Mississippi Time & Labor Day Weekend

My trip to Mississippi was definitely time well spent and needed with my parents. It started off with a layover in my favorite airport (Minnesota). I'm thinking I'll plan our next vacation to this city based on just this decoration:

I love bears and these sort of carvings, Minnesota is looking like a great city for me. Plus they have the Mall of America nearby :)

My mom had text me about a week before my trip saying they had decided to turn their guest room into an actual bedroom. I was pleasantly surprised to see the lovely setup they had for me:

Complete with flowers, magazines, and a back scratcher.
Could it be any cuter?

Unfortunately while showing me the add ins closets they had built in their extra room I was surprised with the below ugly bug (I'm not sure what it is with the bugs in Mississippi, but they are weird and gross):

It's called a Silverfish...look it up to see
How really gross it is!

The bonus of the first few days - aside from seeing my parents - was going into my first Piggly Wiggly store (this has been on my personal bucket list for a little while). I was so excited, I wanted to buy something to commemorate it. The best thing I could find was some chocolate milk haha.

Every morning a huge flock of birds would fly between my mom's tree and the neighbors huge bushes. The cats can't get enough of them. It was funny to see them watch it and start "chattering"

Speaking of the cats...I think they missed me as much as I missed them (same story with the dogs, but they didn't want to sit for pictures with me):

Mississippi currently has the largest Bass Pro Shop, it was made for tourists. When my mom told me we were going I was thinking "okay...I guess that sounds fun." But really, it's amazing! First off, they have live alligators there, they have a elevator that takes you up to this lookout point to see the Mississippi River, and quite a few places to eat. Plus they also have boats you can "try on for size". I really loved it, especially the amazingly soft sweat suit I found (Mom I still really want that for Christmas!).



Selfie in front of the shop to show off to the family

Live alligators

Mighty Mississippi

I also not only tried Alligator for the first time (spicy, but tastes just like chicken), but we also got my mom to try it! This is big as she hates trying anything new or weird. She wanted to resist at first, but we were excited we got her to do it...and she didn't regret it either.

 

 

One of the days we went to the Memphis Zoo. I'm pretty hesitant to go there since last time I cried watching a poor baby duck lose a fight with some otters. Luckily there was no death on this trip AND we got to watch the cutest bear swim around in front of us (this made up for not seeing the bears at my work party for sure). It was particularly adorable watching him put his snout in the water and blow bubbles, as well as using a stick to scratch the top of his nose. I swear I took about 50 pictures and 5 videos of just that part of it, only some of which I'll actually post.

Look at those claws!

The perfect nose scratcher...a stick

 

To say I was obsessed is an understatement

Some days we decided to do something girlie and so my step-dad would go shooting and the dogs would watch him drive away so sadly.

On this particular occasion we went to their botanical gardens. They were so amazing, they had cute little houses and areas for kids to play in and the most amazing setups with beautiful flowers and peaceful fountains. If it weren't for the extreme heat and lack of sunscreen I could've stayed all day

 

I also kind of made them switch plans around so I could see Ole Miss and the sorority and frat homes. I was not disappointed at all. We ended the day with a good deed by buying tons of toys, treats, and food for dogs that were recently rescued at a local shelter. They had more dogs than space and you could tell the poor things weren't comfortable around humans, but I know the shelter was glad to have the help. I loved visiting and petting the ones that didn't mind me so much.

 

 One of the days we went to the coast of the Mississippi  River and walked along the boardwalk. The River was extremely low, but the trees had started turning colors and it was so pretty. I could've done without the bugs and webs (I'm still not used to walking with my arms in front of me to clear them out). The biggest bonus was getting to see a live armadillo walking around and digging for food. It was funny because the whole trip my mom kept mentioning how they had seen one before and she wanted me to see how they run, but the display at the zoo was empty so she was upset about that, but then we finally got to see one. I also got to pet a wild frog, which was crazy.

You can see the sand bar at the bottom here

I guess the rock line is usually where the river is at

That's right...a selfie of a selfie

We ended the trip the best way ever, by participating in their "Go Ape" obstacle course in the trees (yes UP in the trees). This could not have been more fun. I want to do it every time we go back. It was definitely a workout though, but mostly because of the heat. I will say I'm officially sick of the bugs they have there. I was attacked bay a wasp and some random white spider bug, it was awful and made me fall off one of the obstacles, but was still a fun way to end an amazing trip. Plus it was nice working off enough calories that we could go get milkshakes afterwards.

