Summer 2011 and Reflections Five Years Later

    This blog was inspired after our annual How I Met Your Mother marathon between Tasha and I.  We admired the documentation of the formative years in the lives of Ted and his mismatched group of friends and decided that our own lives, however completely uneventful they may be, deserved similar documentation.  Sadly, what started as a joint venture has been the burden of Miss Natasha Ohmart.  After a year, this is my first contribution: she's done such a lovely job I haven't felt the need to interfere until now.  But events of the last months must be documented, and tradition must continue, and so I'll do my best to do justice to all of Tasha's hard work.

     This summer began with Rachael still in Virginia and Natasha working at a camp.  Our lives have become so busy, and taken us so many different places, I was unsure if I would even be able to see any of the girls this summer.  Luckily after sending out the usual, "I'll be in town, mark your calenders" message, Hannah, Sunny and Khira were ALL able to hang out!  I felt so fortunate that such a majority of our precious group could gather again, especially Sunny whom we had not seen in over a year.  We met up, took pictures by the missouri river, ate dinner and met the world's worst and creepiest waitress ("what kind of fries are they?" "regular ones", "uhhhh...."), got ice cream and then sat talking the rest of the night.  It was such an ordinary evening, except for all of us it felt so much more, it being so extraordinary for all of us to be together again.  We had two momentous life events to celebrate and share together:  Khira got married (!) and Hannah graduated from college.  After five years, we were finally starting to really grow up (me last of all) and embark on that time in our lives where we become self-supporting, have bills, real relationships, careers...in short we begin to have adult woes.  Our 2006 concerns of our crushes, getting into college, taking the ACT, complaints about a certain co-worker, arguments with parents were all so distant now.  And yet it was comforting to know we still haven't changed entirely: we still shared all our dating stories from the past year (providing many laughs), and we still spent a fair amount of time reminiscing about the old bosses, coworkers and the job that brought us together five summers ago.  We parted confident of our friendship renewed, all aware it probably would be another year or more before we may all be together again.  Yet with such friendships, time is of no concern for there will always be a bit of the 2006 spirit in each of us to bring us together again.

    Then summer went by so very quickly.  All of a sudden my research was done, my summer in St. Louis completed, and my parents were once again annoyed with the inordinate amount of crap I managed to bring back home, including the rescue of another abandoned hamster.  Hannah spent a crazy busy summer working 50+ hours as SUPERVISOR (an antique girl finally got promoted!) at good old worlds of crazy fun and applying for jobs daily, finally landing a job she loves.  Khira spent the summer in Richmond, missing her husband who is serving our country in Afghanistan.  Sunny worked with cute little children, and I have no doubt that there was never any luckier group of children to have such a teacher.  Rachael and Natasha continued on with graphic design and camp life guard, respectively.

   At the end of summer, Khira and I were fortunate enough to be able to visit Natasha at her school in Joplin. What began as a short day trip quickly extended to a two day trip after very little convincing by Natasha.  We got to visit her lovely school, meet her friends, see a waterfall that looks like a mini niagra falls, drive through the tornado damage (words cannot do the devastation justice), and watch a corny romantic comedy that we could not resist laughing at.  We even got to attend one of her classes at Ozark Christian College, an experience so fascinating to Khira and I because of how unique her school truly is.  Class opened with a prayer and a song, and the professor was incredibly friendly and introduced us to the class.  The lecture was interesting, and even after 15 years of weekly sunday school I learned an incredible amount about the bible in that hour.  After the visit ended, Khira and I headed back in her car, completely missing the exit for the precious moments museum we had looked forward to visiting.  We spent the last hour and a half of the drive with the windows down, listening to country: in my opinion the best way to drive through missouri.

    The last story to tell is a simple one.  Hannah and I went to our typical restaurant, ordered a cocktail now that we're both 21.  I was lucky to get useful advice from Hannah about the job search process, for which she has now completed and which I am now reluctantly beginning.  We discussed our 'futures', previously loosely defined as post-college life, now quickly and dauntingly becoming our present.  And then we discussed our favorite topic, our dating lives.  Its nice to commiserate with a fellow single lady on the joys of navigating the 20-something dating scene, both of us still completely happy to be unattached at this stage in our lives.

