Mission Statement

"Try a little harder to fortify someone so powerfully that whatever temptations the devils of hell throw at her or him, they will be able to withstand and thus truly in that moment be free from evil."
~Jeffrey R. Holland

Monday, June 14, 2010

I have a dream....

Last month Sarah (my spectacular sister in law) and I embarked on an amazing dream we both have had for a very long time. Sarah has probably been dreaming of it longer than myself.. but eh... who's keeping track :). For the longest time I have always wanted to go to D.C. to tour the Holocaust museum. Some may think this is kind of masochist, but I have always been intrigued by the Holocaust. I struggled to find someone who wanted to come with me. Well, back in November as Sarah and I were playing a game with the family we discovered that each other had the same "dream". See... Sarah has also always wanted to tour the museum. We started our planning process. It has been quite exciting.

Okay... so we wrote down some funny things that happened on the trip. If you EVER go on a trip, I totally recommend this. I wish we would have wrote down more. I wish I would have wrote a journal every night, but we were plum tired at the end of... well... every day. It's my only regret. Here is our trip and some of the funny things:

There is the Office Rustin Factor: Okay... so, being the unmarried sibling in the family, I have to tell that it was so nice to have someone give me "the talk" (no birds, no bees... all do this and I'll be ticked) because we were going to "the big city", or at least one of them. So... first of all... Rustin and Sarah came to pick me up cause my Mom was going to watch his kids while Sarah and I were gone so he could work. It was like 3 whole days went by as I waited for them to get there. Stupid traffic. It was killing me. There was pacing... clock watching... "REALLY?" phone calls to Rustin... maybe a "Where are you? Seriously?" phone call there at the end. OKay, so they pick me up and we are on our way to the airport... ENTER- "the talk" conversation. Which really wasn't a conversation unless you can count all my sarcastic interruptions followed by Rustin's deep breaths before moving on to the next item on his "things NOT to do" list. This list... was so funny, here are a few examples: (these might not be word for word... but you get the idea)...
"IF... someone on the airplane does ANYTHING that even looks remotely suspicious... You tell the flight attendant there is a terrorist on board."
"IF someone sits down by you on the airplane and i wearing a turbin, you ask the if they are a terrorist." (I think SOMEONE has terrorist phobia- just sayin')
"DO NOT look like a tourist!"
"IF a strange man comes up and starts talking to you, start a conversation amongst yourself about how your husbands are training to be UFC's" (THIS... may have become the butt of a couple jokes on the trip, not to mention the beginnings of a couple conversations- during this post... as I remember them... I will refer them as "ORF jokes" so stay tuned). I wish I could remember all of the items on his list cause it was CLASSIC!!! BUt... I don't. Sorry. If you know Rustin, I'm sure you could invision what that conversation was like... and why I was making jokes and laughing my head off.

I bought a new suitcase. I should have taken a picture, but on the trip Sarah and I determined it was zebra print, but tan and brown, it is amazing and I fell in love with it. Stood out like a sore thumb... and I'm sure there was mocking as the suitcase regurgitation machine at the airport spat it out.... But it was amazing.

