I know the feeling! Just keep doing you and dont worry about the hecklers in the family. They just wish they made smart choices like us and put ourselves first. as for being in the friend zone, i can not believe no guys would like your romantic company, you seem to know what you want. they must be blind or stupid. Just keep being awesome. things will change.

thanks man. the problem is finding someone that doesnt wanna get married asap hahaha

You should be in no rush for marriage and kids. Enjoy yourself and build a life first. The advice I'm giving my boys:
Plan to never get married. Have fun and do all the things you want to do. Then if you find some ine who blows your mind and you can't live without. After long courtship (read years) if you still feel that way, go for it. In today's day and age there's no rush to get married in your 20's. It's your life enjoy it, get a job, save and travel.

i completely agree!

I see a simiilar problem amongst some of my friends back home. Its like one person gets hitched out of a group, then they all start getting hitched b/c they dont want to be alone. wth!? whats so wrong with being single?!

nothing wrong with it!

The problem is that everybody's stuck in old patterns of how life should be. Hell, I got burnt by most my non-immediate family when a GF moved in while we were dating because of the whole "but what if you have kids and aren't married" crap.

Then there's the stuff I gotta deal with when it comes to the guy friends when I have a female friend over. They don't seem to understand that it's entirely possible to be adults and still play like kids and whatnot without it resorting to sex or something. Hell, my best dates were ones that nothing ever happened and we didn't care. The older you get, though, the harder it is to get a new friend that doesn't think you're coming onto them or is comfortable with the whole innocent cuddle thing because you feel like it.