Summer Travels + Video!

Since we have been traveling so much this summer- I wanted to document all of our trips. We started our travels in New Orleans, then went to camp at Alasso Ranch with our church back in AR. From there we went to Vail and then last but not least- San Francisco! Click on this link to see our Summer Travels Video!

And as crazy as it seems- we have decided to go on one more trip!! We are going back to Colorado! We are going with some friends from college and can't wait. At the beginning of the summer we thought we were just too busy, and we probably still are, so we originally said no. But as the summer went on, it was actually Mitch that kept saying how much he wanted to go. Once he goes to school he will not get these kinds of opportunities for 3 years. He doesn't get any breaks, including summer. And honestly we have done so much this summer- whats one more trip. I was hesitant at first, but he kept telling me, we will probably never get another summer like this so we need to take advantage of it. And he is right. It wasn't too hard convincing me though... Colorado is one of my favorite places ever!  And we are going to an area we have never been before. We are going south of Denver... closer to the Pagosa Springs area! We leave in the morning and we couldn't be more excited!

San Francisco 2013

We had an absolute blast in San Fran! I have been excited about it all summer, but I did not realize how much I was going to enjoy it. And Will and Michelle were with us.. we always have a good time together!
We left Friday and got to San Francisco that night. We were there through Wednesday and fell in love with the city. There was so much to see and I cannot even begin to tell y'all about the food. Delish! Our trip was so long and we did so many things-- I am just go to highlight some of my favorite parts!

We spent a lot of time at Fisherman's Wharf. There was a lot to see and so many restaurants!

On sunday morning we went to a local farmers market and it was hands down one of our favorite parts.

There were so many local vendors with tons of fruit and veggies. We had some of the BEST peaches ever!
We biked to the Golden Gate Bridge- it was so neat to see! It was pretty foggy over the bridge, but you will hardly see it clear... they said its almost always foggy over the bridge area. Weird.

We spent a day in Napa Valley and that was a blast! It was a fun town to see and we also toured a vineyard while were there.

We drove over to Oakland and ate at the San Francisco Creamery. If you are in San Fran this is a must do!! We also had a nice steak dinner that night at a place called Vic Stewarts and it was hands down the best steak I have ever had in my life. I would HIGHLY recommend this place!

My favorite part of the trip-- we got to go see the "Full House" house. It has been my favorite show since I can remember. It defiantly was surreal to see the house! We also saw some area where they filmed like the hill in front of the painted ladies.

We walked to Lombard St., which is the "curvy" road. And we did not miss Ghirardelli Square!

We made a trip to the  Muir Wood Forest and it was incredible to see. The trees were huge!

We went to a Giants game which was a blast. Mitch and I love going to baseball games. If you have never been- this was the most gorgeous stadium ever. It looked over the bay and it was just so pretty!

Mitch and I had the opportunity to play Presidio Golf Club and it was the most gorgeous course we both had ever played. We had planned on taking our own clubs, but last minute figured out it was going to be cheaper to just rent them there. Mitch doesn't like to do this, because of his height. But it was going to save us a lot of money. We both chose Taylor Made clubs and they were so nice. I fell in love with the driver and the putter. I may be making a new purchase soon ha. But the only clubs they had to rent were blades and we didn't know that until we got there. This made it difficult for me. I played well for my first time with blades, but I play better with my own. Mitch told me how hard it is to play with blades, especially when you have only been playing a few years. But overall it was so fun. We had a blast and love being able to golf some nice courses this summer. It has always been Mitch's dream to play golf in California and he loved it. Ever since I met him- he has always talked about taking a trip down the coast of California before we have kids and golfing along the way. I think this made him want that even more ha. He says that will be his "reward" for getting though CRNA school.

I also have to tell you about these carts at Presidio. They had a mind of their own! They had these big screens in them and they told you everything about the course. It was a gps too- so since the course was so hilly, you could track where the carts in front of you were. Crazy. There were also a lot of cart rules for this course. Right before we started the starter was telling us all the rules- which holes were cart path only, 90 degree rules, etc. He talked so fast and I looked so confused when he was done- he just said, don't worry about it, the cart will let you know. I had no idea what he meant until we got to one of the holes and it literally would lock up if you weren't suppose to be on the hole and tell you to get off. One hole we went into the rough and weren't suppose to and it locked up and they only way it would let us out was to reverse the whole way. These carts were crazy! 

