Fire & Ice

I miss college life so much. I miss the unlimited ice cream, the amazing gym access, the late night parties... but most of all, I miss my friends. With all of our crazy new lives, its super hard to schedule times to meet up. I find myself often texting them "Remember that time when..... miss you lots!... let's get together asap... etc". And I'm sure everyone can relate to those unsuccessful attempts to meet up with old friends. BUT finally, we were able to really plan something for this past weekend! Words cannot explain how excited I was to see everyone. I'll give a quick break down of our little group. Two of J's roommates from college Jack & Bryan who I have been friends with since Freshman year, Lynn, Jack's girlfriend and my roommate from last year, and Chelle, Bryan's girlfriend and close friend of Lynn & I. We all spent a lot of time together over the years and created so many unforgettable memories.

Each one of us has our own role in the group. 

Jack- the one liner

Lynn- the caring mom

Bryan- the hick

Chelle- the sweetheart

J- the charmer 

And then there's me. Casey- the silly one

My best memories of college involve this group of people. We've seen each other during our lowest times, but we've also been beside each other on the funnest wildest nights. For this weekend, we planned on meeting at Jack's for a winter themed cook out. We were all going to bring food and barbecue in his back yard. He called the event "Fire & Ice". Little did we know, Saturday night was literally going to be a night of fire and ice.... 

It began to snow early Saturday morning. The forecast said that it was supposed to stop in a few hours and the accumulation would be minimal. BOY were they wrong. Five or six inches later, J and I ventured out to the grocery store to buy supplies (burger stuff for him, grilled cheese stuff for me). It continued to snow; and I have to say, all of the white flurries and winter-ness around us made the whole day feel a little magical. We got word from Jack that the event was still on, so J and I were on our way. 

When we got there, the yard was transformed into a winter wonderland... it looked like a scene right out of Frozen. There was a fire pit roaring with a golden blaze about 2 feet in the ground. And around it, Jack built up tarps that surrounded us like our own little camping cocoon. We all sat around the fire, taking in the scenery. And the snow didn't stop. The flakes kept falling as long as the mulled wine kept pouring. We cooked our food right over the fire instead of on the grill. And after about 2 black charred sandwiches, I finally got the hang of it. The laughs were not hard to come by in that circle. We joked about our pretend grown up lives, and marveled at how we used to behave in undergrad. After a few hours we went inside to warm up before we headed out. Then we said our goodbyes and reminded each other not to be strangers. I think my hugs lingered a little longer than usual...

On the way back to J's apartment, we were gleaming from all the laughs. I can't remember the last time I had actually laughed that hard. It was such a fun walk down memory lane. And as I sat in the passenger seat, I realized that these people feel like home to me. It really doesn't matter where we are- when we're all together I feel like I'm right where I belong.

Here is a toast to all of my friends who have always been there for me. Thank you for everything! Love you lots! Cheers!

Casey