Our crazy BFF, Brent, turned the big 3-0 on November 15! And of course...we celebrated as one big happy family...off to the ranch we went!!! Brent and Bria, and their entire family on Bria's side, own a ranch with a beautiful ranch house on it about 10 miles outside of Strawn. It was built back in 2001, and is perfect for a huge family get together, or a fun weekend trip with friends! I believe the house has like 15 bedrooms and 18-20 bathrooms...I can't remember the exact number! There's a study, formal living room, sun room, play room, living room, and a huge kitchen and dining room. When the family built this house, they built it so that they could all get together and everyone have their own bedroom and bathroom so that they could all stay together and be as one big family during the holiday's or other special time. They also rented it out for big corporations and church groups to come and have retreats there when the family wasn't going to be there. It's an amazing home, and even though it's so big, it feels so homey because of who you are there with. When Bria was thinking about what to do for Brent's b-day, she knew this would be the perfect weekend getaway. The boys could go out and fish in the tanks, shoot clays, and just ride around being boys. Us girls could chit chat, cook, tag along with the boys, and just spend time together.
Brent's b-day weekend started off on Friday night with all of us meeting in Strawn at the famous Mary's Cafe. It's a little whole in the wall (well...not really anymore...it's become so popular and famous that it's grown a ton) place that serves some of the best home cooking you'll ever put in your mouth. But, what they're really famous for is their chicken fried steaks. You can get a small, medium, or large and it comes with any two sides of your choice. Let me just give you an idea of how big these bad boys are. The large takes up an entire oval plate! Cody ordered the medium and it took up over half of his plate, the rest was filled up with fries, and a side salad was in a bowl all by itself! Everyone else ordered a small...and it was plenty of food! They also bring the gravy out in a big serving bowl so you can put all that yummy goodness on top of your chicken fry...and also dip your fries in it! I didn't eat...I know...I'm a loser :-( But...I did get a couple of bites from Cody's plate...it never disappoints! After a delicious (and filling) dinner at Mary's, we headed to the ranch to unload all of our stuff, change into our comfy clothes, and sit around and just hang out. After a few minutes of TV watching, the boys went into the dining room to play a fun little game with cups and ping pong balls...I'm sure you know what game that is! Us girls stayed in the living room and poured up a glass of wine and just talked and relaxed...it was wonderful! After a little while, the boys challenged us to a game, so we headed into the dinging room to show them up. We had a blast laughing, talking, teasing, and taunting one another...and after a few more games we decided to have some rematches the next day. Somewhere along the night, I stumped the tar out of my pinky toe on my right foot. So...we all laughed some more while I hobbled around the house for the rest of the night! After I stumped my toe, we went outside for a bit and shot at some cans...then called it a night!
We all woke up at different times on Saturday morning. But, as we each got up, we went straight to the Keurig to make some delicious coffee! After everyone was up, we all made breakfast, then hung out in the kitchen and talked for a little while. Then...the boys decided it was time to head down to the tank to do some fishing! So...us girls decided to tag along. The weather was absolutely beautiful. It was in the low 60's that day and the wind wasn't blowing very much. So, it was absolutely amazing to sit on the edge of the tank and talk while the boys fished. It was so peaceful and relaxing just being outside with the sun shining down on us. It had been a long time since we had all been able to just go somewhere and forget about all the stress and hustle and bustle of everyday life and be out in nature and hang out together. It was an absolute perfect morning and early afternoon! After the boys were done fishing, they decided we should drive around to another tank on the back part of the ranch and see what all was happening over there. Well...we got there and the tank was dry :-( But...never fear! They found tons of clay pigeons...some broken...some not...all on the bottom of the tank. So, they set them up in the trees across the tank and began shooting at them from the opposite side. We loved watching them pick the clays up and put them in the trees and proceed to shoot at them! They were so funny...just like little kids! It's great to be able to get aways and just "be." We talked some more while the boys played and then our tummies started telling us it was time to eat. So, we headed back to the house and made sandwiches for lunch. The boys then decided to play a few more games with their cups and ping pong balls :-) and we started getting some things ready for dinner. But...we realized we needed to run to the store first for some reinforcements and a few extra ingredients that we needed that we didn't bring from home. So...off to town we went! Strawn doesn't really have a grocery store, so we headed down the road to Desdemona (which was about 15 miles away) to pick up some groceries...and do a little piddling! We got back to the house and then we were ready to start things for dinner! But...we noticed that the boys were missing. We had no idea where they might have gone, but we knew that were probably off doing "manly" things! Brent had asked Bria to make him a Paleo coconut birthday cake, so we were in the middle of doing that and prepping the veggies for dinner when the boys came barreling in the door! They had been fishing again and Dallas had caught a huge catfish! They had also caught a few other, smaller, fish...so they decided to fillet them up and cook them for dinner. We were having steak and chicken...so the fish were an excellent addition! After everything was ready to be put in the oven and on the grill, us girls went and took a quick shower while the boys played. We still had some time to kill before we needed to get back in the kitchen to finish up dinner, so we decided to pour a drink and go sit in the sitting room and talk. It's so nice to just sit back and talk to your girlfriends! It was much needed...and something we love doing! We spend a lot of time together...but not a lot of time just being able to sit and talk with no distractions. So it was amazing and exactly what we needed! Then, we were off to finish getting dinner ready! The boys were still playing, but they came over to get the meat ready and throw it on the grill while we worked on the veggies. After it was all ready, we sat down as one big family and gobbled up our yummy dinner! Logan and Macee were headed our way...they weren't able to come for the whole weekend...so they were coming on Saturday night after dinner. We had some time to kill after we cleaned up...so back to the sitting room we went and back to the table the boys went to play some more games! After Logan and Macee got there...it was game on! The whole gang included, Brent, Bria, Dallas, Britain, Cody, Me, Josh, Logan, and Macee...Abbie couldn't come cause she had to work on a huge paper for her Master's :-( We sure missed her! We were being so silly. laughing, talking, dancing, and playing game after game of beruit...look it up on Urban Dictionary! I bet you'll find the correlation to the name we all call it pretty quickly! We seriously had the BEST time! Oh...we also attempted to do back flips in the living room. The girls stuck to hand-stand push-ups...we didn't feel like risking breaking our necks! We got some hilarious video of the boys attempting...and some succeeding doing their back flips...you could also hear lots of giggling in the background! All of us were just hanging out in our comfy clothes, being with each other, acting like silly college kids, celebrating one of our very best friend's birthdays. It really doesn't get much better than that!
Sunday morning rolled around and once we were all up, we made breakfast together and drank more delicious coffee. Bria wanted to make a big breakfast, so we all helped and made sausage, eggs, and...drum roll please...pumpkin pancakes! Oh my yum!!! They were delicious and a perfect addition to breakfast. With it being fall and Thanksgiving being right around the corner...the pumpkin pancakes couldn't have been any more tasty. Bria even bought gluten free mix so we were kinda close to Paleo...but we weren't really paying much attention to the 'ole Paleo lifestyle that weekend! After our bellies were full, we cleaned up and got everything ready to pack up and head home. Before it was actually time to leave, we all just gathered together in the living room and watched the first quarter of the Cowboy's game and talked for a little while. Then, we all said our goodbyes and headed back to the real world. I am so fortunate to have these people in my life. They are way more than friends...they are my family and I love them dearly. It's not very often that you have such amazing friends in your life...so we are so very blessed that we have so many!!! Love you Brently...Happy 30th!!!
