Spring Break in MN

March 22, 2013

I have so much to up date on! Crazy how time just flies when you are having fun! Well, Matt and I traveled to Minnesota for spring break. Funny thing that is... people usually travel south aka to warmer areas for spring break... however we do not. it never reached above freezing the whole time we were there! It was like serving in that area as a missionary again! We did not let it dampen our trip one bit though! Driving through snow storms and snow drifts was a fun way to celebrate the coming of spring! ok, so not really, but it was still one of the most relaxing and enjoyable spring breaks ever!

We stayed with two great friends of mine, Tom and Sarah Cottle. I knew both of them while serving as a missionary back in 2008-2010 before their dating and engaged days. Sarah has a gift and talent with hair and as you can see in the collage of pictures she did really well on my major transformation! Which i am just loving! Thanks Sarah!

We did so many awesome things while we were there Saturday thru Tuesday. I must interrupt and say that i was able to wish my good friend Rhianna Daws a very happy 26th birthday in person on the day of her birthday! What a coincidence we would be traveling through Iowa the day of her birthday! I also got to meet her newest little boy Zaden! Talk about a charmer! He brought tears to my eyes with his smile, i wanted to take him home with me.

After arriving at the Cottle's in the evening on Saturday we went to the Science Museum of Minnesota! There is the Body Works Exhibit there right now and WOW! talk about fantastic! i have never seen nor been comfortable seeing the human body displayed in such a way. it was breathtaking and very informative. I really love the part of the exhibit about the miracle of life. It showed the growth stages of the human fetus. It truly is a miracle! After walking though the bodies we spent the rest of the evening playing with all the fun hands on stuff that the museum had. Matt loved it and we wished we would have had more time to spend there. (We will go back again)

That eveing we picked up a yummy pizza at Dominos and watched Drop Dead Gorgeous a mock documentary of a MN beauty contest! SOOOOOOO FUNNY!!!!!

Sunday was St. Patricks day. of course i wore green! We attended The Cottle's ward which was wonderful and even got to see the temple! (the chapel they attend shares a parking lot with the temple). Sarah made some yummy fish tacos for a light lunch and we wasted no time getting started with my makeover! Brown hair is something i never thought i would venture out to do... and i must say... I LOVE IT! it had given me a need to search deeper for a new confidence in myself. It has been really good for me to tell you all the truth.

Matt and i then drove to Laura Dornbushe's house to surprise her with us showing up. she had no idea we were in town! It was a great chat and i wish i could show a picture of her surprised face! Priceless! Skyping with my family came next! Their reactions to my hair were to be expected... of course it was my dad who was the first to say he liked it... I will admit is was quite a change from the long haired blonde daughter they are used to LOL! I also got to meet Summer's BF Scott... this was an awkward moment too... i introduced Scott to Matt as Summer's BF... and they hadn't had "the talk" yet. OPS!

Monday we enjoyed the wonderful Mall of America or as the locals call it MOA. Matt's first time and we got a personal tour from Tom Cottle. He really enjoyed giving it as we really enjoyed receiving it. We shopped for quite a while, Matt got a game and a tie, and i got me a new pair of RED TOMS! We visited the Lego store and we were blown away with the Lego creations!

Matt also enjoyed his first Juicy Lucy at the 5-8 Club! The classic american cheese stuffed burger born in MN. he was a fan! i had a different variation that included pepper jack cheese instead. Yum! That evening we took Laura out to eat at Eddington's. This was the most popular place for missionaries to eat because the chain was owned by an LDS Stake President who gave all missionaries 50% off their meals! That meant 4 bucks for all you can eat soup and bread sticks! and yes i got to eat my 3 favorite soups from there that night!

And finally Tuesday brought us back to our lovely home in Lincoln, where Andy was patiently waiting for our return. He sure missed us a lot. We can tell because he becomes more clingy... and we love him for it!

So there you have it! Our Lovely spring break trip for 2013! We plan to have many more as the years go on!