7 acres, middle of nowhere Kansas, bonfire, friends from college and their cute kids, pseudo-camping, all pictures I stole from Melanie and Stephanie.

I met up with a group of friends with their families over the weekend to mark the one-year anniversary of our friend’s death. Some people set up tents in the field. I slept inside on my air mattress. I really thought about setting up a tent, but the dog ate it (seriously). Besides, if there’s a house with air conditioning 100 yards away, and it's August in Kansas, frankly, I can’t be bothered to camp. I wasn’t the only person to sleep inside, but they all had better excuses…babies.

We ate a lot, slept a little. We had church together the next morning. We let the kids pick the songs we sang. It was cute, especially when we got requests for Jingle Bells and Away in a manger.

I like seeing my friends as parents. They’re good at it. They’re the kind of people you want raising kids. In the morning, Mike asked, “Hey Jen, how did your baby sleep?” By that point, I was the only person there WITHOUT a child. “My baby slept great. As good as any fictitious baby can.” Mike also tried to marry me off to the only single guy there the night before.

Many thanks to Mike and Beth for hosting all of us. It was great to see everyone, and I'm glad we're going to make it an annual event.

Today, August 5th, is the actual one-year anniversary. So, if you think of them, you might pray for his wife and his family as they walk through this day. And for the curious among us, my friend has started a blog on her journey through this past year without him. It’s here.

Next week…I’m staying at my dad’s house in another part of middle of nowhere Kansas while he’s in Colorado. It’s not fair (I want to go to Colorado, too), but on the upside, I get to spend time with a horse, two dogs, a squirrel, and a pack of feral kittens. He’s leaving me his six-shooter. I’ll let you know how it goes.