How fortunate am I? In September, 1997, I made the decision to join Zeta Tau Alpha sorority at Samford. I quickly became great friends with several of these girls, and I loved our next four years together. It's so hard to believe we graduated 20 years ago! Twelve of us got together four years ago at Mom and Dad's Beach Club condo to celebrate the 20 years since we pledged Zeta together. To celebrate this 20 year graduation milestone, six of us were able to get together in Breckenridge, CO. We missed terribly the other six that could not join in, but we had an absolute blast together!
Christy Pearce offered for us all to fly out and stay at her second home in Breckenridge; her family lives a little over an hour away in Colorado Springs. Emily Whitehead and Becky Richardson flew out to Denver on Wednesday night and spent the night before driving over on Thursday. Claire Baker, Erin Turner, and I flew out to Denver Thursday morning, met up at the airport, and then drove down. It was a beautiful day and drive, and it was so great to be back together again!
On Thursday evening, we went to Breckenridge Brewery for dinner. It was a lot of talking and catching up which was wonderful. Afterwards we went home, put on comfy pjs, and stayed up talking for hours. It was a great way to start our trip.
Christy had rented a pontoon boat for us to use on Friday for several hours. We had a lot of fun floating around, laughing, and eating lunch. Claire and Emily were our fearless captains who thankfully knew how to drive the boat. We couldn't get over how gorgeous it was every direction we looked.
Little did we know that Christy and Becky had been working on a surprise. One of our other sorority sisters, Lena Gross, actually lives in Colorado Springs near Christy. She drove down to spend the evening with us! It was a great treat to have her join in for a bit too! We drove into town and enjoyed a delicious tapas dinner at Mimo Fancy Tapas. We walked around a little after that, and then enjoyed another late evening of talking.
Saturday promised to be another beautiful day. Everywhere you go God's design, beauty, and creativity are on display!
Christy had brought all six of her family's bikes down for us, and we went on a ride into town. I'll be honest...this kicked my tail! I haven't ridden a bike in approximately 30 years. The saying is true though, and I was able to get back in to it pretty quickly; thankfully I never lost my balance and fell! I don't exercise much though and combined with the high altitude, it was an incredibly tough ride for me. Bless my precious friends though who encouraged me, rode slow with me, and helped me through it.
After we made it into town, we stopped for lunch at a crepe place. I wasn't feeling well after that ride, so I hopped over to a smoothie place to pick up just a cold smoothie and little energy ball. We hung out for a bit in town and then decided to ride the gondola up the mountain. This was just before we got on the gondola.
I've never been to a ski resort town like this before, so it was really fun to ride the gondola through and above the mountains.
Christy and Claire decided to hike from here back to the house because it was only about a mile over. The other four of us walked around the little resort area. It was interesting to see how they added activities to give people things to do outside of ski season. It looked fun, but I could totally see how this is a fantastic place to come if you enjoy skiing.
Saturday evening was our last night together, so Christy made huge charcuterie boards for us to enjoy for dinner. We just sat out on the back porch, nibbled for hours, and talked our ears off. It was perfect.
Sunday morning came faster than we wanted, but we enjoyed breakfast and some last quiet time together. We spent a little time in prayer for one another, and then it was time for four of us to head to the airport. Becky's flight wasn't until much later, so she stayed behind to help Christy clean up. We gave lots of big hugs as we said goodbye.
I found a quote by Ed Cunningham that says "friends are those rare people who ask how we are and then wait to hear the answer." That's what I have found in these ladies, and I am so incredibly thankful. While we all lives miles apart from one another, when we're together, it's as if no time has passed. What a blessing it is to have good friends. We've nominated Becky to host us in Nashville sometime sooner rather than later, and I cannot wait for that time!
