In the last several years, prioritizing friendships was not a thing for me. I married my best friend, started having kids, worked for a time in there, and along the way those things became much more of a priority in my life. Don't get me wrong, I had friends, but many surface level friends. The kind you enjoy their company but are careful with what you share around them in fear of being truly seen. The kind you have fun with but don't necessarily allow them into your deep trenches you face in life. Honestly, I just didn't see a big need for that when I felt fulfilled by my family and friends in the status quo.
Then January rolled around and my only New Year's resolution was for personal growth and self care. I began to see a need to take care of myself, to grow intellectually and spiritually, to discover more of who I am outside of being a wife and mom. So when 2 of my high school friends reached out to me about going on a girl's weekend with them and one of their other friends, I'll admit I was very intimated by the idea. I hadn't ever left my kids and instantly felt guilty for even considering it and asking Nic to stay home all weekend with the two of them by himself while I paraded off into the sunset for fun adventures without them. I also knew deep down there was a chance I would regret saying no to the opportunity. That if I never went and faced all of the fears that came along with it, that I wouldn't be honoring that personal growth and self care resolution I made to myself.
I didn't hardly have to get two words out to Nic about the trip and he was already saying, "yes, go babe, you deserve this!" He's amazing like that ... knows what I need even before I do. He's always been my biggest supporter and I know he'd do anything for me.
So I took a deep breath and said yes! And you guys, it was one of the best weekends I've ever had!
We went to beautiful McCall and stayed at the most incredible resort-like hotel! I knew it would be amazing when we were literally talking over each other the whole drive up and never running out of things to say. haha Our "travel agent" as we liked to call her for the weekend was Sidnee and she knew how to kick it off perfectly as we did a "CHEERS!" to our first girl's weekend together with sparkling cider and chocolate covered strawberries courtesy of the hotel. LOOK AT THAT VIEW!!!
The four of us ... Carrington, Sidnee, Me, and Dani!
A little back story ... Dani and I were neighbors in middle school and high school! We quickly became good friends and were always in the same social circles. I met Sidnee through Dani my freshman year of high school and we hit it off too right away. But the next year her family moved and she started going to a brand new high school across town and I rarely saw her after that. We kept in touch but didn't really spend time in person together. Carrington married one of my guy friends in high school and after they got married became couple friends with these two. So they introduced us and I loved her from the start!
Anyway, here we are ... all getting reacquainted and the first thing we decided to do was to go to a little Mexican restaurant on the water. We went at 4 PM so there wasn't a soul there! We picked a spot by the window overlooking the lake and immediately launched into some of the soul defining, life changing trials and triumphs we've faced in our lives over chip and salsa and in the 2 hours we spent there, it was the closest I've felt to that deep bond a true girlfriend can bring in a really long time. A defining moment for me that I made the right decision to go.
After eating, Sidnee wanted to take us on a hike to a waterfall that she'd heard about. We had a difficult time finding the location but once we did, we set off on our first adventure (in jeans none-the-less haha) and followed a trail into the mountains. I was shocked to find that there were still patches of snow along the way but that was the least of our troubles ... we ran into several giant trees that had fallen during the winter blocking the path. That wasn't about to stop us from reaching the water fall so we'd either hike down around them or up over the top until we came to one that seemed impossible to get around and that's when our fellow traveler joined us ... an older gentleman with a walking stick that was all by himself. Immediately one thousand alarms went off in my mind DANGER DANGER DANGER but not Dani's. Nope, she launched into a conversation with this gentleman like she'd known him forever. He encouraged her to climb up above the tree and keep going and that we could follow him and so they all did. Meanwhile, I was in the back of the pack sizing this guy up and trying my best to nonchalantly send them every warning signal I could to turn back. None of them heard me or listened as we went deeper and deeper into the mountain. I sent off a quick text to Nic while I still had a signal half joking half not, "If I don't make it back from this hike, I love you." Clearly I've joked like this with him before so he didn't take it seriously in the least bit. haha
You guys, I fully admit I was freaking out as Dani began sharing with him where we were staying, our weekend plans, about her family, etc. I just kept thinking, this is the story line of one of those murder mystery novels.
