If you know me well, you know its hard for me to make friends

Moving into a new ward, getting a big calling in church, and getting a new job have made me realize something.

I am making a LOT of new friends.

Making friends has always been difficult for me. Not because I am not a good one (At least I hope). Mostly because I am an introvert (for more on that watch this TED talk, I think everyone should).

Meeting new people drains me. Going to a party in high school or college with lots of people I didn't know was basically the thing worst weekend plans I could have. I would have rather holed up in my room for the night with a good book (and I did a lot, my parents worried about it in high school) or hanging out with my 1 or 2 best friends.

I've gotten a lot better about this through the years, but I still often avoid situations where I have to meet new people or people I am not totally comfortable around. This makes it even harder to get close to new people in general.

I have always said that moving around a lot growing up made me do a lot of things I think I wouldn't have done had I stayed in one place my whole life. I was basically thrown into my worst nightmare 6 times growing up. I moved schools 6 times (I am not counting moving to a middle school from elementary, only those where I moved school districts and new nobody) from the start of elementary till I graduated high school.

I learned how to adapt and make meeting friends easier on myself. I am good at faking social situations, but I still haven't gotten over how much I don't enjoy it. This new chapter of life has introduced to me to lots of new people and while growing my friendships is taking longer than it takes for other people I am enjoying having friends in my ward, at work, and through my husband.

I will always push myself to get to know people (and I am not kidding you when I say push) because I think friends that go past the acquaintance stage are basically the best thing in the world. Even if it never gets easier for me, I'm going to be okay with that.