the best way to spend a weekend.

^^ On Saturday afternoon I got to live out my life long dream of being a hip hop dancer...sort of. My boss' daughter turned 7 and invited me to her "frozen-hip-hop-dance-party-themed-birthday" and there was no way I was turning that down. The best part was that my good friend *and real life dancer* Kelcie was hired as the choreographer and got a discount at her dance studio Boogie Utopia. amazing. We had the dance room to ourselves for 2 hours and I'm not sure if the birthday girl had more fun or me haha. The girls performed the routine for the parents and we sang happy birthday and ate cupcakes and pocky sticks - so. much. fun.

 ^^After the frozen party I quickly gathered my stuff and headed out to Azusa for a NEST REUNION CHRISTMAS PARTY!! We did a gift exchange, meg cooked delicious pasta, I brought the dessert, and we spent the rest of the night uncontrollably laughing whilst playing fishbowl and family. Out of the 8 Nesters 6 of us were able to make it out! The "Nestmen" as we call them (Husbands, fiances, and boyfriends) were also invited which made battle of the sexes charades really quite fun.

^^10 points if you can name everyone! This was the "sit in couples" photo haha and Liana's fiances Zach is still in Spain so she was my date one last time! Next to us at the top are Becky and Alex who are getting married next June in Chicago!! WOOO! The middle row is Meg and James who hosted us since the party was at Megs house, then theres Katelyn and Brad celebrated there 1 year anni this past October, then on the right are Natty sue and her boyfriend Eddie - they drove down from Napa and it was our first time meeting Eddie and we all love him! - and then on the left are Marty and Nati who have been married since May! Wow what a beautiful bunch. This photo means so much to me! 

Meg let us all sleep over and this photo cracks me up because its all the roommates (minus becky anneke and anna) and the two Nest husbands Marty and Brad. hahaa. I think this depicts the kind of bonds we have formed over the years...a true family. We haven't all been together since Nati's wedding in May and sharing a bathroom with them felt like the most natural thing in the world. 

^all cozy for the night! Natty sue and I shared an air mattress and it reminded us of the last time we had a sleepover together - in the middle of Jinja Uganda under a mosquito net! 

^^Sunday morning we woke up and headed to Meg and James' church in La Verne. The pastor preached on the Mary miracle of Christmas and her obedience to the word given to her by the Lord. James also led worship and it was so great seeing him up there leading us all into the presence of God! 

 ^^on top of that, our two good friends Courtney and Melissa were also in town (the two on the right) and we met up with them at church! Courtney was in India this past year and is now moving to DC so seeing her for this brief moment was such a treat! And Melissa is a nurse in Colorado and we are already planning to hang out when I one day make it out to CO! 

 ^^and to top it all off we ate Thai food at our favorite restaurant in Claremont. 

WOW. I drove away on Sunday with a heart full of thankfulness.

What an incredible testament this all is the grace of God in our lives, in our stories, and the way He weaves in people, places, experiences, personalities, and years of life together to create a scenario far more beautiful than we could ever paint up ourselves. On weekends like this i'm reminded that the stories I try to force into writing by myself can never compare to the unpredictable, wonderfully mysterious stories of God. I feel lucky to know these people and to call them friends.