“I’m not picky. I just have high standards.”

Welcome to #WithLoveFridays! I’m co-hosting this linkup with 4 other awesome ladies: Kristie, Lisa, Krystal & Georgina! If you’ve got a post that has anything to do with love (family, friends, significant others, spouses, pets, fandoms…), feel free to come link up with us! I’ve really enjoyed reading everyone’s posts over the past month. This is our last installment for #WithLoveFridays! (Yes, I know it’s actually Thursday, but you can’t blame me for wishin’ it! And…I don’t like double-posting, so my apologies!)

Somewhat recently, I reconnected with an “old” friend (we met about 7-8 years ago [has it really been so long!?] in the hell that is known as organic chemistry), and on weekends, he’ll sometimes call and we’ll catch up on life.

We talk about a bunch of things, and he surprised me when he told me that he’d always thought that I was “talented at everything.” (He’s easily one of the most multi-talented people I know, so that was pretty flattering. :O Both of us majored in EXB, but he was a hybrid like me, and also did music, dance, and art on the side.)

He asked if I was seeing anyone (people seem to ask this a lot–over here, most people my age are already married with 3+ kids, and back home, I think they just wonder if I have time for a life).

In any case, I may or may not have busted out this meme because it’s wonderful:

“Do you really believe that though? Are you anti-relationship?”

I’m really not, although I wonder sometimes if mayhaps I’m just super-jaded. While I definitely don’t think I need anyone, I do think it’d be awesome to find someone who enhances my life (and vice versa). I just think there’s a chance that I have impossibly high standards and/or just haven’t found anyone I’m interested in.

Such as it is, however, ain’t nobody got time for relationships while you’re in medical school anyway! (Unless you were already in one before, or if you date someone at your school.)

I’m perpetually on the strugglebus when it comes to medical school, so trying to start a relationship amidst all the chaos just isn’t a good idea [for me]. While I agree that there are things that are worth fighting for, asking someone to pick up their job/life every couple months to move all over the country with me really isn’t very reasonable.

If you add on the fact that I have no idea where I’ll be half a year from now, let alone next year, it stacks on the complications. This conversation with another friend (yay Canadia!) from a while ago actually sums it up pretty well for me:

About a week ago, I had a somewhat upsetting conversation (part II of the one where she told me to give up all the things I like to do) with my mom where she told me that I needed to:

• Stop being so pessimistic.
• Start putting more effort into how I looked, or I’d “have less options.”

I love my mom, but I really think we rarely see eye to eye. I have moments sometimes, but generally speaking, I think I’m pretty darn optimistic.

As for the second, I will admit that I may be low-maintenance to a fault. On any given day, sleep is way more important to me (and pray tell me, why would I want someone who didn’t find me attractive in my normal makeup-less state?). Sometimes, it even beats out food (so I grab something from home to eat during didactics).

“Dressing up” means that I’m not wearing scrubs or yoga pants, and I wear makeup about 1-5 times per year, so if this hypothetical dude didn’t find me attractive 360 days out of the year, I think we’d have a problem. (Yes, jeans count as dressing up to me.) I’ve slept under chairs to avoid having to pay for a hotel and spent the night in my car in order to sneak to a different city to volunteer at my former internship.

My friend (bless his soul) got to listen to an excerpt of this and his takeaway point was that I would be an awesome travel buddy. (Thanks! :D )

I also really appreciated his response (“Sometimes, I’ll see someone who’s really pretty, but there’s nothing else there. There’s no personality, or they don’t take care of themselves the way you would with your lifting and healthy eating, and they completely depend on the way they look to try to attract guys. That kills it, at least for me, but I’m sure there are guys out there who think differently too.”).

True that, but quality over quantity, m’friends.

That’s basically how I operate as well! Someone could be the most attractive person on the planet to me, but if they exhibit any signs of being a terrible and/or vapid human being (or if they smoke), my attraction to them plummets to nothing (or into the negatives, depending on what it was that they did).

• Do you have super high standards?
• Do your parents offer input on your love life (or lack thereof)? What do they like to tell you? (I’m truly curious! When I was 18, My dad told me that “my window of opportunity ends at 24,” so I guess I’m forever destined to be a cat lady!)
• What makes someone instantly unattractive to you?

<div align="center"><a href="http://www.kristiesbluejeans.blogspot.com" title="Kristie's Blue Jeans"><img src="http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r105/kristaketter/LOVE2.jpg" alt="Kristie's Blue Jeans" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

Want to learn more about the With Love Fridays co-hosts? Follow us on social media!

• Kristie: blog | facebook | instagram | twitter | pinterest | bloglovin’
• Farrah: blog | instagram | twitter | pinterest | bloglovin’
• Lisa: blog | facebook | instagram | twitter | pinterest
• Krystal: blog | facebook | instagram | twitter | pinterest | bloglovin’
• Georgina: blog | facebook | twitter | pinterest