Gosh. I don't even know where to begin, really. We had all been looking forward to this weekend for SO long and then all of a sudden it was here! It was so exciting and a wee bit nerve racking all at the same time.
WE ARE IN A PICTURE TOGETHER!!!! And it deserves to be large and in charge. |
We all got along so well, but missed all of you who couldn't come. I think most of us are writing our recaps, and then will link them up here. So, if you didn't get to join us, please read through our posts, and hopefully you'll feel like we were ALL hanging out. :)
And, boy, I am so glad I did! We didn't structure much into the weekend on purpose. This was a girls' weekend. Not a conference. Or a retreat. But, friends getting together for relaxation and fun! And that's exactly what it was!
It took longer than I thought to get into town, so poor Niki had to wait longer for me to get her from the airport. Once I picked her up.... it was real. The weekend was actually happeninggggg! :)
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One lone egg on Friday. And, yes, I practically climbed in there to get this! |
After a little while, I banished Beth Anne and Niki away from me as I got the surprise tote bags all ready! Morgan and I were SO EXCITED about these. :) Rakhi from the Pitter Patter Diaries and Rakstar Designs came up with the awesome design!! We were able to get a few fun goodies from the Steubie Conference, along with help from Martha and our beloved Cindy. I had told Cindy about the totes a while ago and asked if she would like to send a note, some chocolate, or something. And she was so gracious and sent us the beautiful bracelets! :) Thank you so very much to ALL of you for your help! The girls LOVED the bags! :)
Finally all the girls arrived... THIS WAS THE MOMENT!! We got to meet the people that we have gotten to know through the written word for what seems like forever, IN PERSON. AH! It was so surreal. Yet completely normal at the same time.
We opened our totes, chatted and realized we were starving. Thank God Mary Grace (no blog, but she totally should have one) stepped up and made the decision for the hole-in-the-wall BBQ place, Bub-Ba-Q. So, off we went. For dinner... with people that I have been imagining what it would be like to hang out with. And here we were! :)
A few of us had a luxurious (!) time getting some groceries and then we all met back up at the house for a HILARIOUS game of Balderdash (is that right?!). I had never played that before and it was pretty amazing. We chatted, and called it a night.
Saturday was pretty darn awesome. I thought we would all get up and head down town, explore, eat, do our thing. I mean... that did happen... but we didn't leave until 1 in the afternoon! We had a leisurely morning of coffee and breakfast and good-for-the-soul girl talk. I mean... we talked about everything. We chatted in the living room. We got ready. And then had another long chatting sesh in mine and Morgan's room. On our beds. Total slumber party material.
Amazing. I loved every minute.
We finally headed out. Here we are enjoying the riverfront. :)
And then we shopped. Explored. Took pictures. Talked more and more. Basically, had the best of times. I won't go into allll the deets. How about I just show you more pics?! :)
MORGAN!!!!!! |
The Waving Girl Morgan and Rachel |
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Seriously some of the prettiest parks. |
I love this picture so very much. |
St. John's Cathedral! We attended vigil mass together. |
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I LOVE that we were able to share the Eucharist together! |
We got kicked out of the cathedral pretty quickly... ya know, a wedding. We took that very first pic, and hauled butt to get somewhere before it down poured. And we literally found the best little coffee/wine shop. And then the skies opened and the rain came a-running!
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This is the only pic I have from there... would you be surprised to know that there is wine in those cups... and NOT coffee?! Check out Joan's recap for the adorable pic of all of us. :) |
After it finally stopped raining, we went to a very yummy and trendy seafood bar, Chive, for a late dinner. Enjoyed the good food, fun music and each other's company once more. After we got a little bit turned around trying to find the parking garage, we made it home.... and you will never believed what we did more of! Talked. I KNOW! :) We never ran out of anything to talk about. Which, I suppose is a good thing, since we all are bloggers and we kind of need things to talk/write about. :)
The next morning, we enjoyed coffee and EGGS from our chickens!!! We had SIX of them. Incredible. We cleaned up everything, packed, became sad and took a million stair pics that resulted in this AMAZING gif. Enjoy!
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Katie and Mary Grace... kills me. ha. |
Almost... Niki, Joan and I had a road trip back to my house. So, our time wasn't cut cut as quickly. We even hit up the beach before I took them to the airport on Monday.
See?! It was spectacular. I just had the best of times. For me, this weekend brought about many realizations. One, community is so very important. I am encouraged and inspired to make this more of a reality in my everyday life. And, two, my need for single friends is very real. I didn't realize how vital being friends with people who are in your same boat, right now, is. As the ever wise Martha said, you don't realize what you are lacking (b/c you are lacking it) until you are hit in the face with it! So very true.
Ladies... thank you. Thank you for coming. Thank you for being you. Thank you for laughing and being silly, talking all the time, accepting me for who I am, and encouraging me to be the person God has created me to be. And really... that goes for ALL of you. Not just the ladies who made it to Savannah. It's so true for all of you who have participated, commented, emailed and most importantly prayed for me. We are a community. And I am so thankful to God for all of you each and every day. :)
Phew! You made it!
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Ok! GIVEAWAY!!!! For those of you who could not join us, you now have the chance to win one of our totes!!!!
What will you win??? Well, take a look at the pic above!
~The tote with the custom NAS design
~2 prayer cards
~Bracelet from Cindy
~Savannah, GA guidebook
~A little notebook
~Pamphlets about the Carmelite sisters discernment retreat/ministries
~Paradigm Clothing card (they are awesome, check them out!)
All you have to do is comment below and tell me if you would have been all about the chickens or not! haha. That's it!! Enter by Friday, August 1, 2014 at 11:59pm. I will choose the winner on August 2nd! The order you comment is the number that you will be given. I will then use Random.org to get a number. Be sure to tell me about the chickens and include your email! (If the number that is chosen goes with a lady that went to Savannah, obviously she doesn't win, and I will go with the next number!).
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But WAIT! There is more!
Rakhi wanted to let you guys know that she has the tote design in PRINT available at her shop (Eep! I can't wait to have it on my wall!). OR! She is even thinking of creating a journal or planner or, even, a mug!!! If that is something of interest to you (ANY of you NAS ladies), please visit her Etsy shop or email her (rakhi.mccormick at gmail dot com) with any questions. :) PLUS, if you order by August 31st, you can get 25% off your first order! Use code: NAS14
Ok, one last thing about Paradigm Clothing. They are an up and coming company whose mission is "to clean the lens that the world looks through - making truth clear and definitive once more" by creating "clothes that uses art and style to subtly convey a deeper meaning." They had/have booths at all of the Steubenville conferences, and are offering a discount if you buy stuff online. Use code: Steubie14 They don't have a clue I'm blogging about them. I just really love their mission and bought one of their shirts, and I love it! All I'm asking is to check them out! :)
Annnnnnnnnnnd! Check out all of the ladies recaps as they link up below! Ooook, I am DONE!
Hugs,
