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Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Dallas Trip

Every year our Sunday School department takes a weekend trip together. We started this tradition a couple of years ago, and I love it! It is the perfect chance to get away, forget about life back home, and just have fun. This year we went to Dallas, and we had a great time.

We left Friday morning. I'm not someone who just loves road trips, but I do love road trips with lots of friends! We loaded into a suburban and a church van and headed south on I-35. We stopped in Ardmore for lunch. I know you're asking, why in the world did you do that? We really did have a very good reason. One of the girls from our class recently moved to the Ardmore area, and we stopped to have lunch with her. She took us to this yummy little barbecue place where we proceeded to stuff ourselves before finishing our journey south.

We continued our trip to Dallas, getting there just in time before rush hour traffic hit. We checked into our hotel and immediately headed to the pool to hang out and lounge around until dinner time. For dinner, we went to Medieval Times. If you've never been, it's definitely worth going. I'm not much into the whole medieval scene, but it really was a lot of fun. You get a good dinner (eaten with your hands...no utensils are provided) and a show. When you come in, you are assigned a color and given a corresponding crown. This is your "team," and you cheer for the knight of the same color. Since I'm all about competition, I cheered wildly for our knight. Unfortunately, he was the first one to die. Such a disappointment. Even though our team didn't win, I still had a great time and would highly recommend visiting Medieval Times if you get the chance.

On Saturday, most of the guys headed to a Rangers game, and the girls went SHOPPING! We're not talking leisurely, walk around and look shopping. We're talking serious, put on your comfy shoes, walk until you feel like your legs are going to fall off shopping. It. Was. Awesome. We started our day at Ikea, also known as Heaven. We spent 4 hours at Ikea and probably could have stayed longer, but we were all pretty worn out and knew there was much more shopping to be done. I found some great stuff including a salad spinner for $2.99! I love that place.

After Ikea, we headed to Sam Moon...another one of our favorites. Who doesn't love cheap purses and jewelry? Then we were off the Stonebriar Mall to do even more shopping. By the end of the day, my legs were almost as tired as after running a marathon. But, I got some cute stuff and had a lot of fun, so it was well worth it. We ended our time at the mall with dinner at The Cheesecake Factory. Then, later that evening, a few of us walked to a nearby frozen yogurt place for dessert. A perfect ending to a great day.

Sunday morning, we packed up our stuff and headed to the pool for a brief time of fellowship. I could handle church by the pool every Sunday. Just saying. We ate lunch at Buffalo Wild Wings, which turned out to be a lot of fun, since it was the opening Sunday of NFL football. They had all the games on at one time, which was very crazy but pretty awesome, too.

That Sunday was the 10 year anniversary of 9/11. This topic really requires a post of its own, but there was a really cool moment while we were eating lunch. All of the football games had a tribute to 9/11 at the exact same time. They all had giant American flags that covered the entire field. At the exact same time, they all played Taps, followed by the National Anthem. Buffalo Wild Wings had been so loud that we couldn't even hear each other talking at our own table. We were literally shouting just to have a conversation with the person next to us. But when the music started, and Taps started playing, the entire restaurant was dead silent. Everyone sat with their eyes fixed on the nearest TV screen. Somber looks filled the room. Tears streamed down people's faces. And when the national anthem was over, the entire restaurant broke into a wild applause. It was one of the coolest moments I've ever been a part of.

After all that, we loaded back into our vehicles and headed home. Back to the real world. Back to work. Back to families. Back to whatever was waiting for us there.

I mentioned earlier that this trip would be the first time I left Will over night, and I'm happy to report that we both did very well! Theron's mom came to our house and stayed with Will, and I know they had so much fun together. She said he did great, and he was SO excited to see us when we got home. I held up pretty well, too. I definitely missed my baby, but I only broke down one time. I was able to really enjoy myself and have fun with my friends, which I think is important for parents to do. Our whole lives revolve around our kids, and I think it's nice to have some time for yourself every once in awhile. It was very refreshing, and I was so happy to see my baby boy when I got home! I think I might have even had a little more patience with him this week.

All in all, it was a great trip...just like always. I'm so thankful for our church friends. They are the best. I'm thankful for weekends away to act silly, have fun, and do ridiculous amounts of shopping. I'm thankful for a mother-in-law who came to stay the weekend to take care of my baby. I'm thankful for a chance to be refreshed and recharged. Now, I'm already looking forward to next year!

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