We finally made it to the waterfall! You could stand on this bridge as it rushed below you. It was so loud that it was hard to hear, even if someone was standing right beside you. I watched as the guy continued on the trail and Dani started following after. I tried to catch up asking what we were doing and they said the guy told them that wasn't actually the end of the waterfall and that if you went further you'd really get a good view. It was so loud that I couldn't shout to Dani and have her hear me, not to mention I didn't want this guy knowing I was freaked out but they all continued to follow. He got significantly ahead and disappeared. I was on high alert at this point until we finally found a sign that did indeed say another lookout for the waterfall. As we approached the guy was coming back toward us. Showed us the picture he took, asked if we were going to be okay, and said he was going to head back up the trail. The girls said goodbye and I said nothing. I looked down and there was rocky cliff that led to a tiny sliver of a lookout and they all began sliding down the slope, shoes slipping with each step. I immediately knew I wasn't going with them. I yelled, "I promised Nic I'd make it back." Sidee got to the bottom first, threw out her arms, and yelled, "I feel so alive!" as the water rushed below them. I felt my feet slip on a rock so I looked down at them and in that moment I heard this blood curdling scream. My heart sank and I thought the worst. As I looked up all I could see was Dani's phone sailing over the cliff into the raging water below.
It began to grow dark and my instincts were to get everyone to safety so I just started booking it back up and out of the trail hoping they would follow and luckily they did. I was completely sweating at this point because the trail was uphill on the way back and I was wearing a coat and jeans! As we made it back up to the parking lot, the only other vehicle was a motor home and the door popped open and the guy's head popped out. He waved to us and I could not get out of there fast enough!! Man was it a beautiful trail and waterfall but absolutely could have lived without it after all of that!! haha
Funny story ... he was a McCall resident and had told my friend Dani that he owned the yacht at the yacht club which was right beneath where we were getting massages on Saturday. I did not hear this part so you can imagine what my heart did when he came waltzing up the dock a day later saying "Hey, I thought I recognized you girls!"
Funny story ... he was a McCall resident and had told my friend Dani that he owned the yacht at the yacht club which was right beneath where we were getting massages on Saturday. I did not hear this part so you can imagine what my heart did when he came waltzing up the dock a day later saying "Hey, I thought I recognized you girls!"
That night I got this picture and my heart was relieved to see their faces, safe and sound back home. I missed them!!
It was supposed to rain the whole weekend we were there but as luck would have it, the only times it ever rained we were in our hotel room. It also made for light crowds for the weekend which was so nice because it is usually quite the packed tourist town! I felt like I was in the Twilight movie the whole time I was there ... hello Forks, Washington! So beautiful!!
The hotel had free s'mores by the campfire so we spent our nights there followed by the hot tub!
These party animals kept me up waaaaay later than I'm used to. ;) Yet somehow I rallied for a workout with Dani in the hotel gym on Saturday morning followed by breakfast at The Pancake House. We ordered the cinnamon roll to share and it was literally 3 times the size of my head! A lady walking by goes, "Oh wow, that's disturbing!" hahaha
And no, we did NOT eat it all! But we did EACH eat an entire king sized Symphony bar during that 2 days!
It started to drizzle a bit outside and was pretty chilly so rather than another hike we decided to head back to our hotel and watch a movie! They had this incredible theatre room we booked but their sound system didn't end up working so they delivered a dvd player and the movie to our room and got us all set up with movie theatre popcorn to watch it there! We watched Crazy Rich Asians which was hilarious!!
We all could hardly wait for our Saturday afternoon activity ... massages!! We booked these incredible hour long massages and it was magical! I had this older lady who cracked me up as she talked all bout her cats and cannabis lotion "that I could purchase for myself if I wanted some in a quaint store on the Oregon border." ;) While two of us got massages, the other two filled out a fun "get to know you" type of survey that Sidnee brought. She was amazing and thought of so many great things ahead of time! Anyway, we had fun later that night taking turns sharing our answers to the questions.
We had pizza for dinner and HAD to stop at Ice Cream Alley for dessert!! YUM!
We stayed up way too late again all piling in the same bed and giggling hysterically while trying out Sidnee's snapchat filters on her phone!
On our last day we all felt like death from all of the crap we had consumed and the lack of sleep (the makings of a great girl's weekend!). haha We hardly ate anything for breakfast and went on a hike turned walk around the lake instead.
We saw some deer, this beautiful grove of pine trees, and some of the most amazing cabins surrounding the lake.
I felt SO car sick on the drive home, I was barely keeping it together in the backseat. Thankfully we stopped once to take some pictures.
When I got home, both of my kids came running to my outstretched arms ... something that I don't get every day like Nic does when he comes home from work. They missed me! I missed them! And it was so good for all of us to miss each other, to realize how much the other loves them, and to feel appreciated. It really was so good for me as a mom because I came back with my bucket feeling full after a weekend of relaxing and letting go. So thankful for these girls!! For the friendships we built, the laughter and tears we had, and the many good times we have to come!! I also couldn't be more thankful to Nic for encouraging me and making it possible for me to go. He is an incredible dad and an even better husband!
Until next year! Because yes, we plan to make this an annual thing! If there is anything I learned it is that friendships are important and necessary no matter how old you are and what you have going on in your life! You need them to fill your bucket too!
