"We all have our own go-to people, but you girls are my forever go-to people."

Quoteblog...Queen Bee style. I've known these ladies starting at the age of 5, which has now been THIRTY YEARS for some of us. Wowza. We spent a long weekend of CELEBRATION in Florida recently.




"The get up and go got up and went." -sadee

"We've got security." -lou

"Why does Charlotte Russe have an outlet store?" -jill


"If people see me pick my nose, I don't really care."

"Are you gonna put this on your blog? I don't want to have to censor myself." -sadee

"I really like this...well, until I saw these f*ckers." -sloan on birds

"Are you doing inappropriate things with my pen?" -lou

"Self-diagnosed. High anxiety. Tightly wound." -medhurst

"Oh, we're not in Colorado. I have a hard time remembering that you live in Florida." -maggie

"I thought you would appreciate that. You especially." -keri

"...the lesbian and her lesbian friend. COME ON, YOU CARPET MUNCHERS!!" -maggie

"I really don't like bees. But I really like bees!" -allison

"That's exactly what it says at the Gap. 'This b already bought something online.'"

"Sara, you should skip the ruffage." -svr

"Mary told me she would buy my Coach purse." -maggie

"He's very generous in his own kind of ways. But those are not his ways." -sadee

"I...am about....to stick my face...in that big bowl of cho-co-late mousse." -jill

"I frickin' love enchiladas." -fritzel


"I had my moment where I invited Jesus into my heart. But it was a lie." -mg

"I would work here just to hear "Sleigh Ride" every day." -sara on disney



"All the other girls are gonna be sooo jealous!" -allie on fairy dust

"It's not your fault, I just look chubby." -jill

"It may be cutting off the electricity of my body." -svr

"I would like to do a water aerobics class. Like with senior citizens." -sadee on exercise

"Now, if I'm a white girl from Illinois, is it still just a "little" spicy?" -jill

"Jill has two beers and is....ready to screw the bartender." -maggie on tolerance

"You want some drizzle dizzle?" -lou

"I can't even speak grammar." -maggie

"I'm a little tipsy. I don't know if I've ever been totally drunk around you guys."

"Jill's like the paparazzi." -maggie

"Keri, do you want to go next? While you can still form a sentence?" -jill on highs and lows

"You ever had your business done?" -jill
"Not professionally." -lou

"Never roam alone!" -luke on bernard

"Oh, I was on the tit."

"Oh, shit! That's great!" -luke on pictures

"....and Sloan is the same height as the Medhurst girls." -sadee on the same pictures

"Do you think Bernard is playing with his penus in here?"

"They don't make a condom for your heart, Jill."

"Did you guys know that in high school I was really popular for doing the running man??" -keri

"I like to touch my flower." -smf

"Sloan, do you have a pen?"
"I thought you stole a pen."

"If we were in the DAR, you'd be our historian." -sadee

"Hair down. No boobs." -allie on first impressions

"I enjoyed the side trip to the ghetto." -lou

"Lou, we should sit together more often. We're funny." -jill

"She is NOT okay."

"All of the shirts in my closet are short sleeved. And I live in Illinois." -sloan

"No, thanks. We don't drink and drive." -sadee on coupons

"Oh, are you gonna put it in your purse and recycle it?" -maggie on pizza crust

"Now why did we stop when I just said I was gonna do what I was gonna do?" -sloan



"Her name is Helen because Sloan likes to mute her." -maggie on the garmin

"There I am, itching my hoo-ha. Don't worry; I'm not up in there."



"You are ruining their 'Happiest Place on Earth' moment." -lou

"...And now she's Elmo." -sadee

"Doesn't this just make you happy, Jill?"
"Now there's an adult up there...OK, he's mentally handicapped."
"No chocolate! GO DANCE UP THERE!!" -all sadee on downtown disney

"Those sorority girls like that crap." -sadee on paint your own pottery
"And Jill." -maggie

"Are you saying my neck is fat?"

"Yeah-I have a godmother. She's 78." -maggie
"You can be in a movie at 15, why can't you be a godmother?" -sara
"Do you have pictures yet?" -lou on the plimptons
"So George Plimpton is married to the young model?!" -sara
(all of the above plus 18 other quotes happened while all 8 of us were in the car. There was only ONE actual topic of conversation.)

"You're fine. Move on. Build a bridge." -maggie

"I should drink more." -medhurst

"And I do watch a little too much Nancy Grace. I own that." -sadee on conservative views

"Maybe that's God's way of saying, 'Not today, Jill, not today.'."

Realizing that it's nearly the end of March, I'm backing up to say that I had a nutball crazy February. It was eventful, and I spent over half of the month out of town. One of those adventures took me to Haviland, Kansas to visit the Hinshaw family. Donnie was the junior high youth pastor at 4Cs when I first moved to Colorado. For the better part of 4 years, a group of us volunteered together and worked at the church. It was a seriously magical and powerful time. Donnie's wife, Rhonda, is incredible. She embodies the Proverbs 31 woman. The Hinshaws continue to be a giant influence on my life. (Did I mention that they have 4 beautiful children that I love dearly? We'll get to that.)

