I can finally cross one big "to do" off of my list:
I FLEW ON AN AIRPLANE!
Caleb and I packed our bags and headed to his homestate of Missouri on August 29th. I'm not gonna lie, I tried to play it totally calm as we boarded for our flight:
But, this is how I was really feeling:
Five hours later we landed in Missouri and were welcomed by his Grandpa/"Pa", and Grandma. They both were great. We drove from Saint Louis to Farmington, and Caleb seriously pointed out about a million different places he lived a long the way.
Welcome to Farmington, MO!
After arriving at his mom and dad's house, we hung out with his sister and talked more with his Pa and grandma and waited for his mom, dad and brother to get home before going to dinner.
I was also introduced to this fuzzy little ball of energy:
His parents got home a little bit later, and they were really sweet. We sat around and talked for a little bit and waited on his brother and tried to think of a place to eat. We decided on this little country/cowboy place right across the street that was really good- andddd you could throw peanuts on the floor. It was like The Roadhouse out in Santee, CA- only different. I don't even like peanuts, but I ate them anyways- so I could throw the shells on the floor.
That night, Caleb, his brother Amos, Miranda, and I went to a pool hall/bar called Styx and played a couple games of pool before calling it a night.
The next morning, Caleb and I both woke up around 5am, and decided to walk around the neighborhood before the sun came up. We got back to the house pretty early and we grabbed a set of keys and we drove around. Caleb showed me where his house is that he owns.
He also showed me some other places, like a park and where his dad works. Places that were blown down by tornados and where he went to enlist into the navy. It was really cool to hear all about HIS hometown. I'm forever talking about San Diego and all the places I went to do all things I've done, so it was really cool to be on the receiving end of that for once, or to finally be able to see what he has been talking about for so long.
Our plans for the day consisted of going to the Saint Louis arch, going over to the the place where my ring was ordered from, and just hanging around. It was supposed to be raining for the rest of the trip because of the hurricane that was coming in so we were going to make the best of our Thursday. We enjoyed our walk and made our way up to Saint Louis. On the way there we saw Anheuser-Busch, Inc. Pretty Neat!
This is where where we parked our car. Right next to the Mississippi River and right by Illinois.
I was told there are a lot of dead bodies in the Mississippi River, and I wanted to go try to find one, but-I guess that's creepy. But, just wait, I was taken to the creepiest cemetery of all time later.
And, if there is an opportunity to do a handstand, 9 times out of 10... I'm gonna take it.
The view from the top was incredible. Caleb's dad said somewhere he heard that the arch is the same wide as it is tall. Hmm, I should google it....
Truth be told, it is. According to google.
Busch Stadium- Home of the St. Louis Cardinals (Which the Padres swept on 9/12/12):
Caleb and my future father-in-law James. Are they twins or what?
Myself, My future mother-in-law Cindy (She was laughing, I said I had my hand on her booty) and Caleb.
Before we left the Arch, we went to a museum that was located at the bottom of it- I took a moment to be a bit rebellious. There were signs that said no touching the animals. Oops!
We had lunch at the Speghetti Factory in Saint Louis and drove back to Farmington. On the way home we did pass by this wonderful car which clearly suggested it's political view. He noticed that we were taking pictures of him, and he pointed us out to his passenger. You just don't see this stuff in California.
We took a short nap when we got home from Saint Louis and then went to the Jewelry Store! It turns out the ring that Caleb got for me doesn't have a wedding band so they have to custom make one, which isn't a problem (although, they do have to keep it for two weeks, after the first of the year. ::Cries::). They kept my ring over night, and cleaned it, and tightened the center stone which was apparently loose. The lady that helped us was VERY nice, and VERY pregnant. Oddly enough when we went back the next day to pick up my ring--she had gone into labor. Since picking it up and seeing how clean and beautiful it was, I no longer put lotion on with it on, or get it wet. I think I needed that reminder!
After leaving the store, We drove around downtown Farmington and we stopped by the creepiest cemetery I have ever seen. Half of the headstones had fallen over, you couldn't read most of the dates on the headstones, most had been over grown by moss.... It was crazy.
As we kept walking around this place, we came across this little piece of work... I'm pretty sure this guy, or gal, whoever it was, was laid to rest and their headstone was a DIY project.
