Why I Have The BEST Friends Ever + Flashback Friday

Flashback Friday: Christmas 2008 Packed in Heather's Car
(From left - Emily, Sam, Me, Taylor, Heather)

I don't think I mentioned this in previous posts, but a couple of weeks before I left for Portland Jason informed me that I should try to get the weekend following my trip off from work, but he wouldn't tell me why, insisting it was a surprise.  I racked my brain for nearly three weeks trying to figure out what in the world would require me to take an entire weekend off from work.  I thought maybe we were going out of town; that was literally the only explanation I thought could justify this time off.  So last Friday Jason and I were getting ready to go out to The Nomad, a bar up north, for our friend Corey's birthday, and around 10:30 p.m. there's a knock at the door.  I couldn't imagine who it could be that late at night.  I looked over at Jason and even he looked a little puzzled, but he got up and opened the door, and who sticks their head in the door??  Emily, Sammy and Heather!!!!!!!!  I was so beyond ecstatic!  Basically, it was the best surprise ever and made me feel so loved.  I've always known I have such sweet, beautiful friends (inside and out), but this was the absolute ultimate reminder of that.  

Friday night, after the girls freshened up post-three hour car rides, we went out to Trudy's for Mexican martinis and caught up on one another's lives just like back in April when Sam and I made the trip up to Dallas.  It was a pretty late, but rather calm night.  On Saturday, we all slept in and once everybody woke up, Jason and I made bacon, eggs and waffles for our guests.  A little while later, we went to HEB to pick up some drinks/snacks and hit up the pool at my apartment complex for a couple of hours before coming back home to shower and get ready for another fun evening.  That night we drove out to San Marcos (our old stomping grounds, haha) for dinner at the always delicious Japan Latino and a trip down memory lane as I made a lap around the town so we could experience crazy college flashbacks and see what all had changed since we lived there.  Upon returning to Austin, we decided to paint the town by going out to Rainey Street and enjoying a few beverages at Bar 96 and Clive.  And, of course, there's only one way to conclude your night in downtown Austin - waffle sandwiches at 24 Diner.  Sunday was pretty uneventful as everybody had to leave fairly early to get home for various events.

I seriously cannot be grateful enough for this most wonderful of surprises.  It's such a special, sentimental thing to have been close friends with someone for most of your life through the good and the bad, the hugs and the fights and the tears.  It's so crazy to think of everything...all the memories we'll all hold so close inside our thoughts and hearts.  These feelings and remnants of life are truly unmatched by all else.  LOVE LOVE LOVE to my ladies :)