A TNG Reunion

I can't believe I'm admitting this, as it will show my age, but last weekend was my 10 year reunion. (I know, you just gasped didn't you? You thought I was 22, right? Of course you did... of course you did...  ;) 

 
Now I have never been the girl who looked forward to her high school reunion - high school just wasn't my favorite chapter of life. If you'd asked me 5 years ago if I'd go to my reunion I would've told you no - and the plan was the same last week. Don't get me wrong - I made some great memories during my years at 'ol OHS, and I know some precious people (both teachers and students) from my time in school there. I do my best to stay in touch with friends and former teachers via facebook, and have been back to Oxford for a tour of the new school. But the idea of being crammed into a room with a whole bunch of people you were never really close with in high school and haven't seen in 10 years just sounds like a recipe for awkwardness to me!

So, I wasn't going.

Until I got a message from my good friend Susanne, asking if I'd be interested in coming to a TNG Reunion that weekend.

What's that? An intimate gathering of some of my closest girlfriends and their husbands... no awkwardness required? A chance to laugh and reminisce without feeling old because I can't remember half my classmate's names? (True story - my memory is getting bad. My friend Brittany told me this weekend I need to start taking Ginkgo Biloba - Haha!) Count me in!

And so - we drove back to my hometown last Saturday for a very special TNG 10 Year Reunion!

L-R :: Catherine, Sarah (& Baby Arthurs), Brittany, Susanne (and Maylee), Blair, Erin, Allison, Bethanie, Kristian, and me!

If you're wondering what TNG means, it stands for Thursday Night Girls. This group of 12 girls (Megan & Jessica couldn't make it - you girls were missed!) got together every single Thursday night of our Junior & Senior year for a sleepover at Susanne's house. It started the Fall of our Junior year as a way to all go to the Friday morning Prayer Breakfasts together (during football season). But we loved each other so much that the tradition continued the rest of the year... and all of the next year!

Each Thursday night this group of crazy girls would invade the Bowman residence. Sweet Shirley and Ron would feed us and put up with our giggles and late night chatter. And somehow we'd all find a place to crash for the night, get ready the next morning (12 girls taking showers and fixing their hair and makeup at the same house - HOW did we do that?!) and make it to school on time Friday... so our parents let us keep coming week after week!

We had so much fun together at that house, and walking back up the driveway Saturday night brought so many good memories back to me! (And a few bad memories too... like walking out on Friday mornings to find that the Senior guys had left their mark on our cars again with car chalk, or flour, or saran wrap... how many times did that happen?!)

It was awesome to see all the girls again, and to meet their husbands (and a super cute future TNG Maylee!)

We spent hours looking through old photos, yearbooks, and high school scrapbooks, telling stories, and laughing together. If I hadn't been so forgetful (Brittany, you're right, where do I buy Ginkgo Biloba again?) I would've taken pictures of some of those scrapbook pages and posted them here! But the pictures were just too incriminating... I mean... embarrassing... I mean... I forgot ;) Just take my word for it - we've all aged beautifully!

Me with Susanne and her sweet mom Shirley! Ms. Shirley was my 6th grade teacher, 

and one of our patient hosts all those Thursday nights in high school. She was super 

sweet to let us use her house again for old time's sake! And Susanne organized everything 

and got all the delicious food for the night! She and I have been friends since Kindergarten, 

so we go wayyy back!

 Catherine, me, and Sus. Catherine was Susanne's next door neighbor,

and I spent almost as much time at her house as I did Susanne's! 

 Erin, Allison, Bethany, and Kristian laughing at Rusty playing paparazzi!

 

A fun shot of me & Kristian. Kris was my very best friend from 8th grade on... 

to this day I don't know anyone with as many stories (or secrets) of mine than her! 

As the saying goes... "We'll be friends forever... because you know too much!" Ha! 

We did just about everything together in high school - choir, showchoir, pageants, 

youth group, youth band, and of course our girl's singing group, "Sweet Serenity"!

To all the TNG's reading this - it was WONDERFUL seeing you girls again! I'm just so sad I didn't get more time to catch up with each and every one of you (clearly we needed another sleepover!) If any of you come through the B'ham area I'd love to meet for coffee sometime. Hope to see you all again in another 10 years - with a few more future TNG's in tow! ;)