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10/22/13

MN Girls Road Trip : #toteshilarweddingwknd

Wow, just wow.
I have no idea how to describe how awesome this trip was--seriously one of the best of my life so far.

          I thought the SD trip earlier this year was amazing, which it was!
This one was just 3x as awesome and hilarious..we had a group of 7 girls that traveled up together:
Chelsy & Allison, Amanda, Tia, Lilly, Ruth & I.
We met up with other Bright Lights girls while up there for a wedding/concert as well.

We were all howling with laughter over so many things the whole time...so much fun and so many memories made.

I'll start at the beginning...which really was the night before the whole trip.
I kept having roadblocks while doing various projects that evening...things taking way longer than I needed them to, or a computer that was freezing on me, or trying to pack around midnight and I couldn't decide what all I needed to bring.
I finally had a meltdown at 1 am over a computer problem, (which, praise the Lord got fixed!) but by that point I was beginning to think it wasn't meant to be that I should even go on this trip, and my hours of sleep kept diminishing.
So after I was in tears and soon about to finally be in bed, I then had a heart attack moment by encountering a 3-inch beetle in the hallway by my bedroom..that thing was huge and so gross.
After I executed him and sent him to a watery grave (the toilet) I crawled into bed.
I only got about 4 1/2 hours of sleep, but woke up and got going miraculously and thus began our trip,
although I felt like the living dead for awhile. :)

I tell ya, our troop is quite the combination..we talk and laugh, and talk some more..except for the occasional people that sleep. :)

Once we finally got everyone picked up from the various towns,
we plugged away and stopped from time to time for restroom breaks, etc.
The below photo was taken at a super ghetto ghost town park bathroom...the only place we could find at the moment.
yes, a few faces are blurred, but this was take #4 and we were all freezing.
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By the time we reached our destination (St. Cloud, MN) we hit up some thrift stores...
including a super nice Salvation Army where everything was grouped according to color--woot!
I found a bunch of fun things there, all for $17.
Sorry, I didn't take any photos there so just mentally insert a cute picture of a color coordinated shoes and clothes on racks here. :)

Later on we finally reached Chipotle...and all obsessed over it.
Consequently we ate there the next evening as well, which was kind of un-planned
 but why not eat at Chipotle and go to Caribou 2 days in a row?
You only live once, peeps.
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After the concert we headed to the church for the Keith + Kristyn Getty concert.
Now, we had been at this same church the previous week for the Bright Lights conferences and seen the flyer for the concert...
we all agreed it would be great to go to the concert as we were coming up for our friend Abby's wedding anyways,
but I wasn't sure that it would actually happen.
Well, it did happen and that concert was hands down, epic.
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I loved the bluegrass/celtic flair, combined with the musicians' hearts for worship and deep lyrics.
Our row was quite animated in the balcony. ;)
Keith Getty made a comment towards the beginning of the concert before they did the song "Before You I Kneel (A Worker's Prayer)", about how Bach always wrote Solo Dei Gloria on his songs, 
and how that should be our attitude for each day.
Living each day and doing our work for the glory of Christ,
Simple concept, but really spoke to me..I forget that so often.

So, one of the most hilarious  moments/quotes from the entire weekend was during the concert...
I was seated next to a 70-ish-year-old man and his wife, and the man commented to me about how he was going to text his grandson and tell him he should have come to the concert because they were
"seated next to a row of a dozen hot girls...like smoking hot."
yeah, after the concert and for the rest of the trip we were all majorly cracking up over this.
I still can't believe that he actually said that...honestly!! :)

so here is our "smoking hot" group at the concert...
NOT...haha. :P
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We did a post-concert Caribou run, and then headed to our hotel where we broke out the snacks.
And I'm talking snacks, people.
Including, but not limited to:
Ritz cracker chips, apples/strawberries with nutella, homemade brown butter salted caramel mocha cookies, Sprees, Reece's pieces, Izze's, honey/cinnamon covered nuts, Annie's cheddar/pretzel bunny crackers, etc.
I actually wasn't that hungry at this point, despite the delectable smorgasbord..
I did enjoy a few things though. :)
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The next morning we headed over to the church for the wedding of our Bright Lights friend, Abby..
which was the whole reason for the road trip to begin with!
There were rumors of it being 40 degrees and snowing, but praise the Lord that didn't happen!
It was cold, but the sun came out later in the day and no snow, just a sprinkling of rain.
I was privileged to be second-shooting the wedding with Caitlyn of Pink Flower Photography..
she is seriously so awesome and I was laughing and had a ball shooting with her all day!
Photographer friends in this industry are the best.
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Here is a phone photo from the wedding I snapped quick--more 'real camera' photos will be blogged at some point.
Such a beautiful and Christ-honoring ceremony for Abby & Guy!
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Group of Bright Lights girls from the wedding!
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Back row: Bekah, Kelly, Allison, Sarah, Lilly, Amanda, Me,
Kristin (who flew up from TX!), Grace, Abby (the bride) Nickie, Chelsy, Tia, Ruth

So glad my bestie, Amanda was able to come last minute on this road trip.
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This was taken on our evening stop at Caribou Saturday night and I just love this photo.
Aside from the sketchy barista dude (who did not take this photo, btw), we all enjoyed getting coffee drinks there. :P
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and we found our one true love...the stuffed bear on the kids' table. ;)
we were getting tired, if you can't tell.
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As we laughed our way, sang our hearts out, shared stories/goals, and talked through many other things,
I wished it didn't have to end as we drove home.
Since I don't have any sisters of my own, these girls mean that much more to me--as well as all my other girlfriends out there who I wish lived closer.
Godly, iron-sharpening, and "totes hilar" friendships aren't everywhere..
I am so totally blessed and beyond grateful for these ladies and many, many others out there who God has brought into my life.

