Weekend Wrap Party...one weekend late...

Despite my optimism, I was not able to post a weekend wrap party last Monday...because of a very special annual event. 

ROAD

TRIP!!!

...With these girls...minus Mr. Oreo. ;p

 As much room as my KIA Optima has, Mr Oreo would have cramped our space. Not to mention...hungry girls on a road trip?? Yeah, he wouldn't have stood a chance. ;p

Okay...so let me introduce you. 

L-R: 

Rachael - lives in Alabama with her precious little 1 yr old daughter & her husband. It was at her baby shower that we did these cute butterfly cupcakes here. 

Jenny - lives in Michigan with her hilarious husband Luke & they just bought their first house & it is adorable! Jenny is the one that designed my wedding invitation here because she has a business called Vivian Elle Invitations & is extremely talented & creative. 

Mr Oreo - you know him 

Kauri - lives in Tennessee & is a professor (that's right) at our alma mater Bryan College & teaches in the pyschology department. You may remember her from her guest post about her fondue party here. She is the most amazing cook & has the BEST recipes. She made chicken salad for our trip & it is hands down the bestest chicken salad EVER! ;p

Our story is really (I think) unique. See we are all pretty different (as far as our likes). We're like a toned down version of the spice girls. Okay...way toned down. There's Rachael who's really sporty, Jenny who has such a great & funny personality, Kauri who is smart & deep...and then there's me that's not sporty, not really funny...more random than anything. ;p Anyways...each of us had groups of friends outside of this foursome but we started meeting together to pray once a week our freshman year. That was 2000 & we're still going strong. We've seen each others heartaches, struggles, joys, tears, excitement,  fears. We've seen prayers answered in the way we hoped & others we're still hoping for. We still email praises & requests once a week. As you saw from the "who's who" breakdown, we all live in different states. Since Michigan is much further than Tenn, Alabama & Georgia...we decided one year in college to load up on snacks, pack our bags (yes, in that order ;p) & trek on up to see Jenny. 10 hours later, a Jesus sighting (long story) & non-stop yaking we decided this must be an annual trip. 

There have been a few years we missed the trip...due to weddings or babies, where we just switched the destination but it is seriously one of my most favorite times of the year. 

It was especially awesome this year because we were there on Jenny's actual birthday!! 

Because we are such loving friends, we decided to surprise Jenny with this - 

And here's part 2 - 

http://youtu.be/MSi5YA1CMsw (I don't know why this wouldn't upload to the blog but here's the link) 

This is the aftermath. I don't care how old you are...Silly String defies age. ;p

Just in case you're doubting our love for Jenny...the next morning we decorated the kitchen & dining room with a banner & balloons & gave her her presents. 

Of which she got two of the same book! Rachael & Kauri got her the same autobiography of  Mindy Kaling (from the Office). Has that ever happened to you? You get the same gift as someone else or receive one? 

We treated her to breakfast at the world renown infamous Luke-highly-endorsed Omelet & Waffle Cafe. And yes, that is a crown on her head & yes we, her dear friends, made her wear it in public, while eating her pancakes. :-) 

This was actually a reenactment of another photo but I think it's a great picture of all of them, so I thought I'd share. 

Saturday night, we had fondue over at Jenny's parents house...just the girls. It was so amazingly delicious & so fun. 

I love this picture & love this couple even more. They were wonderful hosts, even in the midst of closing on their new home. 

There's so much more that I would love to tell you about the weekend but I'm imagining your coffee cup is empty by now so I'll leave you with this video that we made over the weekend. Luke, Jenny's hubby, is a guitar teacher & we started a band over the weekend...called BDG (another story). The part to watch for is after the second chorus...we have some backup dancers & I'm just gonna give you a heads up...the Oven Mitt dance is the next big thang. 

Okay, I lied...one more thing I have to tell you about. Luke surprised Jenny with videos from all of her friends wishing her a Happy Birthday. It was such a thoughtful & sweet thing & really meant a lot to Jenny. Here's the video that Mike & me put together, reenacting the opening song of Jenny's favorite sitcom from back in the day. 

Hope you had a great weekend! Did you do anything fun? See you back here on Wednesday!