Group pictures before

 

We thought we were so tough haha

I was smart and didn't schedule my flight home until 1 so I was able to enjoy most of the morning with my parents still. My mom and I decided to go for a walk and do a workout in Central Park (their local park that is amazing). Coming back to the smell of eggs and bacon was even better.

Overall it was one of the best trips, I'm sad it's over with now. I love my parents and I'm glad they'll be in Utah in November so it's not that long we have to wait to see each other again.

HQY Summer Part at The Hogle Zoo

Reasons why working at HealthEquity is the best: the parties! I love how great this company is at showing appreciation for the employees. Even if I don't win any prizes (which isn't always the funnest, but you get over it) I still love going to them. This year they chose The Hogle Zoo, and by choosing that I mean they completely rented the whole zoo out from 6-9 tonight. They had an awesome photo contest, some prize baskets, some awesome big prizes, and a scavenger hunt. But of course, I love to go just to see all the animals :)

Lions, Tigers, and Bears...oh my

It's nice because last time Larry and I went without any kids coming with us we didn't stay long and it didn't feel like it was worth the drive or the money to get in. This time it was nice because we got to tag along with my co-workers that had kids or just run into people we knew and could chit-chat with for a bit. The sad part is the Polar Bear wasn't there this time (which is my favorite), but the rest of the animals were there, and we got our own bird show. I got an awesome shot of one of the orangutans and me, I thought it would win a cool photo award, but I guess not (it's still a cool shot though). It was funny because one of the HR ladies saw me take it and started to yell out "best selfie right there!" so as we walked away I saw a bunch of other people doing the same thing and so Larry told me "hurry and post it so you get the credit for it!" Haha.

It was a really nice night Larry and I got to spend together before I leave for Mississippi in the morning. Speaking of, I should probably head to bed now. I get to get up at 4:30 in the morning...tough, but it'll be worth it :)

I'll post about my trip once I get back...Happy Weekend Everyone!

Awesome Week - Groundbreaking and more babies!

Hello blogging world! Sometimes I never know how to start off my post so my happy greeting will have to suffice. It's so happy because this week has been a great one! Why? Well let's break it down:

On Tuesday, my work had their groundbreaking ceremony for our new building. I've never been to a groundbreaking before so it was kind of cool to see this. Plus Cindy's company is the builder so she got to come out for it and we got to hang out a bit. My company had a few food trucks come out and paid for our lunch too so it was a really nice day. Cindy is my aunt, but we grew up so close that we're really like sisters. Her daughters even call Larry "Uncle Lawwy" so we're pretty close.

Today, officially, Ariel (my sister on my dad's side) announced she and her husband are expecting their first baby. I'm not sure what it is about baby news, but I just get so excited and want to know everything about them haha. She's due on St. Patrick's Day, which is her favorite holiday as she told me so it's perfect. Look how cute the announcement is:

Of course I text her all the time asking how she's feeling and name ideas and all that fun stuff. I love baby news :)

It's not a lot, but that was enough to make it a great week. Plus in one week and a day from today I'll be leaving to go visit my parents in Mississippi! Happy August everyone, is anyone else ready for it to be Fall yet, because I sure am!

Summer Entertainment

So this summer we decided to take advantage of the Megaplex $5 Tuesdays deal. We had a ton of movie gift cards and there were a bunch of movies we wanted to see that had either come out all at once or one right after another. What's nice is these were basically free date nights for us and we got quite a bit of them, we were able to go see:

• Ted 2: I had heard this one was better than the first (we're big Seth Macfarlane fans, but I'll admit I wasn't sold on the first movie...I thought it could've been better) so we started with this one. I'll say if you liked the first one you'll like this one too, it was better, but I think A Million Ways to Die in the West will be my favorite of his movies.

• Jurassic World: This is one (like most of the movie choices) that I was more excited for than Larry. He read the books and didn't like how the movies had been made, but I'm a sucker for them. This one had quite a bit of plot holes, but I still plan on buying it when it comes out :)

• Inside Out: I don't know that Larry and I are ready for kid movies just yet. It's not that I wasn't a fan, but I felt too anxious the whole time watching this. I just kept thinking "hurry and get back to the main HQ already!!" Haha. It was cute, but I could've passed on it and been okay.

