Bits: Refreshing

The day before I got in the car with an iced coffee, a new CD, and five hours of road in front of me I had a last rendezvous with my typical girlfriends.  The same ones who tearfully bade me farewell with hugs and hearts.
 
A thoughtful friend rocked it out when keeping them on Friday and Super Dad seriously rocked it out all weekend.  They were bubbling over with stories when I got home! So very grateful.

We've been doing this Girls' Weekend thing for a while now, and I cannot tell you how thankful I also am that these women came to the little Bible Study we used to have in the "Blue Lobby" of my undergraduate dorm. It's so good to be with friends who knew you when you were young{er}, who have walked through everything from crisis of faith to crisis of boys, from births to weddings to first jobs to sickness and even death, plus more.  We've learned to let go of the petty and make friendships work through thick and thin. Used to be that after we arrived at our mountain retreat, we might dress up and go out.  Now we know that the most important thing is quality time.  So we stay in our pj's, sip coffee, talk, eat good food, watch girly movies, craft, laugh our hineys off, cry some, share devotions, eat more good food, hot tub, shower for as long as I'd like, and change into another pair of jammies after all.  The best.

We have a theme verse for this little gathering, and every time I say or read it I smile because it's true.

"A sweet friendship refreshes the soul." ~Proverbs 27:9

My forever friend Marcie and I were in charge of planning for this year.  And so my refreshing, hilarious, sweet weekend.  In just a few pics:

Gah, I love them!  So much so I will refrain from posting the outtakes, but I really should.  Just so you could laugh a fraction of how hard we did during these jumping photos.  For the record, my spontaneous herkie above captured brilliantly by my friend (since middle school!) Brooke, inspired this series of goodness.

Another warm coffee, my new CD favorites on repeat, a stop in Knoxville to see a new baby of another sweet friend, and five more hours in the opposite direction led me back home.  Hard to believe it was the first time in nearly five years I actually traveled alone, the first time I hadn't brought along my own little girlfriend-- in my belly or on my hip.  Sometimes both.



Hoping these bits of refreshed continue to rub off on me and those wee girlfriends of mine as I bottle up these memories along with some welcome home hugs.

And count down the days 'till next year.
 ~Katrina