If you follow me on any of my social media…You’ve seen some of
this awesomeness, as it was happening!
I met Mandy, of House of Rose at BLISSDOM this past year.
We have stayed in touch and really became good friends..
always wishing we lived in the same city!
We felt so similar and had so many of the same interests and goals for life..
Not to mention we both have 3 kids and have a place in our hearts for healing.
( her with adoption and orphans and me with domestic violence awareness)
A few weeks ago.. I get a text from Mandy:
“Hey! do you remember how long we said it would take us to get there? ummmmm we want to come visit you! lol..” She said they would get a hotel and take the 10 hour drive..
and that it was an idea she had during worship that day at church”
My response: “MANDY!!! we would seriously love it!!”
(And the crazy thing is a few weeks earlier BEN was the one saying we should invite them to visit sometime!)
So we of course decided sooner the better..
so the trip was planned for the NEXT WEEKEND!
I love having spontaneous friends like that! And because “company” was coming..Our 3 month to do list became a 1 week to do list and I was way more settled than I thought I would be at this time because of this motivation ;) Ben was thrilled with the new time frame of the to do list ;)
**It needed to get done anyways!! ;)
IT WAS SO FUN.
Seriously! It was so nice seeing Mandy again..
getting our families together. our husbands together!
It felt so natural and like we were old friends. I have to say I was soo in awe that she thought we were worth a 10 hour car trip with a vehicle full of kids…
I know how crazy road trips with kids can be!
But I am so happy that they did it because my girls were so excited for our company and still talk about their friends. ;) We had a weekend of fun.. laid back pittsburgh fun. :)
I really feel so blessed to have found this friendship with Mandy!
And I only met her because of blogging..because I took that risk and leap of faith and went to BLISSDOM even though I only knew 1 person in real life that was going and we weren’t even going together! God really works in our lives! He sees the big picture! We had both read some of the other’s blog posts..but then re connected right before blissom.. and then during and after the conference became good friends.
Mandy had found my blog through shannon’s story…and I really feel like shannon has helped me find a friendship that I was needing in this time of my life right now.
My husband even told me that he facebooked mandy the day after they left just to thank her for making the trip and to tell her that he saw how happy I was..and how it made him think of how since losing shannon I have found it hard to find friendships that came about so easily and effortlessly and with such an awesome connection! Right now in my life I feel like I’ve been blessed with a great group of women..and mandy is one of those people that inspires me and lifts me up. She is such a creative and joyful person.. and I think we, as mothers..as women, need to be surrounded by people like mandy! If you are feeling like you are lacking in that area of your life.. don’t fret! E-mail me. ;) I can be your girlfriend next door.. sort of. haha. I know how it can feel lonely or stressful some days as a mother.. and having connections with other women who “get it” is important..I hope you find that here! And don’t be afraid to take a risk.. it might mean you’ll discover a friendship you wouldn’t have had before!
We had lots of playing this weekend!
We played at the park… in our back yard…
We had pizza and lollipops for dinner! crowd pleaser here.
I made a nice big dinner for father’s day.. but other than that we kept it simple and easy!
There were lots of giggling and forcing of children to take photos with over exaggerated “this’ll be funnn!!” comments–trying to get them to cooperate..
they are used to their mamas so they were pros.
what did they expect? two bloggers together? we need to document this!!! haha.
I already shared on my blog the fun little Gift Bag we surprised them with at their hotel…
I knew I wanted to do a nice detail for their arrival since they were traveling 10 hours!
Our husbands were great about taking
on the role of photographers over the weekend as well ;)
They knew that when we said “hey can you get a picture of us”..what we really
meant was “take at least 10 pictures of us.”
Another perk of hanging with a blogger friend who documents everything like me…..
she turned the camera on my family! loved some of the shots she
got of sophie and micah and I!
Playground fun. Can’t wait for the day when micah will
be able to sit up with them! He is ready to be a part of the action.
I really loved seeing our kids play together… It just made my heart happy!
Because they were in Pittsburgh..we of course had to take them to the Incline!
A fun ride that takes you high up the side of the mountain and you can overlook the city!
It’s beautiful. (The first photo in this post is from on the way up.)
We also went to the zoo. I absolutely love the Pittsburgh Zoo.
(It has a great membership price so we go now and don’t even spend anything!)
It was also fun getting Abby, of Just a Girl and her Blog, to join in on the fun!
She is the sweetest and so glad I discovered her through Mandy!
Our husbands already exchanged numbers to play tennis! Can’t wait to get our families together..I randomly bumped into her at target a couple days ago! crazy.
Saturday night we had our sitters come over and watch all the kids so we could have a double date night! We took them into the city..had dinner at Atria’s in the
stadium and then walked the bridge into the city and grabbed
dessert at Olive or Twist. Cute place.. amazing desserts.
