Besties Vacay=SUCCESS

What a wonderful time I had this past week and weekend! As I mentioned previously in another post, I went to Joplin and Fayetteville and it was more wonderful than I could have imagined:)  I arrived on another flight Wednesday afternoon (after a cancelled flight that morning) and was picked up by Mo and enjoyed a nice relaxing night with her.  The next day we went to where she works and afterwards drove to Fayetteville (aka--little piece of heaven).  That night as mentioned in Dina's blog, one of my besties, Amber, made us a fabulous dinner and we enjoyed chatting.  I particularly enjoyed meeting her sweet son, Emerson for the first time.  His adorable picture is below.  cutie pie + happy= watch out ladies!

The next day I enjoyed lunch with the girls at "Loafin' Joes" a Fayetteville fav! And then...we went shopping:) That night some of us met up with some good friends from high school/college and ate at Noodles!  On Saturday, I finally got to see Ash and we all ate at Slim's Chicken for lunch.  It was WONDERFUL being all together again.  Below are some pics I've snatched from Ash:)

Have I mentioned I have the best friends in the world?!  Soooo dear to my heart.  That afternoon/evening Morgan went back to Joplin and the rest of the gals went to the Razorback game.  I was privileged to have dinner with ANOTHER dear friend Karol, whom I had all of my social work classes with.  HUGE BLESSING:)  My sister, Lola, also came down to see me all the way from Lincoln, NE and I enjoyed wonderful time with her that night and the next day.  (plus, she gave me a free haircut...I'm spoiled)  

Sunday, Kristin, was so sweet to drive me back to Fayetteville and the next couple of days I spent in Joplin with Mo.  On my last day there, she took me to see the majority of the damage from the tornado that hit Joplin on May 22nd.  At several points I was completely lost to where we were in town, I was somewhat speechless as she drove me around (and I know that it's been over 5 months and a lot has been done).  Below are some pictures that I took with my phone.  She also took me by the Extreme Makeover homes that were built for seven different families.  They were beautiful and I am so touched to see and hear about the contributions made by so many.

 This was where Morgan's grandparents' home was

 This is where the surrounding neighborhood was

 Joplin High School

 You could see St. John's Hospital across town

 

St. John's up close

All in all, I had a wonderful time.  I am blessed to have had the opportunity to visit my wonderful friends:) I can't wait until the next time I see them, and I pray it's sooner rather than later!