Three Hergs, One Adventure: Friends: the Bacon Bits in the Salad Bowl of Life

Friends spice up your life, they are keepers of your stories, secrets, and memories. Friends are the family you choose. I am fortunate to say that I've collected a pretty fabulous bunch of friends over the years and my extended stay in Maryland allowed me to visit with many of them. These visits were the much-needed antidote to the funk in which I was starting to fall. Day after day at home in Altus was starting to wear on me and above all, I missed the sense of community I enjoyed in Maryland among my family and friends. The time I shared with them while at home re-filled my proverbial gas tank and gave me the motivation I needed to take Altus head-on...again.

Triple Trouble

Our visit home was kicked off by a wonderful weekend in Annapolis to celebrate the marriage of our dear friends, Lee and Margo. Eric, Lee, and Margo have been friends since high school, which meant the wedding festivities doubled as a miniature high school reunion (with all the ole favorites).

The fun started on Friday night when we attended the rehearsal dinner hosted by Big Lee and Belinda (Lee's parents). Belinda made a delicious Lasagna (my personal fave) and I sampled my very first oyster shooter. The party certainly was a love-fest and lasted late into the evening. It ended with a bunch of people standing outside, huddled around a heat lamp telling stories about Margo & Lee.

On Saturday afternoon, the happy couple tied the knot in an intimate, Christmas-themed ceremony held at Historic London Town and Gardens in Edgewater, MD. We ate, drank, and danced the night away in a quaint cottage overlooking the South River. After the wedding, people congregated at Fado where we continued the celebration. This was the second wedding after party that we've attended at Fado in a matter of months. Clearly, the hot-spot of the year!

At what felt like 2 am, but was actually 10 something (this happens when you start to party like a rockstar in mid-afternoon and down multiple picklebacks), we received the most amazing text from Dave and Kelley, "We got pizza." Eric and I promptly said our goodbyes, gave our well-wishes to the bride & groom, and made a beeline to our hotel room where we ended the perfect night with the perfect pizza pie complete with a side of grease.

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Christmas Eve Eve: a tradition that began long ago with a young Katie and Pogo, which was adopted by a loving group of college pals and went on to become part of our holiday celebrations for the better part of five (6?, 7?, 8?) years. What is it? A big sleepover with my best friends on the eve of Christmas Eve. The way we celebrate changes from year to year, but there are always a few constants: food, libations, an informal "participate-if-you-can-this-year" gift exchange, and lots and lots of laughter.

In years past, we booked hotel rooms and enjoyed wild nights on the town. In more recent history, we've taken to having pot lucks dinners and playing wild games of catch phrase. This year, we were fairly certain that it wouldn't happen due to conflicting schedules, weddings, too much travel, etc. Needless to say, we were all pretty devastated. However, when I realized that I would be home for Lee & Margo's wedding, I threw the idea out to celebrate an early Christmas Eve Eve. We were all able to come together for Christmas Eve Eve Part One on a Monday night. Meg even came up from North Carolina just to have dinner with us. We all sat around in my mom & dad's basement, eating kabobs from Maiwand, and enjoying a long-overdue conversation that allowed us to catch up on the goings on in each others' lives. I didn't take any pictures at Part One, which means I had to crop Meg into a picture taken at Part Two. Sincere apologies for that.

Part Two took place the following weekend (Saturday night) at Laura & Dan's house in Prince Frederick, MD. They live in a really cute, historic looking neighborhood. And Laura, who absolutely loves Christmas, had their adorable house completely decorated. It looked like a picture out of a magazine. We had a pot luck dinner, which was incredibly classy. The main course was pot roast and along with it we devoured mashed potatoes, green beans, crusty bread, salads with berries, and a salted caramel pumpkin pie. YUM. We sipped spiced (and spiked) cider, wine, champagne, and five hour energy drinks so that we were able to maximize every last second of our time together. These pictures happened as a result of one (or all) of the aforementioned beverages. I like to call them Reindeer Games.

Dasher

Dancer

Prancer

Vixen

Comet, yo

I am thankful to say that 2011 came to a close with not one but two successful Christmas Eve Eve celebrations on the books. Ladies, I propose that we never again consider skipping Christmas Eve Eve, even if it means celebrating in June.

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Becky, Destiny, and Lisa are three life-long friends. Friends from elementary school, in fact. We have managed to stay in touch and continue to make visiting each other a priority even after moves, marriages, and the birth of children. I got to see each of these lovely women during my most recent visit to Maryland.

The great news was that I saw them. The bad news was that my camera did not document the occasions. Bad camera!

I had lunch with Becky one afternoon at her home. She made me a delicious meal of shrimp quesadillas. We spent a couple of hours catching up on life and reminiscing about the past. Becky and I have been friends since second grade. We spent a good number of years joined at the hip. We enjoyed marathon sleepovers, exploring the woods, trips to the beach, and daring each other to talk to the boys we liked on AIM. We remained friends throughout high school and college and attended each others weddings. Here is another fun bit of trivia: both of our husbands are named Eric! I was so thankful to be able to see her and am already looking forward to our next opportunity to visit.

Destiny and her husband recently bought a new house in Clarksburg, MD, which they moved into right after their second daughter was born (less that five months ago). I was invited to spend the day with Destiny and her girls at their new house so I made the drive over. Both girls were just waking up from a nap when I arrived.

Her oldest, almost two year old, June, was perky and ready to play when she got up. She is the most delightful little girl! She has learned to talk since last time I saw her, which made visiting with her so much more fun! She is sweet, friendly, curious, and quite theatrical. She had me laughing the whole day.

Helen is a really sweet baby. She is pretty quiet and looks like shes just taking it all in, her big sister seems to keep her thoroughly entertained. Helen had a doctors appointment so we played in the basement and had a snack before loading into the car for that.

After the appointment, we took a long walk and played on the playground. Before too long it was getting dark and time to go inside so June could eat her dinner. Mike, Destiny's husband, came home from work while June was eating. After June finished, we all spent a little time hanging out, playing, dancing to Christmas music, and visiting before Destiny and Mike had to start the bedtime routine with the girls.

That evening, Destiny and I met Lisa at The Melting Pot in Rockville, MD. The three of us go way back and it had been a pretty long time since we have had time to visit without kids or husbands around. Destiny (mother of two), Lisa (mother of three), and I (girl who lives in Altus and never goes anywhere fancy anymore) were outright giddy to be out and at a restaurant together. Lisa was so overcome with excitement that she got lost in the parking lot and ended up parking in such a weird, remote, far away place that she asked us to walk her to her car after dinner. We ordered cheese, salads, and chocolate and ate our faces off!

It is funny the way the world works. Lisa moved back to Maryland from Rochester only a few weeks before I moved to Oklahoma. I am grateful that she lives in Maryland now, though, as I imagine it would be very difficult to see each other for a while if she didn't! A couple of days after our dinner out, I spent the afternoon at her house with her two sons and newborn daughter. Jacob and Duncan have grown so much since last time I saw them. Jacob was always a chatterbox and Duncan is getting pretty chatty himself these days. Baby Cammie is a joy, and like Destiny's daughter, Helen, just takes is all in. Quietly and pleasantly. The weather was beautiful so Lisa and I took the kids on a long walk; making stops at several tot lots along the way. After the walk, we made lunch and then the two younger kids took naps. During their nap time, Lisa and I stole a few minutes alone to talk (and eat some Christmas cookies without being busted by the kids). I didn't take any pictures that day so here are a few I've stolen from Facebook. You have to know just how cute these kids are!