On the weekend of the 4th, we made a really, really quick trip to Kansas City.  

(ie We left Newton at 9:30 am, and we were back by 10:00 pm)

That is certainly not my favorite way to travel, but the day was totally worth it!

We got to see this crew.

 

Love them!

I will introduce them individually, just so you keep up. :) 

 

Tiffany and Nick - we got to ride to Kansas City with them.  Tiffany and I sat in the back and we put together baby shower favors.  Nick and Ryan talked about stuff.

Tiff and I go way back - to like 8th grade.  We have roomed together, ridden horses together and gone to Africa together.  It is so amazing to have long time friends that still feel comfortable and fun!

 

Chris and Steph - they just moved close to us!  They live in Salina now.  We are so excited to see them more often.

I am really excited for them to come to the house sometime, Steph's favorite thing to do is clean.

Seriously.

I am thinking about hiring her.  She always cleans out my microwave - she even taught me a handy trick.  

A glass full of water warmed up in the microwave - loosens all the nasty stuff and it just wipes right out.

 

Kristen and Pierre - Kristen lives in Memphis and she was in town to visit her family, so we all barged in and got the whole gang together.  Pierre lives in South Africa, in a town called Mokopane.  He was here to visit Kristen, so of course everyone had to meet him.  

Nothing like meeting 10 new people all at once who speak a different language and had lots of stories to reminisce about.  But you know, he fit right in and shared stories of his own.  

 

Meet Prachi and Samir.  They live in Kansas City too, and its been way too long since I saw them last.  Prachi provided me with my first taste of Indian food.  I will always remember it.

Let's just say, a dough ball, fried and filled with curried yogurt, is not a good surprise.   

Sadly, you will have to meet Ashley and Abe without a picture.  Apparently, I was really rude and didn't take their picture.  

Ashley and Abe are A-town friends too.  (That's Augusta, for those of you who don't remember where I grew up.)  Someday in the next 9 months, they are going to have a baby!  They will be the first ones of the "old crew" to have kiddos.  We are pretty excited for them!

There you go...now you know most of the folks that helped me become me during my college life.  

I love them!

Every time we get together its like old times again.

It's what I love most about these gals and guys.

We went to the Plaza and had lunch and then just wandered and talked and I took pictures.

I ate the world's largest burrito.

 

Well, actually I only ate about 1/3 of it, because I am pretty sure I ate a whole bag of chips.
 

 

 

This is the coolest roof ever.