Getting old: Gretchen's birthday edition

So, THIS was a conversation between Jami, Gretchen and me the other night:

I couldn't help but chuckle the entire time! Oh how our conversations have changed over the years. :-)

It did get me thinking that I never blogged about GRETCHEN'S 40TH BIRTHDAY! What a bad BFF. So, I jumped into the archives of November and started downloading some pictures. It was a sweet reminder of a really fun evening. I'm kind of glad I waited. Now I get to chase away some of the January blues.

It was pretty much an evening a year in the making. A lot of our convos would end with G saying, "OMG, I'm going to be 40! What are we going to do?!" Ultimately, she decided on a night on the town when she was home over Thanksgiving break. That meant getting all gussied up. 

She picked a wonderful restaurant in Louisville called Varanese. It was perfect. Great atmosphere, fabulous food, and pretty awesome company. ;-)

From the beginning, our selfie game was pretty strong. 

Somehow, we managed a good shot after 49 tries.

Okay, back to the food. I mean restaurant. It was SO nice! They had our table reserved and it was very elegant. We thoroughly enjoyed just spending time together.

These are three of the best guys you will ever come across. Love each of them dearly.

And, I could not love these girls more.

There were two guys playing some great little jazz music and after dinner - as if on cue - they started playing "Happy Birthday To You". 

All for this little chica!

I think she was pleasantly surprised and loved her birthday dessert. 

Love these peeps!

After dinner, we headed to 4th Street to keep celebrating. (Hilarious moment: G thought she left her phone at the restaurant. She, of course, flipped out because she is very dramatic. Paul and Eric dashed off to make sure she hadn't dropped it in our car. While they were frantically looking, she found it in her pocket. If only looks could kill...)

On with the night! One more of the ladies (before my pictures came to a screeching halt.)

And, the guys...

Operation give-Gretchen-a-fabulous-40th was a huge success!

Sooo very thankful for this girl and that we get to do life together. I miss her dearly. When she moved, I worried how it would change our friendship. It has only made it better.

Love you, G. Happy 40th. Here's to 40 more!

A little of this and that...

The last time I blogged was a preview of our vacation to Gulf Shores in OCTOBER. Geesh. Our lives have been like a crazy whirlwind since then and the blog took a much needed back seat. Over the last few weeks, I've wished, on more than one occasion, to be back at the beach where the world seems to slow down. 

It is quite possibly my favorite place on earth. Especially when I get to spend it with my family. SO MANY people have asked us how we do a "family" vacation for a WHOLE WEEK. I just kind of figured this was the norm...it isn't. I guess the answer to that is we like each other. Do we get on each other's nerves? Uh YES. Do the kids fight? Uh YES. But, I guess we just make it work. Mostly, there is a lot of teasing, laughing, inside jokes, and just fun! There are the few times when your sibling is working your nerves so bad that you just have to leave for a while. And that is okay. ;-)

I would love to go back and do a post about vacation. Like with pictures and funny stories. I'm sure you are DYING TO KNOW what we did all week. But, that will be sifting through hundreds of pictures, so it will have to wait just a bit longer...

Okay, so back to our busy life. As we were on our way home from Gulf Shores, we got a call for a showing on our house. It was THE call. They saw the house and made an offer the next morning! From that point on, we began packing and it seems like it took FOREVER to pack up. We decided to buy some land and build, which means one thing -- we needed a temporary home. HELLO MOM AND DAD! Yes, the week after Thanksgiving, we moved in with my parents. (I wish I could insert one of those emoji with the big eyes...) They have been so incredibly gracious by letting us invade their space. Everyone keeps asking me in a hushed whisper, "Soooo, how's it really going at your parent's?" I can honestly say, it has been good! Now, if you ask them, you might get a different response. ;-)

So, between all the hours and days spent packing and moving boxes to storage, we have managed a few fun things! 

We celebrated my bestie's 40th birthday! 

We had SO.MUCH.FUN!! It was one of those things we had talked about for so long and once the night came, we just lived it up. And, we stayed out past 11:00 PM. Holla.