As we left we saw a man playing fetch with his dogs...in the cemetery. Correct me if I'm wrong, but don't you usually play fetch in say, a park? At any rate, It was sad to see all these headstones cracked, falling over, or in such poor condition.. so forgotten about! Rest in Peace people. ...still super creepy.
Friday came, and so did the rain. We went up to his grandma and grandpas house and were greeted by the most delicious chocolate chip cookies EVER. A few months ago his grandma sent him some cookies in the mail. They arrived crumbled, but they were still SO good. So to have them whole was FANTASTIC. They will now forever be referred to as "grandmas cookies" not, chocolate chip cookies. I can only hope to someday make them as good as her!
We went four wheeling around where his grandma and grandpa live and found ourselves out in the woods. It was pretty neat since California really doesn't have anything like it.
He also showed me this nice little house in the residential area where his grandparents live. SO pretty. It's so crazy to me how the front of houses in Missouri don't have fences really, but in California the front of every house has a fence to keep people and... life...out. Haha.
When we got back to his grandparents after our adventure, we headed into the backyard to go fishing.
After several unsuccessful attempts, this ended up being my catch of the day, and boy oh boy did it fight back:
You're not a fisherman until you catch a few good twigs. That's what I've always said.
Caleb had a little bit better luck.
That ended up being a wrap at the grandparents. We would be back out there the next day (Saturday) for an early dinner and family pictures. Friday night Caleb and I went over to his best friends house for dinner. I was really excited to FINALLY meet Abram and his wife Elizabeth. I've been friends with them both on Facebook and have heard SOO much about them from Caleb. They were even better in person, and I miss them already! I can't wait to see them again. We went over there for dinner, hung out for a bit and watched a movie.
They look so in love:
Abram is under here somewhere, but he was getting BEAT up by his children.
My little boyfriend. Love this little guy:
Yeah, I don't even know. They have a strange bromance.
On Saturday everyone went over to his grandparents for dinner. There was deer, ribs, potato salad, beans and more and more deliciousness. So good! We ate, I tried my hand at fishing again, which ended up being another failure, and we watched home videos of Caleb, Amos, and Miranda as babies. They were some cute kids, that's for sure.
After watching the home videos we had desert. Strawberry shortcake is definitely my second favorite desert of all time following CLOSELY behind chocolate chip cookies, and look what was on the menu for desert:
Yum.
We ended our day taking some pictures of everyone so Caleb and I can hang some at home and never feel that he is too far away from Missouri.
Cindy, Caleb and James.
Mom, Son, Dad.
Everyone
Minus the Photographer- Miranda
Even Coco the dog :)
Now we got Miranda, and ended up missing James.
Still missing Miranda.
Still missing Miranda.
Everyone. But, Coco is tired of taking pictures.
Grandma/Grandpa, Mom/Dad and the Soon to be Newlyweds.
My perfect catch. <3
When we came back from his grandparents on Saturday I made Caleb pull over so we could take a picture of this sign.
Would have been way better if we could have stood next to it. Caleb by the C, and Me by the K.
Later that night we played trivia at Buffalo Wild Wings. If anyone has a million dollars and wants to open a franchise in San Diego, please do it. I'm baffled why there isn't one here! It would make SO much money! It was a lot of fun, and the Mizzou game was going on too. When the crowd died down, we went to Family Fun Center to play on the go carts, and play arcade games. It was my last night in town and we definitely made the best of it.
Indoor Go-Carts:
Our round of golf that I clearly lost at:
KB: 36, Miranda: 30, Caleb: 29
I am NOT Tiger Woods
Caleb playing the Motorcycle game. He would.
I had such a great time in Missouri. Caleb ended up staying for an extra eight days after my trip but I had to come home and start my new job at the Kettlebell x Training. I'll tell everyone about it, eventually. But, for those that don't know, I am no longer working at Comic-Con! It really sucked being away from Caleb but since we are a military couple we should probably get used to being away from each other- and 8 days is really nothing. I'm proud of myself for being able to get home on an airplane all by myself though! I was super happy to pick him up from the Airport on Monday, and I've enjoyed having him home with me..even if he does make a mess, and take up the bed! I definitely hope to be able to go out to Missouri once a year, and have a really good relationship with his family. Plus, theres a lot more I want to see and do out there. And dang it, next time I go, I better catch a fish!
In other news, there has been quite a few developments happening revolving the wedding, so stay tunned for a blog about wedding happenings. There will be one shortly :)
