Boring Update

First of all, I've noticed a going trend with when I find time to write - it's when I have a day off of work.  I've worked the past 8 days straight, and I finally have 2 days off (hopefully with no time spent in my store).

Not a lot has happened this past week, so this is a boring post.

I can share a few pictures with you guys.  Apparently summer time in Kansas City is also a place of Bugsville (aka centipedes and rolly polly's).  I remember seeing some rolly polly's  last year when we first moved here, but not to this extent. I have no idea how to spell the name, and I have no idea what they're really supposed to be called, but you should have an idea of what kind of bug I'm talking about.

Well, our little centipede's and rolly polly friends decided our apartment would be a fun place to hang out.  It. is. disgusting.

To get a better idea of what kind of picture I'm about to share, I should explain how our apartment works.  We live on the second floor, and when you walk through the front door, there's a small area before you walk up the steps to our apartment.

I noticed when I was coming home from work one day that there were a few dead rolly pollys near our shoe bins at the front entrance.  I got brave and moved the shoe bins outside, and HOLY COW we had a  real rolly polly farm of dead bugs.  Prepare yourself for what you're about to see.....

Disgusting.  Embarrassing.  Sad. Poor bugs.

I cleaned it up and Ryan called to have an exterminator come out.  They came the next day and sprayed, and then all of a sudden we found centipedes crawling ALL OVER our apartment.  I think Ryan killed about 20 of them just walking around the carpet. AHHH!  I'm still finding little dead centipedes around the house, and I'm not a fan.

Where the heck do we live?

On top of all of these small bugs around the apartment, I found a REALLY BIG spider as I was walking Zoe one night.  I almost stepped on it and had a heart attack.  I've never seen something so big before, and I know why it's hanging out around our complex.  This spider has plenty of bugs to eat.

Check it out:

I wouldn't get any closer to it than this.  You can get an idea of how big it was compared to the sidewalk.  Yuck.

In other Hibbard news, Ryan has now found a new obsession with weather.  He has every right to be paranoid and cautious since his dad lost his dealership from a tornado a while back, but oh my Ryan is instense.

I came home from work today and was about to get onto the computer, and I noticed he didn't have just 1 weather website pulled.  Or 2.  Or 3.  Try FOUR different sites.  At the same time he checks his phone AND watches the local weather channel.  While he's multitasking with all of these things, he still finds a way to go into the bedroom and check the weather radio ever so often.

Hard proof of the obsession. 

It's a good thing he's so concerned, because I wouldn't know if a storm was coming because I never check and definitely wouldn't lost any sleep if a storm came at night. We're getting hit pretty hard with a nasty thunderstorm right now.

If I write again soon, you'll know we've made it out of this storm alive! Wish us luck!

Bittersweet.

Do I start with the good or the bad?

Let's start sad, and end happy.

Today is a day of bittersweet happenings.  A year ago today, the world lost not one, but two, wonderful, generous, beautiful women.

One of my good friends and college roommate of 4 years lost her mother from a heart attack.  Mary was much too young and one of the most generous and caring women I knew.  Mary would always make it a point to get to Radford when she was on business trips, and she would always come ready to listen to our roommate drama, stresses from school, and we would ALWAYS go to Macado's for delicious food.  She was my second mom when we were in school.

The last time I saw Mary was at my bridal shower.  The next thing I know, I'm out getting ready to celebrate Ashley's Bachelorette party when Cody calls as I hear Kendall screaming and crying in the background.  He told me Mary had just had a heart attack and Kendall wouldn't be coming out.  I stayed in touch with Kendall for the week long struggles her mom had after the attack.

She passed away a year ago today and I know there isn't a day that goes by that Kendall, Kesley, or Wilson that they don't think of her.  Mary was Kendall's best friend, and I know it's still so hard for them.

Eyerly's and Swanns - know that I'm thinking of you guys today and you're in my thoughts and prayers. Mary will always have a place in my heart and I KNOW she's in Heaven watching over us safely.  We love and miss you, Mary.

On top of Mary leaving with the angels last year, Barbara Dungan left us a year ago today too.  Barbara was my mother-in-law's mother, and she was a very sweet woman.  I had the opportunity to meet her in Arizona 2 years ago, and she's probably one of the sweetest ladies you could meet.  When I met her, she was continuing a very hard fight with cancer.  She was in such good spirits, and I could see it in her eyes how happy she was to have her family surrounding her, and how excited to she was to meet her and see the lady who was going to marry her grandson.

After I met her, she continued to get a little weaker and weaker.  She wasn't going to be able to take the flight to Maryland for our wedding, so we began to plan a way to videotape the wedding so she could watch it live.  Unfortunately, she passed a month before our wedding.  She also passed away on Kim's (Ryan's mom) birthday.

Barbara and Levi raised 3 wonderful daughters.  Grandpa Levi is very much around and active, and I know that him and his 3 daughters, Debbie, LeeAnn, and Kim will celebrate the life of Barbara today.

Dungan's & Hibbard's - I'm thinking of all of you today, and I know she's watching over us pain-free and probably so happy to see everyone is doing so well right now.  We all wish we had more time with her.  We love you, Grandma Dungan!

