Kansas City Weekend Update

This past weekend, I went to Kansas City for Ashley M's bachelorette party!! It was a blast, such a fabulous weekend with a great group of women.

Friday Breakdown

-Got off work at 11:00 and drove straight to Iowa City to hitch a ride with my sister

-Spent the next 4.5 hours in the car chatting and singing :)

-Got to KC before my aunt was off work so we stopped at this ghetto Burlington Coat Factory that had a broken AC and I bought a $12.00 dress!

-Met Tonja and Melanie and went to the 54th Stree Diner, YUMM

-Went out to this sports bar and played shuffleboard and had some great drinks

I didn't think about the rearview mirror

Loves driving!

Enjoying some M&S

Missed the "Welcome to Missouri" sign, this'll do! 

Shuffleboard!

Emily and her crazy spinning tactics.

Aunt Tonja

Emily's still smiling for the camera even after she lost to Mel and me! :)

Saturday Breakdown

-Breakfast at the Corner Cafe with Tonja

-Met Mallory at the Embassy Suites to pick up some snacks and drinks

-Ate lunch at the hotel while waiting for early check-in

-The girls started arriving at 2:00

-We gave all the girls a Boulevard beer to drink as a clue to what our first event would be

-Toured Boulevard Brewery, it was awesome!

-Played some games, took some shots, gave some prizes in the hotel room

-Enjoyed free drinks at the Manager's Reception

-Headed to the Power & Light District to Drunken Fish for some delicious sushi

-Got free Sake shots for having to wait so long to get our table (we had reservations)

-Out in the P&L district! It was hot and sweaty, but we danced the night away and it was a blast!  You'll notice the pictures get sweatier...lol

-When we got back to the hotel, we had Ashley answer some questions that Andy also answered, they are a great match! 

Sunday Breakdown

-Ashley M and I were up early, of course, so we got some free breakfast, joined soon after by a couple other girls.

-Ashley M, Emily, and I went swimming

-We packed up, said our goodbyes and checked out

-Emily and I met our aunt for lunch before leaving

-6 hour drive home, BLAH

It was a great weekend with family and friends! It was fun celebrating Ashley and her upcoming marriage.  I think she got some much needed girl time and a break from wedding planning.  Oh, and I can't believe I almost posted this with out including the highlight of the weekend!  While dancing in the courtyard, two guys started having a dance off.  Ashley decided to mimic one of the guys and it was hilarious! Check it out:

Weekend Recap July 8-10

I love summer weekends.  I love the activities, I love the clothes (haha), I love being outside...even on really hot days.  I don't know, as per usual, I'm pretty sure this summer is flying by wayyyyy to fast!  This past weekend was filled with mostly local activities, and a lot of fun.  Not so much relaxing, which would explain why I was SO TIRED Monday morning.  Here's the breakdown:

Friday

Girls night!  My friend Brandy is moving to Missouri as soon as she finds a job, so we had to designate a night out before time got away from us.  Ashley, Brandy, and I met up at Brandy's for some drinks before hitting up karaoke where our friend Jaqui was DJing.  It was a wonderful time, we sang some great songs, including "Wannabe," "Zombie," "Toucha Toucha Toucha Me," and I serenaded Ashley with "The Way I Am" :)

Saturday

I started Saturday off at 7:30 with a couple hours of work :( So of course it could only get better.  Ryan and I spent the afternoon at the John Deere Classic and had a great time.  It was a lot of walking, especially up and down hills, so I was getting really nervous for my race Saturday night because I was already so tired!  What race you ask? Why the Moonlight Chase of course.  The Moonlight Chase is a 4-mile night-time race out in Eldridge, IA (where I grew up) and the course is wonderful! You walk/run through town and there are people lining the entire course cheering you on.  It was hot and hilly, but I'm so glad I did it!!  You can find the results here, yes that's me in 1,280th place! =) And I couldn't be prouder, so take that!  My goal is just to continue improving.  I already improved my mile pace just in the one week since my 5K, so just gotta keep going!

Nervous before the race

Sunday

I picked up my lil' bro and we drove up to Cedar Rapids to see my sister's new house!  It was a VERY hot day, so we spent the majority of it inside, but was a great day.  They have a cute house, and I'm so glad they are out of the apartment with all the college kids!  When  we got back from C.R. later that evening, Ryan and I had to clean up and go grocery shopping for his little birthday dinner that we had with his family last night (Monday night).  

I was SOO tired Monday morning, I didn't want to work.  But it's already Tuesday, and I cannot wait until Thursday! Why am I so excited for Thursday?! HARRY POTTER AT MIDNIGHT!!!  And then I have Friday off and Ashley L is coming to town for the weekend...it's going to be quite stellar!  Happy Tuesday everyone!

A Fantastic and Relaxing Weekend

This past weekend, Ryan and I went to visit Ashley and Andy in Omaha!  We left on Friday after work and got to their place around 10:00. Honestly, there is not too much to describe because we spent a lot of time in, which was exactly what we needed!  We played a lot of Euchre in which Ashley and I kicked some butt and I am now anxiously awaiting my homemade strawberry pie.  Ashley and I babysat the cutest little boy on Saturday night and went for a walk.  On Sunday morning, Ashley and I ran a 5k in the middle of a thunderstorm that was just passing through.  We caught about 2 miles of rain, and then it lightened up for the last part of the race, which made it feel way sticky and muggy...BLAH!  But it was my first 5K and I'm so glad I did it, I'm already looking forward to another, now that I know I won't be in last place, haha!  I'm saving my favorite part of our Omaha trip for last, but here a couple pictures so far:

WAIT! What is that bear doing there?!  That would be from the amazing Safari Park in Omaha!  So there is this park, which feels very much like Jurassic Park when you pass through it's different gates, that you pay to drive through and the wildlife is right outside your window.  Well, most of it runs free, not the bears or wolves.  There was a spot in the middle of the park where you parked your car and walked to the bear, wolf, and eagle enclosures.  It was so awesome, the bears were RIGHT there, so much closer than they are at the zoo.  It was probably one of my favorite things we have done in Omaha so far, besides the actual zoo since it's amazing.  When we got to the bison area, we were stopped for a little while because those massive creatures do what they want and were standing in the road.  Enjoy these pics and be jealous, you know you want to go!

Finally, since we didn't hit up any fireworks in Omaha, Ryan and I went to Bettendorf's fireworks back home.  They were amazing and it was such a beautiful night, and it was kind of nice to spend that time together, alone.  Happy Belated 4th of July everyone!