photo source: bing/friends

This topic was submitted by Mariss B – IG Follower 

Sooo, I have to be honest – this post was a bit of a challenge. No, it’s not because I don’t have friends or family but it’s because – If I can be honest, I just recently like maybe, two years ago if not sooner – started having true friends in which I hang out and do fun stuff with. In school I was always a loner, I didn’t have friends, as I was classified as the weird, quiet girl who never looked up at anyone. Don’t get me wrong, I had people I talked too but as far as them hanging out with me – That was a BIG NO! So, I’m not the girl with the story of having a bestie from birth or since kindergarten and here we are 20yrs later and still friends – I’m sure that’s someone’s story, it just didn’t happen that way for me.

However, things have changed from my school days and I’ve not only acquired some great friendships but have had some very fun outings with them as well. Friends are classified as the family that God gave us to apologize for giving us our sometimes dysfunctional families or in most cases, the families most of us have never had. Making time to spend with friends is very important, they’re the people you can just be yourself around without the pressure of your family’s expectations of you. So, let’s get the ball rolling with with friends first. Listed below are a couple of ideas you can do, any time of year and any day – because they’re your friends right? So, anything you do with them is going to be AWESOME no matter the season! Check out these cool suggestions:

Fun in the Kitchen Night! – If you know how to cook or even if you don’t, this would be a good time to invite some friends over and play “Master Chef” by experiment cooking. That means, you only cook what you have in the cabinet or you all can cook your favorite child hood dish and have a taste test contest. YUM!

House Shopping Anyone? – No, not for a real house buttttt how many of us have unwanted things laying around; whether it’s hair products, clothes, shoes, jewelry or household items that we’re either not using, haven’t worn and will not wear! This would be a great time for you and your friends to host a free shopping day at your houses, and when you add food, soda or sparkling cider to the mix? It can be a fun day with friends as well as decluttering your space.

Now, on to the family – this I can definitely relate too as we all love our families just as much as our friends, right? (don’t answer that out loud…tee, hee hee)

Okay, so when it comes to our family – I’m always looking for things that we can do together, to turn those special moments into memories that they nor I will forget and with me having a teen and pre-teen – the time seems to be going by like the DC Comic character The FLASH! 

Related Topic: Vacation or Not – Ideas for the small Budget

Family, whether you like them or not is just as important as our friends and sad to say, we really don’t realize that, until it’s too late. But no matter how much mama or daddy or sibling, uncle, cousin and so forth make you wish you were on another planet – they’re still our family and time with them is of the essence. So here are a couple of suggestions you can do with your “other” special loved ones:

Did someone say Jamaica? – No, I’m not saying that your family has to travel there by no means buttt it could be nice experience (if you haven’t already) to have a family night in which where you cook a cuisine from another country. This is a great idea for families with young children as it broadens their horizon beyond the state or city that they may live in, it gives them an opportunity to learn about other countries and their unique food choices – you can try this with any country. Have the kids to tell you a country they would like to learn more about and let your imagination take over. This could be a great learning experience as well as a fun family night!

Let’s Go to the Movies! (Indoors) – I absolutely look forward to my movie nights with my son and daughter every week. We do pizza, salad, chips, wings and flavored waters. I even sometimes pick up bagged popcorn and boxed candy (Mike & Ike’s or Dots are my absolute favorites!) and after we eat our pizza, we do the popcorn and candy with our mini blankets and settle in to watch the latest redbox movie…..lol. It’s one of our favorite hobbies to do every single weekend!

So you see?, whether it’s with friends, family or both – you can come up with some cool, creative and fun things to do with each other – Let your imagination take over. Whether it’s something big as visiting a city you’ve never been or just getting a blanket and eating a lunch at the park – as long as you’re doing it TOGETHER! that’s what makes FUN, FAMILY & FRIENDS a memorable occasion.

For more tips on family and friend fun, check out 3 Ideas for a Stay-Cation 

I want to give a Special Shout Out to Marissa B. for this topic! I really appreciate you, thanks for following, reading, commenting and just being AWESOME! 

 

If you would like to see what next week’s topic will be, tune in next Tuesday between the hours of 2:30pm and 3:00pm on the Justsuminspiration FB page – I may just go live or post a video of me pulling the next topic – just like I did this one!

Roshonda N. Blackmon – Creator of A Blog, A Magazine. It’s JustsumInspiration, Author, Speaker & Encourager