#12- Weekend Trip With Friends

Back in July I posted about my 25 Things birthday book. Over spring break we accomplished #12 by taking a roadtrip with friends. We initially had planned on a Colorado ski trip with my BFF Jobeth and her hubby, Kyle. But unfortunately Kyle's uncle was using his lodge the same days we would be... so instead of heading out west we headed north... to Omaha!

After the guys got off work and us teachers got out of inservice we were off! The 3.5 hour trip seriously felt like 30 minutes once me and Jo get going. I don't even remember what time we pulled into town and checked into our hotel, "The Camelot" (that wasn't really it's name but it should've been because the place looks like a castle... it even has a knight in shining armor riding a horse out front). We started our mini-vacay with a hotel party (cue R.Kelly and Cassidy's "Hotel" song) with some drinks and the hot tub!

Saturday we were up and at 'em for the continental breakfast, hitting the mall, then heading to the Omaha Zoo.

This is the desert dome which was AWESOME! The thing was huge.

Albino alligators creep me out.

My faves are always the monkeys/gorillas/apes... never really know the difference. This guy posed perfectly for me :)

They are so human-like it's scary!

I loved the baby monkey that was getting carried around by it's grandma (according to the signs).

This creepy guy was LOUD! No one can call me "Country Mouth" ever again after hearing this guy with his balloony-thingy he would puff up!

In the aquarium house I did indeed make Jo ride the sea turtle statue like Nemo and Dora did in Finding Nemo. I think Trent was glad that for once he didn't have to do these ridiculous things with me.

The penguin exhibit had to be my fave. They were SO cute!

Down front where there's a "Kids Zone" sign (and annoying adults like me) you can get right up to the glass and watch the penguins swim under the water and then pop back up through a hole onto their... glacier?? What do you call their ice block if it's in a building?

There's also an aquarium tunnel you walk through and all the fish swim above you. Cue "Jaws" music.

The jellyfish were pretty sweet too.

Jo and Kyle crossing into the rainforest.



These monkeys loved each other soooo much. It was the sweetest thing to watch. They would hug, kiss, groom each other, etc.

And then we had what Mike from Jersey Shore would call "A Situation." I think I'll leave it at that before I start cracking up all over again.

After 5 hours of nonstop walking and sight-seeing (and we didn't get to see it all) we said goodbye to the Omaha Zoo. We highly recommend it to anybody/everybody! Wayyy better than KC Zoo.

Next up was some bridge that was just built. Kyle wanted to see it cause his engineering firm designed it. Poor guy walked it by himself while the rest of us caught a catnap in the car. Sorry Kyle :)

We drove around for awhile exploring their downtown Plaza-like part of town and saw this. And I thought my carriage ride at Christmas time was sweet... this horse is way cooler lol.

After getting cleaned up we went back to the downtown Plaza-ish area for some Mexican food at a restaurant named Roja. We LOVED it. It had a cool atmosphere, neat decor, and lots of things that were literally on fire for decoration.

After finishing our dinner, we hit some of the unique shops and stores in the area. One store was a neat thrift store. That's when I found this beauty. If you watch Cougar Town, Courtney Cox drinks her wine from a big ole glass she calls "Carl" and I wanted one. I would've named my glass Big Red or Ruby Sue. But sadly the price tag of $25 scared me away. I didn't trust myself that I wouldn't break it... and then Trent would be really mad at me ;) If we ever go back and it's still there I'm taking it as a sign that God wants me to buy it and be happy!

To end the trip we headed back to The Camelot for our nightcap to end the trip. Poor Jo was doped up on meds so we didn't hit the bars like we planned to... there's always next time though :) Look out DJ's Dugout... we're coming at ya!

February Date

Trent was in charge of planning the monthly date night in February. With February being such a short month and having no free weekends we were able to squeeze it in the last day of the month!


Trent knows the true way to my heart is with a buffet meal :) In Olathe there is a Chinese SUPER buffet. It's no normal Chinese buffet... they got it all! At one place they have Mongolian BBQ, sushi buffet, dessert buffet, and the normal Chinese buffet food too. I left very happy and 5 pounds heavier!

I started my night with two plates. I have no shame.

After stuffing our faces, Trent drove me to Oak Park Mall where I was very confused on what we were doing. He walked me through the food court and I was praying he wasn't going to make me eat anything else... but then he walked me to my new favorite beauty store- Lush. It's the coolest store ever and he surprised me with a $50 gift card to go wild with! If you've never been to the store I highly recommend it. Everything is handmade with natural ingredients and smells so yummy!! I've used almost all my purchases and I love them all :)

March is my month to plan... any suggestions????

STL Roadtrip

My dad runs a company out of St. Louis which really stinks cause he's away from home alot... but it's also cool cause we get to take roadtrips to visit him in St. Louieee. It also gives me an excuse to bust out my old Nelly CDs and rap the trip away with my sidekick hubs. My dad's birthday was the same weekend after my parent teacher conferences so we decided it was the perfect weekend for a mini vacay. We got into town Friday night and hit up the night scene... sadly no pics :(

Saturday we first hit up the Budweiser brewery. The first stop on the tour was to the Clydesdale's stables. I'm not a horse person at all but I LOVED the pretty Clydesdales.

The inside of the stable was redic... a chandelier?! Are ya kiddin' me?

There was also two of the Bud Dalmations running around so I had to go chase them down.