We always love going to Chinatown! Michelle and I had our first "scary" experience on buying purses. We ate in Chinatown at a place called House of Nanking and it was real Chinese food. The chef/owner came over to us and asked if we had ever been there before. We said no and he grabbed all our menus and said don't worry, I'll take care of. He brought out more food than we could imagine. Some of it was interesting, but the majority was so good!

We also ate at some amazing restaurants! I am really looking forward to going back in the future. It is such a fun place to visit.  If you are going in the future let us know- we can give you more ideas on what to do and recommend some amazing restaurants!

What we've been up to

Here is a little about what we have been up to this past week...

Mitch has been off work this week and it has been super nice being off as well. We were able to spend a lot of time together, which doesn't happen often when I am working, since he is on nights. He is on the waiting list for a position on days, but he doesn't think one will open up anytime soon. So we are just praying something happens because this night shift is getting rough. I can't even explain how different our lives are... I have one other good friend that has been on nights before and I feel like she is the only person I can talk to about it. If you have never experienced, it is a lot harder than people think. But we know this is just a season of our lives and we are so thankful for the plans God has for our future.

I love this guy!

The one good thing about Mitch's schedule- every other week he has monday-friday off! So this summer while I am not working it has been so fun to be able to be home with him. We are playing a lot of golf and getting back into running since our race. This week we were able to be home together and not have any plans. I cannot tell you how nice this was for us. We haven't been home together all summer, but I mean, I cant complain we HAVE been on 3 vacations and we leave next week for San Francisco!

The beginning of the week we hung at home and just relaxed. I have been trying some new recipes-- I'll have to share them with you soon. Most of y'all know, I love Trisha Yearwood, so ever since her cooking show started last year, I haven't missed it. One of my favorite things to do it watch her show and then make something she made. So I tried out some good recipes that I hopefully will post soon!

We also spent some time in Bentonville this week. Yes, we do go back A LOT, but we love it there. We both still consider it a home. We are very lucky we are so close to spend as much time there as we want. We always enjoy our time and love getting to see our family and friends. I was able to do lots of shopping one day. As you know, I have a "tiny" obsession with the razorbacks, so every-time we are there, I stock up on shirts and house decor. I got some really cute stuff- I just love all the new little boutiques in Bentonville and of course the shops in Fayetteville. While I was checking out at one of the stores- this little old lady that worked there was talking to me. She saw my OK drives license and said "with all this new hog stuff, they aren't going to let you back into OK". I laughed and told her how I actually lived in OK and told her our story. I told her how I use to work for the U of A and she said if you live in NWA or go to school/work at the univeristy- it will change you quick and becoming a hog fan is contagious. She made the comment right when I was leaving- once you truly experience AR and the Hogs, you can never go back! Ha I just laughed because as old and funny as she was, she is so right.

We were able to spend some time with Mitch's parents as well- it is always nice to see them. We also were able to see our good friend who just got engaged! It was so nice to see her and her beautiful ring! It is such a fun and exciting time- we are very happy for her!

Other than our trip to nwa- we have been doing some golfing, trying to finish some of the last projects on our house, and tending to a hurt puppy. Yes- Bella has been taking up a lot of our time this week. We noticed at the beginning of the week she had a spot that looked pretty bad on her paw.. so long story short, we took her to the vet and she either has a bad wound that has got infected or a spider bite. It looks awful and she is on 7 pills a day!

Poor girl- the medicine makes her so sleepy and so we have been trying to let her relax as much as possible. It is finally starting to look better and I am praying it is back to normal before we leave her when we go on our trip. She was finally able to go on a walk last night without too much pain. She was so HAPPY to get out. She loves her walks.

