Back to Being the Baby

I'm back in Waco and absolutely exhausted, but it is well worth the fun I had this weekend. I left Waco early on Friday to get to Denton and take Ben out to lunch on his birthday. He's 23 (sounds so weird), so I'm back to being the baby of the group again. It sounds so little but I love going to lunch together. We used to go every Friday after class (generally to McAlister's) and I definitely miss that! I got to meet all the people he teaches with and his kids when we got back. It was soo fun to put faces with names (hi Kelsey!). We had a fun dinner at his house on Friday with his family and 2 of our best friends, Landon and Brenda. Definitely one of my favorite meals EVER! I discovered venison...it is my new found favorite meat! This is a huge step for me. I don't usually eat a lot of meat, but I think I could eat venison everyday. Plus, this will be soo convenient in Ben and my marriage since I know we will always have plenty of deer around. Hopefully next year we will be able to eat one of the deer I kill. This is Ben's goal...we'll see. It was the perfect night to sit by the fire in the backyard. Landon, Brenda, Ben, Katie (Ben's sister), and I had soo much fun talking and laughing all night!

Katie wouldn't get in the picture but I wish everyone could have been there to see the birthday dance she did for Ben! Let me just say that I cannot wait to live near these people!! 

Saturday was soo fun too! Ben and I went and watched the 7th and 8th grade boys basketball team win the District Championship! Funny how I have no attachment to Harpool besides Ben and I instantly became a fan. The 8th grade boys seriously look like grown men and they are incredible athletes. Since when are kids 6'4" at age 13?? AHH!! I looked like a midget! The kids were soo cute with Ben though. One of the boys he coached in football ran up to me and gave me a huge hug....loved it! When we got home I had to squeeze in a quick run with Ben's mom so I could feel better about what I was eating for dinner....

Joe T. Garcia's!! Holy Yumm!! I just love going to Ft. Worth and eating there. There were 14 of us who went to celebrate Ben's birthday. It was one of the most fun dinners I've ever had! One of my favorite things about Ben and my relationship is that our friends are friends with the both of us in a genuine way. I don't know if that makes sense, but I could hang out with his friends without him and still have soo much fun. My parents and one of my sisters and her husband got to come out too, which made it even more fun for me. I love any chance they get to hang out with all of us. I gave Ben his present at dinner and it was definitely a HUGE hit! He got the Bone Collector Pop-Up Blind...anybody know what that is?? Yea, I had no idea, but it's exactly what he wanted and I soon learned all of the facts (thanks Jason). Good dinner, good company, good fun...it was a FABULOUS night!! 

Here's the group minus the parents...we had a BLAST! 

The last big event for the weekend was my meeting with the florists for the wedding. I LOVE LOVE LOVED them. It was just our first meeting, so it's not official or anything, but I would just absolutely love for them to do our wedding. It was such a fun and easy meeting and I know that I could just give them my ideas (which I did...a lot of them), and let them run with em. I don't think I would stress at all on the wedding day because I could trust them with everything. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that everything works out! 

Anyway, this was a FABULOUS weekend and soo hard for me to come back, but I love being here too. I'm definitely ready to not have to go back-and-forth anymore, but I guess right now I have the best of both worlds. Planning a wedding, amazing weekends with family and friends in Dallas/Denton, plus the college life and all of my best friends here! Can't complain! 

Ps When I got back I went to the SLC to work out and could NOT stop reading The Choice by Nicholas Sparks, so I just kept finding things to do! I love Nicholas (we're on a first name basis)!