Amidst all the holly, jolly hullabaloo back in December I neglected to write about what I got for Christmas.

And it was good.

Really good.

Dave gave me a trip with my college girlfriends…a little reunion with my roommates I haven’t seen in ages (well, all except one of them that I’m lucky enough to live right next to so I get to see her a bunch).

The best part about that gift wasn’t only that he was willing to let me go, but he was willing to happily stay home with five kids for three days and get them to 35 sports games and 342 birthday parties (well, at least it seemed like that many). Plus he was willing to deal with a fit-throwing-three-year-old on all the side lines and even let Grace host a sleepover while I was gone.

Like I said, it was a good present.

So last weekend I took him up on his offer. (Yeah, if you’re wondering why I was still posting things on here last weekend it’s just because I’m super nerdy and I scheduled them to post while I was gone.)

Anyway, five us met up in Los Angeles and man oh man did we ever have a great time.

Nichole,Brigitta, Nikki & Lynna

(We missed you girls who couldn’t come like nobody’s business though!!)

Look how great all those blondies are. These girls have changed my life for the better and I’m so thankful for them.

After I went to Boston University for my freshman year I went on study abroad in Israel with BYU. Nikki (the middle one in that picture up there) was my next-door-neighbor. We became great friends and ended up rooming together back at BYU (it was always in my plan to go to Boston for one year and then get my home-body-but-now-not-quite-so-naive self back near home to BYU). Through Nikki I met these other girls, and through them I met Dave. It was so fun to reminisce all the good old days and all the funny, weird things we did, people we dated or had crushes on, etc.

We hung out by the pool:
We hung out at the beach:

We walked around and decided which houses we’d buy right there on the water in our dreams:
I actually want to build this one here in the desert some day…I LOVE that shingle siding stuff:

We shopped:
Nik, Brigitta and I got make-overs. Here’s the before picture:
…and the “after” picture:
(I’m only posting this picture because I think Nik and Brigitta look awesome. I was personally mortified when I saw it of myself…am I really that old? But the make-over was fun…it’s always good to have a little refresher on how the heck to apply make-up.)

We played a little doubles:Lynna and I put up a good fight (don’t be fooled and go thinking I’m a good tennis player…I stink at tennis, but Lynna was pretty darn good…check out that serious expression),

…but these two came out triumphant in the end:
(Nichole was the cheerleader since she forgot her tennis shoes.)

We found a gorgeous farmer’s market:
And we went out to eat at some delicious places.

Of course, I had to capture a little of the beauty surrounding us in every direction:Oh man, California is so darn beautiful.

But mostly, we talked. And talked. And talk, talk, talked…all night and all day. We stayed up ’til almost three both nights. We had so much to catch up on.

I love these girls so much.

Thanks guys, for such a fun trip! And thanks, Dave, for spoiling me with such an extravagant present. Love you.

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8 Comments

  1. That was so much fun and we should do it more then once every 5 years 🙂

    Love you shawni, so good to see you and hope to see you sooner….You are such a great person and mom and all that other good stuff in between.xoxox

    p.s. You forgot the picture of the beautiful and famous wnba player that we ran into at Nordstroms??

  2. Such a fun trip! We need to keep that tradition going! I loved hanging out and chatting! Lots of fun memories! I feel so lucky to have you as a life long friend!

  3. What a fun trip…I just had to comment because of the makeover pic where you were "mortified" at being so old…I'm right there with you…weren't we just 18 last year? Ha ha!…It's always a shock when I look in the mirror and see the wrinkles appearing. sigh. (But you? You look beautiful…seriously)

  4. I can't believe I missed the trip! I was hoping you would post something about it on your blog so I could see what you guys were up to. Thanks so much for the call, it was fun to get a little taste of all the chatter! Hope to see you soon – Steph
    PS: Long live DP! (I'll have to come up with something for SP, since Metallic Luster is long gone from our college days)

  5. How fun Shawni! I do a roommate trip every couple of years w/ my girlies. So fun! And I can't believe you know Lynna Benson!! She was my EFY counselor and I absolutely LOVED her! Do you have any contact info for her? Thanks!
    Darcy Spencer Ure

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