The stables personalized with their names and everything.

Trenton, coming from a Coors Light family, felt like quite the traitor ;)

Me and my dad... with the horse getting its bath in the background haha.

Inside the brewery... the chandeliers were from the St. Louis World Fair in 1904. WOW.

Typical tourist pic :)

Everything was so shiny and pretty!

The buildings had such cool architecture.

The famous Bud building and sign.

Free beer and pretzels? Don't mind if I do! Since I'm already a Bud Light girl... I decided to try something new.

Trenton and B-Mac

Beer in goblets... being classy for a change

No trip to STL is complete without going by the Arch. We all had been in it before so we passed on touring it again this time.

After a birthday steak dinner for my dad at Texas Roadhouse we headed to his favorite STL bar and grill, Hot Shots. They have this shot there called the beer barrel. It's made out of beer and root beer schnapps... and it was only $2. Delicious and cheap... I'm sold!

Hot Shots in one word... FUN! Any place where you can toilet paper the bar and have beer pong tournaments is a place I would hang any day! The night went quite late... unfortunately my camera was quickly forgotten :( Hopefully I'll take more pics on our next STL roadtrip!

Valentine's Day 2011

If you're anti-Valentine's Day... skip this post :) Here's a late post of what we did this Valentine's Day. If you read our blog last year... you might remember we went to the Monster Jam to watch monster trucks. While very cool... not something I want to do every Valentine's Day haha ;)

At work the teachers do Secret Valentines for a week. This pasta and a recipe was one day of my presents. When I saw the heart shaped pasta I fell in love :) So because of the darling pasta... and my 25 Things challenge of cooking dinner for Trent one night a week... I suggested we stay in and cook together. For me... this is highly dangerous and seldom happens.

The recipe was for Vodka Creme Pasta. It's a Rachel Ray recipe my Secret Valentine gave me. Shoot Rachel... you had me at vodka :) Can you guess which ingredient I already had on hand at home... hmmm???

Since cooking together does not happen very often we both had to wear our chef's aprons. I usually make a mess so this is mandatory attire in the kitchen for me.

Kiss the cook(s)! Sorry if you are gagging from lovey-dovey-cheesiness right now... I had to go there ;)
Here's my Valentine's centerpiece display. Another one of my 25 Things is to decorate for every major holiday. This was the extent of my love decor for February. The crepe paper balls (on top of the vases) took me two NFL playoff games to watch. Trent was just happy that this craft took so long so that I didn't talk my way through football games like I usually do ;) The flag things were extra wood dowels I had and scraps of scrapbooking ribbon- SUPER easy and free. And lastly the X and O frames were actually two gold mirrors we got in a white elephant Christmas gift exchange. Spray paint, a cute gift bag from my Secret Valentine that I cut up, and two purple letters gave me another FREE Valentine craft. Now I can't decide if St. Patrick's Day counts as a major holiday I have to decorate for?? Any suggestions?

The vodka creme pasta in all its glory... if you look closely you can still see the pasta held its shape as little hearts. I loved it!

The finished spread. I highly recommend the recipe... if I can do it... anyone can do it!

Jeryn's Birthday Party

Last weekend was the birthday celebration for our favorite little girl! All the Oliviers and the Gorneys got together to celebrate Jeryn Fe turning one year old! For those of you who read Ashley's blog too... I'll try to choose some different pics than the ones Ashley used. Shouldn't be hard since we took 200 pictures!

The little fashionista was all decked out with a new birthday bow, custom made onesie, pink tutu, and pink Converse hightops. Why can't adults wear outfits like this?! ;)

Jeryn's so spoiled she had a cake, cupcakes, and a giant cupcake!

Party decorations are always my favorite and I loved what Ashley did for the cake table. She made all the decorations herself! I think she outdid herself on this one :)

It was really entertaining to watch her get into the present opening and playing. Here she got the rocking chair that Abuelo Bob refinished for her and the owl pillow that Abuela Lora made. The chair was actually Ashley's chair she got at her first birthday so it was cool to see it get passed down!

Here the birthday girl saw the gift that her Tio Trenton made for her! I think she looks excited :)

Here's an up close of the box. My contribution... the pink bow.

Here's Trenton (and the fur babies!) with his finished product after months of hard work. A post to come on the whole toy box building process to come later...

Tio Trenton, Tia Kala, and Birthday Girl Jeryn

Cake time! She loved the attention she was getting when everyone was singing to her!

Chow down time!

The standard self timer pic so Jeryn could remember all the guests at her 1st birthday party. Can you tell she's loved just a little bit??

The whole Gorney gang... a very special day that was enjoyed by everybody!!!

Happy 1st Birthday Jeryn!!!

What a difference a year makes! A year ago today the little miracle baby Jeryn Fe was born into this world! Her and her amazing mom have faced lots of challenges this last year and have overcome them all. We are so thankful to have them both here with us... healthy AND happy!

One thing that HASN'T changed... the weather. This picture was taken last year on Feb. 8, 2010. Looks about like this year doesn't it? Winter... I am soooo over you.

This was Jeryn Fe the night she was born before being transferred to Children's Mercy.

The precious newborn one year ago :)

Jeryn Fe we love you so much and have loved getting to watch you laugh, cry, learn, and grow this last year. Can't wait to make many, many, many more memories with you as you grow up. Tio Trent and Tia Kala love you very much!!!