More Visitors!

Last weekend we had the pleasure of hosting more visitors for the three-day weekend! But this time was different, since this visit was just for ME! My best friends from my senior year of high school spontaneously decided to hop down from Montreal and NYC for a visit! We were chatting like usual, about how one of these days we should plan a visit, and then Melissa decided to actually make it happen! She booked tickets right away, and furthermore called up Sayaka and convinced her to take the bus down from New York! You have to understand I haven't seen these girls since my WEDDING... 5 long years ago!

Here's the last time we were together:

Hm, and I'm trying to find one of us in high school, but I can't. That was back before digital cameras were invented I think. All my physical pictures are boxed up, so I'll look later. I know you all are just dying to see one.

**EDIT: Found them! I know you were checking my blog every 5 seconds waiting to see some old high school pictures... Here's Prom & graduation. (With our other good friend Adlina)

See? So it's been a long time!

Travis was so wonderful about giving up his Labor Day weekend! He practically took over the parenting for three days and let me run around with my friends and do whatever I want! It was FABULOUS! I really really really needed a little break and some old friends - they were exactly the thing I needed right now. We just played and talked and were ridiculous, and it was just like old times! It would be impossible to retell all the stories from this weekend, so I'll just bombard you with tons of photos and intermittent narration instead.

Melissa arrived Friday evening and we made an exciting drive into DC to find Sayaka, who was standing on an obscure corner in Dupont Circle. That's all we knew. We asked directions from EVERYbody who pulled up next to us, and after everyone responded, "Northwest?" every time we asked them where this intersection was, we eventually found her! We had some late night ice cream and LOTS of chatting, and they handed out PRESENTS GALORE to us & the girls!!! Among the presents that won Kate over were a pink glitter lava-lamp night light and several books from the "Little Miss" series, which Kate can't stop reading.
(**Side note here about the header - yes it was inspired by these books Sayaka brought (thanks Sayaka!!!), which I haven't seen since I was a little girl, and it is important to also note who these characters are! From left to right, Mr. Brave, Little Miss Tidy, Little Miss Chatterbox, and Little Miss Tiny. Appropriate, don't you think?**)

The next morning we hopped on the Metro to go to DC!

However, this wasn't your typical take-the-houseguests-to-all-the-typical-DC-sites-and-see-as-many-as-possible-in-one-day kind of day trip. They were just here so we could all spend time together and it didn't matter what we did or didn't get to see. It made for a much more relaxing weekend trip! Anyway, we did see several of the monuments and the Air & Space Museum (my fave), and ate a long lunch at the National Art Gallery cafe. And then ice cream later, of course.

Oh, and we found a dollar. See? It pays off to go trudging through the swampy grass rather than using the sidewalks like good citizens!

This is us in infrared. So... if you had eyes that registered heat instead of light... this is how we would look.

When we came home, it was time for the season's FIRST BYU GAME!!!

Of course, according to tradition, we made shirts (which should get a separate post later), and I made some for Melissa & Sayaka as well! Unfortunately we didn't get a shot of the 3 of us together in our shirts. Travis had us decked out thanks to a recent trip to the BYU bookstore. He even bought me BYU earrings! It was intense. And also, my camera has a hard time taking pictures indoors.

The game was SERIOUSLY intense! I'll be honest, I didn't think we had a prayer of winning against Oklahoma. There were definitely some tense moments...

But we DID WIN!!! GO COUGARS!!!!!

The next night, Sayaka resourcefully discovered that another friend from high school lives IN THE SAME CITY as me! (She was there the year before me, so I'd only met her once - this is why we hadn't met up before) So we ran out to meet her and her new husband. We didn't get enough time in, so we met early the next morning for breakfast too, before Sayaka headed back to New York.Here we are waiting for her at the movie theater, and reviewing her Facebook pictures to make sure we'd recognize her when she came! We felt a little out-of-place amongst the hoards of teenagers milling around, and Sayaka even had a stand-off with a friendly neighborhood police officer while we were loitering.And here we are with Mayookha

And my other favorite highlight of this trip: Sayaka was constantly washing dishes! I don't know, maybe she enjoys it or something! But every time I turned around, the dishes were sparkling clean! She was washing them faster than we could use them! (And we did cook up a storm.) It was like my dream had come true about having a little invisible dish-washing fairy flitting about my kitchen...

I miss these girls so much already! Thanks to you both for a fun weekend! It was exactly what I needed - like a breath of fresh air! We always joke about how going to visit someone is like buying them a $300 present (taking travel expenses into account) but usually they aren't nearly as excited or grateful as they would be if you bought them, say, an actual $300 present. So I am telling you now, girls, THANK YOU SO MUCH for my $300 present!!! I LOVED seeing you again! Next time... let's not wait 5 years, okay?