she's only....

...30 minutes away!

who? my sweet friend carrie :)
she's a friend from my hometown!! her sweet husband joe has landed their family in Lawrence, KS - so close to me!!!!!!!!! rock chalk care!!!

i got to FINALLY go visit her last week. and WHAT a treat :)

and soon she will have a blog (right care!?!?) and then you can meet, ahemmm 'stalk' her!

it's amazing how you can catch up with someone - like you just saw them yesterday.
and i completely attribute that to how much you have in common with that person.

you see, i believe at the foundation of a true and lasting friendship is the common belief that you share with someone. you know, your faith.

its so nice to be so open and truth telling with a dear friend about such important topics.

it seems like it only took us 5 minutes ..........and we were having deep conversations about marriage and striving to be good wives,
about moving and being away from family,
about decorating and crafts,
about being a mommy (and carrie totally ROCKS at the momma role),
and of course, about her adorable sweet baby stella.

Our lovely conversations moved from the super cozy abode her, joe, and stella abide in, including some very crucial time spent stella's closet........down to the famous 'mass street' for a quick dinner and some window shopping :)

in fact, it was SUCH a GREAT time, that the only negative thing that passed through my mind, as i SO joyously reflected on our time as i drove back home, was the fact that i only took 3 pictures.
boo, what was i thinking? next time care........watch out!

of course..........the window shopping gets real tempting when you stroll up to baby gap.
so we went it.
and ooooooo'ed and aaaaaaaah'ed for a while. i put three stuffed animals in the stroller (because i seem to go overboard like that, when entertaining babies),
and then we dressed her up.......in shades!!!


ok, i snapped one with the dorky tag stickin out. but i think it totally adds character: ) .......and then as we started our stroll back to the car, we realized one of the stuffed bunnies was still in stella's stroller!!!!!!! (turns out this is stella's 2nd offense of the thievery category!!!) don't worry though, our reaction time was quick.

i sprinted back to the gap.

and the lady said, "wow!!, thanks for actually returning it!!!"

what the heck, people, do mom's really steal from baby gap??? ahhhhhhhhh what's happening to our society!!!!!!! hehehe......

so.......thanks carrie. for a most wonderful little road trip to your place :)
i am super excited for our summer and meeting you at the pool!!!!!!! - it will be like the old days when we lifeguarded together, all. summer. long!!!!!!........except, unfortunately, there will be no sweet treat across the street - no wondermalts, and no cheeseballs.

and because i was super adhd while in baby gap (dreaming of the GIRL i totally think i need to have) i totally didn't get a normal picture of the momma and her babe........so here is momma carrie in action :)

PS
the monday manday will come tonight - i need to be at home to complete the task........and so, ya know........ you can check back later for that :)

PPS - this MAY be mr. leif's LAST week away!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! but i wont know until like wednesday or thursday. why does the weekend suddenly feel like an eternity away? i mean, i waited 10 months, whats 5 days!?!?!?!