to some people about it. Everyone's busy. Pop on Facebook. Colleen's there. I haven't spoken with her in a year or two. I started typing to her. I realized it was too long of a story for an eventful day. I call her. Our conversation goes from the NYC day trip to story after story. After three hours of catching up, we hang up. I would see her that Christmas like any other time. She made other Christmas plans. Plans that involved us. Secretly. She said later that she missed the sound of my voice.
Jeff is one of the nicest guys you will ever meet. We started up a friendship after many a discussion over our mutual love of metal during D&D campaigns when we were supposed to be paying attention to the fighting. Jeff was my best friend for 8 years; but it took a little distance for me to realize that everything I had been so furiously looking for in a boyfriend all these years had been staring me in the face the whole time. Then it was just a matter of coming up with a master plan to get Jeff on the same page. Which, by the way, worked because this is the last phase of the plan: Operation Marry Jeff. Some days I can't believe how lucky I am to be marrying such a thoughtful and awesome guy who likes so many of the same things that I do. Secret to happiness: marry your best friend. >.<