You see, Sheri and I have been friends since 2004, when I left my job at Lerner and went to CapPro. My boss, Donn, reported to Sheri's boss, Bob. Long and short of it, we ended up talking on the phone to each other like 10 times a day, thanks to our bosses. That turned into a friendship. An absolutely amazing friendship.
That September, our bosses treated us to an all-expense paid trip to Florida. We had a blast hanging out in our Penthouse condo (yes, awesome, huh?!)...getting amazing calf massages from old Asian men, riding around in our convertible, going out to dinner at the Banana Cabana...and watching the lightning from Hurricane Ivan. Above all, it brought us closer together as friends.
And my beautiful best friend met her soul mate, Scott. And they had a whirlwind romance, with an amazing proposal. There was nothing in the world that would have kept me from going to her wedding. Nothing.
Doesn't she look beautiful?
This is she and Scott, her new hubby:
And this is Jack's new girlfriend, Elena (Sheri's niece). They ran around all night holding hands:
The wedding was beautiful. I cried. Of course I cried.
Friday night, the night before the wedding, I had the pleasure of meeting all of Sheri's extended family. It was such a blessing.
Also on Friday night, I had the pleasure, for the first time, of meeting one of my Ya-Ya's for the first time. Kelly and Craig drove to Columbus from Louisville, KY. First and foremost, I like to think that they came to see me...but Kelly's bff also lives in Columbus. We got adjoining rooms at our hotel, so that we could leave the kiddos sleeping. Eliana wasn't feeling well, so while she slept, Craig, Kelly and Joshua came over and hung out with me and Jack! It was SUCH a blessing getting to meet someone as special and wonderful as Kelly. You see, Kelly and I have emailed every single day (along with the other Ya's!) for three years. We share every detail of our lives with each other. To finally get to meet her face to face was amazing!
Saturday morning, I got to meet MORE of my PAL ladies. Lisa, Andy, Grayson and Noah along with Shaney, Bob, Rylie and Brode came to meet us at the hotel for breakfast. From there, we went to the children's play area of COSI. We had SO MUCH FUN! See:
Shaney and Brode:
Rylie sticking her tongue out at me:
Noah and Lisa:
Me and my PAL Ladies: Shaney, Kelly, me and Lisa
Could they GET any cuter? Rylie, Shaney, Bob and Brode
I love the look on Eliana's face in this photo: Craig, Eliana, Kelly and Joshua
Bob was trying to convince Brode that a right on the giraffe would be fun, so he kissed it!
Noah, Andy, Grayson and Lisa -- GO BUCKS!
Eliana and Kelly, while E was playing in the water. Joshua's attempt was not so dry.
Jack and Rylie playing with the power plant:
Sunday morning I was going to get up and drive home. HOWEVER, since we had such a good time with Lisa and Shaney on Saturday, we decided to go to the Columbus Zoo on Sunday! What a great time. Jack was so thrilled that elephants were REAL (we don't have them at the MN Zoo)...and the Gorilla's...well, they were something to talk about for the next three weeks.
Grayson:
Rylie was showing me how to be a flamingo:
Monkey see, Monkey do:
All in all, my trip was amazing. I am so lucky and so blessed to have friends like Kelly, Shaney and Lisa in my life. People like that touch your life once in a lifetime...and stay there.
I can't wait to plan my trip to Ohio for next summer. Now that I know how the drive is...this will be a yearly trip! :)
Awesome, awesome trip!!!
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