It was such a nice night.. took pictures on the bridge.. had GREAT conversation.
And now.. a little Expert Mothers Spoof…
for your enjoyment.
Mandy and I created this video to share how skilled we are in parenting.
Are your children as well behaved as ours?
One of the fun parts of getting together with blog friends..
was seeing the instagram feed come to life ;)
I feel like Mandy and I both try to share “real life” on our blogs in a positive way…
And after our fun and crazy weekend adventures with our kids together we
felt like we wanted to share how it went down..through video.
And also here’s some shots of when we were trying to get “blog post” photos.
We just ended up laughing and going with it. ;) REAL LIFE.
The last day they were here we celebrated Father’s Day with our amazing men..
by giving them a chocolate cake (cake boss) of their dreams.
Mandy was so sweet and gave me a cute going away present.
The Art is now in my kitchen. :)
We were so sad to see them go! But excited for
the next time we get our little crews together!
You should stop over and say Hi to Mandy at House of Rose…
she is posting her visit recap today too!!
Check back next week for the “official” video we created for you guys!
It was fun to make it..and even more fun to watch the outtakes. we are ridiculous.
If you’ve had starting a blog on your heart..or wanting resources..
you won’t want to miss that post!
denise
June 26, 2013 at 8:57 amThat was awesome! One thing I pray for is to find a friendship as easy as that seems! Thanks for sharing
Prehistoric Play
June 26, 2013 at 9:31 amI love that even your kiddiewinks run riot occasionally and your picture perfect home gets trashed too….all in the name of fun right :-) Thanks for letting the truth out ;-) Just starting my blog but if I can get the it even half as good as yours i’d be so happy!
Mandy@ a sorta fairytale
June 26, 2013 at 10:17 amOh my gosh can you stop with all of these cute pictures?! And that video?! It’s making me miss you and wish I lived on the eastcoast! lol. For real, though, love you! You are such a sweetie. And it is amazing what the blogging community can do, and how it brings people together. xoxo
Kelly Bartlett
June 26, 2013 at 10:23 amLove that the two of you brought your families together. Yay for new family friendships!
Mrs. Howard
June 26, 2013 at 10:48 amI just laughed and laughed and laughed. So funny!!
Emily Eisert
June 26, 2013 at 10:54 amYou guys are toooo funny! Love your video! Looks like y’all had a wonderful time! :)
Emily
June 26, 2013 at 11:32 amI love this video! So honest. I’m a new mom (and fur mom) so my house isn’t too chaotic yet, but I have 3 nephews and a niece all under 5, so when we get all the kids together it is CHAOS! In fact, in November we even all traveled together to AZ for a family trip, but that’s another story for another time. ;) So much fun. Thanks for sharing!
Niki A
June 26, 2013 at 12:29 pmFound you via Mandy and the time you all spent together looked like so much fun!
I look forward to getting to know you better.
Christine Hutchinson
June 26, 2013 at 1:16 pmLoved it! I’m off to get to know House of Rose a little better. Thanks for introducing us to her!
Mama Tully
June 26, 2013 at 3:12 pmHaha! That was so great! And YES my children are as well behaved and perfect as yours ;) Thanks for the laugh!
Natasha
June 26, 2013 at 4:55 pmHahahaha Great! Hilarious! Mine are just as perfect, mature, and well behaved! ;)
Francine
June 26, 2013 at 5:30 pmLooks like everyone had a great time! I wish I could be real life friends with you guys! And yes, my kids are that well-behaved. ;) ha!
Angela
June 26, 2013 at 7:17 pmLooks like an awesome time! The kids are adorable!
Abby Lawson
June 26, 2013 at 10:24 pmYou girls are the cutest! What an awesome video. I am totally cracking up over here! Thanks for letting us crash the party for a little while, too–we had so much fun with your clans! Hope your trip is going well. Talk to you soon!
~Abby =)
Andrea Worley
June 26, 2013 at 11:09 pmlove this, great and such a fun video,
i love meeting my bloggy friends :)
Tamara
June 27, 2013 at 8:22 amTooooo funny!! I want to be part of this fun! Me and my 3 kids will come next time we are on Long Island…. mmmmmk?? Just kidding :) but I wish!
Krista
June 27, 2013 at 4:20 pmIt’s so nice to hear that the friendship you are discovering with Mandy is helping you to heal from the loss of Shannon a bit. Deep friendship truly is a treasure. I’ve been praying about that too, finding a connection with someone that “gets” me. Glad you found Mandy, I will be checking out her blog too. Looks like she is a bunch of fun. The video you guys did is great…love it!
Happy Summer Natalie!
megs7827
June 29, 2013 at 2:08 amChocolate cake!!!!! Love it!
colleen renwick
July 7, 2013 at 1:00 amLoved your video!!