Raise a Glass to ZTA

To my dear, loyal readers of WoodWords, you've heard this story before.  Every year I get together with my sweet Zeta sisters.  I always come back home and blog about how special our group is and say things like, "when we're together, it's like no time has passed" and "we laughed a LOT" and "nobody has as good of friends as me". Well, it's all still true!!!!

But, this trip was different.  There were TWELVE of us!  Usually we manage to get six or seven.  Something was special about this weekend, because the whole crowd came.  And, it was fun!  It's amazing what we've all been through.  This trip, we got celebrate a new baby boy who will arrive in May.  We heard not fun details about a divorce.  We talked about lost family members.  We talked about all of our sweet kids. We celebrated an upcoming marriage, which is amazingly special considering the divorce she went through.    See, we've been through a lot.  But, we're always together.  No matter time or distance.  That's special.

There was a lot of disbelief that we've all known each other for 19 years.  Amazing.  We all showed up to TCU and decided to go through rush and ended up pledging together.  Obviously, we all made the right choice!

I love this group shot!

Celebrating Baby Smith!

Love this pic of me and Maren!

My parents introduced the art of toasting to our group long ago, so I was the toast nazi all weekend.  And, let me tell you… there were some special ones! (I know I wear everyone out on this, but I do love the toasts.  It's part of what makes us #reallycool!)

We also got a good ego boost…. we were able to make quite a scene when walking into a bar.  WAAM in full effect!

I love all of these girls so much and I'm so thankful that they are in my life.  I LOVE that we all make it a priority to spend time together, and that we get to say, "it's like no time has passed!"

And, just because I want to remember it, Sara, I am publishing your toast:

A toast:
To Deana's radiant smile
To Julie's thoughtfulness
To Amy's gentleness
To Erin's joie de vivre
To Tracy's loyal honesty
To Rachel's gritty strength
To Tinsley's cool factor
To Maren's effervescent laugh
To Ashley's wide-eyed innocence
To Tiffany's positive light
To Kate's quiet grace

To each lovely, amazing sister's steadfast friendship these 19 years.

I love you all.
"Another turning point, a fork stuck in the road
Time grabs you by the wrist, directs you where to go
So make the best of this test, and don't ask why
It's something unpredictable but in the end that's right"
Girls, I hope we always have the time of our lives. Xoxo

Maren's response to this toast was, "To Sara - who makes us all go back to toast writing school! "

Sara, Ray says he's still waiting on that great American novel!

See what I mean about my friends?  They really are the best!  Can't wait for next year.