Our Trip South

Two weeks ago we packed our bags and headed back south (I apologize in advance for the lack of photos). Taylor and I both always hate just being able to go back to AR or OK for a short weekend and visit with family, so we decided to take a week off and spend some time down south. It was so much fun to just relax, play golf, visit with family, eat delicious food cooked by our parents (we love you!), and not have to worry about driving back the day after arriving. We left Friday after I got off work which put us in OK about 3am. We will not be doing that again. Ha!

Pretty sunset on our way through St. Louis

Saturday we slept in and I did some errands with my mom and sister while Taylor and my dad watched golf (aka napped). Sunday was Father's day so we went and visited my MeMe and PaPa, which was really nice. I don't get to see them very often and since I grew seeing them about once a month, I was happy to spend some time at their house. That night we came home and watched the Thunder game and relaxed. I think you find that during this week we did a lot of relaxing. Monday we got up and went to visit my Grandma and check out my parents "little piece of Heaven" (aka cute little trailer) at the lake. :) Again, it was so nice to see my Grandma and spend time with family. Tuesday we decided to go play golf! We haven't played with my parents in awhile so that was a lot of fun. After golf, we went home and got cleaned up and headed to Minuteman. Some of my aunts, uncles, cousins, and family friends met us for pizza and to say hello. We went after dinner to watch the Thunder game again, which at that point we still had hope!

Fear the Beard! Our Harden beards at Minuteman.

Wednesday morning we woke up, stopped by the bank to handle some stuff with my credit card, went to the jewelry store to pick up my ring that I left to be polished, and then headed to AR to visits Taylor's family. Once we got to AR we headed to the golf course. This was our second round of four we ended up playing during the week. Taylor would argue that was not enough! Ha. I have learned in the last 2 years that I married a very simple man: just let him play golf and he will be as happy as can be :) After dinner that night we just relaxed and watched We Bought a Zoo.

Speaking of zoo, look at these deer that showed up in my parents yard!

If you haven't seen it, do it right now. It's so cute and will just make you happy! The next day we woke up and it was raining so we postponed playing golf until the afternoon. We went over to Taylor's brother and SILs house for dinner that night to celebrate his brother's birthday and watch the Thunder game, which was just depressing as we all know. They moved their TV outside to watch the game and it was just perfect weather. Friday we got up and played an early round of golf before Taylor's SILs family showed up that afternoon/evening. We all ate dinner together that night and then got up early Saturday morning and headed to Kansas City! We all went to the Royals vs. Cardinals and it was so fun! We got great seats in the shade and the Cardinals won. After the game the whole gang went to Macaroni Grill for dinner and then out for ice cream (at a Ben & Jerry's shop which I did not know existed!) and then to play putt putt. Obviously we couldn't just go play putt putt, it had to a competition! We spit into two teams of 4 and it was so fun! We played combined score and the other team ended up winning by 1 stroke, but more importantly I got 5 hole-in-ones and Taylor only got 1 and we both scored a 37. Ha! I rarely get to brag about beating (or tying him!) so I will be taking this opportunity to do so :) 

Taylor putting at a sports store while we killed some time on Sunday. I told him if he started using this putter I'm not sure I can play golf with him anymore!

Sunday morning we woke up and went to get breakfast before everyone headed back home. It was sad to leave on Wednesday and Sunday, but we both enjoyed spending the extended time with our families so much. We already know that for as long as we are in IL we need to make time and do that each year! Taylor and I also stopped by to see my good friend Brittni and her husband Jarrod before heading back to IL. We drive right by their house on the way home so it was perfect! Have a great weekend!

Best Smoothie Ever (according to Taylor)

A couple months ago Meijer (a big supercenter like Walmart we have up here) had pounds of strawberries on sale for $1! Since they all looked pretty good, we decided to buy a bunch of them to freeze for smoothies and since then I have been trying out different smoothie combinations. Well, a few weeks ago (according to Taylor at least) I finally hit that perfect combination :) Ha! I have no clue if y'all will love it as much as we do, but I figured I would share the recipe.

2 4oz Activia peach yogurts*
1 4 oz Activia strawberry yogurt*
2-3 tbsp orange juice (depending on what consistency you want)
6-8 frozen strawberries
1 frozen banana, peeled and sliced

*You may be able to use other brands but Activia yogurt has a smooth consistency that I think makes the smoothie better and that's what we buy at Sams Club!

Add the yogurt and banana to the blender first then put the strawberries on top of that and pour OJ over everything. For some reason I've found our blender works best when I put the ingredients in this order. Blend and enjoy! Makes 2 large, full glass servings.

Me, Myself, and I

A couple weekends ago Taylor was in St. Louis spending time with all his college friends, so I was home alone. He had a really great time and went to a Cardinals game, played darts, ate out at some great places, and went to Six Flags! That means I had the house to myself and could do whatever I wanted (not that I don't already!), and you know what I did? Nothing, and it was wonderful. With my class I had something to do everyday, so it was nice to sleep in, not have an essay to write or article to read, and just be able to relax. My life is really not that stressful, but sometimes it's nice to be lazy and not feel guilty about it. As the weekend went on I realized that my life without Taylor would probably look a lot different. Ha!

It would have a lot more of these...

I would watch a lot more of this (Confession: I could watch Friends everyday, all day)...

And I would spend a lot more time doing this! Ha.

But I kind of like having him around so I think the trade off is worth it :) I also made the big leap and got an IL license. My OK one was about to expire and I was supposed to get an IL one about 2 years ago (oops!) so I figured now was the time. Truthfully, I was a little bummed. Now I can vote and be on a jury in IL which means I'm basically a resident... ok, I am a resident. I did have to take a test to receive the IL license which had been making me nervous the previous week, but I passed and feel kind of silly now for how easy the test was. Oh well! Next, I'll update about our recent visit to OK/AR for a week :)

Happy Monday!

Yes, we are still alive! Until I can get a couple posts typed about all the fun we have been having, here is a little Monday cuteness...

For those who don't know, I have a serious issue with wanting a basset hound. Aren't they just the cutest? If only I could figure out how to make them not shed...

Look at those leg rolls! Happy Monday!

1 class down, 7 more to go...

Yesterday I turned in my last paper (the 5th in 4 weeks) and completed my first graduate school class! It was a pretty stressful 4 weeks (just ask Taylor), but I did it and really enjoyed the topics covered. My next class won't begin until August, so I have about a 2 month break. I'm really looking forward the summer now because we have a couple trips planned to visit family, including going back to OK/AR and to Montana with all of Taylor's family :) This weekend Taylor is in STL for a guys weekend so I am just relaxing and doing whatever I feel like. Ha! It's nice to not have to worry about reading or writing a paper. Hope y'all have a great weekend!