     I fear I have already failed in my mission and that this post is incredibly boring.  Let me attempt to redeem myself by getting sentimental.  I struggle to put words to my thoughts, to express what these five ladies mean to me.  It's difficult to understand that two summers working together an in antique photo amusement park shop could create the kind of bonds that would persist five years later.  Perhaps it's because we spent arguably the most formative years of our lives together talking in a tiny little shop about all our past stories, realities and dreams.  Perhaps it's because we worked 50+ hour weeks, mostly with each other, perhaps because we had time to goof around and play dress up everyday.  I can hardly separate in my memories being 16 and these ladies, the two having become so fused in my mind.  Its truly a gift that when I see these ladies again, that I get to goof and joke and talk as if no time has passed at all. And even though now with our busy lives we only get to see each other a few times a year, our affection for each other has only grown, and I think will continue to grow as time passes.  Where other friendships may fade over time, and even end when common interests change, ours seems to grow stronger even because we are each so different and always have been.  I cherish my friendship with each girl, because each individual brings such an important dynamic to the group.  As excited as I was five years ago to think about all our futures, so I'm excited to see where our lives take us five, even ten years from now.  I'm excited to think about going to weddings, meeting little children, and possibly even a vacation with these ladies when we're old and need breaks from our teenagers.  Maybe I'm jinxing us, and maybe friendship 15 years later is too much to hope for, but then again our friendship now is quite against the odds.  At the very least, 15 years from now I know I'll get 5 very lovely christmas cards in the mail every year, and I'll smile as they each momentarily bring me back to 16, back to that magical summer of 2006 and all the memories, photos and stories we shared.

   I love you ladies, and thank you for being a part of my life.

-Katie

 

Update

It is has literally been half a year since I have updated this blog. Perhaps a little more, but there is no doubt that it has been an eventful set of months.

By way of update, I'd really like to share some recent happenings:

June - Katie, Rachael, and I: In order to properly send Rachael off to Virginia to begin her crazy exciting life, we met for lunch on the Plaza, and spent the afternoon walking around, taking pictures, and catching up. Naturally, the afternoon ended in Starbucks with refreshing beverages and glorious together time.





Pictured:

-In front of a fountain in Crown Center. We go for the scenic backgrounds

-Our delicious meal at Buca.

August - Katie, Khira, and I: I believe that I failed to mention the Antique almost-camping trip that occurred in August. We trooped down to my aunt and uncles again, had lunch with my grandmother's late fiance and did a little shopping before heading to the lake. We set up camp and went out onto the water. Around nine we decided to go into town for some food (the pizza we brought got soaked somehow), and I saw lightening on the way back. I probably overreacted, but we spent the night in my aunt and uncle's house. It was much more comfortable.




Pictured:

-Us and the lake

-How we spent most of the time we were on the water (Khira)

-On the way down, we stopped at Dunkin'- I'm pretty sure I converted them.

























December - Katie, Rachael, and I: I was able to celebrate my 20th birthday with these lovely, lovely ladies. We spent the night on the Plaza. It was so good to see Rachael again and hear about life in VA. It was wonderful to walk around and visit different stores, and the weather was pretty pleasant. The Christmas lights lining the buildings contributed nicely to the festive mood.




Pictured:

-Katie, Rachael, and I at Buca.

-Plaza Lights


















Katie and I: We couldn't ring in the New Year antique style, due to scheduling conflicts, but we did get together for the afternoon and a How I Met Your Mother marathon.



January - Katie and I: I had the opportunity to visit Katie at Washington University. It was an INCREDIBLE weekend. You can read about it here: http://natashaohmart.blogspot.com/2011/01/washington-university.html






Pictured:

-Katie and I at the park. Despite the snow, it was a warm day.

-Katie and I in her room before we went out the last evening I was in town.


March - Sunny and I: I got to have an amazing evening with one of my favorite people. Sunny is so passionate and so amazing, and the fact that I got her for a whole evening was awesome. We grabbed dinner at Smokehouse BBQ and drove to McDonalds for coffee (Starbucks and Friendly Bean were closed...boo!). As we sat beside the drive through window, we noticed an amateur rapper rockin' out. He had his ipod in and was performing whatever he was listening to, and man - he was in the zone. It felt like a concert. The best part, though, was when he turned around (he was right in front of the Redbox - you come for a movie, but you get a show!) and picked up a water bottle off of the top of it. He was prepared. Most importantly, though, Sunny and I had lots of chances to talk about life and important things. I love that girl SO much.

Hannah and Khira are largely absent from this - bummer. Hopefully that will change real soon!

The Future

So much about our lives have changed since we first met. Although not quite the same age, most of us were in high school (Sorry, Rach :)). Now most of us are finishing college! It's so bizarre to me to think that in a few short years our lives could be in six different states. I am so proud of these girls in everything they do, and I am daily amazed at the expertise and raw talent our little group possesses. Even though we may go months without having a real conversation, I love these girls like no one else in the world, and I know that if I needed them, they'd be there. And I also know that when we do talk, we'll make up for the lost time. I so appreciate their friendship and support, and I wish we could spend more time together, but I am so excited at where God is taking them in their own lives.

