The Fab Five

Last weekend was one of the most fun weekends I'd had in a long time!  It was a girls weekend with four of my best friends from college that we had planned back in February.  We knew we would have to plan something way in advance if we ever wanted to make the effort to get together every year.  All in all it was a great success!

I was able to get off a few hours early on Friday and Rachel and her husband, David, came to pick me up before we all headed down to Fay-town!  (David had also planned a guys weekend so it worked out great to all drive together.)  We met up with Lauren in Rogers and then headed down to Mr. Cashion's home office, "H.O.", to meet the other girls, Allison and Jessica!  It was pretty late so we decided to go to one of our favorite places, Common Grounds, on Dickson Street.  CG is a fun place that serves all sorts of different things: sandwiches, desserts, coffee, shakes and even adult beverages.  We had a great time catching up and hanging out!

Saturday morning we got up and decided to go floating on the Illinois River!  It was great fun and brought back so many memories.  I loved being with these girls so much.  We soaked up some sun and of course talked and talked some more!

The bus ride to the "dock" - cute girls!

On the river!

Ok, so my camera got wet and this is why this a such a terrible picture... BUT I had to put it on here because after we were finished rafting, we all put on these camoflauge hats that we found in the back of Lauren's husband's car.  It was too perfect for that day so we had to snap a picture.  What great fun!

After floating we went to lunch at another favorite place of ours - Slims Chicken!  It was so delicious and we had another great time over food and in the sun (we stayed chatting til about 4 o'clock!)  After Slims we headed back to the H.O. to get ready for our evening.  We had made reservations at Bordino's on Dickson Street but we couldn't get there without making a much-needed stop at the beloved Pi Phi house!  We toured the house (after getting in on a remembered code) and awed at how much it had changed even since we had lived there!  We even snapped a few pics outside by the fountain (thanks to Rachel for being the only one with a working camera!)

Rachel, Jessica, Lauren, Me and Allison - representin' some Pi Phi angels!

After dinner at Bordino's we walked on campus for a bit and saw everybody's names on the sidewalks.  We just love that tradition and we all have great spots on campus!  Our tour could not be finished without a stop to the newest addition (and only one in the world), Wal-Mart On Campus!  Way to be Arkansas- we love you so much.  After campus, we went back to the H.O. to play games and talk more!  We of course went to be way too late both nights so we were exhausted by the time Sunday morning rolled around.  

We had a great weekend reliving some precious memories and I know these girls will be a part of my life forever!  So happy to be blessed with such wonderful friends.  

Going, Going, Gone!

After several months parked in front of our house, we've finally sold Jay's old car - the white Ford Explorer!  It took a little encouragement from our expert Craigslist friends, David and Rachel, but I bit the bullet and said "why not?" to posting it.  I posted an ad on Monday morning thinking it was a far cry from any promising interests but not 30 minutes later I had 3 people chomping at the bit to get that old car!  Jay met up with the first guy I could contact and he gave us a deposit right on the spot!  The next day he had a tow truck ready to pick it up and gave me the rest of the money!  I couldn't believe it was that easy!  He was a very nice man and said he was going to give it to his niece after he fixed it up.  Wow - Craiglist really works and we're thanking the Lord for allowing us to sell it that quickly and efficiently! 

A Celebration and A Good-Bye

Sorry friends and family- I am just now sitting down and making some time to blog about what has been keeping me so busy these past several weeks!  Last Thursday KTI celebrated their 25th Anniversary with an Open House Party.  Brian, the whole team and I worked so very hard to pull off all the details big and small.  Buddy had decided that an Open House would be the best way to market our business and build relationships, new and old.  We invited over 1300 clients and business partners and it was a great success.  We decorated and cleaned the office and had it (and ourselves with KTI shirt, to boot!) looking great for the big day.  Buddy's cousin, Bill, smoked brisket, burnt ends and chicken for everyone who came!  This event was such a great learning experience for me and I'm glad things went off without a hitch!  Happy Birthday, KTI!  Here's to 25 more!

My best work friend EVER!  Love this girl.

Frankie and Shawn, our wonderful Project Managers

Brian and Bill getting things all set up - too bad it was so rainy!

Seth and Ryan working on some Proctor samples 

Buddy and Dylan - The "Big Wigs" looking good!

Some guests going on a tour of the KTI timeline

Gathering, eating and chattin' it up!

Way to go KTI!

We even gave away a fancy TV!

What a great success and experience it all was for everyone!  We wish the best of success for KTI and many more anniversary celebrations in the future.  

