we are coming off of a super fun, kid-free weekend! we had CIY's staff retreat saturday and sunday in tulsa, but our precious friends, sarah and austin, invited us to come up early and stay friday night as well. so after dropping the kiddos off as soon as my mom got off of work friday (she graciously gave up her whole weekend to hang out with the boys. of course, they had a blast!), we headed to t-town! can you tell we were excited?!
my sweet sister was kind enough to offer each of us her marriott discount. we got to stay downtown in a new district for dirt cheap! after meeting up with sarah and austin, we headed to dinner. we were seriously giddy with excitement at what the next 2 days held! we had a lovely steak dinner...my favorite meal ever!
we decided we wanted to bowl, but after waiting for an empty lane for awhile, we decided to head out. we wandered down the street a bit and there was a big block party going on for the arcade there. the highlight of the night for lane and the eidsons was seeing the ghostbusters' and their car (i've never even seen the movie...). the highlight of my time downtown was seeing one of my favorite, local meteorologists! i was too chicken to ask her for a picture :)
it was WONDERFUL to be able to sleep until 8:30 the next morning! we met up and headed out for brunch. turns out that one of our favorite places, kilkenny's, has brunch. after 5 years of living there, we never knew that! geez. it was REALLY yummy!
while the boys stayed at kilkenny's to watch the osu game, sarah and i peaced out for the mall! oh how i miss woodland hills mall. more specifically, gap, j. crew and loft! i was looking for something "business casual" to wear to dinner that night and am terrible at putting things together so i totally modeled options for the dressing room attendant and had him help me with better options. case in point below...i chose the first outfit and he said, "i like it, but try this top!" and it totally was a great choice! however, i did send this picture to sarah just for a second opinion :)
the retreat started at 1 on saturday. it was so fun seeing ALL of the ciy staff/spouses in one place! earlier this year, they had us take a personality test by "servants by design." we spent the afternoon with one of the developers of this test as he explained how to communicate better with those who are different from us. it was very informative and he and his humor were adorable!
for dinner, we all headed downtown to ti amo for a nice, italian dinner! sharing a meal with people i love is one of my very favorite things ever. i love to laugh and these people make me laugh a lot. cailee, torrie and i totally rocked coral for dinner! such a fun transitional color from summer to fall. especially because it was 97 degrees saturday...come on, cool temps! these girls are also such a blessing to me. god knew what this girl who doesn't like change would need after uprooting our lives and moving. talk about out of my comfort zone! my friends are an answer to prayer. AND cailee's my neighbor! that's been so fun living so close to her sweet family. their husbands, drew and eric, are also some of lane's closest friends. i love knowing my husband is loved well and has great friends.
after dinner, a group of about 30 went and hung out. it was fun getting to know people better! lane works with an amazing group of people. how many people can you fit on an elevator?!
after everyone left, we hung out with taylor and shaylea for a bit longer. they're getting married next month! lane and taylor have been friends for a few years, but i din't meet him until last year at the retreat. he's one of lane's best friends and it's been so much fun getting to know them as a couple this year. the amount of laughing i do when i'm with these guys makes my cheeks hurt! it can go from side-splitting lauging to serious conversation fast and i love that, as well! all of our friends love jesus and others well.
yesterday morning, the whole staff gathered for a time of worship and stories from the past year. i love and respect this organization even more now after seeing it up close for the past year. they are the most genuine, jesus loving bunch. their mission statement is to amplify the call of jesus in the lives of students and they are overwhelmingly succeeding by the grace of god. around lunch, we were free to go. we went with a few friends to eat my most favorite mexican food in tulsa, el guapo. i think i've mentioned before, but joplin is lacking in good mexican food :(
we met my mom and got our boys after lunch! it was so great to see them and if it's possible, i think they looked older than when we left them. i've been fighting a cold for a few days and by yesterday afternoon when we got home, i was done. i felt terrible and i think just the lack of sleep and constant doing for 2 days did me in. lane was great and played/put the boys to bed. i was grateful. i went to sleep at 9:30 and woke up this morning feeling like a new person!
happy monday y'all :)
No comments:
Post a Comment