This post's sponsor is American Express, because 10 miles from the Springfield, MO airport a rock flew up and hit the windshield of our new rental car, the first one we have ever rented since Drew just turned 25 and I still am not there, and left a huge crack. However, our car insurance company covered everything but the deductible, and Am Ex covered that, so we were out $0.00!!!
OK, I am back at home, but life is not quite back to normal yet. :) It may be a few weeks. :) Here is a recap of our time in MO! I am sorry I don't have pictures to share, since I was in the wedding I didn't take any pictures!!
Well the first order of business, since I was wearing a sleeveless dress at the wedding, was to rid myself of my farmer's tan, and I had one day to do it. My parents had rented a condo on Lake of the Ozarks, so on Wednesday (we flew in Tuesday night), we rented a pontoon boat and two jet-skis. Unfortunately Meredith was not able to join us, but her 6 younger siblings were there, along with my 4 brothers, my husband, my parents and Shanthi Patti (Grandma Shanthi, my dad's mother) and Namu Patti (My grandmother's sister Namu who lives in Dallas with her daughter). We had a great day, spending 5 hours on the lake just relaxing and exploring the lake. I had never driven a jet ski before and about 5 minutes after I left the rental place, my brother hopped on behind me, as I attempted to make my first turn and sure enough, in slow motion, we tipped, tipped, tipped and ended up in the cold water. Thankfully the rental lady had told me how to flip it upright, so we were back on our way in no time. :)
Thursday, Friday, Saturday were spent preparing for, and attending the wedding. I must say I like the groom's side better... they just have to show up!! We spent Thursday decorating the church. We transformed the dingy fellowship hall into a high end restaurant with chair covers, linens, china and Christmas lights. Friday we had the rehearsal lunch (only after an amazing pedicure) at a Chinese/sushi place in Springfield, MO. I must admit that I didn't like sushi at first, but it is definitely growing on me...
The rehearsal was short and sweet, I think I can now call myself and Expert-Isle-Walker-Downer. After the rehearsal the guys headed our for a night of fun (which you can read about on Ryan's Blog) while I fell asleep in my hotel room at 10, you would think I never get to sleep! :)
The wedding day was amazingly calm, after brunch with the other bridesmaids we headed to the church at noon, pictures at 3, wedding at 6, dinner at 7, bride and groom gone before 9, cleaned and packed up by 11:30!! We now have another female in the family!! (I promise to post a few pictures when I get them).
Early Sunday we drove up to St. Louis (after dropping off two different parties at two different airports) and met up with a childhood friend. We had a wonderful time catching up on each other's lives and on the lives of mutual friends. And she is currently working on her Ph.D. in History so she was the perfect tour guide. :) We had a great time touring St. Louis! Andrew went up in the Gateway Arch for the first time (if you ever go, nix the video, we slept through it, live footage from 1965...snnnnoooorrrrrreeeeee), and we toured the Anheuser-Busch Factory and managed to get caught in a MO thunder storm and end up SOAKED. We had a great time anyway, it was worth the free beer at the end. :) RANDOM FACT: Did you know that there are over 250 Budweiser Clydesdale's, and they have to meet certain restrictions as far as height, and color to become one? AND each horse eats 35 Quarts of grain, 60 Pounds of hay and 30 Gallon of water PER DAY!
On Monday we toured St. Charles, home to the first MO state capital (1821-1826) and it is the place where Lewis & Clark left for their expedition of the Louisiana Purchase! It was a quaint little town with cobble stone streets and fun shops. RANDOM FACT#2: Beaver hats were the most desirable hats at the time, (not coon skin hats, a top had made of beaver skin) and hat makers would make these hats with glue that contained mercury. And with the constant exposure to mercury it would slowly soak into their skin and slowly make them go mad... hence the Mad Hatter!!
And now here we are Saturday, we had four days home and yesterday my mother, along with my youngest brother, and Meredith's two youngest siblings, John & Mimi came and will be here for a few weeks! It is quite a full house and makes for a interesting situation with 6 people, a dog and a house that is on the market. :)
And tomorrow Ryan & Meredith are coming home! We are having a BIG party for them tomorrow afternoon... 80 people have RSVPed, which means that there are problem 15-20 more that forgot!!!
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