Good morning and happy Saturday! Another gorgeous day here in Minnesota… we have had low 80’s the past few days and looks like the weekend will stay true to that as well so as you can imagine… I am smiling over here. 😀
A couple of evenings ago I went to my friend Cindy’s house in Motley with Sara and Heidi. We had this in the planning for a while, she has a beautiful piece of property and is always doing new and creative things with her yard so it is fun to go and get ideas.
Of course the day came for this to happen and it was all up in the air. I had a crazy day at work, we were all trying to coordinate car pooling (it’s about a 25 minute drive), what time we could all leave… suddenly it seemed like just “one more thing on the agenda”.
I told my hubby before I left that I wouldn’t be late, that I would rather just stay home but we had planned this so I was going. I had laundry I should be working on, the yard needed mowing, and honestly… I was just tired. 😯
I pick up Heidi and Sara and we chat our way to Motley… catching up on each others lives since our last get together and as we near Cindy’s I can almost feel the stress melt away.
We sit around a fire and talk and laugh. We eat amazing food (thanks for grilling Jeff!) and we pick apples from her trees, tour her latest creative decorating in her home, eat some more, and stay until it is so dark we are just shadow people sitting around a fire…
BUT we are all smiling.
As we drive back to Brainerd, we actually had this discussion in the car about life being busy and we have to remember while it can be one more thing on the agenda…. its a good thing. A really good thing.
Friends. Food. Life.
All good.
The moral of my story this morning (as I sit with COFFEE CUP at the kitchen table and count my blessings for having great friends) is that all of us need to make time for this kind of stuff. Hanging out with friends, and just being…. not doing. All that other life stuff…. can wait.
Have a super awesome day. I am running around today picking up the last-minute things I need for tomorrows annual tailgate party. We are having a fundraiser for a memorial for Fallen Minnesota Firemen and tieing that in with the memory of 9-11.
(Pictures are linked to Alyce’s Saturday Snapshot… which is a great weekly meme of the pictures of our lives…)
Book Journey 
It is always good to remember what really matters…have a great day!!!
Thanks Patty 🙂
Thanks for the reminder about friends. I’m currently having a tiff with my running friends because I jumped to conclusions. I’ve apologized and asked for forgiveness so I guess the next step is up to them. Note to self: take more time for friends
Thats hard Paulita, but you are right – that’s all you can do. 🙂
You must be related to my husband. He always grabs a big bunch of black olives too. 🙂 I should take a lesson from you. I don’t take time away from Dave to see friends anymore because I worry too much about him while I’m gone. Maybe I should go anyway? Ahhh, it’s really hard.
LOL – I think between the 4 of us we ate two cans of olives…. I love black olives! 😛
It is hard to go do other things when your family is at home – BUT I learned a long time ago… I was a better mom and a better wife by taking these friend breaks 🙂
You are so right! My book club went to see The Help and out to dinner Thursday night. I’d had a crazy day and would have bowed out if I could have. I had such a wonderful time, I’m sure glad I didn’t miss it!
That is me all the time Kathy – make plans because they sound great – the day comes…. I am overwhelmed but do it anyway and know that it was the right thing to do – because… well they lead to gushy posts like this. 😀
And The Help? How fun!
Oh, I loved The Help so much I saw it twice…once with friends and once with my granddaughter, Kathy.
My stress would melt away in that environment, too! Gorgeous, cozy looking home and yard. Love that fire!
Your dinner looks awesome, too. Thanks for visiting my Saturday Snapshot, Sheila.
She has such a great home Laurel…. I wish I had that kind of creativity!
That backyard is gorgeous! I love fire pits.
I often have the problem of dreading social events after a busy week. However, it is rare that I regret an evening after the fact. Most often, it is just what I needed to relax!
Exactly Dixie! I could have stayed at home and probably would have read a bit and went to bed early – but this provided me with so much more…. bonding and planning for our big October event. 😀
Your message is so true! It seems like spending time with friends always comes last. Not sure why that is when in seems to rejuvenate me when I do spend time with friends. That is one gorgeous yard your friends have!
Thanks Beth! How often we try to make plans to get together for lunch or coffee and it just falls to the wayside. This group of girls and I all used to work together and we found the only way it works to keep in touch is to plan a mandatory outing the second Thursday of every month.
What a great looking place and your time with friends sounds fab as well. I do that sometimes with book club. I always have so much fun relaxing and chatting with the gals about the book, but sometimes life is so busy all I want to do is cancel everything and take a nap.
Book lub s at my house this coming Tuesday Alyce and I get so anxious about working all day and then coming home and prepping for everyone… then they get their and we have such a great time 😀
Thanks for that much needed reminder…today I got a new puppy and we spent an hour sleeping in a chair on the front porch and then laying in the grass looking at the gorgeous blue skies.
Food and yard look great!! 😀
Sounds like a perfect day…. and a new puppy!!! 😀
Looks like such a nice, relaxing evening. I don’t do enough of that anymore. Weeknights are tough. I seem to sink into the couch after dinner and don’t want to move!
OOH thats me too Leslie.. the days are so full… I have to keep moving because once I stop….razz:
It’s easy to get busy with all the little things and to forget the big picture, thanks for the reminder!
It’s great that you have a specific day set aside for this. With my friends, it gets closer and closer to the end of the month and something always comes up, life gets busy and before you know it you’ve missed your monthly outing. (of course, most of the problem is my busy schedule 😦 but if I had a date on my calendar I could plan everything else around that. I need to get us to commit to that)
We had to pick a day and stick to it Angie… trying to see who would plan what just never happens… we are all too busy. 😀 We made a monthly dinner date and those who can make it … do. If we want to do something extra (like this trip) we just exchange it for our dinner plans 😀