Everyone loves a fun slideshow, right? Right! Well, you'll just have to read until the end to watch it. (Or, I suppose, you could just scroll down to the fun part, if you like.)

Tim and I have written many times about friends we've made while traveling the world, but we've rarely mentioned those friends we have at home. (Writing about gallivanting in random suburbs of Philadelphia, for example, doesn't have quite the same ring as gallivanting in Bogota or Buenos Aires. No offense to our beloved Philly, of course.)

But in just a few days, two of our friends from home – our very dearest friends, in fact – will be leaving life in the States behind for a new life together in New Zealand. For Philip, it will be his first time returning home in nearly nine years, after having lived in the States for 12 years. And for Lauren, it will be a brand new adventure in a new country.

As luck would have it, pesky things like mileage and time zones have never bothered Tim or I one bit. And so the four of us are still planning on seeing one another a few times each year, and we're looking forward to many visits together in New Zealand. Given our passports will soon be covered in Kiwi entry and exit stamps, we figured it only apropos to introduce you to Philip and Lauren properly. That way, when we write about our adventures in the land of hobbits, you'll know exactly who we're adventuring with.

I was going to write about how Philip is my oldest friend: We met in July of 1999 and we lived together for six years in an awesome little apartment outside of Philadelphia (with our cat named China, who still lives with me and Tim in Cape Cod). And I thought about writing how sometimes I think Tim and Lauren are long lost brother and sister, just as I sometimes think the same thing about me and Philip too. (The similarities? They're downright bizarre sometimes.) I might have shared how if Tim and I had had a traditional wedding, Tim would have asked Philip to be his best man. Or how when they first met, Philip declared Tim his "male soulmate." I could have mentioned how Lauren is one of my most favorite cooks in the entire world (who has graciously left us her awesome pots and pans!). And I most definitely would have written that the four of us – me, Tim, Lauren, and Philip – have a wonderful friendship, one filled with instant memories, easygoing laughter, and so so so much fun.

But instead, I thought I'd just show you how much Philip and Lauren mean to both Tim and myself.

So without further ado, we'd like you to meet Philip and Lauren...in a silly slideshow by two hedgehogs, as set to a ridiculously silly song so that more folks than just the four of us might watch it too.