Stateside ...

I have a lot to blog about & it's kind of overwhelming, but here's my attempt at putting a dent in the blogging stack.

I was back home from July 20th - August 19th and the whole trip was a blur. The longest consecutive sleep I had in one city was four nights in Vegas and four nights in St. Louis. The rest of the time was a night here, two nights there, a four hour drive and a one night stay to get up and drive another three hours the next morning. I was tired more often than not, but I had to do what I had to do to see everyone I needed to see. I'm just happy I won't have to make another trip like it again. Hopefully.

First item on the agenda: Meet the girls at Suds. It was the perfect thing to do as soon as I got home, after hugging my lovely family that picked me up at the airport.

Home sweet home:

Next item up: Some time in Des Moines & Molly's wedding

Molly & Andrew Pollard:

Molly, Ashley, me & Brandy ... celebrating love & whatnot:

A little Japanese flair:

The wedding was good. Molly was beautiful, the weather was perfect, everything was smooth sailing, Carmie was happy & I had the best date of anyone there, although Molly might argue with me on this one. :) The boys were looking hot, the girls were looking hotter. We danced (Josh & I apparently do the best rendition of Paradise by the Dashboard Lights), we sang, we drank (just a little champagne). I attempted to beat TC in Golden Tee at the bar after the reception & failed miserably and we didn't get home until some ridiculous time in the a.m., but we had a lot fun.

The whole shabang at Cocktails between the ceremony & the reception:

Ashley (TC's new best friend) & I on the party bus:

Next up: Okoboji.

I spent a few days in Okoboji at the condo with Deb, Greg, Lauren, mom, Jimmy & Tony. We had a good time, as always, except this killer sunburn that I got compliments of falling asleep on the back of the boat.

My little hawkeye:

Lauren & I hanging out on the boat with captain Tony:

Deb & I doing what we do best in the summer time on the boat:

Oh yea, & of course we rode the roller coaster ... twice!! :)

Next: St. Louis with Zach to spend time with mom, Kory, Ky & Madi

We really did a lot while we were there. We took Madi to the zoo and she was all smiles (for the most part).

She's so adorable:

And we had Christmas in July since we weren't all together in December. I made sure everyone got their Japanese whatnots. Kory was a huge fan of the squid (written in the most sarcastic font ever) & Kylee & Gretchen tried out the chopsticks. Zach looked a little skeptic & even the dogs were a little weirded out by their presents.

Mom & Phil in their yukatas (they also practiced bowing Japanese style).

Dorks: :)

My beautiful sister & I:

We went to Six Flags (where I almost died on the Superman ... ok maybe a slight exaggeration, but it was terrifying) and we spent a lot of family time around the table playing board games, which is one of our favorite things to do. This year I dominated Monopoly & I think we each took a turn winning Yahtzee, although Zach was pretty impressive with 3 yahtzees in one game. I still think he cheated. :)

Eating ice cream with Madi:

Of course I made it to the graveyard. I always do. This time I added a little Japanese flare to Whitney's grave.

My beautiful sister's Japanesed-up grave:

Zach and I flew back from St. Louis on Tuesday, drove to Sioux City and spent some time with dad before driving to Des Moines on Wednesday. I spent the night there & Bob & I flew to Vegas on Thursday. See the whirlwind I was dealing with? :)

Final domestic flight to: VEGAS!

Cassie, Bobbi & I decided to go to Vegas for a little quality girl time & I was on a mission to learn how to play craps.

Bobbi, me & Cass rocking out at the airport...

I'm like an airport professional:

The girls & I did the typical Vegas stuff. We gambled & I learned how to play craps, although I still have yet to figure out the appeal of the game. We went to some clubs, spent a lot of time at Tao :), did some serious shopping, considered playing golf at the Wynn, but ultimately decided we didn't have enough time (haha), did some touristy stuff & went to see Blue Man Group, which was amazing. Matt & I also went to see Lance Burton & I still have dreams about the strange stuff he was doing during the magic show, but it was great. Matt was a good date ... most of the time. :)

HAHA ... Bobbi, me, Blue Man #2 & Cassie ...

Bobbi fits right in?:

Cassie & I being pretty:

aww ... Bobbi, Matt & I before we met the mafia:

We spent a lot of time at the Venetian & every time we saw the gondolas I had this strong urge to just jump in one. I really, really wanted to go on a gondola ride & I had wanted to for a long time. Like since the last time I was in Vegas. We decided to take the romantic ride & who better to go with than two of the people that I love the most? It was pretty sweet & we made wishes that were 'guaranteed' to come true (still waiting) & we sang love songs & blew kisses & all of that sweet stuff you do with the person/people you love.

We were definitely feeling the love:

Vegas required little sleep.

Look how happy Cassie & I look after sleeping for a mere two hours the night before:

Honestly, one of the funnest things we did while we were there was go to the wax museum. It was a riot. Too bad Matt wasn't friends with us that day because I think he would have had fun. :)

Cassie & MLK Jr. ... preaching about peace:

& Bobbi showing Shaq her skills:

And really, honestly could we leave Vegas without one of us getting hitched? Who would have ever thought I would wear such a hideous dress?

I looked really excited about it anyway:

Your dress doesn't really matter when it's George Clooney

you're marrying. & Despite what TC says, he does to look happy. :)

Vegas was a lot of fun, for the most part, but at the end of our trip we were tired, sun burnt, Bobbi was broke, Cassie was sick, I was kind of crabby, & we were excited to get back home. We did everything we intended to do & I think the general consensus is that we don't have to go back for a long time. I can catch the remaining 24 shows that I want to see on the road. :)

I made a quick trip to Cedar Falls to take care of some business, get some stuff worked out & some things in order & to spend an evening with my colleagues ... but really they're so much more than that; they're my friends. It was SO good to feel like I was back in my element with the people that understand the most. I was so happy, even though our time was short.

The most amazing colleagues I know:

After a freak storm (eerily similar to the storm that happened the night of my going away party), we went outside to try out our demon fireballs, compliments of the Japanese toy store. Talk about physical knowledge:

Final stop: Des Moines

I spent my last weekend in Des Moines with Bobbi & TC. It was so bittersweet. My trip was coming to a close and I was happy to be there but sad knowing that I wouldn't be there again for another 15 weeks.

Double O Kevin & I at the Coop:

Kevin, Bobbi & I playing a little Buck Hunter with Richard:

I drove from Des Moines to Cedar Rapids on Sunday. The drive was a little sad. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little teary eyed. Leaving, especially Des Moines, is never easy but I really had a lot to be thankful for. Spending time with Zach, holding Madi, hugging my grandma & grandpa, eating Zoey's with the fam, my Monopoly domination, boating in 'Boji with Deb & Greg, spending time with Matt, being a part of Molly's love celebration, hanging out with TC, picnicing at grandma's with dad, reuniting with the girls, drinking gigantic margaritas with mom & Jimmy & everything & anything in between. I really feel like I have the most amazing people in my life.

much love

-tara-

xx