Love, Laughter & Happily Ever After . . .: Cheers to Friends; New, Old & Reconnected

Over the weekend, we threw a little house bash to celebrate Jake landing his new job. We had a blast as always, and this time we even hung out in the HOUSE a bit! {trust me, that's a big deal..} ANDDD, for the first time ever, we served food on the dining room table! :) Out of all the parties we've hosted here, I would definitely say the food was the best this time around. Jake made some freaking DELISH pulled pork, and I DO NOT EVEN EAT PIG. EVER. But I surrrrre did that night! I baked some Texas Roadhouse Rolls, which are not complete w/o the homemade cinnamon butter.(Mine was even better than the restaurant's, no lie!) This also marks the first time I've ever cooked for one of our parties. (PSH, sad right?) Other peeps brought stuff and we had a little feasty feast. We also boarded the dogs for the night so everyone could hang out inside a bit, and not be stuck out in the cold garage.(And also so nobody would be mauled by our monsters. You're welcome!) I WANTED to be good about taking pics, but I've been totes sucky at taking photos lately. UGH. Whatevs though, I got a few, you can check 'em out at the end of this post!

We had a good turn out, and even met another new couple that moved in down the street. BTW, I feel like there is definitely good friend-potential because they are around our age (I'm guessing here) and they also have two doggies and no children! Jake and I SOOOO need to meet more peeps who live around here!

So anyway, it was great having everyone over, and I know Jake appreciates everyone's support! We missed a few friends who couldn't make it, but were impressed that so many people would come out to wish him luck and bid him farewell. One particular couple came out that I hadn't talked to in about three years, except for maybe a civilized 'hello' in passing. When Jake first started in Addison, the four of us hung out a lot and they were our very first friends from the dept. At some point, the wife and I had some kind of falling out -- to be honest, I don't even remember WHAT we were fighting about, but since then we've each disliked and totally avoided each other. I'd say we've each grown up a whole lot in that time though, because we were able to have a great time in each other's company. We maturely talked about the past and patched things up, and even without any awkwardness. After catching up with her and chatting throughout the night, its clear that I totally misjudged her, and we have a lot more in common then I thought. Go figure, right?! It's ironic to me how things come full circle; She was my first police-wife friend in the beginning, and now, here at the end we were able to reconnect. I'm very glad! I feel so foolish for wasting all this time, and not patching it up sooner, but TIMING is everything. And hey, better late then never though, right?!

Soooooo Jake has only 3 more nights in Addison. I'm so excited and nervous for him to start in his new city. Closing one chapter and beginning another is aways scary. {Being a grown up and making adult decisions is hard work folks!} I think this is the right decision for him though; I have hope and faith that Jake will prosper in his new position! Wish him good luck for next Monday, the 30th! BTW, he'll be off on nights and weekends for a while which will be pretty great! [But bad for my calorie count..*sigh*]