Atlanta 2009 - Finally!!!!

Well my pictures are finally here and I can finally tell you all about my wonderful trip to Atlanta. It all started 4 years ago when we decided to go to DC and visit Anita. Forward to 2009, Anita sent us all an email saying that we needed to do it again. We decided to go to Atlanta, home of Tanysha!

Before I tell you about my trip, let me tell you about the wonderful friends who were there (minus Melanie, but we had her on speakerphone a few times). ***NOTE: These pictures were taken with a disposable camera...makes me appreciate my point and shoot.

Here's my Tara. Tara and I met in the 7th grade on the steps of Wiley Middle School. We sparked up a conversation because we were wearing the same earrings. We've been friends ever since. Tara is the friend that will be there for you no matter what. She's so easy-going and caring for others. She was the first of us to get a license and we would all pile in her parent's Villager to go places. Fun times! Right now she's living in Chicago, working full-time, and going to Law School. She's amazing!

Anita and I also met in middle school. This lady can make me laugh like no one else. I don't know what it is about her, but she is constantly bringing me to tears with laughter. She's one of the smartest people I know, but also very humble. She is currently living in DC designing the city.

Tanysha is my same-age Mama. She is the one I go to for spiritual and moral advice. She is the one who will tell it like it is and how it should be...all out of love. We met in the 10th grade in Algebra 2 class. We really bonded when we planned our weddings together...we were married one week apart (she even sang at my wedding...she has an amazing voice). Now she lives in Atlanta with her husband and their son. They are both involved in an amazing church plant as well.

OK, so from the beginning...I left on Friday right after work. My mom took me to the airport and I had her walk me in because it had been forever since flying last and I wanted to make sure I had a second set of eyes. It took me all of 5 minutes to check in!!! Who knew?!?! I ended up having to wait at my gate for about two hours...lesson learned.

I had the unfortunate experience of sitting in front of two girls who were talking about going from the plane to the bar and IUD's...nice. Then, the pilot gave an advertisement for AirTran Visa...classic!

So I land early and am greeted at the gate by Anita because she also flew AirTran and got in a bit before me. We hugged...it had been too long! We met Tara and Tanysha at the pick up area and there were many more hugs and much chatter.

Friday night we ordered pizza and just hung out in the hotel and got caught up with one another. We were up until after 1:00 (which, if you know me is waaay past my bedtime). It was fun.

The next morning we had breakfast at the hotel (they even had Belgium waffles...yum) and then went back to the room to leisurely get ready for the day. We stayed downtown, so after getting dressed we walked around.

We went to Centennial Olympic Park...where a lot of events happened for the 1996 Summer Olympics. It was really neat. Here we are at one of the monuments, let's call it. It has all of the names on the team for a particular sport (there were a bunch of these around)...can you guess which one?

We walked some more until we came upon heaven on earth...Coca Cola World! If you know me, you know that I LOVE Coke. We didn't actually go inside but it was cool to see.

Here I am standing next to the statue of the inventor of Coke...naturally!

Gettin some love from an Atlanta Braves mascot. I know he had to be hot!

There was also an arts festival going on, so we talked around there some. The picture below is for my friend Janna...she loves Blue Bell and I had a chance to try it while I was there. I will have to say that I'm still partial to Graeter's!

We went back to the room to relax for a bit and talk about what we wanted to do for dinner. In true Kelli fashion, I fell asleep!

Me and Anita before my zzz's.

Here are my girls...before going out.

While I was in my slumber, the girls decided that we'd go to Copeland's Cheesecake Bistro in a place called Atlantic Station. Atlantic Station was an outdoor shopping center similar to what we have here, Easton. This place was WONDERFUL. It was the best meal I've had in a long, long time. I had fried ravioli, covered in a Cajun cream sauce and topped with crawfish...I could go back right now. We sampled from each other and everything each person had was wonderful.

Here are three of my favorite people in one place! OK, see the drink in Tanysha's hand...that's a mojito. I'm in love and I don't drink at all. I had some of hers (and then some of the one Tara got later) and this is something I could drink. It was so refreshing!

All together...minus Melanie.

After dinner we went back to the hotel and talked about other places we want to go. We decided to make these trips every two years. We wrote down some locations and pulled them out of a cup...next, VEGAS, then, Southern Cali, then the Caribbean and then Sedona. We can't wait!

Sunday we got up early and had breakfast and then went to Tanysha's church. It was a great service and it was nice to finally see the benefit of Tanysha and her husband's hard work. After church we had lunch and then it was time for the goodbye hugs.

I miss them already! Come on 2011...Vegas Baby!