Girls Just Wanna Have FUN!

Last weekend me and a few of my Tennessee BFFs headed south for what has become an annual girls beach weekend.  In the past we've vacationed in Destin, FL but this year we changed it up a bit and hung out in Orange Beach, AL.  It all feels like home to me since I grew up on the Gulf!  It's always great to go back.  This was my first vacation since prior to being put on the transplant list so I was super excited for a weekend away!  (And if you remember, it was just a few weeks ago that I had to back out of my other girls beach weekend with my Tallahassee friends due to my new liver acting up)  So, to say that I was excited would be a huge understatement!

Kyndall and I drove down a few days prior to the other girls arriving and I dropped her off at my parents' house in Tallahassee, where she would stay while I was a few hours west at the beach.

Such a trooper on the 10 hour car ride to Grammy and G-Daddy's house!  She's a pro!  Give her a milkshake and her ipad and she's good to go!

I picked up a few little surprises for the girls!  Thanks to my friends Chelsy Ray and Britany Thompson for their awesome work!

On Wednesday Glory flew in from Houston and I drove over to Panama City to pick her up from the airport.  I cannot even tell you how happy my heart was to finally have her there!  I haven't hugged her since September when she flew from Texas to Tennessee to help take care of me just a few days after my transplant.  Eight months was way too long!!

  

Crazy as ever---that's why I love her!

I took Glory back to Tallahassee to hang with my family for the night since the Tennessee girls wouldn't be arriving until the next day.  First order of business was dinner at Barnaby's!  It's a must-have when you visit Tallahassee for the first time!  

After dinner I gave her a brief tour of Tallahassee, including downtown and all over FSU.  It was fun letting her see where I grew up!

The next morning I kissed my baby girl goodbye and Glory and I headed for Orange Beach!  We arrived right after the Tennessee crew got there and once we unloaded our stuff, we hit the beach where we hung out until the sun went down.  

The girls were excited to find their happies when we returned to the condo

We got dressed up and went to dinner, where poor Julie got an unexpected surprise when she ordered the shrimp meal.  Mama Glory to the rescue--she beheaded and dissected and sliced and diced them so that Julie could eat them.  It's great to have a nurse with a strong stomach in the group!

When your dinner still has eyeballs, something is wrong!

We stopped by Publix after dinner to pick up groceries and had an unexpected surprise!  "Daphne" (Maisy Stella) from ABC's Nashville was shopping with her parents and some of the girls recognized her!  I was totally star struck by this sweet little girl.  I watch her every single week and it was so wild to just stand there and chat with her on the salad dressing aisle in Publix.  She and her parents were very gracious to entertain all of our annoying fan questions and humored us with a few pictures.  My crazy friends even told them about my liver transplant, hoping it might play on her sympathies so that they would reveal what happens with Deacon's transplant on the show!  Nope, no such luck.  Anyway, it was a fun little surprise running into her!

As much as I love my Coke Icees, Julie loves her Dippin' Dots.  So naturally that was our next stop!

We ended the night with a movie but poor Brookie just couldn't hang!  

 Friday was a little cloudy but even a cloudy day at the beach is better than a sunny day at home!

Enjoying our new spikers!

Friday was also my 8 month "liver-versary" so I spent some time reflecting and just being still and thankful, as I do on the 16th of every month.  I can't believe it's already been 8 months since "Grace" came into my life.  When I think about what I was doing this time 8 months ago, I am amazed that I am now able to go on a vacation 10 hours from my transplant team and not think about tests or rejections or germs or incisions or lab results.  I thought this day would never come.  We've come a long way in 8 months, Grace!

Friday night, dinner at Cobalt's

This is soooo much better than our last photo together!

I have pretty friends!!!

That night we drove to Gulf Shores to catch the premier of Pitch Perfect 2, which was hilarious!!!  

More beach time on Saturday, followed by some shopping at the outlet mall and dinner at LuLu's....

I love these girls!

Somehow four of the six of us ended up with white pants on that night.  Totally not planned.  So, we had to take a picture.

I don't know how it's possible, but a few of the girls had never experienced Krispy Kreme Donuts before.  Travesty!!  The hot sign was on, so even though we were stuffed from dinner we stopped in and put away a couple dozen hot glazed donuts!!

Six tiny girls vs. four dozen hot glazed donuts....You guess who won!

One last stop by Dippin' Dots and a quick trip to Alvin's Island to pick up some beach junk for our kiddos and we were back at the condo packing up to leave.  Boooo!  But, not before taking a group picture in our matching tanks!  

There's always that one friend....you know, the "special" one.  That's our Glory!

What is it about a camera timer that makes everyone want to be completely silly??  Maybe it was the sugar high from the donuts and the ice cream.  Either way, these next few pictures make me laugh every single time I see them!

Can we just talk about Leslie for a minute?  While we we were all posing like fools she was laughing hysterically....

Sunday morning came EARLY and my alarm went off at 4:00 a.m.!  Glory's flight out of Pensacola left at 6;45 and guess who had the pleasure of driving her to the airport??  The ONE girl in the group that is NOT a morning person and is also notoriously late for everything---ME!  I am happy to say I was actually ready before Glory and we made it out on time!  I even got to see the sunrise which I haven't seen in......years??

I said a sad goodbye to Glory and then headed back to my parents' house in Tallahassee.  The rest of the girls checked out (at a more reasonable hour!) and headed back to Tennessee.  Our long awaited weekend was over, but the memories we made are precious to me!

Sunday was my Dad's birthday so everyone got together that night for a birthday dinner and cake/presents.  We were only missing Matthew, who was back in Jackson.

Dad's birthday gift to himself--A 2015 X Games Edition Jeep! 

I am a Nutella addict so my sister gave me two gi-normous jars of it as a "joke" but I didn't think it was a joke at all!  I thought it was the best gift EVER!

Wyatt knows a good thing when he sees it!

What kind of mean aunt would I be if I didn't share?  He got his first taste of Nutella and of course, loooooved it!

Kyndall spent the next day and a half in the pool with my Mom while I hung out with this cutie!

She wanted to teach him what she's been learning in piano lessons

Kyndall wasn't too happy about me dashing off to the beach without her.  I promised I would bring her back something good.  Her one request was a starfish.  A real one.  Of course, because anything else would just be too easy!  I scored big time when I came home with this starfish necklace, complete with a REAL baby starfish inside!  All was well and I was forgiven for not taking her along to the beach.

On Tuesday we made the long ten hour drive back to Jackson.  This week it's been nothing but unpacking, laundry, grocery shopping and cleaning.  Boooo.  Take me back to the beach already!!

She's a perfectionist like her mother

It was great to get away for the week and have a few days with no responsibilities!  I am already looking forward to next year!