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.

Bringing in 2010

Three of us gathered to celebrate the new year this past year. We donned necklaces and tiaras and gathered at Katie's house for sparkling cider, snacks, and an evening of attractiveness - and I'm not just talking about us (we watched the new Star Trek movie!). Between watching movies and watching the New Year special, we had to take several group pictures, shots that included poses such as "how we look when our mom talks to us" and several "New Years" themed pictures. After our photoshoot, we watched the ball drop and were assaulted by several frightening performers, and yes, I do mean Jennifer Lopez, in her skin-tight, flesh-toned body suit and Justin Bieber serenading (?) Selena Gomez. Maybe when your voice changes and you grow a little, kiddo. Despite these horrifying vision, the night was an incredible way to welcome 2010.