11

This year my Women's Group celebrated our eleventh anniversary! And we celebrated in style with another fun weekend away in Downtown Denver! This is becoming a favorite tradition of ours. No kids, no hubbies. Lots of talking, so much laughing, a few tears- of both the happy & sad varieties,  a little bit of wine, a bunch of Sarah's famous cookies, food, cute clothes, and happy hearts! That was our weekend in a nutshell.

We all met up and drove downtown together on Saturday afternoon. We never miss an opportunity to chat, so carpooling is a must. 

Ready to check in to our hotel. 

Check out the view from our room at our hotel. 

We've claimed this spot for our Happy Hour two years in a row now. It's perfect. We sat here and talked. A LOT! We're good at it. 

After Happy Hour we got all fancied up and headed out on the town…at 9 o'clock. 

9 O'CLOCK PEOPLE!!! Usually I'm already snuggly tucked into my bed watching reality t.v. at 9 o'clock at night. Not this night…I was walking down the 16th Street mall at 9 o'clock!

We headed to the Cheesecake Factory…another WG fav. We shared yummy bread and chicken and mashed potatoes and CHEESECAKE! We also celebrated this radiant girl's b-day. 

It was almost midnight before we made it back to the hotel. When we got back we changed into our comfies and talked some more and then rested peacefully. We slept in without being woken up by the sounds of wrestling or screaming or whining. We woke up and rolled back over and closed our eyes to doze off again. We laid in bed and chatted about Valentine's Day and Pinterest instead of Paw Patrol and boogers. 

Then I took an uninterrupted shower for as long as I wanted to shower for. No rushing to get the kids breakfast and no jumping out dripping wet to help a big noggin get through the head hole of a shirt. 

After getting ready we headed down for an awesome, complimentary breakfast. Omelets made to order, fresh fruit, hash browns, bacon, coffee…delicious! And once again, I'm sure you're getting the theme by now, we sat around the breakfast table for awhile, sharing our hearts, fears, frustrations, triumphs. 

I think we lingered around the breakfast table hoping to stretch out our last few moments of togetherness before we had to head back to the real world. Don't get me wrong, we love our husbands, we love our kids, we love our role in our homes as mom and wife, we love our careers that challenge us and give us purpose, but it sure is nice to escape reality every once in awhile. To be affirmed and supported. To be loved and encouraged. To be held accountable and motivated. These 24 hours were invaluable to us. 

(L to R: Natalie, Rachel, Jenn, Sarah, Heather, Abby, Kim) 

We are all so grateful for the friendships that exist in this group. Friendships that only God can orchestrate. We have been through a lot these past 11 years. We have weathered many storms and celebrated many exciting occasions. And for countless reasons, God has kept us together. He has purpose for this group. And he continues to bless us through it.