Great night. Great friends.

There was also the annual Christmas baking day. Even though it doesn't appear so, we DID scale back this year. Ha! I usually send goodies for teachers, bus drivers, and for the staff at Eric's office. I'm pretty sure they enjoy it. Around the 1st of December, they start hounding asking him when we will be baking. ;-)

We also celebrated my mom's birthday. LOOK AT THIS ADORABLE CAKE!!

I thought it was SO cute! And, it represented my mom perfectly. It was made by a friend of my sister's from church. She did awesome!

We spent her birthday going on the Polar Express train ride through Charlestown. It was so much fun! The kids loved riding the train and seeing all the lights. Maggie was especially fun to watch this year. She loved belting out the Christmas carols and just really thought all the Christmas lights were "amazing"! I love her age!!

 And, speaking of Maggie...isn't this precious?!

Yes, we do Santa. She got to sit on his lap one day when we were visiting my grandparent's assisted living home. It was so sweet. He's not a huge part of our Christmas, but the kids sit out milk and cookies and they get one gift from him and Frank (our elf). It's pretty cute!

I haven't had time to sort through our Christmas photos yet. In fact, since we moved in over the holidays, we are just now trying to figure out our new normal. Some days are a little overwhelming, but we're just trying to have fun with this whole process! I'm excited to get back into blogging and to share updates on our new home. :-) 

We may be ghetto, but I promise you'll like us!

A few weeks ago, I headed down to the big BG to visit Gretchen. It's so crazy to me that they have been gone almost 4 years! Nowadays, it's just like a second nature to me to head down and visit for a weekend. I'm so thankful for a friendship that has not only changed, but gotten stronger since she moved! Love my G & T time!!

I was pretty excited because I made it in time for one of Pierce's baseball games. Sweet boy!  

It's a little weird that when we first became best friends, we were changing diapers and wiping spit up off our clothes (and floor, and furniture...). And now, we watch them play ball and FaceTime with them...

Sheesh! They're getting so big!

One of the best things about our friendship (I know I've mentioned this 8,302 times) is that we just "are". There are no expectations. There is no pressure to impress. Sometimes on our visits, all we do is...well, visit. Literally, just sit and talk. 

And sometimes she cooks for me. You know you've arrived when you get homemade muffins! ;-)

We also did a few of our favorite things - the things we do best - shop...

...and eat. For real, we like to eat!

And, I can't forget that I laughed (for hours!) when we pulled up and I asked G, "Is that a Netti Pot...and are you watering flowers with it?" Seriously...ghetto!

Love my girl and the time we get to hang together! 

Even better than when I go to visit is when she comes H.O.M.E. She's here for a week or so and we've already gotten to make some more ghetto memories!

It's pretty awesome to get a text and see "Wanna meet for lunch...now?" :-)

Of course, when they are home, it is customary to plan a day of swimming! (Hope, on the very left...I die!)

A slumber party is also a must! (I hope these two little girls will grow up to have a super special relationship!)

Hold onto your britches, cuz I'm not done yet! My sister got tickets to the Lionel Richie concert and invited mom, Jenny and me to go. She called A FEW HOURS before the concert and had one more ticket to get rid of, so we invited Gretchen.

It was a hoot! We had dinner before the concert and then followed the line of Buick's headed over to the YUM Center. 

We gave mom a little warning about the opening act -- CeeLo Green. She didn't know who he was or what his hit song is really called. ;-) He has a great voice but I was more concerned that he was going to have a heart attack on stage whenever he moved! 

We survived CeeLo, and it was time for some Dancing on the Ceiling...

Gretchen has made fun of me numerous times for looking like a grandma and keeping my "bag" on my lap when we go out. Now you see why...Like mother, like daughter. 

 Super fun night! (I won't mention how we left the concert early to beat the crowd and then got lost IN THE PARKING GARAGE trying to find our car. Oy.)

Such a good week having G home! And it isn't even over yet. :-)

So, if you see us out and about taking dumb selfies, just ignore us. We're ghetto and just having too much fun!