We slowly dropped girls off at different destinations, and I finally arrived home after 2 am, and got to bed at 3.
Tiring? yes. Beyond fun? oh yes.
Such a combination of memories, hilarious/awkward/bizarre moments, spiritual challenge/refreshment, blessings, etc, etc.

I'm sure I'm forgetting some things that happened, but it isn't possible to remember or list every single moment or circumstance that happened...so I've highlighted many of them and I'm sure you can read between the lines and imagine the rest. ;)

happy tuesday, and hope you enjoyed this trip recap!!

~H. Elise
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16 comments:

  1. Oh man, I love times like this. I have yet to go on a roadtrip with my friends, but I'm really looking forward to when we do because I know it will be similar to this.
    It looks amazing Hannah! Aren't friendships like that just one of the best things in the world?
    Also, two random thoughts haha: LOVE the Getty's and LOVE your outfit that you wore to the concert! :)

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  2. This is important to every Christian (having Godly friends) What a blessed time you girls seemed to have. Makes me want to strengthen the relationships I have now.

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  3. yes. YES!!!!!!!! sooo glad for this "toteshilarweddingweekend". Little did we know when we coined the weekend as that, how very true that would be. Plus all the amazing memories. I totally loved your recap- you did a fabulous job giving a taste of the weekend.
    xoxo,
    Allison

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  4. LOVED this post, Hannah! Each of you lovely ladies is such a huge blessing to me and it brightens my day to hear that you had a memorable adventure together. =) And sharing awkward moments with friends/family definitely makes it less awkward and more amusing. =) I'm super excited to see the rest of the pictures from Guy + Abby's wedding - such an encouraging testimony of our Heavenly Father's faithfulness and I am so excited for them! <3 Sounds like a pretty epic, encouraging road trip - thanks for sharing the re-cap, Hannah. =) Blessings!

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  5. Wow, it looks like you had so much fun! Love the pictures, and can't wait to see the ones from the wedding. And i totally agree with Olivia, I love that dress you wore to the concert! : )
    Maddy

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  6. Oh my goodness! Sounds like such a fun trip! And, I'm pretty sure I love the Gettys more than you do. Just sayin'. ;)

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  7. Awn, I loved this post so much! I knew it had to be a rad awesome trip since the post title included a hashtag ;)

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  8. Loved this post Hannah! Looks like you had a total BLAST with those girls!! And you guys are some pretty hot girls!! lol so funny, I loved that story!!!! Can't wait till tomorrow to see what you post NEXT!!!!! By the way, I have REALLY been enjoying this Boho Blogtober thingy!!! (I think I spelled it right!!) Love, Mary

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  9. love it, love it, love it...
    I could hardly stand staying away from here all day knowing you had posted it but I wanted to make sure that my post had its own unique twist. =)
    Oh my...wow. You described everything perfectly. I will NEVER get over the smoking hot deal. Never ever. Priceless.
    Was that really real? i still can't believe he said that. honestly. some people have no tact.
    lovely times.
    can't wait for, um _____ "somebody's" wedding so we can do one of these trips again.
    (ahem...=)) lets be in prayer about that one, okay? =)
    hugs..chels

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  10. Aw, CONGRATULATIONS Abby!!! I'm so happy for you two! :)

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  11. I enjoyed your post. It is true- you are quite a good looking group of young ladies. Are you all single? I am of the opinion that, "Modest is hottest".

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  12. In response to the last comment, if I may:

    Sir, I feel inclined to inform you that I can speak for all of us ladies (who may or may not be single) when I say that the mode of your declaration merely spared me the concern which I might have felt in refusing you, had you behaved in a more gentlemanlike manner......

    In fact... From the very beginning, your manners, impressing me with the fullest belief of your arrogance, your conceit, and your selfish disdain of the feelings of others, were such as to form the groundwork of disapprobation on which succeeding events have built so immovable a dislike; and I must say that you are the last man in the world whom I could ever be prevailed on to marry...

    That is all.

    Quite sincerely,
    Elizab- err, one of the SH girls.

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    Replies
    1. oh MY. I am over here DYING laughing. this is....#worldsbestcomebackever #lovemrdarcy #canalwaysfindaprideandprejudicequotefittingforeverysituation
      Brilliantly done, miss lizzy bennett. (aka...well, okay, I won't give the real person away, even though I TOTALLY know who you are =)) this whole thing is cracking me up. And beings as I know the both authors of the previous two anonymous posts...well, shall I say its really just...totes hilar. =)
      laughter is always such a great start to a beautiful saturday. =)

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  13. Hannah I LOVE your post SO much! So many wonderful memories. :) I love all you SH ladies!!! Thanks for posting this, Hannah! :)

    Lilly

    P.S. But, umm... looks like you have a rather... interesting conversation taking place within your comments.....

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    Replies
    1. Lilly...you need to ask Hannah for the WHOLE story behind this. =)

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