• Trainwreck: Oh my gosh! I've never laughed so hard at a movie! Hopefully by this time you've either already seen it or ruled it out, because I'm probably ruining it by saying this. The very last scene I laughed so hard at I was in tears and it got really quiet in the theaters and I had to try and hold it in and it was so hard. I'm pretty sure the lady who was standing outside our theater thought I had been beaten in it because I was just crying so hard when we got out. Go see this one! If you can handle semi-nudity/profanity at least.

• Vacation: Another hilarious one! I laughed really hard at some parts of this one and was really pleased with how it turned out. This movie really does stand on it's own as far as new jokes, but keeping with the old style of the original. Another one I'd recommend you go see.

I've also started a new book series, the Women's Murder Club by James Patterson. I used to be into romance books (judge me all you want, I don't care), but I've really gotten into murder mystery type books more lately. I love not knowing who the killer is, but seeing how they solve the crimes. I'm pretty sure if I could stomach it I'd love to be a medical examiner, I feel like they are the biggest key in how crimes get solved. This series has 14 books out right now and I'm only on the second one, but it's still great. Plus the chapters are only 2-5 pages (max) so it's easy to just zoom through it. I definitely think I'm hopping onto the James Patterson train.

I could only find a picture of 11 together, but there are 14

It's nice because Larry is re-reading the Sword of Truth series so we usually end our nights reading together. Top that with our Tuesday movie date nights and we're happy campers. I try not to really plan things for weeknights (usually after we're done working we just want to relax, not go hiking or anything), so knowing we've found ways to relax, but still spend the nights together has been a great escape from the day-to-day. Plus I feel like this way we're still doing something with our summers without spending an arm and a leg (and there's nothing better than a cool movie theater on a hot day!)

Bountiful Flight Experience and a New Niece! (Number 31)

So this weekend I got to make a wish come true for Larry: he got to fly an airplane for the first time! He's been wanting to do this for a while, and if you remember I got him this for his birthday. We finally got it schedule for this weekend (which I kind of felt bad of because my dad's side of the family is having a reunion this weekend and I thought it was last weekend when I scheduled this so we had to skip out of that...sorry Wilson clan! I will try better next year to remember!). Anyways, I'll have to mess with the video and then load it up later, but here are some pictures from it:

The company we went with.
Highly recommend them.

Our instructor, Kyler, going over the different parts of the plane

Pre flight picture

Taking off

My baby's flying!

Lagoon looks tiny from high above

It's not REAL clear, but this is when we
Did the zero g's part.
You can sort of see the water bottle floating.

I didn't take this upside down, my camera
Got confused and did that since we were suspended
In mid air.

We had to come down eventually...

Look how small that plane is! This was after the flight

Larry and Kyler backing the plane into place...seriously.

The only picture of us in front of the plane
Yeah...we're kind of awkward.

It was nice because our instructor gave us info on getting your pilot's license (like how much it costs and how many hours you need for a private plane vs commercial) so now if we decide to do it we're aware. Although right now Larry's got enough school going on so this wouldn't be in our immediate future, but it's nice to dream huh? Haha.

Anyone interested in flight stuff should definitely do the KSL deal I got, it was more than worth it. I'm glad I got to go with (doing the 4 zero g's parts was probably my favorite, but seeing Larry's smile was pretty awesome too). I earned my wife of the year award today haha.

So you may want to ask what is the best way to end a day like this? To go visit a baby! My Sister-In-Law, Amber, had her baby girl, Lydia on the 30th (so she's brand spanking new), and I was lucky enough to be on the visitor's list so I jumped at the chance to go. Look how cute and tiny she is:

The picture doesn't do her justice, but her foot is as long as my thumb. She has these teeny sideburns that just melt me, they are so cute. I'm obsessed with baby nails too for some reason, they are so cute. Amber's so excited to have a girl and put bows in her hair and dress her up. She's going to have so much fun. Hopefully they get to take her home soon, she's in the NICU right now, but she's in good hands and they think she'll get to go home very soon. She's so cute when she gets frustrated her whole face will wrinkle up and she makes like every expression at once. I already love her so much and I can't wait to go see her again! Congratulations to my brother, Shawn, and Amber on their precious baby girl..hopefully William will be a great big brother who helps a lot :)