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Friday mid morning I boarded a plane at the Colorado Springs airport on my way to see the Combdings! I arrived in Minneapolis on Friday late afternoon. We went to Rachel's super cute place and met Shawn there. After chatting it up for a while we headed a few blocks down the road to Pizza Luce'. If you ever have the chance to eat there, do it. If you consider ordering the Garlic Mashed Potato pizza, do it! You'll love it guaranteed, or it's on me. We shared a pitcher or two and made our way back to Rachel's place. On Saturday, Rachel and Shawn had planned to surprise me by taking me to brunch and a show at the Guthrie. As it turned out, Shawn was only able to join us for brunch. He had to work. :( We dined at the Level Five Cafe' preshow. Rachel and I then enjoyed the production When We Are Married . The show was very well done. After the show we walked around a little and went outside on the thing that juts out of the side of the building. That's where we had this cool view!

Saturday afternoon we hung out and talked. It was so nice to be with Rachel again. It had been a while since we had the opportunity to catch up on life in person. That evening their friends were throwing a party at a place called Stella's. We went a little early and ate downstairs. After the meal we went up stairs and joined the party!

We danced the night away, or at least until they started kicking us out!

Week 5 poll results

85% of voters would prefer - To burn out

14% of voters would prefer - To fade away

Week 4 poll results

44% of voters would prefer - To own 1000 acres on the frontier

55% of voters would prefer - To own one city block in NYC

May I See Your ID?

Guess what extremely exciting online purchases I made?! They both got new ID tags!

Quincie got a pink mouse and O'Malley got a green shamrock!

I think they love them.

Week 3 poll results

22% of voters would prefer - To eat nothing but cold TV dinners


77% of voters would prefer - To drink nothing but warm orange soda

I would be okay if that never happened again.

On Monday morning I woke up (later than intended) and moved as quickly as I could (not very fast at all) to feed the kitties and take my shower so I could go help mom in the office for a few hours.

After both kitties were eating, I started the dishwasher and jumped in the shower. I normally wouldn't share this much information about my shower time, but I believe this to be blog worthy. I shampooed my hair and put in conditioner. I started to shave my legs and all of a sudden the water pressure drastically reduced to a dribble out of the shower head. I was confused about what might be happening but I stood there for a minute or two waiting for it to start up again. Then I started to get cold.

I realized that I maybe shouldn't be running the dishwasher at the same time as the shower, and that was probably what was causing the lack of pressure. So, reluctantly I stepped out of the shower with conditioner in my hair and shaving cream on my legs grabbed my towel and ran to the kitchen and stopped the dishwasher. I thought, surely now I can finish my shower.

I went back to the bathroom and turned the faucet on again. Nothing. I told my self that the water needed to make its way through the pipes again, so I just needed to count to 30. I counted and still nothing. I kept trying to be patient and try it again and again. I was dreading the thought of having to leave my house with conditioner in my hair and shaving cream residue on my legs to finish my shower at mom & dads.

Finally I decided that it probably wasn't the dishwasher. I had thoughts running through my head like, did I forget to pay the water bill? after about 15 minutes I decided it was time to call the office. The lady who answered didn't know of any work going on in my building, but said she would ask the maintenance manager and call me back.

After another 10 minutes of walking around in a robe waiting for a call I turned on the faucet in the kitchen. Water was coming out with normal pressure. Hooray! I put a note on the door for maintenance in case they came to fix it. I didn't really need any of them seeing me unclothed!

I quickly finished my shower. The water pressure was normal for the entirety of shower part II. I got out and continued my routine getting ready noticing that my hair was especially easy to comb through!

As I was getting ready to walk out the door to the apartment office, my phone rang. It was the lady I had spoken to earlier. She just wanted to let me know that maintenance had to do some work in my building and turned the water off for a little bit. It's back on now though!

Thanks for the notice! Thanks A LOT!

Helping the Smith Goerings pack and party and other fun adventures!

Two weeks ago tomorrow I made a spur of the moment plan to drive to Kansas City to help Joel and Emily pack in preparation to move to Austin. On Thursday afternoon texting back and forth, Emily jokingly said that I could come help her pack. So, I did. I left on Friday morning and drove to Salina. There I was able to meet up with Jenny and her girls at her mother-in-law's pool! It was a short visit but I was SO glad to be able to see them! Here are a couple of shots from the pool.

After I left Salina that afternoon I continued my trip to KC. I was so happy to get there! I hadn't seen Emily since December! Emily had prepared Totino's party pizzas and champagne for us and also for Heidi! I hadn't seen Heidi for a long time either, so needless to say I was pretty excited!

Later in the evening Joel arrived home from a Royal's game with Mark Smith and a couple other friends. We hung out a little longer until bedtime.

The next morning I was awaken by Toby, Emily, coffee and a muffin. It was fantastic! We got up and spent the day packing. That evening J&E's kickball and Hallmark friends had planned an evening in Westin, MO at the Westin Brewing Company. The party of 20 began the evening dining at the American Bowman Restaurant. It was a beautiful evening to spend outside. I was able to learn to know some of the people at our end of the table. I learned a lot about the world of Hallmark. Fascinating really!

After dinner we went next door to O'Malley's Pub! It was a very cool place that was really far underground. There after we made our way through the crowd to hear the live musical talents of Flannigan's Right Hook! They were a very fun, not to mention good looking, cover band from Kansas City. We enjoyed their music all evening in the sweet underground pub!

How could I resist taking a picture for my kitty O'Malley?!? I know he doesn't care...but I do!

The next day we slept in later than the morning before. We attempted to get some packing done, but we were not as successful as the day before. Emily and I ran to the grocery store to buy "supplies" for the party at their house that evening. We bought all kinds of good stuff including 40 hot dogs! Joel was the master of the grill and we all ate and drank well!

As most of my experiences partying at the Smith Goering house, we all eventually ventured inside for a dance party! Loved it!

The next morning one flip-flop short, I drove to South Hutch to Mennonite Manor to pop in on old friends. I was only there for about an hour or so. Then I was off to Marion to spend the night with Sara!

Sara and I walked to Pizza Hut for dinner and as we were finishing our meal the power went out! So sorry Pizza Hut that you weren't able to ring up our order so we got it for FREE! Ha! After pizza we drove to their farm where they are building their new home. Then we were off to her sister-in-laws to see the cute little kittens! We watched the last episode of The Bachelorette and then it was bedtime. It was a short visit with Sara but well worth it!

I didn't realize how much I missed Kansas. Not enough to move back, but it was home for 8 years. I'm glad that I am in a spot to make such quick plans! I loved having to opportunity to see so many people who are so special to me!

All we needed was a little catnip