I already talked about how I almost PRed a 10k this weekend, but I never shared what else I was up to – beyond several hours of How I Met Your Mother, that is!  Let’s rewind, shall we?

Friday night, I attended the Volunteer Appreciation Night (aka the VAN) for Mars Hill Students.  It’s absolutely astounding to me that another year of Anthem has come to a close – we have the end of the year picnic this week, then it’s on to summer!  At the end of every year, they throw all the volunteers a big party to say thank you.  It’s one of my favorite events of the whole year, not just for Anthem, but the year in general.  The first year I volunteered, they sent us on a “You’re Amazing Race” scavenger hunt and last year we had a black and white party at Mosaic Space.

This year, the theme was The Best of Grand Rapids (including the best volunteers, of course!).  They had food stations from all the best restaurants around town which was so fun!  I sampled a little from a lot of different places – I was most excited when I saw a Founders table tucked back in the corner:  beer cheese!!

It’s not a party without music, so we had the best cover band Grand Rapids has to offer:  Pleasure Towne!  Seriously, so good.

A few weeks back, in preparation for the VAN, our students all had the opportunity to write notes saying “you’re the best LifeGroup leader because…”.  The notes were put into collages around the room.  It was fun looking for notes from my girls.  They were so heartwarming.  I hope they all know how much they have impacted my life life the most positive of ways.

Matt and Jim took the notes and compiled them into letters that they read aloud.  Jim is a social media/technology wizard, so his letter to the middle school volunteers is his blog.

It was a great night all around!  Well done, party planning people.

Saturday was race morning and lazy afternoon/evening, but Sunday I celebrated Mother’s Day!  Most of my mom’s side of the family came into Grand Rapids for dinner at Mangiamo!  There were about fifteen of us, a group so large we had a private room.

Mom and Grandma were twinsies for the day!  I love these women so much, they are the best!  I wish I had words fitting enough to describe how much they mean to me.  My mom is my rock, my best friend.  She’s someone I know I can always turn to.

What goofy kiddos my little munchkins are.

Okay, it’s a double header for Glee tonight!  It’s NATIONALS, baby!

Tagged as: Anthem, Family

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