Girls' Beach Trip-2013

Right after school ended I was able to go on my annual girls trip to the beach. Oh, how I LOVE the beach! It was absolutely wonderful to have several days of relaxation with the girls. We got there Tuesday afternoon and immediately hit the beach for a couple of hours. It was great! The next morning I woke up early and took my cup of coffee outside to sit on the balcony and enjoy this...

Mornings at the beach are by far my favorite. 

We had a couple of days of sunny weather and then one day where it was cloudy, but we made it to the beach almost every day that we were there. I've gotten to know a lot of these girls better since last year's beach trip and I'm so thankful for all the new friendships I have made over the past year. These girls are so much fun to be around and I enjoy all the times we are able to get together. 

One of my closest friendships that resulted from last year's beach trip is with my neighbor, Angela. She and I barely knew each other last summer but over the course of this year we've gotten really close. In January, she asked if I would start running with her at night to exercise and in a completely crazy, out of character moment for me, I said, "Yes!" Now six months later, I'm SO GLAD I did. We started doing the Couch to 10K program and I immediately started seeing results. We've had to work around each other's schedules but we've stuck with it and I'm so proud of how far I've come. We've actually even set a goal for ourselves and have signed up to run the St. Jude half-marathon in Memphis in December. I can't wait! She and I took the beach trip to rest and relax but we've been running with each other ever since we got back!

A lot of my girlfriends that went on the trip go to a personal trainer two-three times a week (They've asked me to go with them, but I'm happy with my one exercise commitment right now.) and while we were at the beach their trainer, Alice, sent them some exercises they needed to do. Since I don't go to Alice, I volunteered to take pictures and video of them doing all their crazy exercises :)

This was during their "Plank-Off"!

Racing each other up and down the beach.

There are a lot more pictures, but you get the idea! Every night after we had spent the morning/afternoon on the beach, we got all dolled up and went out to eat somewhere together. I loved this part because we were able to eat at a lot of local restaurants that had WONDERFUL food. It was yummy!

Angela and Dara

All the girls that went on the trip this year.

Shannon, Brandi, Jackie, Angela, Dara, Lindsey, Kayla, and Crystal

Angela and me

Dara, Lindsey, Angela, Brandi

Shannon, me, Kayla

One of my friends that went on the trip, Kayla, is getting married June 22nd so while we were at the beach we had her Bachelorette party. We all wore coordinating monogrammed tank tops and made rainbow colored tutus to go with them. We had lots of fun that night celebrating her upcoming marriage!

On our last night at the beach we went to a nice restaurant called Cobalt. It's so pretty and relaxing there. They serve delicious food and the scenery is beautiful! We always take lots of pictures together when we go here.

Angela and me

Crystal, Dara, me

The morning I had to leave to go home I woke up earlier than usual so I could take a long morning walk on the beach one last time. I loved having this quiet time every day surrounded by God's beautiful creation. My week at the beach with the girls was such fun and I can't wait until next year when we can go again. I'm so thankful that I've gotten close to these girls over the past year and for the friendships that have been formed as a result. I have such a great time when I'm with them. It was a great week and I'm so glad I was able to go!

Beach Getaway with the Girls

The last week of school my friends, Dara and Brandi, invited me to tag along with a group of girls to the beach. I was completely surprised and after talking about it with Josh, I quickly agreed. I had not expected a trip to the beach at all this summer, so I was very excited about getting to go. Josh and I made arrangements for Eli while I was going to be gone, I packed my stuff, said my goodbyes, and hopped in the car with my girls.

My friends, Megan and Diane, rode with me on the way to Gulf Shores, and the weather was AWFUL the entire way there. When I say AWFUL, I literally mean if you had looked at the radar during the time it took us to drive there, we were under the red dot (the area where the storm is the strongest) the ENTIRE time. My hazards were on, the wipers were going full blast, and you couldn't even hear the radio because of the rain. God watched over us and we arrived in Gulf Shores safe and sound that night. After a yummy supper at The Oyster House, meeting another part of our group of girls, and shopping for groceries, we crashed into bed at the condo. We all said prayers that the weather would be nice and sunny the next day.

We woke up to overcast skies and after some coffee, sour cream blueberry muffins, and a quick call to my boys, we all decided to go shopping that morning and wait for sunny skies after lunch. We drove to Foley and shopped the outlet stores and then came back to the condo for lunch. The weather was BEAUTIFUL by now, so we all changed into our swimsuits, gathered our sunscreen, magazines, books, chairs, and towels, and headed to the beach. This is what greeted us when we arrived...



My new friend, Lindsey, took a lot of these pictures and really captured what we did our entire trip. Pretty much every day was a version of this...

It was so nice to relax and spend some time with these girls!

Friday night we all went to Tacky Jack's for supper. Since the wait was at least an hour long everywhere we went, we spent our time waiting taking pictures.

Megan and me

Diane and me

Megan and Diane

Our Whole Group of Girls

Diane, Jamie, Dara, Megan, Angela, Lindsey,

Brandi, Crystal, me, Shannon

Dara, me, Diane, Angela

View from the pier

Saturday was spent enjoying more of this...

That night we went to a very nice restaurant called Cobalt. Once again, we had about an hour wait, so we took some more pictures :)

Me, Dara, Angela, Diane

Group Shot

Beautiful sunset on the bay

Me, Mega, Diane

After devouring our dinner (the tuna was DEVINE!), we passed by the cupcake display and each decided that we had to try some. For $2 how could you not?

Diane and I shared a salted caramel cupcake and OH. MY. WORD! That cupcake was wonderful!!

After inhaling  devouring eating our dessert, some of us went to The Hangout to go listen to some bands. It was lots of fun!  

Me, Brandi, Diane

Me and Diane

My last day at the beach was Sunday, so I stayed out as long as I could to soak up all the sunshine I could. For our last meal in Gulf Shores, we ate at an Italian restaurant called Grazie. Yum-o! We took one last group shot to remember our time together and then headed back to the condo to get ready to leave the next day. 

I'm so glad I got to spend some time at the beach with this great group of girls. We talked and shared and really got to know each other a lot better. I made some new friends and made deeper bonds with old ones. I left the beach feeling refreshed and invigorated. I couldn't wait to go home to my boys, who I missed so incredibly much! Thanks, girls, for an incredible trip! Love you all lots and I can't wait for next year's trip!!