On a more somber note, today was Brian's last day at KTI.  He has worked so hard for all of us there and I know we could not have been as successful today without his hard work and helpful attitude.  I will truly miss that work buddy and know he will be wonderfully successful on his next journey.  Brian, thank you for your time at KTI - I learned so much from you and thank you for all you did for me and everyone at KTI.  You'll be missed!

Over The Hill!

Well better late than never they always say.  This week has been extremely busy and I just didn't get a chance to blog about last weekend and all the fun we had!  We really did have a great time last weekend.  I took a half day Friday and Jay and I headed down to Fay-town (well, Rogers really) to see our families (Rob and Billie came, too!) and celebrate Christopher's 30th birthday!  We all met up at the hotel around 5 and went down to Fayetteville for dinner at La Huerta.  Seriously the best Mexican food of all time.  I want to live in Fayetteville just so I can eat there once a week.  After dinner we headed back up to Rogers for Starbucks and to hang out some more!

Saturday morning we had breakfast at the hotel all together and headed down to Fayetteville again to see the campus and find everyone's name on the sidewalks!  Neither of our parents had seen them so we wanted to show them off with pride.  

It was freezing so I of course am wearing a giant sweatshirt.

There's mine!

And Jay's!

Jay and Billie by Billie's name!

After hanging out on campus for a while, we ate lunch at US pizza - it was delicious - then headed back up to Rogers to do some shopping at the Promenade!  Mom had a coupon for New York & Company and I got some great stuff for work and summer.  Thanks Mom!  After shopping we were plain tuckered out and needed to get some rest for the big party!  

We headed over to the party about 6 o'clock.  Allison did such a great job planning and she had everything looking great already.  People started arriving and having a great time!  It was much cooler than expected so I opted for warm and not cute which was disappointing but by far the better option!  Here are tons of pics from the party:

Allison and Janna, Chris's mom

The Bradley Family

Cake from the fabulous Rick's Bakery!

Dad roasting marshmallows with the girls

Finished s'more!

We had a great time, Al!  Thanks for the awesome party!

Chris's brother, Jeff, and his girls

"Stewart" boys

Sunday morning we went back to Fellowship NWA which is always a special treat.  After church we had lunch at Slim Chicken's and said our goodbyes.  A great end to a wonderful weekend!

Books Turned Movies = Great Fun

Last Thursday my friends Shea and Katherine met up for our May Book Club Movie Night.  We read Water For Elephants in January and the movie came out in April so we were able to take a month off of reading and enjoy a book-turned-movie together.  I thought the movie was very well done and the three of us had a great time together.  Changes are in the air for book club so we will see what's in store for the future.  For now though, here's a last minute picture in the parking lot:

Love these girls - the core of book club at its finest. :)

Diez de Mayo

Tuesday night we celebrated a late "Cinco de Mayo" with our great friends, the Rainwaters!  We met after work and school at Salsa Grill for some delicious Mexicano food!  We are so thankful that we've had Rachel and David here in KC to share life with together.  We have so many similarities in our stages of lives right now and feel so blessed to have them here to experience so much together.  We had a great time, as always, and are so grateful for their friendship.  David and Rachel - we love you both! :)

What great husbands and friends we have! 

KC besties - I love you, Rach! 

A Host of Birthday Celebrations

May has already been busy and it's just going to get busier!  We have a lot on the schedule and are looking forward to some fun things.  There have been plenty of birthdays to celebrate and even more to come!  Last Thursday I went to dinner with Jennifer and Leah whose birthdays were at the end of April.  We went to Cactus Grill on Cinco de Mayo and it was crazy!  Lots of people and lots of noise were inevitable but we had a great time nonetheless.  I made them sugar scrub from scratch and scented it with lemon- yummy!

Precious friends

Friday I left work a little early and Jay and I went to see THOR.  We both enjoyed it a lot but we're both totally into movies like that.  Saturday was a great day.  Jay went to the school and I cleaned the house and switched my winter and summer wardrobes out.  It felt so good to finally get my summer clothes out since the weather is getting warmer now.  I got out in the yard and went on a good jog, too.  Saturday night we celebrated Tim Dietrich's birthday at BRGR in the village.  It was our first time there and it was delicious!  We had a great time with everyone and got to reconnect with some old friends from med school.  Thanks for inviting us Dietrichs!  We loved hanging out with y'all.

Ben, Tim, Jay and Andrew

Me, Jenny, Anna and Ally