Then and Now

So this weekend was "Rendezvous." This is a time for me and four of my dearest friends from college to get together and play, reminisce, and get away from everything for awhile. We have tried to do this once a year since we graduated college, and for the most part, have managed to pull it off. Of course, there are life issues that come up that have made it hard some years for everyone to make it, but we have stayed in touch and stayed close, and when we get together it's as if we've never been apart. I thought I would share a few photos of us, back then, and now, just for fun! The five of us are: me, Melissa, Joy, Rachel and Jillian. We all met our freshman year at Baylor and clicked pretty much right away. At one time or another, I think we all either lived together, or spent so much time at one another's places that we might as well have lived together. We were all volunteers for K-Life, a youth discipleship organization. And we had many, many crazy, silly times together. The first picture is of Melissa, me and Joy. I have no explanation for it as I have absolutely no idea why we were dressed up like that. We were freshman in this picture, and sadly, we probably left our dorm looking that way.

This picture is of Melissa, me, Joy and Rachel our senior year in Mel and Rachel's apartment. I'm pretty sure this is the night that we decided to try and meet once a year after graduation. We celebrated that decision with wine coolers apparently...
Here is one of our random, silly pictures. Honestly, I have so many fun, goofy photos of us all that it could have taken me hours to look through them all. Even though the five of us were involved in several different organizations, we still spent so much time together. From late night "swims" in the lake, where we trespassed on someone's property (and got caught), to ski trips, to midnight excursions to the David Koresh compound (one of the more foolish things we did), we always seemed to gravitate toward one another. I cherish each one of these girls deeply and still feel grateful to be a part of their lives.
Here we are at my wedding. In the past eight years since we graduated we have seen each other through many wonderful times, as well as many terrible times. Since these photos were taken we have had 11 children, with three more on the way this summer! That is wild.
And here we are this weekend in San Antonio where Jillian (bottom right) lives. What a fun time away it was. Because Jilly had to start a new job this week, she wasn't able to join us in Waco where we met up with Joy for the day. Joy is pregnant with baby number 5! She is seriously upping the baby production of our group. Last weekend was Joy's husband's 30th birthday so she wasn't able to meet up with us for the whole weekend, so we spent the day walking around Baylor campus, reminicsing. We even got to visit our old dorm, which sadly hasn't changed a single bit in twelve years. It even smelled the same. Gross...
As you can see, I am the only one not pregnant in this photo. I wish I could have captured the looks on the faces of the people we passed as we walked campus. It was hysterical. Everywhere we went, people stared at us with their mouths half open. They didn't even try to hide their shock. Some even pointed. It was as if we had descended from some alter universe. It confirmed to me that though I feel like I still look quite young (I have three more months to relish my 20's!), I don't fit in with college students any more. Especially when I'm surrounded by pregnant people! Anyway, to my dear friends, thank you for all the years of memories! I look forward to so many more. How blessed I am to have you all be a part of my life!