34th Bday and Visit from Katie

How blessed I feel to have had such good friends my whole life.  I feel loved and supported by each of them and they have all played important roles during each phase of my life. 

Shana and Katie are two of my oldest friends.  When I moved to Corcoran in 1987, they became my “group”.  We were all in Mr. Swords class together for 5th grade, and that was one of my most memorable school years.  Katie welcomed me into the circle of friends with open arms and, because we went to church together and our parents worked together at Take 10, we immediately had lots of connections.  Shana was always so fashionable and cute and I totally envied her Guess jeans and Keds shoes (haha).  But these two were two of my rocks through Jr. High and High School.

 

So how awesome is it that – so many years later - I could spend my 34th birthday with these two?  Our visits are not often enough, but always great.  Katie flew in from Utah…leaving her husband, four kids and stressful life behind for four days…and I stayed after class on Thursday night so we could all stay at Shana’s house for a few days.  Shana was a great hostess…especially considering that she has a three month old, nursing baby!  Shana is a great mommy and has a beautiful home (through lots of sweat & stress of remodling) and a beautiful little family.

 

We ate out a lot!

Katie and I ran 10 miles together!~  Well, not EXACTLY together since Katie ran like a minute/mile faster than I did.  But it was a fun thing to do around the lake together.  Way to go US!

 

More eating out and yummy ice cream!

How adorable is Shana’s two year old, Maren?  We did some photo shoots while we were there.

 

 

 

Katie drove back to Kingsburg with me and got to see two other friends, Melanie and Teresa.  Then we stopped by my parent’s house for a bit before the airport.  It was great to spend time together and catch up.  Katie is one of the strongest, most determined and giving people I know and I would be a different person today without the countless experiences we’ve shared throughout our lives.