Thankful for Good Friends

If there's one thing I've done the last few years to better myself, it's improving the skill of making new friends. This was a difficult thing to teach myself because it's intimidating to strike up a conversation with someone new. For most of my twenties really, personal insecurities hindered me from reaching out to others in social situations. I can do it (in the working world, say, when it's imparative) but it's uncomfortable to put myself out there. I think it is for a lot of people! I've finally realized it doesn't matter. The worst thing that can happen is the "someone new" doesn't talk back and you know what, it's their loss.

One of the best things about having kids is they're a natural icebreaker. Two years ago this spring, I struck up a conversation with a mom in Tory's swimming class named Lindsey. I remember plan-fully going to swimming a few minutes early each Friday so I'd have a chance to talk with other moms and my (admittedly, slightly embarrassing) strategy paid off. Lindsey and I immediately hit it off and we've been friends ever since. The best part is, Lindsey's daughter Ashley is Tory's best friend, too. We sign up for all the same activities and have the best time together.

For months now, I've been bugging Lindsey to join us at the lake cabin for a weekend. She and her husband, Dan, moved to Minnesota from North Carolina so "winter cabin life" (snowmobiling, ice fishing, etc.) are completely new to them. I was dying to show Lindsey one of my favorite places in the world. Our calendars finally aligned and Lindsey, Dan, Ashley and Baby Taylor joined us at Pipe Lake this weekend. I had such a great time, I'm still riding the high this morning. Good friends are truly a gift.

Lindsey and crew arrived Friday evening. Tory just couldn't wrap her head around Ashley being there. "Ashley at my cabin?" she kept saying. It's like her worlds were colliding. We let the kids play, told stories over dinner and laughed well into the early morning hours. You know we were having a blast if Andi and I stayed up past 10pm.

Saturday, Andi took Dan out snowmobiling for the morning while Lindsey and I stayed back at the cabin with the kids. It seems like every time Lindsey and I get together, we're never get to have a real conversation because we're constantly shouting over kids. As a mom, it's hard to carve out time to get together without kids, so it was awesome to let the girls play while we sat around and talked. There wasn't a lull in conversation for even a second.

We met the guys out on the snowmobiling trail for lunch at the Barronett Bar and Grill. Then, we spent the rest of the day hanging out around the cabin together. The kids were exhausted from playing so hard all weekend, we put them to bed at 7:00pm Saturday night. Seriously, the stars aligned because we had the entire evening to ourselves. Lindsey and Dan made delicious lamb chops for dinner (we ate a hot dinner, together, without kids!), then had a blast playing Cards Against Humanity.

Card games! No kids!

Sunday morning, Andi set up the ice house and we took our Minnesota-transplant friends on their first ice fishing experience. We didn't catch any fish sadly, but I think Dan and Lindsey enjoyed the experience nonetheless. It was -9 degrees Sunday morning, so we couldn't really let the little girls play outside. Shortly after, we packed up the cabin and headed back home.

Can't get more redneck than driving the Ranger out on the ice to the ice fishing shack!

Playing in snow for .9 seconds before we got too cold

True friends are hard to come by, and I'm truly thankful for this one. What a great cabin weekend!