Summer Fun with Friends.

I have these two friends that I've known since sixth grade, Megan and Sarah. We ran with the same crowd and all lived in town. I guess that made us townies if you can be such a thing in a town with a population of 1,000 and woods in your backyard. We were soon inseparable. In high school when my family moved I lived with Sarah and her family to finish out the semester. Those years in Rudyard were really special because of them. I mean it's the quintessential picture of growing up in small-town-America; we rode our bikes to each other's houses and all over town, we slept in each others backyards, and spent countless summer days at the beach. Really beautiful.

This photo sums it all up. This was my 16th bday btw.

Maybe 8th grade. Megan and I at the beach.

Megan is wearing my mom's bridesmaid dress and I
do not know what Sarah is wearing lol!

When I got married Megan and Sarah came to the wedding. When I had my first baby Megan was at the shower (Sarah lived in Wisconsin by then). The three of us made it a point to get together at least once a year. When Sarah got married in the Upper Peninsula Megan and I road tripped it up there. The next time we got together we did it with my (second) nursing baby in tow. Then Sarah had a baby and Megan and I went to her new place in Chicago to see them and hang out and she was nursing. And, someday we'll all be hanging out and Megan will be nursing a baby. Then someday we'll be at our babies weddings and we'll all be crying!!!!!!!! I may have just lost my mind for a minute (excuse me while I compose myself).

So you see what I'm getting at right? We've always been there for each other. Through heart breaking moments with parents, and bad break ups, and all the highlights of becoming adults. These two know me almost as well as anyone and there's something to be said for having friends that knew you before you were married and a mom. For having friends who understand your quirks and love you any way, who can remind you about the crush you had in sixth grade (Billy McQueen if your reading this you really missed out). Friends who know you as an individual before you took someone else's name and became the "all powerful" mom.

Our twentieth "friendaversary" is coming up and that just blows my mind! Please don't do the math to figure out how old I am it's embarrassing! And we are going to really celebrate (not in England like I want I think we'll have to save that for like thirty or something) but I know that this is only part of our journey together and I just love that.

This week Sarah came for a visit. She brought her dog and her baby and Megan came over and it was awesome. I'll be honest I was worried that it'd just be mass chaos with my brood but it wasn't. I got to cook and feed them and Sarah did the dishes (best house guest ever!). We just chatted and basked in the fact that our lives are so different yet so the same. I love these two women (we're women now imagine that) and having them over here made summer feel like summer. It made me feel connected to my roots in a way I hadn't for a long time. And some of my new friends got to meet them and they became friends so it's like this amazing waterfall of love (can you tell I'm all hopped up on feeling good?)!

I love to feed nursing mothers. They're always so ravenous
that they're really excited about my cooking. These were
blueberry/raspberry pancakes with local maple syrup.

Me and the baby (I was so excited to take pictures of the baby
I didn't get any with Sarah in them oops).

Do you see this red hair!!!

Megan and the baby. Basically we held him so much
Sarah wasn't in any of the pics.

I'm really grateful to God for the fact that someone as transient as I am can have such long lasting deep relationships. What about you? What makes you feel connected to your roots?

Weekend Away

Ahhh shopping is there any thing more fun?

Megan and Sarah and our urban chick food.  Aren't they beauties?  

My fancy food. What is that green stuff on the side any way?

I spent the weekend in Grand Rapids with two amazing women!!  My friends Megan, and Sarah are wonderful they know me so well and I them that we can be ourselves and silly and serious.  We've all been friends since sixth grade (Megan and Sarah even longer) we grew up with in a bike ride from each other and spent all of our time at each others homes.  Even after I moved we stayed friends and though we lost touch for a time God saw it fit to bring us back into each others lives.  They road tripped it to my wedding and Megan and I rode tripped it up to Sarah's.  The three of us get together at least twice a year and this time it was kid free (thanks to my amazing husband).

We shopped most of the day in this really cute part of Grand Rapids that has all these little down town shops and we stumbled upon, in my opinion, a really nice antiques shop where I bought a pari of embroidered pillow cases, two hankies, and a cookbook from the fifties "How to Cook with Children".  It was perfect as I love linens and old cook books because the illustrations are so fun.  We also spent some time in the mall where I had the best bra fitting of my life.  Just FYI it was Macey's and they were soooo helpful (not in that annoying way but a good way) way better then any help I've received at Victoria's Secret (what about her is actually a secret any way?).  They really were knowledgeable about sizes and the fit.  I am embarrassed to say that I am a size I didn't know existed, one that requires specialty not-on-sale bras (but she still found me a lacy one and some matching undies) good news is if I'm ever in a plane crash I can just whip off my bra and use it as a parachute!

I tried a martini for the first time and sushi.  We were at this upscale bar/restaurant the type of place Brian and I would be too nervous to go but Megan had been there before so she took the lead and it was really fun.  Why am I such a wimp any way?  I hate being some where and not knowing what's expected even a restaurant but you can really miss out on stuff with this attitude which is why I am glad that I have friends who are brave.  Any way I had veggie sushi and it was good I did try the girls which had raw fish and it was ok but the texture was too much for me.  The martini was excellent I've always shied away from them because they seem like they would be dry but I had a pomegranate blueberry one and it was a perfect balance of sweet and warm.

We stayed up late laughing, talking about kids, pets, loneliness... everything that friends should be able to talk about with out the worry of hurt feelings or being told on.  I know that every woman has many sides and roles to her but, for me, to have friends who don't know you as: mom, wife, or pastors wife is really good for the soul, to be able to just be.  Thank you Megan and Sarah for not only a good time but a healing one as well.