Affair of the Heart is also going on this weekend. It is a huge craft show and it is wonderful. I spent Friday there with my mom and we had some good finds! They always have good dip mixes and they even had some cute Hog stuff!

This might be my favorite purchase of the week! 

Oh.. and one last highlight of my week- we purchased our Razorback football tickets yesterday!! Now I will leave you with this.... I hope it makes you as excited as I am!!! I just love football season!

Hope y'all have had a wonderful weekend!

July 4th and Twister Relief Concert!!!

Well we have had a very fun and exciting past week! About a week ago, I had some of my best friends from OBU here to spend the weekend in tulsa. We have started a tradition where at least once a year, in the summer, we all meet somewhere and have a girls weekend to al catch up! There are a handful of them I get to see a lot, but most of them I only see that one time a year. 

We also celebrated the 4th. My brothers birthday is on July 1 and so we always have his party and the 4th of July celebrations all together! Unfortunately, Mitch had to work the 4th so we didn't get to go watch any fireworks. It is one of my favorite times of the year, so I am hoping he will be off next year. When we lived in AR, we were within walking distance of the park they shot of fireworks at and I miss  just walking over to the park and enjoying the fireworks. One of my favorite memories of Mitch and I is on the 4th. It was the day we got back from our honeymoon and we spent all day moving into our new house. I remember taking a break to go walk over and watch the fireworks. That was such a fun and exciting time in our lives. We are talking about going to AR for the 4th next year. 

We spent a few of the evenings downtown and we just love it! We went back to our favorite pizza place and we also tired a new small little mexican place, Elote and it was so good. We will definitely be going back! We have just come to love the downtown area. It has so many unique places to eat an it is also so dog friendly. 

The highlight of our week, was the Toby Keith Twister Relief concert!! Oh my goodness it was incredible. We were able to see so many artist in one day, including Garth Brooks. If you don't know Mitch and I, we are the biggest Garth fans! I remember so well when Mitch and I first met and starting hanging out, Garth came on the radio and I went on and on about how I have always loved Garth. I told him stories of how my parents always talk about me when I was young and every time a new garth cd came out I had to be the first get it. I had all his cd's and they make fun of me because I would blare them in room. Ha! And I was telling Mitch this and he was in shock telling me that he was the biggest Garth fan and he couldn't believe I listened to him and knew every song ha. I won't say he likes Garth more, we both are obsessed... but he does voice his obsession more. I mean we ONLY listen to Garth in his car, we re-watch old Garth concerts and the list of his Garth obsessions go on. I mean, I like these things, but Mitch LOVES doing this. He will spend all afternoon watching the same Garth concert on DVD. 

But enough of that.. if you know Mitch and I at all- you already know all this about us. SO when we heard Garth was on the line-up for this concert series we had about 5 people on the computers trying to get tickets. We are those crazy people that would change any plans we had to see Garth. My mom was the lucky one that got all of us floor seats! We were towards the middle of the floor, but about 30 min before Garth came on, we decided to walk up to the front. There was lots of security telling people if their seats were not up here to go back. Well there were two open seats and just sat down and played dumb ha. No one ever said anything to us and we were front row for Garth. The actual stage was set back pretty far- like where the band was- but they had this long part that went into the crowd and we were right there on the side of it... and he spent the whole time right there. We literally couldn't of got any better seats! We also thought he would just sing a few songs, but he sang for about an hour and 10 min! Now we have seen him before in concert, but I bet the conversation comes up at least 3 times a week, how it would probably never happen, but to see Garth that close is a dream of both of ours! And somehow it did! People probably think I am crazy, but it was one of the coolest memories Mitch and I have together! I have already rambled enough about that and could go on and on, but I guess I'll stop and leave you with some pictures.

I figured I would share some pics of other artists too... Sammy Hagar

Willie Nelson

I will stop there because I have about 100 pics I want to share :)

I am really excited about this week. It is my first week with absolutely no plans! Even though last week was our first week back after all of our traveling.. it was my bros birthday and then with the holiday, it was very busy. Mitch is off all week and we are excited to hang here and play golf! We are thinking about making a day trip to Bentonville. We have some places we want to eat and we love to walk the CB trails! 

