Semadeni Stories: January 2012

Kelley, Beth, Kristin, Susan, and Becky and strange guy in the background!

One of my very favorite things to do in the whole world is to go on a girls' trip. At least once a year, a group of us from High School and some back to Elementary School, get together for a girls' weekend. It is always so much fun and does something for me that nothing else can. I always come home rejuvenated, inspired, and feeling loved...all of these things make me a better wife, mother, daughter, and friend. I insist there is a place in me that only these girls can fill. Before I go any further about this trip, though, I have to mention that Marci was not able to go on this trip, and it just can't be the same without her there. As much fun as we had and as much a part of the trip as we still made her, nothing can replace her actually being there. We missed you, Marci, and we don't want to ever have to go without you again!

This trip was special, in particular, because it was a little longer than normal. We left on a Thursday afternoon and returned Sunday afternoon. Kristin came from Oklahoma, and we all (minus Kelley coming from Austin) met up at Susan's house Thursday, loaded the car, headed to Whole Foods for some snacks and to grab a quick lunch, and then hit the bank before heading toward Austin. We decided we were all a little crazy with the amount of stuff we packed for a three night trip, and Susan and I declared that we are just "bad packers!"

Did we need two cars for the four of us????

We made it as far as West before stopping for Kolaches! Kristin had never had a Kolache, so we had to fix that! West is special place because Susan's mom grew up there, and this is where Susan's father is buried. She lost her dad 1 1/2 years ago, and she misses him everyday. We all miss him. Before getting back on the highway, we drove out to the cemetery where he is. It was an absolutely beautiful and peaceful spot, and it was just nice to share that time together.

Our destination (first one although we thought final at the time) was Lost Pines Resort near Austin. We had a great setup with a living area and two rooms on either side. We headed to a bar/restaurant on the property and ate. Kelley joined us there, and we just talked the night away. Over these three days we covered every subject imaginable and some of them more than once!

Friday was our relaxing day, and we agreed that one of the best parts was knowing that we really had no where that we had to be. How often can we say we really don't have an agenda? Such a treat!!! After more lounging and talking, we headed out on a walk. We weren't exercising, we were just getting outdoors! We had a quick lunch and then headed to our only appointments of the day - the SPA. We spent 4 hours there in robes, getting treatments done, and sitting in the sauna, steam room, and hot tub. We headed back the room, ordered appetizers, pizza, and salad, along with all the snacks we had brought with us! More talking and sharing fun things about our favorite products (I think I have spent more after the trip buying all the cool things I learned about than I actually did on the trip!) Late Friday evening we had an "interesting" phone call from a stranger who appeared to be watching us through the windows of our room. Our sheer draperies were closed, but we didn't realize that the blackout curtains were not pulled. Anyway, a call to security came, and we had all our doors and locks checked. We were all a little freaked out, but not bad enough to pack up our messy room and move somewhere else at 1:00 a.m. It was an eventful end to an otherwise relaxing and perfect day.

Saturday we slept in, talked, and then went our own ways to walk, workout, or just hangout. While we were finally actually getting ready to head into Austin for some shopping and dinner, we made the decision (with a little prodding from Rick) that we should move to another hotel. So, we packed up and headed to the Four Seasons in Austin. After checking in we were back on track and hit some stores. There were a few purchases made, and then we headed to Parkside for a delicious dinner.

After dinner we headed back to our room for our last night of talking. Before we knew it we were packing up and heading down for an amazing outdoor brunch. It was the perfect ending to our time together. We did feel a little sorry for the guy who drew the short stick on having to gather our luggage and take it downstairs...How long were we there again???? Less than 24 hours!!!

We had to leave Kelley at this point since she was practically already home, and the rest of us started our drive back to Dallas. Our only stop was in West again for more Kolaches for our families. We talked some more and listened to some great music. When we went our separate ways from Susan's house, I couldn't help but be overwhelmed with gratitude for the gift of these friendships. I know that God has given us all something special to share together and that even though we live in different areas and have full and busy lives outside of each other, He will always keep us close.

He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. Colossians 1:17

We have a wonderful history and lots of fun times ahead of us. Thank you Becky, Kelley, Kristin, Marci, and Susan for all your love and support. We have a long line of celebrations together, and even though we are growing older and don't know exactly what the future holds, one thing I am sure of is that life with you is half as hard and twice as good.

Well, this is the longest I've gone without a post, and I am going to try to summarize the end of our summer and fall in one long post here. For Ray's Christmas gift, I surprised him and had all of our posts turned into four volumes of books. That is something that has been on my list for a very long time, and I'm so glad to have it done. Doing that and seeing what I've created in print has inspired me to start blogging again. It's just the best way I've found to document the big and little events in our lives.

So, I'll start with our beach trip to Gulf Shores this summer. We had an amazing time just hanging out at the beach and enjoying reading and playing games in our little summer home for the week!