Only in Tahlequar

This has felt like one of the longest weeks of my life. I'm not sure if I am complaining or not. I feel like I have done a lot, but I have also done nothing. I can't believe I have only been home for a week. It has been such a great week though. I have gotten to spend time with pretty much everyone I cared to see once I got here. I have gone a few places while I was here too.

Tuesday I had a little cook out for some of the girls (Misty, Linsea, and Emily). I am so over eating out every meal, it's fun to have a home cooked meal. It was fun to catch up with them. It's kind of a random bunch but we had so much fun, we decided to make it a weekly thing. I had my mom around to help me with the grilling but I would really like to be able to get the hang of it soon. I don't like when she has to help.

Yesterday Madison, Marissa, and I went to Joplin, MO to see Darien and help the Art Feeds people splatter paint t-shirts and make bracelets. My GPS was still set to avoid toll roads and traffic from the road trip so it took it the craziest way on curvey and hilly county roads and small highways. It wasn't terrible because we drove that during the day so it was pretty scenic compared to I-44 which was the easiest way to get there. The GPS also took us on the dirt/grass road to get to Darien's grandmas's house instead of just staying on the road we were driving on already. We literally drove on grass, but the GPS thought it was an actual road. It's so strange that Darien doesn't live in Tahlequah or Oklahoma anymore. It was fun to sit around and talk in funny accents play mad-libs, and make up stories about trolls and whatever shenanigans we talked about. I don't know anyone else who isn't from here who could do that and be perfectly entertained for hours. I laugh more with my home friends. It's most likely things that are only funny to us. We develop a strange sense of humor living here, it must be in the water or something.

Today, the Mindiola girls and I went to Fayetteville, AR to hang out with Beki. We went and ate fro-yo at Orange Mango, then we went to the farmers' market. Instead of going out to eat dinner we decided to buy produce and cook dinner. Beki's boyfriend just recently bought a house so we used his kitchen. We had a salad, pan seared chicken, mashed potatoes, and sautéed carrots and snap peas. I really love cooking for people, I still need some practice with timing of when to cook what so that it is all done and still hot at the right time.

I have to earn my weekly spending money in the morning. Good night! Until next time...

Lone Star Adventures

The last few days spent in Texas have been fantastic. I've gotten to live vicariously through Stevvi in College Station to fulfill my want for a classic college experience complete with v-necks and Nike running shorts. I have also fulfilled my dream of living in the peak of white suburbia in San Antonio with Rae and her family. It's been so fun to meet everyone in her life in person. It's so crazy how iChatting can make meeting people on a computer screen so real. I feel like I've know Stevvi, Danielle, and Robin forever.

I love froyo. There are so many froyo shops here, I'm so sad that we don't at home. Spoons in College Station is the first self serve froyo place I had ever been too. I got to get however much yogurt I wanted and whatever flavor along with however many toppings I wanted and then I pay per ounce. Definitely something that I couldn't have all the time, that would not be very friendly on my debit card. Orange Cup in SA was really cool too. They had some interesting flavors and a really cute store at the LaCantera Mall. Oh the LaCantera Mall...beautiful and every store I would ever want. I didn't buy anything though...aren't you proud?  Last night Rae, Stevvi, and Danielle took me to the famous Riverwalk in Downtown San Antonio. I have mixed feelings about doing touristy things with locals, I'm not sure if I didn't think it was such a big deal just because it's not a         very big deal or if it would have been a big deal if I went with non-locals.

Well my bags are all packed and I am ready to head out and go back up to Oklahoma. Back to reality. We are making a pit stop in Dallas to see my lovely Danell and take a tour of the Cowboys Stadium. Rae and I are parting ways tomorrow, she is going to fly from Dallas back to SA and I will be driving home. This is gonna be kinda weird, we haven't spent much time apart in several months. It's a blessing from God that we aren't sick of each other yet. Much love, enjoy the warm weather, I'm still adjusting.