celebrate.

I've spent a lot of time this afternoon writing, deleting and re-writing the content of this post. I couldn't flow beyond three or four sentences and the words coming from my fingers weren't at all representative of the words and feelings giggling inside of me. So I stepped away for several hours and decided I just needed to be honest.

Obviously, the header, content, every picture and exclamation point should be devoted completely to Kathleen - after all, it was her bachelorette weekend complete with her best girlfriends celebrating her upcoming wedding! It doesn't get much more exciting than that!

Yet, I couldn't deny the uncontrollable, out-loud laughter that would randomly erupt this afternoon after everyone left, as I thought about hysterical one-liners, priceless pictures and frozen moments from the weekend that were completely unrelated to her wedding. Soon it became very clear that the root of my joy really came from the combination of six great friends spending uninterrupted and rare time together.

I could have written only about Kat's awesomely adorable lingerie shower & fashion show, her silly gifts and raunchy challenges that she completed like a champ...but what I couldn't leave out was how all weekend Kat was so sweet and conscious about just celebrating...everything; Keeble's 25th birthday on Sunday, Kristy's graduation from PTA school next month, Amanda graduating in one week & getting into grad school...and simply celebrating that we were all sharing a weekend together!

So to tell the truth, that's what this post should be about...simply celebrating.

When we decided Kat's bachelorette party would be in Nashville, it was a no-brainer about what we'd do...go to a fun restaurant, drink, hang out on my porch and go to Losers, of course. The planning was so easy that I was able to really get excited about everyone coming. I think there were even several times the last few weeks I would talk to Kat and say something along the lines of "you know I love y'all to death, but I CAN'T WAIT to see Kristy Griggs!" :) Then when we found out Amanda would be able to come, it was Keeb's birthday weekend, and well, C and I are just delighted for any excuse to reunite....it became very clear that these few days were inevitably not only going to be memorable for Kat, but for all of us.

The poignant realization I had this weekend was this: when these girls are around I need them. I need them in a way that you'd think I was the most insecure, naive and sheltered girl this side of the Mississippi. You'd think I'd never matched a shoe with an outfit, had no concept of what jewelry goes with what dress, couldn't boil water, never mixed a drink or ever chosen from a wine list or menu at a restaurant. And we all act this way. We don't just want, we crave the conversation and interaction from each other constantly. It's a bit bizarre and quite humorous in retrospect.

However, I'm genuinely convinced that this "need" is simply raw love. It really is.

I've learned through my current long-distance relationship that love in it's greatest form comes in simply sharing; time, thoughts, silence, words...and in any way, shape or fashion. This weekend I was privileged to have five of the greatest people I know under my roof and the raw love that flowed in the form of opinions, laughter, hugs, songs, thoughts and words was completely overwhelming. Thankful is an understatement.

In coming full circle, I now see that Kathleen really is responsible for this post and I owe her a great thanks. Thanks for being our friend. Thanks for being you. And thanks for giving us all the opportunity to love each other and simply celebrate.

few pics from the weekend:

*this was pure torture to choose only a few pics out of 370+!...girls - i spared any potential blackmail material & even though the pics with the coordinating gerber daisies are on the verge of gorgeous, i couldn't bring myself to post them because we all look too sweet and innocent, sorry.

to the true lovin crew: thanks for a great weekend and i miss you alot times 2536