St. Louis Getaway

 For our first vacation together, Louis and I chose a simple and free/cheap trip to St. Louis. We chose things that we could do fun and just enjoy our time together. The zoo was first. One of my favorite things about the zoo is that it's FREE! We had to pay $3.00 to feed the stingrays, but other than that, it was free. Kansas City zoo--take note! My other favorite thing about the zoo is that I have an unlimited photography audience. The animals don't care that I'm taking their pictures, and so I go crazy! I think I took 15 pictures of the gorilla above just to get the perfect shot, but it's my second favorite from the day. (The first is below later on...)

 These tigers were just hanging out together in the shade and all of a sudden, this one puts his leg around around the other. Several of us gave a collective "Awwww..." when he did that. :)

 This turtle picture is my favorite from the day. Several ginormous turtles were gathered by the fence where we were standing, and this one took this opportunity to stick his head out and say hello. So I did the only natural thing I could do--I took his picture!

 After the zoo, we drove over to a Putt-Putt and batting cage place. I'd like to say I beat Louis in both sports, but sadly, the answer is no. I did beat him by a few strokes--maybe 3?--in Putt-Putt, but the batting cage got the best of me. Not only did Louis hit way more than I did, the balls actually tried to kill me!

 Don't laugh at my form here. I was too scared to get any closer to the base. I was too far at one point, and Louis gave me this great advice of stepping up to the plate. Apparently I stepped too close because the next ball hit me on my left knuckles and left a baseball size goose-egg on my hand. Ouch!

Our biggest expense for the weekend was the Cardinals' game, and our seats were WAY UP at the top--second row from the top to be exact. Our seats were great, though, and we had a blast! This was Louis's introduction to the best team in the country, and I know we will be back for more.

 The view from our seats.

 I love this picture and will probably end up framing this one! :)

 Pujols ran in for a homerun, and then in the next inning, he was hit and taken out of the game. It was unfortunate, but I love his spirit. He knows it's just a part of the game.

 Cardinals win and we enjoy the scenery. I may have this picture framed too! :)

Okay, I feel the need to explain these pictures. As part of Louis's souvenirs from the zoo, he picked some actual crickets and mealworms for snacks. Yes, you can eat these, and yes, we have. We only tried one mealworm each, and it just seemed to disintegrate in my mouth. Kind of dusty and no real texture (my biggest hangup on food), but I just had it in the back of my mind what it was. At least I can say I've eaten a worm now. Maybe one day we'll try a cricket, but for now, they are on display in our china cabinet.

Go C-H-I-E-F-S!!

Some friends and I took advantage of the discount Chiefs tickets from our school district, and by advantage, I mean CHEAP! Our tickets were originally roughly $100 seats, and we paid $27!! Can’t beat that! We sat in the corner right off where the Chiefs run out of the tunnel. Even though our seats were great, Lindsay and Michelle and I spent most of our time patrolling for boys. :)



We all met up at Tim and Paul’s place to start our tailgate early. I can honestly say that I’ve never drank that early in the morning, but there’s a first time for everything I guess. Sonic made the tailgate that much easier by offering 99 cent slushies. Just add a little vodka, and we were good to go.

As we were having our own tailgate, Lindsay made some new friends (as always…) and asked them to take our picture. I’m sure they were thrilled.


Michelle, Paul, and Cathy couldn’t wait to get into the new and improved stadium.

Lindsay just had to jump in and be a part of the show—our school Principal and Assistant Superintendent grilled out for the district. They knew we had been having a “good time” before we ever arrived to this particular tailgate.


I have no idea how this picture turned out, but I like it.

I figured since I was at the Chief’s game, I should take some pictures of the actual game. Here they are:

We are all going again this month, and I’m just hoping our seats are this good or even better. It won’t matter as long as we are having a blast together!

Victory and Defeat

Last Sunday Todd and I, along with his good friend Jeff from Springfield, went to our very first pro football game. As you can tell from the picture above, our seats were WAY up in the top section, but they actually turned out to be pretty good. Aside from the people sitting around us, the seats were great! We could see all of the action, and with the use of our zoom lens, were able to get some decent shots. This is a picture of the two of us near the end of the game. I had told Todd to get us tickets for a game when it wouldn't be too cold, and I think God took me too literally in that request. It was HOT!!! We were all sweating and melting into each other by the end!