While we were on the airplane (which was leaking on me by the way- YES.. dripping. Water. On. My. Head.) we encountered some things that to this day... make us die with laughter, they are as follows:
A man... with a "suspicious notebook, was... yep... taking notes" (ORF joke)
"Tahnee... GET OVER HERE AND SMASH ME!!!" - As we were flying over Washington, at night, we were mesmerized by the beauty of the lights. Because I always try to be like Jesus, I let Sarah sit by the window. The flight attendant had already told us to fasten our seatbelts and pepare to land. I couldn't. Sorry. After they would walk by... I unbuckled and scooted over by Sarah to see out the window too. Then when they would come by, I had to put it back on. Then when they were gone... back off. Off. On. Off. On... I was trying not to crowd Sarah and finally she said this.
Next, as we were about to land in D.C. they get on the intercom and announce "Welcome to Washington D.C. If you are coming home, welcome home. If you are here on business, I hope everything went well. If you are here on vacation, I hope everything goes safely." What the.... Sarah and I immediately look at each other with big bug eyes. UH... how 'bout how everyone else gets a happy go lucky greeting, but you tourists... WE HOPE YOU MAKE IT HOME ALIVE!!!
As we are in the aisle waiting for boarder traffic the man in front of me was a soldier, he pulls up his shirt (I didn't really mind) and began showing the pilot (and although he didnt' realize it, Sarah and I) his battle scars. He took like 2 rounds in the gut. WHAT?! Sarah and I look at each other.. in awe. Well... shock and awe.
Sarah and I realized early on we have something in common.... we are both people watchers. Inside the airport in D.C. and are waiting for our luggage and notice two ladies, that looked like a Mom and Daughter waiting anxiously, tearfully, for someone to come out of the gate. They clearly were late as they were asking airport employees at the counter and pacing back and forth. We were both intrigued. I"m pretty sure the adult Tahnee came out of herself and reverted back to child Tahnee as I started staring at perfect strangers. We decided that the younger lady was waiting for the love of her life (the soldier who took 2 rounds in the gut) and was anxious for him to get there (yeah.. I know... too many chick flicks). We seriously were overtaken by it. I mean a terrorist who may or may not have been on our plane could have bombed the luggage terminal and we would have missed it. (ORF rule) COMPLETELY. RULES.. many, many rules broken! After some time her party arrived... much to our dismay... it was two girls. DANG IT! But when they united the one waiting hugged so hard and fast it knocked the both to the ground, SO... there's that! With a sigh of disappointment,we walk over to wait for our luggage. After getting that we make our way to the line of people waiting for a cab. We were both a little nervous. It was my first time in a cab, but what other choice did we have? The Metro... heck NO! It was like 11pm at night. Can you say 'Hello death, Come on in?' So finally our cab arrives. Um.. right after the cab that had a driver that was wearing a turbin. Yeah. We both looked at each other, but don't say a word cause let's face.... Really, not every arabic person is a terrorist. We get in... we don't say a word... the entire trip to the hotel. AND... there were parts that were pretty scary. He'd get off the freeway and it looked like, in the words of Sarah, "he was taking us to his lair". Scary. Then (and I attribute this to sending a country girl to the city) I stiffed him, didn't give him a tip- I had no idea you tipped a cab driver. I just paid him what he asked for. Ooops. And... he even lifted the big o'l brown and tan zebra in the trunk for me (my suitcase... remember? Geez... keep up!) But the good news is.. he wasn't a terrorist (that was the cab before us-phew ... dodged that bullet). Then we get to the hotel and are STARVING. We get something from the "Pavillion Pantry" in the hotel, which literally looked like a pantry. We struggled to find something that we could eat. It didn't help that the employee behind the desk was of no help and I feel comfortable saying he was even a bit ornery. Sarah needed a spoon for her microwave soup and the man tells me there should be some over there, I go look. I say "There aren't any spoons". His reply, " " Oh yeah... it was NOTHING! He said nothing. So I tell her she can use the itty bitty spoon in my tuna and cracker pouch thingy. Or, she can use one of the forks. Still he says NOTHING! He then finishes ringing us up, we are a little giddy too... it's late, we're hungry, we're in D.C. Girls get silly at night, he walks around the counter, we think he is just leaving so we go to leave and he goes over to the cafe' area and picks up a spoon and hands it to Sarah. Still... no words. None. Weird. Of course we thank him while wearing our faces of shock. Anyway... that was day 1.

We get up the next morning bright and early. We wake up to our annoying alarm. I say annoying because the alarm was a soft whisper in my ear.... CREEPY!!! Sarah goes "Hey Tahn... are you taking a shower?" I said "No (groggily) I'm laying here. In my bed. My body won't get up. Ready. Set. Go."-Nothin'. I was so tired. Burn me at the stake. Now... I have to mention that my bed... HAD NO FITTED SHEET! None. Oh... Sarah's did... but mine.. DID NOT! It had a flat sheet on top of a flat sheet. See... I'm an adjuster at night. A LOT. So tell me that that not-so-fitted fitted sheet stayed in place. Yeah. Right. I only mentioned it a few times (we were only there a few days).
We get up... actually I had to draw the curtains on Sarah (you know... you let here see the happy sunlight in her face) and announce extra cheerfully and perky "WAKEY WAKEY!!!". Ha ha.... One thing I miss about our trip is our morning ritual. The pump you up morning music. Amazing! I think I was singing "It's My Life" by Bon Jovi for days after the trip. Of course I had to let Lee DeWyze sing to me as well. If he didn't, I mentioned it to Sarah during the day, I'd say "Well, this is what happens when Lee doesn't sing to me in the morning!" Anyway... once we were up and ready we ate breakfast and headed to Holocaust Museum... We took the Metro (subway). We walk to it from the hotel (because of course... the "complimentary shuttle" is MIA) and find this sketchy elevator that looked like some homeless guys bedroom, a bit risky, but... we took it down (ORF rule broken)...
THIS... is what we came upon....

