Tuesday, May 5

reunion

The 11 of us, wishing Giselle were there...

I had a weekend so fun, I can't even describe it, though I can try: relaxing, funny, entertaining, goofy, comfortable, nice, delicious, silly, achy, joyous, delightful, invaluable, cheerful, refreshing, cozy, easy, wacky, snug, hilarious, merry, amusing, noisy, priceless, laughable, uproarious, boisterous, rare, cherished, FULL of LAUGHTER, and once again, priceless.

Almost 9 years ago I met the greatest group of girls when I moved into the dorms at BYU. I've mentioned them before, but I have to tell you that they are some of the most remarkable women I know, and I'm not just saying that. There are 12 of us that keep in contact still, and out of that, 11 of us made our way to a resort in Scottsdale this weekend for a reunion of sorts. We've seen each other now and then, but never in a group this big, and never for this long of a time. And again, I can't even tell you how much fun we had.

It's remarkable to me that we've stayed in contact over this many years, but what's even more remarkable is that when we get together we just pick up and carry on as if no time has passed since the last time we've seen each other. It had been several years since I'd seen some of them, or only a few months since I'd seen others and yet it felt like no time had passed. But even more incredible is that in a group that size we all feel comfortable with one another--cliques don't form, there's none of that exclusive feel that tends to happen with women. We love each other, we are crazy together, we say stupid things in front of each other, we can talk about ANYTHING, and we have more fun than people should be allowed to have. Also, there's a chance that we all still have the maturity levels of a 12 year old (or maybe that's just when we're together?).

Did I mention they are all beautiful, inside and out? Check out the pictures, you'll see for yourself. Some stats about the twelve of us: we all graduated with a bachelors, one is in the process of getting her doctorate, and one has her masters (I think), and another is almost done with her masters program. 1 served a full time mission for the LDS church. 5 of us have kids (2 each), 2 are pregnant with their first, both due on the same day, both having boys. One is starting the adoption process. 10 of us are married (all in the temple), ranging from 6+ years to less than a year. One has already retired from a successful career, one is starting her own business. 5 live in Utah, 2 in California, 1 in Texas, 1 in Idaho, 1 in Maryland, 1 in Washington, and 1 in Arizona. Did I leave anything out ladies?

Now here's a whole lot of pictures:
Jennie, Natalee, Karly, Lisa, Emily, Shauna, Rachel, Reina, Maren, Jessica, Meredeth

Very tired by the end of the weekend

We hiked Camelback Mountain, Rachel and I had a great idea to slide down the poles...

But...
I have no balance.

It took us awhile to get to the top because we stopped to take A LOT of pictures...


At the top. Gladriel joined us for the hike.

Cheesecake Factory

LOTS of time spent at the pool and hot tub
And of course a big thanks to Jeremy for taking over my duties at home so I could go. And to my in-laws who fed my family most of their meals while I was gone!
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On an unrelated note, there is an almost unrecognizable human being living in my house...stay tuned for my Wordless Wednesday.

7 comments:

Merrick said...

What a fun trip! There is a group of 7 girls who I grew up with, and last year we started a tradition where we get together somewhere and have an overnight stay all together. It was a blast! Glad you get to do this too!

Mary said...

Stories like yours make me wish that I would have gone away to college instead of going locally (I went to Westminster- I was a liberal rebel :) ). You just don't make the same connections by commuting from home as you do by living on campus. However, I would not have met Josh if I had gone away, so I guess that it was meant to be!
It looks like you had a great time. And I think that it is always nice for the husbands to have some time taking care of the kids for a few days so that they can appreciate us more :)

Giselle said...

I'm so jealous of you guys. It looks like you had such a great time. I really do wish I could have been there.

Jessica M said...

What a blast. Once in a lifetime kind of friends.

Anonymous said...

lisa--you didn't have the whitest legs! way to go!!

The Shill Spill said...

I am so jealous. I really need to go and do something that refreshes me like that. :) Looks like you had a BLAST!

Shelise said...

So I am reading this and laughing out loud about you guys trying to slide down the poles. Trevor says, (he says this pretty much every time I read your blog) "What are you laughing about". I said, I am just reading Lisa's blog. He asked if it was a funny story. I said, "no, it isn't really funny it's just that she is a good writer. Then Trevor said that you should write a book and call it "My Funny Book". Then I laughed out loud at him.... ok, I hope that wasn't a totally boring read.