a "spectacular" day

PARTY FOUL, yall.

Somewhere between waxing poetic about my anniversary and styling my hair in really awesome ways, I totally neglected to share about the fun times we had last Saturday morning/afternoon! 

I am so, so blessed to still consider my high school besties (known as the "Spectacular Seven" back then...although now we are more, due to marriages and children) to be some of my best friends. We live all over the Southeast (and Iowa...decidedly NOT in the Southeast) now, but every once in awhile we manage to get most of us together...and it sounds corny, but I swear it's true: when we get together, it's like a day hasn't passed by. I love love love these friends, and am thankful that the spouses, significant others, and kids have only added to the greatness of the Seven (as we shall continue to be known).

L-R: Chris (holding baby Norah), Katy, Elizabeth, me, Matt (what is wrong with his face?), Brooke, Patrick

 Anyway. Patrick and Brooke (and 10.5-month-old Charles) are the far-flung friends who have landed out in the booming metropolis of Carroll, Iowa...but thankfully their families still live in good ol' GA, so they come back South every now and again to see their people. This was the case last week, and since their visits home are far too few, they decided to go ahead and have Charles' 1st birthday party while they were here. This was the reason that Matt and I got to spend the first half of our anniversary celebrating Charles and hanging out with some of our favorite people.

Strangely, Charles is not actually in ANY of my pictures. Oops. As I recall, he was being passed between adoring relatives, friends, and party-goers and/or napping...and missed our photo shoot. Sorry baby Charles!! Luckily Chris and Katy's baby, Norah, was awake and available for plenty of pictures, cuddling, and the like.

 Elizabeth getting some love from Norah. 

 The girls in attendance. Elizabeth and I are "original members" of the Seven; Katy and Brooke are beloved additions by marriage (although we the Seven did, of course, have to officially vote them in (which occurred in 2006, if my memory serves me correctly)).

LOVE THIS GIRL. Fun fact about Elizabeth and I: long before we knew each other, we took piano lessons from the same teacher. And remember lots of the same things about her, and can tell lots of jokes about her...even though we didn't know each other then. Okay, at least we enjoy that fun fact.

 It was our anniversary that day, so a "couples picture" was completely called for. Hope you like our coordinating and patriotic outfits!!


OK, hold onto your hats: the next two pictures I am planning on enlarging (poster-sized? maybe) and plastering them all over town with the caption: WE ARE GOING TO BE SUPER AWESOME PARENTS...LOOK HOW MUCH THIS BABY LOVES US!!!! PLEASE LET US ADOPT YOUR KIDS. THANKS. I figure that should get us moving along towards parenthood a little more quickly.

 
Not gonna lie, Norah was basically the sweetest baby ever. And Matt is some kind of Baby Whisperer. That should come in handy some day!!

All in all, it was a fantastic day. You know how I (and all other infertile girls, whether it's "in public" or not) complain about how social settings/parties/reunions/church/groups of people can be some of the most difficult parts of dealing with infertility? And sometimes we talk about it in nice and rational ways, and sometimes we're just really bitchy and sarcastic? Right, well, I would just like to report that sometimes it isn't bad. And sometimes, some people, whether it's a conscious effort or just a miraculous coincidence, manage to say and do all of the right things, none of the wrong things, and not only let me have a genuinely good time hanging out with people I love, but also pretty much restore my faith in humanity. And that's what happened on Saturday. Afterwards, I wanted to like...shout it from the rooftops. Or send Katy, Brooke, and Elizabeth thank-you-cards: "thank you for being wonderful and for letting me enjoy 5 hours of normal-feeling conversation and hanging out without even ONCE feeling remotely sad, sorry for myself, or wanting to leave and cry in the bathroom." But that would be weird, so instead I'll just say it here, for allllllll of the world to see (since the whole world reads my blog, obviously). I just loved that I had such a good time at a baby's birthday party (which clearly is probably not the easiest venue for infertile girls to feel great about life)...and it made me (and Matt, who enjoys not having to find me crying in bathrooms/garages/cars during social events) really happy.

In conclusion: my friends are the best, we took lots of pictures, and also there was some fantastic cake and baked beans (not eaten at the same time, unless you're crazy like that). I give the day an A+!