Weekends to Remember

For the past few weekends our home has been filled with the sound of laughter and chatter of dear friends. We have had a lot of visitors lately, and we have enjoyed every minute of it (even the cleaning that ensued before, after, and between each one)!  Now our house sounds strangely quiet and empty, kind of sad.  While our venture to Louisiana six years ago led us into a new life, a life full of happiness and new beginnings, it also forced us to leave behind dear friends and family who mean the world to us.

Thankfully with friends like ours "leaving behind" doesn't mean losing them forever.  It just means giving all of us the opportunity to have new places to visit and gather.  Kyle and Krisha came this past weekend.  Low key was our goal for the weekend.  We succeeded and enjoyed every minute of the relaxation and conversations.  No matter how often we talk or how often we see each other, we are still able to relive moments in the past that brings everything back to life.

We had different visitors the weekend before...Danny, Mallory, and Baby Noah (who is no longer a baby) came to visit us.  It was strange having them here again because the last time they were here Mallory had just found out she was pregnant with Noah.  Man, how time flies!  We enjoyed trips to the zoo, eating out, and having a very fast paced weekend.  Then Kay Kay came on Thursday night.  Kay Kay usually makes frequent trips to see us, but we have all been so busy lately that she hasn't had a chance to come down since our WEDDING!  We (mainly meaning Josh) have done so much around the house since then that it was fun watching her see all of our improvements!

This weekend with Kyle and Krisha, we all piled up in our bed and watched old home movies from our high school days.  We watched video footage from our old parties, we laughed until we cried, and we reminisced about each person we saw come across the screen.  In typical wonderful weekend fashion, it passed us by much too quickly.  Kyle and Krisha had to head back home early Sunday morning; Kyle had to work that night.  We cussed the adult world, the responsibilities that we know in the end bring us so much joy.  We know that's how it works though.  For the four of us, the time we get to spend together never seems like quiet enough.  It never quiet compares to all the time and endless hours we were able to spend growing up together in high school.  We know it's going to happen every time, but it never makes it any easier.

After Kyle and Krisha left, Josh and I lounged....ALL DAY!  Recovery mode.  That's what we decided to call it.  We watched (well pretty much I watched and Josh napped) more old movies.  This time it was NCA football season 2004-2005...Senior Year.  I watched countless pep rallies, Josh was "Bad 2 The Bone" complete with ripping off his shirt, we were all so young.  The senior pep rally was a tough one to watch, all the tears, all the uncertinities and excitement in our eyes...it seems sad now just looking back.  A bunch of small town kids about to embark on the rest of their lives.  Lucky for us, we have been able to start that journey together and stay close through it all.  Most of us from our graduating class all keep together in some way or another.  We are closer to some friends than others of course, but we all still have each others backs.  We were a small class, a tight knit group.  Six of us who graduated together married each other...what are the odds of that?  Six out of 29 is saying a lot.

I guess that's a small town for you.  Small towns breed closeness, they breed strength, they breed bonds that are tough to break.  Which means every time our small town visitors come to town, our hearts get pangs of homesickness when they leave.  In the end, we know that we are where we are meant to be...at least for the time being.  We know that Thibodaux is home for us for now, and we are happy here making new memories and new friends to mix in with our old friends.

We can't wait on our next Mississippi trip or for our next Mississippi visitors to come here.  Plans are always underway for us to go visit someone or for someone to come here to visit us!  It leaves us all with an underlying sense of excitement and anticipation that we love carrying around with us day to day.  So until the next trip, we will just relish in the memories this past few weeks of visitors has brought us!