Ten Years

Ten years ago, I graduated high school at the International School of Bangkok (ISB) in 2002. I really had a fulfilling high school experience. Sure, I experienced my fair share of insecurities and sometimes struggled with fitting in, especially when it came to figuring out how to maintain my standards and values when I was one of a small group of Mormon youth. But all in all, I made some great friends, thrived in the athletic program, enjoyed school overall, zoomed around my "Ex-Pat" community on my scooter (haha! good times. Shout of to my fellow "Mormon Mafia" early-morning seminary crew!) and lived in "A-maz-ING Thailand" (*Said with a Thai accent. . . Sorry, I'm feeling too many inside-jokes coming on). I seriously loved life over there!

So, it's no surprise I'm feeling a little nostalgic reflecting on my childhood. Let's take a quick peek:

 Most of my core group of friends: Laura, Natasha, me, Dana, Reema, Lala, Brooke

Megan and Kim are in this one now

 Here's one with everyone: Laura, Nat, Dana, me, Megan, Reema, Lala, Kim, Brooke

Some of the guys: Brian, Cody, err...can't remember his name all of a sudden ...(we'll come back to you) Michael, Greg.

While we have kept in regular contact through mass-email over the years, I have been really bad about calling any of them, except a couple once in a long while. So when Dana decided to marry her boyfriend of 5 years, a lot of us were able to pull together and meet up in Louisiana for her wedding, creating our own private

TEN YEAR REUNION:

Meeting up together was a little like piecing magnets together. Lala (living in Thailand) and Brooke (San Francisco) met up at the airport first and flew together to New Orleans, where they met up with Laura (living in Washington D.C.). The three of them stayed at Dana's house where she lives in "N'awlins".

Thursday
Dan, Aiyana and I arrived super late Wednesday so we didn't catch the girls until Thursday late morning. (Let the "power-hugs" and high-pitched laughter begin!) Everyone really just looked the same to me for the most part! We walked over to the annual JAZZ FEST and, while listening to an assortment of jazz bands and other various music, we ROASTED and melted in the humidity. Thank goodness heavy cloud cover arrived after a couple hours. My poor Aiya was napless and so hot and sweaty, as were we all. I do not know how I ever lived in such heat and humidity all year round in Thailand! Never again! I truly detest humidity now.

 Me, Lala, Laura, Brooke, Dana

We tried lots of different Cajun food. Pretty tasty stuff!

 My little belly-dancer. She was loved, of course. (She even won Brooke over, who admitted she avoids kids at all costs and never wants any!)

Craw fish Boil! That evening, Dana hosted it at her house. There were literally just tables outside where 200 lbs of boiled craw fish were distributed for our dining pleasure. Once you get past the idea of tearing and ripping apart the shells and body to get to the meat . . . it's delicious -- especially with the sides of sausage, corn and potatoes.

Friday
Reema was our final friend to arrive to the party! We ate beignets for breakfast (every day, actually), which are basically scones or donuts with TONS of powdered sugar. Yummy. We were supposed to go walk around some more but once we were together in the hotel, we spent the entire afternoon creating our own therapy session: retelling the best and worst times of the past ten years, crying and giving/receiving advice . . . Too much to catch up on! (It's a good thing Dan opted to drive the hour to Baton Rouge to hang out with our good college friends, Jared and Amanda Hickman. The excess girl-talk would have been too much for even him to handle.)

In the evening, we dressed up for dessert and cocktails -- or just lots of dessert in our case.

Saturday
We walked around the historical French Quarter. I loved all the architecture! All the street-acts were entertaining as well, comparable to those you'd find on the Vegas Strip or Pier 39 in San Francisco. Dan was such a good sport the whole trip. The girls were in awe of how helpful he was with Aiyana and how he would take her so I could just hang out with my friends without worry. He's like that at home but he went above and beyond the entire trip, catering to my needs and that of my friends -- including being a chauffeur and other gentleman-ly acts of kindness towards them. He's just the best.

Just another beignet breakfast

Ok, this cracks me up. I didn't know my friends were taking pictures of us, and none of us noticed the couple on the right until afterwards.

 NOW & LATER?? haha

 The wedding! Dana is one of the most laid-back people I know. Her wedding was pretty casual and chill, though the venue was absolutely gorgeous at this park. It was lush green with these trees that had long strands of moss hanging from them so they didn't need to add much to make it beautiful. The band playing was similar to what we listened to at Jazz Fest: sort of blue-grass meets jazz with a touch of rock to it? Not my favorite but so fun because it's different.

 Brooke and the bride!

 We really had such a fun time catching up. I usually feel pretty removed from high school, but when I stop and think about it, I appreciate the good times. It was great reminiscing with my friends. I also am so appreciative of my life today, ten years later, and how much more I have experienced and learned and cherish on a daily basis. Life is so good right now, even with the past bumps in the road (ok, let's be honest -- some of these "bumps" are more like the Rockies but we're making it through).

To conclude our Louisiana trip, we spent Saturday night with the Hickmans and enjoyed a full Sunday with them. We love Jared and Amanda and now their three kids! (Jared and Dan were roommates, and Amanda and I were roommates during our sophomore year in college. Dan and I set them up while we were dating . . . and then they up and got married 9 months before us!).

 Visiting LSU and their real-live Tiger mascot who lives on campus!

 Kaitlyn and Lexi feeding the ducks

 Aiya didn't want to feed the ducks. She just wanted to eat the bread herself.

 Amanda and me. Love this girl!

 Jared and Dan (who also played rugby together at BYU, by the way)

 Aiyana loved the attention and playing with the kids. Amanda was so nice to babysit her for me the day Dan came to visit without me.

This is the best picture I took of Greyson and unfortunately, he's looking a little banged up on his forehead. Poor boy falls a lot! He sure is cute though.

Bye ya'll!
(I couldn't get myself to say it out loud in person)