Twelve of us left Arvada for Haviland...a combination of leaders and students, friends old and new. We hung out and caught up on life, worshipped with Phil Wickham, ate Mexican food (yup, in Kansas), hung out some more, shot a bunch of guns, played carpetball and that dumb pool table game (that I actually like now), and then hung out some more. In a combination slide show insipid quote list, I give you the highlights...


First stop: Genoa, CO. In my quest to see all things superlative, we are drawn to the "Wonder Tower", where we are promised a view of 6 STATES! As you can see, it was a wondrous tower. It was also closed. Boo. However, the 12 blocks of Genoa and it's amazing dirt roads gave us some entertainment regardless. C'mon, it's Jill, JRe and JigglyPuff. Of course it's a hoot and a holler.

"I feel like the Boxcar Children are about to hop out." -JRe on Genoa
"That sign might have been worth it." -JRe on the uber-dangerous traffic



After crossing the state line, we venture into Goodland, KS to see "The World's Largest Easel". In fact, it's only the state's largest easel, as the Canadian creator of this 768 square foot masterpiece is on a quest to replicate all 7 of Picasso's sunflower paintings and put them on every continent. Seriously. The easel itself is 80 feet tall.



That's me posing in front. For a little perspective action, here's JigglyPuff:




Possibly the most hilarious part of the trip, for me, takes place during these next 15 minutes. First, we're stopping in Kansas to take pictures of an oversized painting. With JigglyPuff. That's enough to rouse a nice bout of laughter from me. Then the Rotary Club has a sign in sheet for the visitors...I, of course, make a Dumb & Dumber reference by signing "Kansas, you've TOTALLY redeemed yourself!" right under a guy that passed along a real gem of advice, "Smoke weed or die".

Next, we honestly could not have chosen the neighboring shops of said easel to create a better story, so I'll let the pictures (and our faces in them) do the talking.


"I'll take the picture from back here. I don't want you to get chopped up. Or them to think you're mocking them. -JRe on Bubba's
"But I am." -me on the ever obvious




"Who'da thought all of this would be in the same area?" -me on the hot mess
"It's a gift. Like Christmas." -Jess
"In April....Except it's February." -me

Once we got to Haviland, JRe discovered she had a new talent and a new love. The talent being throwing clay pigeons for shooting and the love being the Gagers.





"First we shoot like this. Then we shoot from the hip like this."
"Why can't I cry? What if my bone's broke?" -BarryRay
"You don't even know what could've pooped right there." -Jess to Ben on snow




"You aren't a very good liberal." -Andy on Jill and guns



"There aren't any peachers there." -Leighton on going to the country

Cute kid, huh? Darnell, Lantern...my first baby friend. He plays the harmonica.



Lauren and Lillian. Tons of super fun memories of these pretty Pony ladies...we played waaay too many hours of Memory, read hundreds of books, had water balloon fights and laughfests aplenty. Somehow they'll always be 6 and 10 to me. (Good thing Jess and I are willing to stay immature just for memories' sake.)




"Oh. Mountain people." -random dude at Barclay (note the plaid and stocking hats)



"Or you could go to Belvidere." -Rhonda on our directional aptitude
"You just ruined worship for me." -Donald on melons
"My sister probably keeps a lot of games from me." -JRe on Micah
"Jill's always the last woman standing." -BKainz on late nights
"It's because I'm lost." -JRe on Uturns
"Wow. It's so sexy. Like bra sizes." -JRe on Kansas' highway abbreviations
"I am. I'm allergic to love." -Jess on Ollie
"I don't know. Hopefully he's dying." -Donnie on limping

"Hey, man...don't trivialize my trivialization."

(disclaimer: this is my first attempt to blog with photos. and they aren't very good ones. humor me.)

For me, a good trip to Galesburg has many expectations. It's as if the town is a person, and there are things that I do to reacquaint myself; some from habit, some for nostalgia's sake, and many just because I like to be by myself so much. I usually spend a few hours at Innkeepers reading, writing, and people watching. Ditto Lake Storey (with the bonus of lightening bugs!). I like to drive around, listening to WVKC and the bricks hum beneath the tires of a car. I take a bike ride to Bracken, past Conner's parents' farm.

At any rate, a solid trip starts with 12 hours of this:














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Inevitably ends up stopped at a few of these:













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If I'm lucky, time for a few of these:













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As of late, it's definitely included some of this:














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Always a walk to this place:














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But the majority of my time is spent right here:













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Coming or going, this always stirs some thoughts:













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This trip included the highlight of seeing this little guy (Ian Matthew King):