At least once a year, I'm lucky enough to get a weekend away. Josh usually keeps the boys at home, sometimes with help from the grandparents, but usually on his own. Boys weekend for them, and often a girls weekend for me. My weekends away are usually with one of my oldest and best friends, my first-year college roommate
Haley. We take turns visiting each other's houses, but we also sometimes meet in the middle at her parents' home, about a three-hour drive from each of our houses. And that's what we decided to do this year ... meet in the middle. I got to visit not only with her and her little girl, but also with her wonderful parents at their home in the mountains.
As a builder's wife, I really enjoyed touring their new (a few years old, but still brand new to me) home. It's beautiful, set right on the side of a mountain with hills all around. It was a peaceful retreat for the weekend.
And here is where we spent the majority of our time. It was too cold to enjoy the pool this year (solar panels not installed yet, so maybe another time), but we made good use of the outdoor living room and fire place. We went through a lot of firewood and spent hours relaxing in the big comfy chairs around a warm, inviting fire. Haley and I even managed to start one all by ourselves, which was a little impressive considering we'd used up all of the starter logs and the wood was a little damp. We won't mention it may have taken several hours, and quite a few handfuls of the expensive pine needle mulch from the landscaping. That's our secret.
Sunday afternoon was a perfect fall day. We all spent it curled around the outdoor fireplace. We even had dinner (courtesy of Poppa Bill and Mimi Karen) and a show (courtesy of Miss Claire). Big steaks and fresh veggies on the grill, wine by the fire, and salad and baked potatoes, too. Claire was happy to entertain us with lots of song and dance numbers, and did so for hours upon hours. It was a nice, relaxing way to end the weekend.
We also spent some time downtown. We did a little shopping, a lot of browsing, and just enjoyed a fun fall weekend catching up. Claire wouldn't dream of leaving her Mimi Karen, so Haley and I got to spend a lot of girl time talking about life and love and everything in between.
Good friends are hard to find and often even harder to keep. Time, distance, kids and busy lives often get in the way. But 15 years later, Haley and I still manage to find time. Maybe not as often as we'd like, but we definitely make it worthwhile in the time we do have together. It was an amazing weekend, and a great break from the day-to-day life with three busy little boys and their big puppy!
Special thanks to Mimi Karen and Poppa Bill for hosting our weekend getaway and being such amazing hosts and people!
