Just a Quick Trip to Utah

So after much encouragement from friends, my sister, and my sister-in-law, and of course Brian, I went to Utah... without Mikey. It was a little unnerving at first. I spent the first few days (ok the whole time) thinking I needed to hurry and get back to Michael or convincing myself that I had forgotten him... yeah those were some nightmarish moments. Once I settled down and remembered that his dad was perfectly capable of handling things at home the trip was much more fun. 

Sadly I took very few photos so my lovely narrative will have to suffice. 

The first day (thursday) our flight left at 6:30(ish)am... which meant we had to be at DFW by 5:30am or so which meant we left our house at 4am, which meant I got up at 3am. My poor friend/travel buddy and I were exhausted by the time we made it to our seats, but we were thrilled so the exhaustion didnt really set in until the ride home. We had a quick and delicious breakfast at Kneaders (seriously try their ham,egg, and cheese crossiant... you wont be disappointed, and then I went to see my lovely sister-in-law and nephew for a few hours.  It was wonderful to catch up with her, seriously the best sister-in-law I could ask for. Then because apparently the exhaustion was lurking below the surface I decided to trek to Happy Valley and see my wonderful sister... about halfway there I remembered how early I had woken up. We had a yummy dinner and headed to the grocery store. I slept at her apartment that night....and it helped me come to a few conclusions...

1. 26 is old. When I was 19 I was up for the insane sleep schedules, the social life, and the crap diet. A lot has changed in 7 years, now I prefer to hang out with friends at normal times, sleep in my nice clean bed in my clean(sometimes) house, and eat adult food. While it was fun for a weekend, and so much fun when it was my life I am thrilled to be an old married mom. 

2. college apartments are disgusting. The place em lives had a bad reputation when I was there... and trust me 7 years worth of filth has not improved things. 

3. girls dont clean either. With the exception of Em's room which was clean (no shock there) the place was... unsanitary at best. Not kidding. I feel so bad emily has to live there... it made me so grateful for the clean roommates I had... and it made me want to slap her roommates... seriously gross. 

After passing out on her floor... pretty much literally, I woke up Friday morning reenergized and ready to go to a conference for my graduate school department. It was so fun to see people I hadnt in awhile and to find myself in an academic setting again. It was interesting to realize how much I had changed since leaving the program. While I do want to save children, encourage breastfeeding and vaccination, I have also developed an interest in our healthcare system. My experience clashed somewhat with other's experience and opinions, but it was great to be able to discuss some of those ideas in an open forum. It did make me happy to be done though, I loved lectures while I was in college but a few of the discussions made me want to scream "it doesnt work like that in PRACTICE! Theory only goes so far!" anyway stepping off my soapbox, let's just say healthcare consulting is sometimes at odds with the more altruistic side of public health.  Friday I had dinner with some awesome cohort members, saw a professor I worked with, and got to spend a few hours with one of my awesome freshman roommates. Seriously so good to see her (and everyone), but it is always so fun to catch up with her and see her darling family! 

Saturday... emily and I went to the longest eye doctor appointment on the planet, walked around the entire mall and only bought undershirts, and visited Walmart 3 times (yeah). We spent the evening (okay we didnt start until 10) making something for her Relief Society and I tried to pretend I wasnt old and didnt want to go to be early. Oh and we went to dinner... 

We went to dinner at one of my all time favorite Provo places- Burger Supreme. Seriously cannot get enough of this place (classy I know). We stocked up on fry sauce while we waited... because Burger Supreme does have tasty fry sauce. 

 We were dying, it just smelled so good, if you havent been here you dont know that the place is smoky and you are dying at the delicious grease smells just wafting by. Fyi someone decided to redecorate the dining area... and it is much less ghetto which i feel takes away from the loveliness. The booths no longer are precarious situations, no springs, no super greasy chairs... not sure how I feel about that.

 I was starving. Had to wear my sweet MPH sweatshirt... that's right.

 Our food was delcious as we knew it would be. I got a guacamole bacon burger because I didnt want to skimp on calories, and emily got a pastrami burger cause one type of meat wasnt enough for her either.

 We shared fries and a shake. I love their fries, not too big, not to small, just right, let's call them Goldilocks fries.

 I was in heaven, Oh Burger Supreme I have missed you!

 Em was excited for her two meat burger... we were going for a 2000 calorie meal, totally worth it.

 We crafted a bit, but didnt take a picture of the final product. Dont let these photos of her apartment lull you into a false sense of security, the place was disgusting. No one should live at the Elms.

 Cute pinwheel banner she made this summer.

 This reminds me of the fat guy in a little coat song.

 Oh sunday I went to church with emily and let me just say I have never been so grateful not to be in a BYU singles ward. The place was a fashion show and I am not stylish enough to attend. There was so much primping and flirting involved. So glad that my sundays are a little less stylish. We made a yummy lunch after church and the water was turned back on.... yeah you read that one right. Probably the best meal ever cooked there (salmon, rice pilaf, and broccoli) and it clearly wasnt our best work.

After our lunch we headed back to my sister-in-law's for dinner. I cannot thank her enough for having us and for the awesome dinner... remember the awesome part?! I got to spend more time with my sweet niece and nephews.

Jake is the sweetest dude ever, I hope Mikey grows up to be like him. He is such an awesome kid!

 Al... well not enough can be said about her, but I think she is the smartest 7 year old around, seriously I am not smart enough to keep up with her!

 Love these two but I am devastated they are growing up so fast!

 Then there is Caleb... he teaches me that someday Mikey is going to really keep me on my toes. This kid is hilarious, so funny, love that he loves astronauts, so much personality for such a little guy!

 Arent they darling? There is one more, but I think he was napping. benny is so mellow... maybe mikey can learn something from him!

 Photo courtesy of Jake!

 We flew out at 5:49am on monday... yeah am. so Monday was a long day, but I was thrilled to be home and see my sweet mikey and Brian! I picked mikey up from the friend that had been watching him that morning and he was thrilled to see me. He wasnt thrilled anytime I was out of sight but I can deal with that for a few days. I came home to a CLEAN house! Brian did a great job! Seriously, Mikey did so well, the house didnt burn down, and it was cleaner than when I left! I came home to this on the dishwasher.

Such a fun trip! Thank you everyone that made it so fun and possible!