And then there were eight.

In May of 2015, my best friends and I took a trip. Just the four of us, traveling along winding roads en route to the Texas wine country. We were all 23 years old, single, and fresh out of college.

This past March, we did it again. Except this time, with four new additions to the family.

It's amazing to me how everything in our lives can change—relationship statuses, jobs, cities, schools—but when the four of us are together, it's as if nothing has.

Yesterday, we graduated from high school as wide-eyed 18-year-olds, crossing the finish lines of our childhoods side by side. Today, we're in our mid-20s and each happily married, slowly but surely paving the way for full-blown careers, homes we can call our own, and lifelong dreams come true. Tomorrow, small children might photobomb our group pictures: little minions that will no doubt be best friends (or childhood sweethearts), too, if we have anything to say about it.

But I'm getting ahead of myself—2017 looks good on us, I think. There are eight of us now, instead of four, and double the love to go around. And it makes me confident.

Confident that no matter where life takes us, we will always have this.