Weekend Update| May 3, 2010

Okie dokie smokies. I had a day to wallow about the state of the world and, as my momma always said, "now it's time for me to put on my big girl panties and get on with it!" This past weekend was the best one I've had in a while. Saturday morning we packed up our beach stuff and headed east to spend a day in Cocoa Beach with four of our friends. It was our first "triple" date and it was so fun to hang out and get to know the new boy additions to the crew. Kayla and Becky have been in my "circle of trust" for about five years now. We all met at church and have helped each other through all the good times and bad in the last half-decade. They are my sisters, and now they've gone and found some awesome men. I'm pretty excited to introduce you to the people that mean so much to me!

Kayla and Sheriffe

Kayla works with me at UCF and is currently working to complete her master's in psychology. She's the smart one of the group, and the "feeler." She has a heart for adoption and has been overseas to Africa many times to work with orphans.

Sheriffe just turned 25 and we were pleased to be able to celebrate a little bit with him since we missed his actual birthday earlier that week. Check out those slick new sunglasses Kayla got him for his big day. (Here's her sunglasses case tutorial). Sheriffe works for a non-profit that does fundraisers for schools. They work to be good male role-models in a school environment where students mostly encounter women. It's a really awesome organization.

The whole crew

 Above, on the right side of the John and Hannah sandwich are Becky and Reggie. You may remember Becky from my first installment of Interview With an Expat when I talked to her about her three years teaching in Japan. Becky is back in Orlando teaching at a local elementary school. She's the "listener" of the group and the "advice giver." A role I'm sure she only enjoys part of the time.

Reggie is an acquisitions officer in the Air Force and has been working on base near the space station for a few years now. He's about to head out to California for full-time Air Force work there and will be sorely missed by all of us, especially Becky. However, I'm truly excited to see how God brings them together even when they are a continent apart. My phone is never on silent so I am always at the ready for big news. *cough cough*

Josie

We got back from the beach around 4:30 with just enough time to get showered up for a very special evening. We got tickets to see Cirque du Soleil's La Nouba in Downtown Disney and could barely contain our excitement. We bought them off my brother, so we took a quick detour on the way to the show to pick up the tickets at my dad's house. 

My dad and Cindy just got back from a month-long vacation in Hawaii. So it was fun to catch up with them and take a look at all their photos from the trip. Who knew Hawaii was so spectacular? I didn't.

We also enjoyed hanging out with our most favorite dog in the world, Josie! Mom, I know you're reading this and you're saying, "What? What about our dog Millie? You traitor!" Yes, we are traitors. Josie has the temperament of an animal that we can enjoy. It's nothing personal. We just like dogs that are sweet and obedient and don't think of me as a giant squeaky toy.

This is me outside of the Cirque du Soleil tent! It was my second time seeing the show. The first time I saw it was for my 16th birthday, 8 years ago. So watching it this weekend was like seeing an old friend. A beautiful, artistic, jaw-droppingly awesome old friend. John had never seen it and he couldn't believe his eyes the whole show! If you ever get a chance to see a Cirque show, do it! It is worth every penny you have to pay to see it. I promise. 

Sunday was quiet and uneventful. We went to church in the morning and enjoyed a little lunch with some of John's friends from work. It was good to finally meet the people he talks about at dinner. He works with some seriously awesome people with great stories of living overseas and eating funny things! 

Sunday evening I cooked and we just relaxed at the house. Which is exactly what we needed after a fun and busy weekend at the beach and at late night circus shows!

What did you do this weekend?

P.S. I picked up the Emile Henry Pie Dish for the Giveaway! Isn't she a beauty? If you haven't entered already be sure to do so, here. Tomorrow is the last day to enter to win!