Vail 2013

Well, we are finally back! We had the best time in Colorado and were sad to leave. I could go on and on about how much we loved it there. Like I said before, I had never been there in the summertime and oh my goodness... it was like heaven! I fell in love and seriously could live there. Ha! Mitch has always loved it there... I have always said since we started dating, he would live in CO if he could. He may have convinced me too on this trip. He is looking for CRNA schools and CO is one of the only states that do not have a school with a program. If it did- there would not be a questions where we would be going. So for the sake of me rambling on... if  you couldn't tell, we love it there!

We stayed in a cabin on EagleVail Golf Course and it was about a 5 min drive to Vail Valley (downtown vail). It was perfect and we loved staying in the golf course and golfing anytime we wanted. One morning we went to the vail valley farmers market. It was huge and so fun. We really like going to stuff like that and we were able to try some really yummy and unique food. We did a lot of hiking, golfing and shopping! We hiked a few different mountains and it was so fun. The views were absolutely incredible. The golf there was amazing. We golfed some of the most gorgeous (and difficult) courses ever! One was Mt. Massive, and it is America's Highest Golf Course and the course itself wasn't anything that fancy, but the views... oh my goodness they were like nothing I had ever seen before.  Another one of my favorite course was Vail Golf Club and it was hands down the nicest course I have ever played. And of course the views were nice too :)

Mitch and I have always talked about having a place we go every year. We love talking to families that go to the same place every year for a little vacation. It is so neat and it kind of becomes your home away from home. We both want to make Vail "our place". We just fell in love with the town and everything about it. We are already planning our trip back for next summer. We went at the perfect time. The last week of June is when we would like to do it because it is our anniversary, the weather is perfect and it is the week before peak season of golf, so all the golf is dramatically less expensive. One of the courses we golfed was $210 a person and we golfed it for under half of that. So that was we get to play some really nice courses.

So thats our trip in a nutshell. I could tell you more, but I'll spare y'all. We are now home for 2 weeks!!! Everyone keeps asking me what I am doing all summer, since I have it off, and if I am getting bored and I haven't even had a chance to be bored ha! We have been traveling so much and the longest we have been home is 5 days. So this is the first time I don't feel like I have to unpack, do laundry, repack and keep the house in order. It's nice to have some time to just chill and honestly enjoy Tulsa. We have come to love Tulsa and downtown is one of our favorite places. We have golfed a lot this week and we are golfing again Friday. We went to dinner with some friends last night and hung out downtown. We went to Hey Mambo and if you have not been there.. it is my favorite place to eat downtown. It is pizza and it is wonderful. I have been before, but it was Mitch's first time and he loved it. We might have to make it a weekly thing. Its hands down my favorite pizza ever.

We don't have much going on until our San Francisco trip. My brothers 18th birthday was Monday, and we always have a big party for him on the 4th. I cannot believe he is 18! He is a senior and has started looking at colleges... it is so weird. Although we are OBU alum, I don't think OBU is the place for him. He is looking at bigger schools and for what he wants to do, unfortunately OSU may not be an option. They have a program, but there are a few other schools around here that have better programs... one being OU. This would be a big challenge for our family ha! But the other one he is serious about is the U of A! This made Mitch and I very happy. They have one of the top programs and we have a few connections with them. Honestly, my brother would fit into the U of A community perfect. It may not be where he ends up, but the atmosphere and everything about Fayetteville, he would love. I love Fayetteville, and working there for 2 years- I am a little biased. I had always heard about the U of A, even when we lived there, but until I actually worked at the University, is when I learned the most about it. The campus is so fun during school and they always have so many fun things going on during the semesters. I use to help with tours, so I will make sure he gets a good one Ha!

Tonight our lifegroup is going downtown to guthrie green to watch fireworks and this weekend we are golfing and also going to the Toby Keith Tornado Relief concert. The only reason we are going is to see Garth Brooks. Even if he plays only a few songs, it will be so worth it.

Hope y'all are enjoying this break from the heat. Have a wonderful Wednesday!