Part 2 of NC: In Which I Tell You About The Rest Of My Trip

Since Jacque is such a good friend, she suggested that we go celebrate part of our 4th of July in Stumptown Park as I have a lot of sentimental memories here from my childhood. Maybe if you blow up the following picture you can see why I was a little shocked about the entertainment selection of my old hometown. I mean - this place is full of conservatives. I don't know if the good ol' boys down the road were planning on seeing a drag queen act, but hey - whatever.

Here's our gang - Jacque, Me, Nick, and Aaron. Jacque's mom was so nice to watch the baby so we could go and hang out in the park for a little while.

Even after 9 years of being away, I spotted 4 people that I knew in the crowd. Unfortunately, I only said hello to 2 of them since the others were my old neighbors who had a son my own age. We grew up together and we didn't exactly get along. I'm sure he's changed and we've both grown up, but I just couldn't get the courage up to go say something. And I'm 99% sure that they didn't recognize me.

On the left side of this picture is the old Matthews Baptist church. My friend's dad was the minister there when we were in elementary school. And right behind it is Matthews Elementary. Too bad you can't see it - its a beautiful old building. If you click on this link you can see what it looks like now. The old building was turned into a community center when I was in high school, but it was in use when I was there.

It's weird to think that Jacque and I have been friends now for 20 years. Since we met I don't think we've ever gone more than a month without speaking...and a month is pushing it. We like to tell people that we've been friends since we were knee-high to a grasshopper. She's the kind of friend who would give you the shirt off her back if you needed it. The last time I had really spent a significant amount of time with her was in Alaska when she worked there as a tour bus driver.

I didn't see very many friends while I was there, but I did see Brandy. We became really close in high school when we were in the marching band together. Since I'd seen her last, she popped out a kid and bought a house - and I was excited to see both. I had a really fun time playing with Jacob and he's a really cute and funny little 3 year old. Brandy even sent me a text the other day telling me that Jacob woke up on Friday morning saying "Mommy, I want Stephanie to come back." How cute!

On the evening of the 4th, we went to Jacque's brother's house. His neighbors had fireworks, so he invited us to come and watch. Holy cow. I had forgotten that I was in the South and that we'd have amazing fireworks that would be illegal here in California probably.

These huge fireworks were right over my head, so after a 45 minute long fireworks show, it looked like I had taken a bath in ashes. So worth it though. Baby Connor even loved it!

We had a good old fashioned southern barbecue on Saturday and Jessica & Rachel stopped by to say hi. I met these girls when I was about 14 and we spent most of our summers together at either youth conference, camp, or EFY. We also ended up going to the same colleges, so we've kept in close contact over the years. It'd been years since I had seen them though - so thanks for coming, ladies!!!

Going to North Carolina was just what the doctor ordered. And for the record, the picture of the blurry house at night was Pace's in case you were wondering. Hopefully next year I'll be able to go back for my 10 year reunion and see everyone again. For having so many amazing friends, I don't see them nearly enough.