The End of an Era

Our first Chinese Dinner Night was June 18, 2010, and we didn't even know what we'd started! All we knew was going to dinner together was so fun and facilitated such great conversation, that we had to do it again! Casey, Bethany, Jessica and Samantha were in attendance, and we ended the night with oatmeal face masks and toenail painting.

And I came home that night and declared to Erik, "I will make this a regular thing. I will make sure I set aside special time for these ladies in the months to come."

And we did! With lots of rescheduling, and invites on Facebook, and reminders by text, we pulled off 4 more--count 'em FOUR--Chinese nights. Whoot Whoot!

C.N. #2

Chinese Night #2 was September 12, 2010. Samantha, Stephanie, and Casey and I had a wonderfully intimate meal of Chinese together. And Sam made us get the chicken on skewers that you roast over a little flame. Good times, good times.

C.N. #4

Chinese Night #3 was November 28, 2010. Jessica, Casey and Bethany came. I remember laughing a lot .... This was took many many reschedulings, so I was a little burned out for a while .... Night #4 was long in coming. :)

Chinese Night #4 was June 3, 2011 (Officially titled Chinese Night ... I've lost count!) This was definitely a fun turn out! Bethany, Casey, Jessica, Paige, and Stephanie! This one I convinced them to get ice cream too, which was hard to do considering how much we stuff ourselves with yummy Chinese goodness!


Chinese Night #5 ... the Final One was tonight. What a bittersweet event. For the first time, alum Jessica Ho was able to join us, which was super fun! Sadly, Mackey, who'd been to every one since the beginning, missed this final night. Sad day!

Final Chinese Night

Casey Morris gets the award for perfect attendance! Yay! Way to go! :) and for being the best red head EV-ER.
Stephanie Ho gets the award for best facial expressions while eating Chinese. I don't think she even knows it ... :)
Jessica Mackey get the award for always being the first student to arrive and always having a smile on her face.
Samantha Krejcik gets the award for enthusiasm, specially for chicken on skewers and $1 wonton soup.
Bethany Morris gets the award for knocking her water glass over. Often. :) And for introducing me to dumplings and beef lo mein. YUM!
Paige Becker gets an award, just because I'm so excited she made it to one!
Jessica Ho gets an award for being my favorite alum ever. :)

From conversations on everything from boys, flies, cracks, Germany, band, books, dinosaurs, church, discipleship, friends, Chinese food (duh), camping, jobs, moving, college, sleep, siblings, babies (usually started by me), weddings, youth group and so much more, these nights meant the world to me. From forcing you to eat ice cream, to smearing oatmeal goo on our faces, to taking crazy photos in Safeway cart stalls, to watching Sam bite a leaf, to discussing how long we take in the restroom--and why, to swinging as high as we possibly can, to getting married and divorced several times :), to being dive bombed by bats, to hugging goodbye by the porta-potty in the twilight, I've loved every minute.

The end of an era. The end of regular (semi anyway) Chinese Nights. To my ladies, I love you. God led me to you and you to me for a season, and it's a season I will never forget. You each hold a dear place in my heart, and I've learned so much from each one of you. I can only hope you've learned in return, and we can continue to stay in touch.

Seek Jesus, live life to the fullest, and VISIT ME!