Friends from OSU and Our Magnolia Weekend!!!

(Insert deep sigh here...) This past weekend was SO refreshing. It's so funny to me how after a weekend of seeing some of the most important people in my life I feel refreshed...spiritually, physically, emotionally, etc.

I arrived in OKC Thursday evening around 9 p.m. and Whit and I ventured once again to Budda Tao for sushi. We ordered FOUR rolls and ate them all. Usually, we order three and have some left over. We were HUNGRY and the food was YUMMY! The only picture of the night was captured on Whitney's camera while we were PAINFULLY whitening our teeth. Her whitening stuff is FOR REAL! *LOL* I love that girl. We always have so much fun together!

The next morning, I met Becky at Mimi's Cafe. The only picture I took this time was of my breakfast. I had planned on opting for a healthy option when both Becky and the waitress scoffed at my choice. So I ordered Blueberry Stuffed French Toast...A-MAZING to say the least.

I met Joy shortly after breakfast and we began our journey to Northwest Arkansas. It's SUCH a pretty drive. We got into town a little later than planned so we opted for a light, late lunch at Einstein Brothers Bakery and then did a little shopping. Rogers has this GREAT outdoor shopping mall. It was so nice and they had lots of neat stores. I got a cute shirt for the 4th of July and a belt to go with it and my new book for Book Club, The Girls from Ames by Jeffrey Zaslow. It looks really good!

That night one of our favorite friends of Rachel's came over with her husband and we cooked out. Rachel is such a wonderful hostess. She had everything prepared. We had grilled chicken, pasta salad, french bread, corn on the cob and fresh strawberries with vanilla ice cream and/or smores. Yumm-o! Can you tell I'm a complete foodie?

We took our time getting around the next morning and then headed to nearby Beaver Lake. Rachel's grandparents have a very nice pontoon boat that we took out on the water.

Here's Owen (aka the object of all our affections) and I before we left.

Rachel made a very adorable boat captain.
Joy testing the water.

Look at Owen proudly sporting Rachel's niece's pink life jacket. Don't you just want to gobble him up?

Rachel and Nick's friend, Scott, was kind enough to bring his Seadoos which we THOROUGHLY enjoyed and are also the reason my thighs are sunburned beyond recognition. They went from snow white to lobster red in one hour. I hadn't been to the lake in years and it was so much fun. The lake was absolutely beautiful. We don't have big bodies of water like that in the panhandle and I was sssooo impressed!

We left the lake and took our time showering and primping before we left for The Marketplace around 9 p.m. I just LOVE that place. The food is always so good!

Here's a shot of us before we left for dinner.

Rach & Me.

Sunday morning Brittany and Owen left before church so she could get back to Wichita and the rest of us went to church and then to eat at this Mexican food place called Mojito's. It had a really neat atmosphere.

Here we are right before Joy and I left. (It was REALLY bright outside, thus the squinty eyes.)

Joy and I got to OKC and I was able to meet up with Jacob, Amy and Cooper (and Amy's mom who I hadn't yet met). Cooper is so cute! He would not smile for us, but here's a cute shot of he and his daddy. Amy...I should've had Jacob get one of us. I never think of these things until afterwards.

I then met Whit again because I had left some things at her apartment and she gave me the most gorgeous necklace for my birthday. She knows me too well!

I know this was a long post. I am just so grateful to have such amazingly, wonderful people in my life. I was thinking as we were sitting in church Sunday morning how special it was to be able to worship with my friends.

So thank you to everyone for a fantastic weekend. I needed the rejuvenation and the encouragement. I hope we all can get together for an OSU football game in the Fall! I appreciate everyone who hosted me at their house, fed me, etc. I love you all SO much!

Rach gave us all these cute little notepads that say, "I'm keeping you close in my heart...near in my prayers." So true!