The Chiefs had been on a losing streak since oh...December of LAST year (I'm not sure it's been that bad, but it has been pretty dang sad.). Guess what?? The game we see--the Chiefs WIN!!! I told Todd maybe we needed to go see every home game to ensure they win every time. I don't think he bought it.

I just had to take this next picture for Todd's friend Jeff. The Chiefs were playing the Denver Broncos and Jeff is a HUGE Broncos fan! I thought this guy was just too funny to pass up.

During the game, we also had some entertainment besides the plays on the field. We were sitting directly in front of a row of Denver fans, and of course, directly behind them was a guy who is a poster-child for contraceptives and alcohol-free events. This guy kept egging on the Denver fans, but he just wouldn't ever quit. It got so bad at one point that someone called the security on him. He left but was let back in. Not two seconds after he came back, the real security police came by and escorted him out. We clapped as he was leaving! See ya!

Todd and I both really enjoyed having Jeff up here as a houseguest. We'll take all of you someday (just not all at once!).On a different note, I have spent the last 3 days at home sick. It started Tuesday or Wednesday with just slight sinus trouble, but by Wednesday night, I couldn't breathe, lay down without coughing, and on top of it all, I had a fever. I didn't want to miss work because I know I don't have many sick days since I am new to the district, but there was no way I was going to be able to function. I spent Thursday and Friday laying on the couch, watching TV and sleeping. I did end up going to Urgent Care for meds yesterday, but so far, they have not really kicked in. Today I woke up to even more trouble with coughing so hard that I threw up--TWICE. Not fun in the least! I am desperately hoping to be better tomorrow and I'm sure I'll be better by Monday. Hopefully the meds will do their job by then! I'm sure you all had a better week than I did. I'm hoping next week will be better for me!

Basement Part 1

When I looked at the last date I had updated this blog, I couldn't believe it!! Has it really been three weeks? I've been in school now for three weeks and yes, reality is kicking my butt. I'm at school from 6:50 or so in the morning until 4:30 or 5:00 in the evening. I come home, eat dinner, veg, and go to bed by 9:00. That's not a life I'm used to by any means. Where did my summer go? I miss those days...The only time now I'm even on the computer is on the weekend. When I check my email now, instead of having 15 messages to scroll through, I have 136. I have a week of reading through my Soapzone message board, plus reading all the blog updates from my friends. Who knew reality would be so cruel?? :)

My mom came up to see us last weekend. I was so happy she was able to make it before her original visit date in October. She had not seen our house since it was empty, and we spent the weekend painting way back even before we moved in. Now our upstairs is 99% finished, and the basement is 50% finished. We (including Todd's parents) worked extremely hard to get Todd's "man cave" and my scrapbook room finished before Mom came to see us. I wanted to surprise her with it. These are pictures of my scrapbook room. It's decorated completely in Disney, of course, and the only real thing missing from it right now is a small TV that I want mounted on on of the walls. Christmas Mom???

The black file against the wall is my 12x12 paper holder. It's one of the best things I have purchased for my scrapbook room for organization. Each color or theme has its own slot. When I want paper, it's just a reach away!

The table is usually not so cluttered. I have to be able to spread out, right?? For now, anything that doesn't have an exact place is just laying on the table. I'll fix that when I start working down there.
This white shelf contains all of my scrapbooking magazines for ideas, paper towels for clean up (those darn stamps!), my stock of CM scrapbook pages (I still have one more CM album to finish.), plus my current pictures to put in albums.

The bottom white drawers hold bulk pictures/memorabilia that I either need to put in albums or extras that have already been finished. The red shelf is mainly for Disney decorations, but I do have my sticker supply on the bottom shelf. Since I don't use those as much anymore, it'll do.

I love the quote Todd put on my scrapbooking walls in red vinyl: "I only hope we don't lose of one thing--that it was all started by a mouse." --Walt Disney

These are pictures of Todd's Man Cave. I love how we did the Red/White/Black sections on each wall. I'm sure you all know where these colors came from--Nebraska Huskers!!

We just bought a coffee table yesterday at Target for this room. I think it will be really cool--it's square with holes in the middle for baskets. We bought two red baskets to put in it, and Todd will fill the other spaces with his sports books and video game magazines.

Well, hopefully I will get back on here before another three weeks are up. If not, you'll know why!