Gang's all Here!

I feel like it's been forever since I've spent an entire weekend at home just catching up on life (and updating my blog).  True to form we have been going, going, going since getting home in October and haven't slowed down yet. The weekend before Thanksgiving was no exception.  We took off on Friday to go to Arizona for the long-awaited visit with my college friends and some of Tim's high school buddies that recently moved to the Valley.

I've written about my favorite Arizona people before but it's worth mentioning again how blessed I feel to have these girls in my life!  They have all been like the sisters that I never biologically had- fights, tears, laughs, and memories included!  We all met in college through our sorority, Theta (except Lisa, our honorary Theta) and have stayed in touch over 9 years...has it REALLY been that long?!?  When I moved back to Denver almost 6 years ago, it broke my heart to leave them and all the fun we had but life goes on and thankfully, we're all still visiting each other and staying in touch!  It's been over a year since we've all been together and in that time 2 girls got married, one had a baby, another got pregnant, one moved to Australia, and I, obviously suffered a severe loss.  I hadn't been able to get hugs from everyone since my dad passed and I was needing to see the people that always know how to make me laugh and get my mind off of everything that's going on.  We had an absolute blast during our visit- I just wish we would have been able to stay a bit longer :-(

We began the weekend with a much-needed Oregano's dinner at Meg's house.  I loved this amazing Italian restaurant when I lived in Phoenix and now have to eat it every time I get back in town.  I was so depressed to hear that they stopped making my Big Ol Ravioli but settled for another amazing pasta dish.  Really, you can't go wrong with anything there!  I finally got to meet baby Aubrey (she's absolutely adorable) and got to catch up for a few hours with the girls before heading off to sleep.

On Saturday we met up with Tim's friends Grant and Jessica who just recently got married and moved to Phoenix.  We ate at Herb Box, a wonderful little bistro in Scottsdale.  Then we picked up another amazing college friend of mine, Erin, and headed to ASU to cheer on our Devils against U of A.  The game started late so we were able to tailgate for a few (actually 4 hours) before it started.  I tried to channel my inner college girl but ended up wanting to fall asleep by half time.  I just can't drink like I used to :-( but we had so much fun.  I got to meet Kate's husband Chris for the first time and help teach him a little about our American football since he is from Australia.  Alas, the Devils lost to our rivals but we had a great time anyway!

Sunday was the big celebration for baby Charlotte and Meg!  Mandy did a fabulous job of setting up a milk and cookies themed party- so creative!  Meg was showered by gifts and I won a cute cookie mix prize for correctly guessing how big baby Charlie has grown!  Again, so fun to just be with the girls and get to catch up!    
It was time to get back on the plane and head back to Colorado sooner than I was ready to go.  Hopefully it won't be another year until we can all get together again!

Lisa, Kate, Ang and Aubs, Meg, Mandy, Rachel, me and Sarah!