Back at the beginning of summer Christie left her car at our house and Ian and I had to get her so she could pick it up. Since I couldn't get my car out, we drove Ian's two-seater truck over to her house (which is literally 2 minutes from mine). Instead of cramming in the hot cab of the truck, we rode in the back and took a picture and I called us "babes of summer." Since then, it just caught on.
Every week my friends and I get together at someone's house to swim - all the babes of summer. It is the first summer we've all done this together, usually it is just Christine, Espen and I, but I'm not sure why we didn't do this before - it is so much fun. Jenny always has delicious snacks and it is always a blast, I look forward to it every week. So many old friends, makes me feel so lucky to have had all these ladies in my life for so long.
Last week, we did Babes of Summer: Bartlett Lake Edition. I found a Groupon for a $140 party boat rental for a whole day on the lake and I had never been so I bought it. Ian thought I was crazy but I constantly talk about going out on a boat to tan and swim but I never do it, so this time I did. I invited all the girls and off we went to Bartlett Lake. We had no idea how to drive a boat or even where to go (we went 30 minutes out of our way on a dirt road and had to turn around to find it) but it was an adventure!
I have spoken of these ladies many times in this blog and here I go again. As you know, my year has sucked. I was looking so forward to summer to relax and get happy again, but it has been a pretty "bummer summer" for us. Ian and I are still recovering from the year, it takes a toll on you as an individual. You become a different person, not really sure how to interact with others or even who you are anymore. You get really snippy and sensitive and you aren't sure why until you remember how happy you were before, when you thought you were going to be parents. It changes you, and it has been hard adjusting. We haven't really had time to relax, we've been painting our house and re-doing our yard, it has been just as busy a summer as our school year was. It wasn't the summer I was looking forward to, but I'm glad we were busy because we were still so very sad. So, every week when I got to see my ladies, it made me so happy. Without them this summer, I don't know what I would have done, they saved me from myself this year - for sure. When I couldn't get out of bed for me some days, I did it for them. It was nice having our swim parties to look forward to, and this boat trip, something to keep me going.
We made it to Bartlett Lake and got our boat, and a driving lesson. We were seriously one of like 6 boats on the lake and it was a lovely, windy day. We spent all day on the boat and didn't get home until around 6:30pm that night. It was so much fun I can't even find words for it, a day I will always remember with three of my very best friends. Instead of writing about our day, I thought I'd post pictures instead, enjoy!
(Matt and Jenny dancing to the music coming from the car, getting ready to go!)
(Deflating a raft, we had to fit four in the car, and didn't want to blow them up when we got there!)
(Apparently this is my boating look. Pigtails for us!)
(The blondes were in the back.)
(Gorgeous drive to the lake.)
(Our first glimpse, this pic should be above the one on top.)
(Right when we got there Jenny had a bee land in her hair . . .)
(. . . and Christine almost peed from laughing too much!)
(You have to walk a long way with all of your stuff, where were those cute lake store owner boys to help us!)
(Christine was our first driver, I was too scared to back it out with the doc people watching!)
(I think his name was Kyle and he looked like a boy but talked like a girl. He was weird and I'm pretty sure he hated us.)
(On the water!)
(My signed Rob Dyrdek hat, I finally found a use for it!)
(My on the boat look, different from my off the boat but going boating look.)
(Christine getting ready to jump in!)
(Christine bought us all BFF bracelets!)
(Jenny is always the photog!)
(Christine and her floatation device. She loved that thing!)
(Jenny and I tied our rafts the boat, we were too scared after Christie and I floated super far away and had to swim back.)
(Jenny always provides the best snacks!)
(Such a beautiful, serene day. Windy but calm.)
(Jenny bought all the colors of Zinca to wear on the boat and was the only one that actually put the pink on her nose. We should have used those!)
(I caught Christie napping.)
(This is where we were on a Wednesday while everyone else was working. It was the life!)
(The people who owned the dock had a super cute dog. Dog on a boat!)
And Jenny took an awesome video and some great pics too:
(bon voyage!)
(Yep, I'm driving.)
(Crazy windy!)
(MTV Spring Break pic!)
(Of course there were cocktails!)
There was a moment on the boat, when I was watching the gorgeous scenery go by, that I started tearing up. I realized that I had been so sad for so very long and that I was having so much fun with all of my friends. Right then I knew that they had held me together all this time, that they had been their for me, they were my rocks. I knew that I couldn't have gotten through this year without them, and I was so happy to have them there with me, having the best time together.
At yoga a couple of weeks ago it was windy and Meg said, "Let the wind sweep everything away." And last week she was talking about times in life when you get knocked down and how everyone gets knocked down once in awhile. She made the point that it's not how many times you get knocked down, and that you shouldn't dwell on it, but really how many times you can get back up again. She said, "You fall down 7 times, you get back up 8." Life throws these hard times at you, everyone has them, but it's how you handle them, how you recover, that matters. I also have this Nelson Mandela quote on my classroom wall and try to teach my students this, "The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall." It's interesting that I listen to these words, I believe them, but I somehow can't seem to follow them. I have tried to let the wind carry all the pain away, and I have tried to keep going even when I don't feel like it. I do it for the people who love me, and for me because I know it will just get better from here. You've got to have faith.
Thank you to my three gorgeous friends that are always there for me when I need you. Thank you for a day I will never forget, and for a summer when you saved my life. Thank you for getting me up every day and for being there when I needed you most. Thank you for being such amazing people and for sticking by me all this time. Thank you for helping me get back up again.
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