I'm so, so glad I had the chance to meet her, and I know that she's in Heaven wishing Kim a very Happy Birthday.

This leads me to the happy.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, KIM!!!!!!!!! :) 

Ryan is in TN right now because him and his dad, Ron, surprised Kim for her birthday.  I wasn't able to come because of work, but I know Kim is so happy to have a weekend with her son and cook for everyone :)

Again, it's a bittersweet day, but I hope that Kim has the best birthday ever and is surrounded by love and happiness!!! I love you and I wish I could be there to help celebrate!

Branson - The Dollywood of Missouri

We got back from our weekend getaway this afternoon.  Was Branson the ultimate, relaxing, best place ever place to go? Absolutely not.  Was it just what we needed? Absolutely!

Branson is almost 4 hours away from Kansas City.  The drive is quite boring because all you ever see the whole drive are fields, fields, and more fields.  You get a good look of some nice cows and horses every once and a while, but that's about it.

On our way to Branson:

Once we got there Friday night, it was a lot busier and a lot hillier than I thought.  It's very much the Dollywood of Missouri.  Showtime theaters EVERYWHERE, and much to my dissatisfaction, Ryan wouldn't let us go to Dolly Parton's Dixie Stampede dinner. Hmph.

We stayed at the Radisson which was a nice hotel in a nice location.  We ended up walking to LoneStar for dinner and then I ended up kicking Ryan's butt in a nice game of Putt Putt.  He wasn't okay with me winning, hence why we went to a different course Saturday night so he could try to redeem himself.

Proof of my winnings:

We woke up Saturday ready for some breakfast.  We went to the first place we saw, which happened to be the Great American Chicken Restaurant.  They weren't playing with the "Great American" and "Chicken" parts of their restaurant name.  See for yourself:

Giant chicken, barn, and an American flag.  Check, check, and check! 

Because I got too much sun laying out by the pool on Friday, we couldn't do any of the Lake festivities I planned. So, we went shopping at the Tanger Outlets and went to the Titanic museum after.  $50 to get in the museum!  $50!! It was very cool, but probably not worth what we were suckered into paying.  

Saturday night was a nice dinner at Landry's seafood and more Putt Putt.  Sunday morning we packed up & headed home!  

On the way back, Ryan didn't realize that my GPS "My Home" option is still programed for our home in Maryland.  SO, after we had a delicious breakfast/lunch at Lambert's Cafe, he plugged the Garmin to "Go Home".  About an hour later, Ryan mentions the road doesn't look familiar at all.  A closer look at the GPS made us realize it was saying we would be home at 3:30 AM, NOT PM.  Oops!  We totally would of gone another couple of hours before we realized we weren't anywhere close to home.  It's a good thing I asked!

Because of the GPS debauchery,  we ended up taking the scenic route home.  We had a laugh at one of the towns we passed in Middle of Nowhere, Missouri.  Tightwad, MO: Population - 64.   The best part - they have their own bank - Tightwad Bank.   I told Ryan he should open up a checking account there! :)

The best part of the short trip was NO WORK.  My phone didn't ring once and I avoided checking work email for almost 2 days.  Zoe was so happy to see us today and has been sleeping since she got home.

I can't wait for our next vacation together!  Even if it's for a couple of days, it's so nice to have that "us" time.  What in the world are we going to do when we have kids?

All work & no play...

....makes a dull Ainsilie.  I've worked the past 7 days straight so I'm able to use less PTO this weekend.  When I picked my vacation weeks in January, I didn't really have any plans so I just tried to space out my weeks as much as possible.

I picked this week for vacation since my bday is in a few days!

I'm off this ENTIRE weekend and I couldn't be happier!  It's been a harder adjustment than I thought to go back to working weekends.  It's been 6 months since I've had a full weekend off, and it's been almost a year that Ryan and I have had a getaway.

That's why, my friends, we're getting away this weekend.  Ryan pretty much told me to do what I want because I'll end up doing it anyway (who? me? *angel face*).  I wanted to go to Chicago, but since Ryan's working Fri & Mon, it'd be a very short weekend since it's an 8 hour drive.  I also want to go to Colorado, but that's also 8 hours.

So, it was between Lake of the Ozarks and Branson, MO.  The lakes were tempting because I know there's no cell phone towers there, which means no phone, which means work can't call me.  However, some people I talked to said that Branson is a good getaway place and it has a lot.  It has some lakes, a theme park, lots of places to eat, and some good shopping.  Branson has Ainsilie & Ryan written alllll over it :)

We found a 3 star hotel from Name Your Own Price Priceline.com (thanks daddy for showing us this!) and I didn't think twice about booking.  I haven't come up with a game plan because I want us to just enjoy the time together, away from work, and away from everyday life.

You can check out what there is to do in Branson, MO.  If you're thinking "is this couple really 80 years old and living in a 20 year olds body?" than the answer is "yes".  You can read about the place here:

www.branson.com

I. am. so. excited.  The mere thought of being way from work for 5 days makes me almost pee my pants.    Being away from work AND shopping AND sun?  I'm gonna throw up from excitement.