Beach Party
My husband and I moved to Dayton, Ohio for him to attend graduate school at the Air Force Institute of Technology. He was one of the few civilians to be accepted in his class. This was a very busy time for him and could have been a lonely time for me. But then I met Liz. She was outgoing and so friendly and welcoming. She invited me to her recipe exchanges and book club, she invited us over for dinner and would ask me to go on walks with her and her little boy.
She made it easy to love living in Dayton even though my husband spent the majority of his time at school. She was the first person I told besides my husband when I finally got pregnant with my daughter. I saw her just about every day and didn't want to keep it a secret from her. We went to every church event together and had countless meals in each other's homes. Her husband and my husband became good friends too and so it was easy and fun to spend time together. Every good memory I have of that 18 months includes Liz somehow.
One of our most memorable get-togethers was our beach party. It was February and the snow was piled up high. My husband was trying to finish his thesis, we were preparing to move here and were trying find a house, we had a six-month-old baby and I was so tired of the snow. I decided we needed to have fun so I invited Liz and her family and the Sevys over for a beach party. I made a yellow balloon sun up in the corner of our ceiling with yellow streamers coming down as the sun rays. I got out our beach chairs and umbrella and bought blow up palm trees. I laid towels down and put up pictures of the ocean around our family room.
It was fun to plan and decorate and I was excited for the party as a distraction from all of the stress and cold. When our friends got there I realized again why I love them so much. Everyone was in t-shirts or Hawaiian shirts and our friend Brad had even put sunscreen on his nose. We played musical beach towels, limbo and had hula hooping contests and they were totally into it. It was low-key and a bit crazy with four little kids in a small family room but I'm grateful to have had that experience. It was wonderful to have people in my life that were in the same situation so we could really support each other. Plus they were just really fun and always up for my silly ideas, often taking them to the next level of crazy. We had Christmas parties, good luck parties, Halloween parties, Rock Band parties, game night parties, and Yeah-you-finished-your-thesis dessert parties. We were a close-knit group that loved having fun together and I'll always be grateful for that special time in Dayton.
She made it easy to love living in Dayton even though my husband spent the majority of his time at school. She was the first person I told besides my husband when I finally got pregnant with my daughter. I saw her just about every day and didn't want to keep it a secret from her. We went to every church event together and had countless meals in each other's homes. Her husband and my husband became good friends too and so it was easy and fun to spend time together. Every good memory I have of that 18 months includes Liz somehow.
One of our most memorable get-togethers was our beach party. It was February and the snow was piled up high. My husband was trying to finish his thesis, we were preparing to move here and were trying find a house, we had a six-month-old baby and I was so tired of the snow. I decided we needed to have fun so I invited Liz and her family and the Sevys over for a beach party. I made a yellow balloon sun up in the corner of our ceiling with yellow streamers coming down as the sun rays. I got out our beach chairs and umbrella and bought blow up palm trees. I laid towels down and put up pictures of the ocean around our family room.It was fun to plan and decorate and I was excited for the party as a distraction from all of the stress and cold. When our friends got there I realized again why I love them so much. Everyone was in t-shirts or Hawaiian shirts and our friend Brad had even put sunscreen on his nose. We played musical beach towels, limbo and had hula hooping contests and they were totally into it. It was low-key and a bit crazy with four little kids in a small family room but I'm grateful to have had that experience. It was wonderful to have people in my life that were in the same situation so we could really support each other. Plus they were just really fun and always up for my silly ideas, often taking them to the next level of crazy. We had Christmas parties, good luck parties, Halloween parties, Rock Band parties, game night parties, and Yeah-you-finished-your-thesis dessert parties. We were a close-knit group that loved having fun together and I'll always be grateful for that special time in Dayton.
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