Girl Time

When summer comes around, my frequent visits with girlfriends (of all ages) takes a big hit.  I'm a firm believer in "there's a season for everything", but absence definitely makes the heart grow fonder, so it's been great getting to see some of these girls in the last couple of weeks.

First up, taken a week ago at Oakway Center, half of our Thursday Night Ladies.  (Amanda, Christi, me, Courtney, and Suzie).  (The rest of the gals were either out of town, busy or out at camp).  The first aspect of this pic that is super fun is that Courtney is back, and here to stay for a couple of months (she's going into her third year of med school and is doing two 5 week stints down here shadowing a psychiatric doctor and an obstetrician).  I'm so excited we'll get her company on upcoming Thursday nights, even if it's just for a short while.  The second super fun detail from this pic is the baby bump Christi is sporting....now in her 23rd week.  They found out they'll be having a baby girl (and are SO THRILLED!).  Their current decision for her name is Elsie Noelle....love it!  She's feeling fantastic, after such an uncomfortable first trimester, she's now loving pregnancy.

This picture is kind of "cheating" as I wasn't even present when and where this pic was taken.  But, it represents Kaela being down to visit - and visit with her I did on Friday morning.  (She spent the night with Elaina the night before and stayed up late having girl time with her and Christi).   Kaela suggested we maybe spend part of our Friday morning at the mall - which, ironically, I was just about to text her to ask to do the same thing.  She had some bridal shower presents to purchase while I needed to find a new shirt for Brayden to wear at his Harlow banquet.  It was a good time cruising the mall with her and Whitley.  While we were in The Loft, we ran into Christi again...you can never get too much of that girl!  

Kaela and I ended up returning to my home, having lunch together, and all said spent four hours just talking and catching up.  She is missed dearly here in Eugene, but I'm so thankful she has multiple reasons (and dates on the calendar) to return to visit. 

She found it a little disturbing that Whitley chose the "Yo Gabba Gabba" toy over the adorable Beanie Baby Bear.  What can I say, I bought that green monster at Old Navy for her when she was itty bitty (as she was definitely drawn to it) and it's dear to her heart.  =) 

On Sunday night, I had the opportunity to meet up with Alysha.  Her birthday was the 23rd, so I was determined not to take one more raincheck in seeing her (two Mondays in a row got canceled due to an unexpected trip for he and a headache for me).  I met her at a downtown location called The Barnlight.  I'd heard it about it from other folks...it's definitely a positive effort in new eateries down there.  However, downtown is still a scary place for me.  Especially at night.  Especially when several of the streets were blocked off due to the earlier scheduled "Eugene Celebration" (had I known that was happening, I would have insisted on a different locale).  I'm such a wimp about that area....driving, parking, walking the distance to the place.   But, Alysha helped to pull me out of my comfort zone and it was definitely worth all of the "scariness" to get there.  We hung out, caught up, and look forward to lots more times to get together once the school year begins.

This morning, Mikayla, Whitley and myself got to see Mom and Dad.  But, mostly Mom as she's the one that helps restore my body to working order.   Whitley was so talkative and interactive.  She definitely disapproves of not being in the spotlight when "Grandma" is giving me attention, so half the time I have her straddling me keeping her entertained.  Mikayla helps a ton too...I will miss my "Little Assistant" once school begins!

At the end of the session, Mikayla snapped some pics of Whitley enamored with Mom's necklace....so precious!

Ugh...this pic!  But, I was already causing Heather to be late this afternoon to get back to work after her half hour lunch break, so I couldn't beg for another shot just because I didn't like my expression.  I did, however, love my time with Heather.  She's just returned from an amazing backpacking adventure in the Wallowas with her mom and a number of other folks - it sounded so incredible.  I'm really glad we got to see her today, but these 25 minute visits kind of suck - definitely gonna need some extended quality time with that girl soon. 

 

I got my September and October whiteboard calendars done last night (one of the first times I was ahead of the game) - and I think it proves I'm kind of ready to "bring it on" with some real routine.  But, the color "red" (the color for "Mom's activities") is suspiciously missing on the majority of those days, which proves it's time to start setting up some more "girl time" dates...