the essence

Saturday was Ray's 15-year high school reunion. We couldn't make it to the big fancy dinner in the evening but we did go to the family afternoon at the park. And, I didn't get any pictures! Not too many people showed up, just about 18 from his class plus their spouses & children, but everyone was very friendly. There was even one girl there from his class who used my midwife to have her fifth child this past May!

Saturday evening we had a small gathering of old friends at our house for dinner. I just love having people over. I've actually been formulating a plan to make it happen more often. Partly because I don't just enjoy having people over, but I much prefer when I can have people over with lots of little touches. Last night was just a nice dinner among friends that ran late into the evening. I made a crockpot meal of beans & chicken, a delicious recipe I got from GFF, so I even went out for some time to myself yesterday afternoon before everyone came over.

Sometimes I just love the candid shots





I was telling the guys that 15-years post high school they all look good - no beer bellies, very few grey hairs. :)



Kate & her friend, Sophie. That's the face Kate makes when she's preparing for the flash to go off!



Poor, dear little Abby. This is what happens when your friends with Addison. Addison thought it was a good idea to take her sour cream & wipe it all over Abby! Addison earned a time-out & Abby got the picture, all while Jen & I tried not to let the kids see us laughing!





It was so nice to have the meal ready (plus, the other girls brought items for me) & to already have the house clean so that I could go out alone. I did a little retail therapy (thank you, Craigslist money!) & relaxed at Barnes & Noble for a bit, where I ran into Jenni. That last time I saw Jenni was when I ran into her at Barnes & Noble last October!

Saturday ended up being exhausting & the evening went much later than planned so we only made it to the second meeting at church. I'm so used to going to every meeting every week that it feels so strange to miss one. It was then back to the grind to start the work week again at 1:00.

Even though this job comes with great perks I have yet to use them. So, Jen had a fabulous idea on Saturday night - a girls weekend! I can get hotel rooms so cheap anywhere in the country that we could all split the cost. I'm totally up for that, now I just need to find a weekend when enough of us can get away. Maybe the beach?

I can't believe summer's coming to an end already. I can't wait for Fall though, we're going to try to take a big trip up north in October! I was going to try to utilize some of the free hotels we can stay at (there aren't too many of them) but parking is so astronomical that I don't think that will work. l I'm sure we'll end up staying with friends & family most of the time, which I think is great because that just means more late nights visiting!