Girls' night out!

This week has been full of sweet, sweet moments with some very special people, and it ain't over yet!  Our new church in Hattiesburg has given us a huge gift, and I doubt they even know it.  They provided the gift of movers to pack all of our stuff.  What!  It has been such a gift.  Mostly, because we get to do the more important thing.  Be with people.  Every day and night this week, we have had time to spend with special people in our lives, and I have loved it!  I haven't had to worry about packing boxes with lots of little ones underfoot, and it has been the sweetest gift to just be with people I love.  

Monday night was the first of many get togethers this week, and it ranks up there with one of the funnest nights I've ever had with friends.  My precious friends from college planned a surprise get together at the Cheesecake Factory in Atlanta.  It was the most fun!  At the end of the night, my cheeks hurt from laughing so much!  What fun!  Here I am with two of my roommates from college, and I will certainly miss doing life with these ladies.  

Here's the group of us after supper and yummy dessert.  It was awesome because my all time favorite cheesecake is seasonal, and they only carry it in the fall and winter months, pumpkin pecan cheesecake.  It's all the yummy gooeyness of a pecan pie on top and underneath pumpkin cheesecake.  One word, ohmygoodness!

I added this picture for the memory.  You will notice my friend, Julie, is cutting her eyes in the other direction.  It's because we put my camera on self-timer, and there was a lady standing there who was not happy with us for having to wait!  

We totally did the wedding thing where we all took pictures together.  This is my precious friend, Christina.  We met the summer before my freshman year at UGA on Chrysalis, which is a youth retreat I went on in Savannah.  She was one of the workers that weekend, and we just really hit it off.  That fall, when I got to Georgia, she just really ministered to my heart and took me under her wing for the entire year.  My first day of classes, she waited on me outside every class, and showed me where to go next, what a labor of love!  The campus is huge, and the bus system is overwhelming, so I was forever grateful.  We have remained friends over the years, and it's like she knows when I need a friend, and she calls or texts at just the right time.  Love her.  

This is my sweet friend, Twila.  Oh, how I love her!  Look at that smile.  Twila and I met my freshman year, her sophomore year.  One of my favorite memories is going to her parent's house for Christmas parties.  The Ellisons know how to throw down for sure.  Her sweet momma went home to be with Jesus this year, and my heart just aches for my friend and her family.  Twila's smile is the same as her mother's, so I feel like I'm seeing Mrs. E. every time I see Twila smile.  

Wendy.  We lived together for 3 years at UGA.  I met Wendy in the fall of my freshman year at BSU, now BCM.  Do you ever just meet someone and think, I really want to be her friend?  That's Wendy.  I knew the instant I met her that we would be forever friends, and I'm so thankful we are.  She has been at the hospital when all 4 of my children have been born.  Wendy just had her fourth little boy last month, and I got to meet him this week, too!  Don't worry, there's a post just for him coming.  

Julie.  We met my Freshman year and spent lots of time together traveling to see the dawgs play.  I have so many fun memories of away games with Julie.  Something special about her, Julie's brother went to college in Hattiesburg and played football at USM (University of Southern Mississippi).  Now, it's my understanding that one cannot live in Hattiesburg and not cheer for USM, so my sweet friend got her parents to get me and my family our very own tailgating cups! So precious!

Kristy.  I'm not sure which year we met in college, but I have a couple of memories that involve this precious girl.  She can sing.  Oh, how she can sing.  It's amazing how someone so little can produce such big notes!  Kristy ministered to my heart when Tilly went through her surgery at 3 months.  She prayed for me and sent me regular encouraging emails and messages during that season of uncertainty.  Kristy and her husband, Keith, have 3 A.D.O.R.A.B.L.E girls from Guatemala.  

Mary Katherine.  I met her Freshman year when she was at another SEC school, which I'm unable to type, but we are so thankful that she got right with the Lord and left her war eagle days behind to call the dawgs.  Wendy introduced the two of us, and we lived together for 3 years at UGA.  I was friends with Mary Katherine's husband, Trent, before her, so I just love her whole family dearly.  She is a constant encouragement to me, and it will be hard knowing that she's not just down the road.  Thank goodness for cell phones!  

Christina and Twila.