Reunion

For the first time in nearly three years, the six of us were together. And it was felt good. Katie and I orchestrated this event, and to our delight, everyone was able to attend - unusual, to say the least. It was decided that Katie would grab some pizzas, and I would meet the girls at Ameristar (a relatively central location) and we'd all meet at my house, then maybe catch a movie. The occasion was actually a sort-of surprise party for Rach's grad. Katie and I spent the morning at Wal-Mart, trying to find the perfect card. It was on this day that we met the woman at the photo kiosk-the one who'd recently lost her husband. As we looked over cards, this weighed heavily on our minds. After about a half hour of looking at cards, we decided to cheat. We found a lot of great phrases, but no great cards. So as I copied our favorites down, she immersed herself in the cards with audio. We no longer go card shopping together...
Anyway, we finally got the cards copied and the gift arranged. We went back to our own houses, got the gift/card-ish ready, and prepared to meet the girls.
Getting back to my house was rather uneventful. In fact you could call the entire evening rather uneventful. We ate pizza, gave Rach her presents (she was so surprised), took lots of pictures, and talked. And talked. And of course, Sunny introduced us to the cookie-ice cream dessert (aka the only time the six of us were completely silent all evening). I could hardly limit such an occasion to just the two pictures in the collage.


The three 2009 returners to WOF (aka a black hole where dreams go to die).


The 2009 Graduates!
(Khira and her groping...)

The City Girls Go On A Trip...

At some point in time, the idea of an Antique camping trip was formulated. I'm not sure who originally came up with the idea for four city girls to try to "rough it," but Katie was a girl scout, Rachael either was a girl scout or had some other notable experience, Khira was a small-town, country-ish girl, and I -- well, we were camping at my Uncle's lake (so I basically just brought the location, transportation, and tent). In other words, I could get us there and give us something with which to construct shelter, but that was all. We arrived and Aunt Tammy brought out a horse for us to take pictures with. We are, after all, the Antique girls. Once we had all been photographed, we headed down to the lake. We got the tent set up and it was, well, passable. Thankfully Katie and Rach knew something, because, although belonging to my family, that tent was a mystery to me. Once we constructed it, we swam in the lake. Having a lake completely to ourselves is something every group of girls should do. Promise, it's awesome. We alternated taking pictures, some sunbathing, but mostly we swam.
After a few glorious hours of swimming, we decided to build a fire. Fire--another thing four girls are just dying to get their hands on. We gathered the firewood and doused it in lighter fluid (we love lighter fluid), and light up. We had some help from my uncle at one point, but I can't remember when. We lit both the grill and the camp fire, so we could have pizza AND smores - real camp food for sure. After dinner, we took the raft out and played cards. Katie and I played the game Spit, and it's safe to say that we played by different rules. I wouldn't say Katie cheated, but I'm definitely not above typing it. When it got too dark for cards, we did the smores and then went swimming again... Swimming at night is the best. We loved it. By the end of the day we were EXHAUSTED. The next morning we woke up and made a walmart/sonic run. We bought a cheap disposable camera to supplement Rach's canon - there was a battery or memory card issue. We played in a park and then headed back to the camp site. As we drove back, rain started hitting the windshield, and it was pouring by the time we hit Thayer. We grabbed the essentials and headed to my other aunt's house to sit in the hot tub (we're city girls). Eventually the rain let up enough for us to pack up and head home, full of good memories, but soaking wet.

Here are some pictures that aren't really up in the collage, but too good not to share.

Antique Pictures

What could be a better job for 6 girls than a place filled with opportunities to play dress-up and take unlimited pictures?? We all started there the summer of 2006 (it seems so long ago!), and we were in store for quite a summer.



Summer 2006: The first picture is of Katie and Sunny in their white trash raincoats. It was pouring that day as they left. Neither had an umbrella, so they improvised. That is, until the security guard or a supervisor or someone they couldn't ignore yelled at them and made them take their sweet raincoats off.






Summer 2007: Khira and Rachael on her last day EVER of working at WOF. Bittersweet. We took SO many pictures that night. Such good memories. Thank God we were never busy, otherwise we'd actually have to pay attention to customers.




Summer 2007: Katie and Rachael. I wasn't there that day, but I'd venture to guess that they were bored and Katie had gotten a haircut recently. :) Note: Katie is wearing the blue dress that I eventually lost. But more on that later.



Summer 2009: The next picture is of me and Hannah on our last day working together. She was going back to UCM and although I didn't leave for another week or two, we wouldn't be back the same times. We told the girl working with us to do a photoshoot and she finally figured it out - like 200 pictures within ten minutes. We're hard workers. We actually dressed up twice that evening - and honestly worked in between - but one group came in both times we dressed up (about an hour and a half apart). They just laughed at us.

Lunch with Sunny

During my spring break, I got a text from Sunny that went something like this:

"Holy poop, you're in town."

With an invitation like that, you can bet we'd be getting together. Rachael and I met Sunny for brunch at Cracker Barrel, after heading to the wrong one initially. (Can I go anywhere without getting lost? Probably not.) We sat down to the table and waited for our dear Sunny to make her appearance. We didn't wait too long before Sunny appeared. She came, full of stories and details about her life. We ate a delicious brunch and got to know each others' lives just a little better. It was a wonderful time and ended all to soon, with Sunny heading back to David's Bridal and Rach and I back to Independence, then me to KC. Quite a conclusion to a great break.