Shoot... Where's Batman when you need him. This is his lair, isn't it? Really... he can take me captive anyday, especially if he does push ups for me every morning from a standing position (Batman Begins). Just sayin'...
NO ONE TO BE SEEN... CREEPY!!! No one was around. We were slightly, okay, maybe incredibly scared. I kept taking pictures and I think Sarah was like... COME ON BEFORE WE MEET OUR DEATH!!!!

See... still no one! (you can play the twilight zone theme in your head if you want... I'm pretty sure I did).
We made is safely on the Metro... and so did Batman....
We rode to the Smithsonian... Here is Batman at the Department of Agriculture.. oh... and Sarah too. This was for my agriculture lovin' brother.
This building... the frickin' Department of Agriculture was taunting us THE WHOLE TRIP... we couldn't get away from this sucker. I don't even remember how many times we passed it... but it was alot. It was as if Rustin was with us... (not that that would have been a bad thing)
DUNT..DUNT... DUH... DUH... There it is... the Holocaust Museum. We're there... years and years of waiting. Years and years of anticipation, WONDERING if we'll ever really get to see it. And here is it. Tear. Sniff, sniff. Tear. Okay.. a bit dramatic, but it was special. 7+ hours special. And... I'm not ashamed to admit it.
ANd of course... we couldn't leave Batman...
This is such a super cute picture of Sarah... It makes me smile.
Sarah and I after going through the Museum... (BTW... stay tuned to Sarah's blog for a HILARIOUS picture after this picture- HILARIOUS!!!) I could write a whole post about this one experience. It was more than I even imagined. I learned so much and felt the spirit so much in there. Oh. Man. I was talking about this for weeks after. Sarah.... I love you for sharing this experience with me. UNFORGETTABLE. I could have done without the rude and inconsiderate school students. What ever happened to teaching children (high school children at that) to have respect for others? It's uncommon... and that is sad. We totally got kicked out... who knew the museum closes at 5? Clearly not us. But we read EVERYTHING and watched EVERYTHING. We totally bypassed the rain this day, I might point out. See what great things happen when you spend the entire day having such an amazing spiritual experience.
I have to tell you now something that was not in our plans... EVERYTHING in D.C. closes at 5-5:30pm. Seriously? So... we took photos of what we would get to see tomorrow. Also. There is no where to eat in D.C. No joke. People go running because they have to put on muscle so there body has something to eat during the day. Well... there is food. If you want to eat at their sketchy roll away hot dog stand. WE... did not!
So we walk around the area our hotel is in (by Arlington Cemetery, kind of- oh, and ORF rule) and find a few places but settle on Boston Market. One word...YUM!!!!! P.S. this picture of Sarah is SO MUCH CUTER than the picture she has of me shoving food in my face after a day of eating.... well, nothing since 8am. I'm not a graceful shover-in-er. Sarah is.

Then that night, a friend of mine, Rob Taggart (we like to call him Taggart) who lives in D.C. wanted to get together, so he came and got us at our hotel and took us on a nighttime tour of D.C. We first went to the White house. We parked and walked around it.
BTW... I didn't add my picture of me and Sarah, but she has a cute one... and I have to add, she has like 10 (that might be a slight exaggeration) and he is MY FRIEND. What the... I got one...
This is a little pioneery looking house on the corner of the white house grounds, apparently it is actually an escape off the grounds... if need be.
Washington Monument at night.
We saw other things, like maybe Sarah will post a picture of the Capital building she took from the car. And then maybe she will post a picture of that unmarked van that started following us, AFTER she took a picture of the capital building. At night. From a car window. Without stopping. Which apparently is a big NO NO. Anyway.. it was an awesome tour and Taggart is awesome for taking us on it. It was so good to see him. Like a complete idiot, I didn't even take a picture with him. That is one of the disappointments from my trip. Sad. There were some Taggart funnies though. Like: Asking him where people buy food, you know, so we can buy some as well and make use of our handy fridge in our room, and Sarah asking where a Wal-Mart was, to which he laughed his head off. As if to say they were too good for WAL-MART. At one point, we tell him about the people watching in the airport and how we had made up this whole story about a reunited romance and he tells us that there is no romance in D.C. He said (and I can't remember this quote exactly but Sarah will post it on her blog it was something like) "In D.C. we are spread out, not on top of each other like New York", Sarah and I bust up laughing. It took Taggart a minute to get what we were laughing at. He then giggles and says "Gosh, you bring two mormon girls in the city and they turn dirty." LOL.. It was so funny. Then I ask him if you have to pay the Cab driver a tip. To which he turns to me, looks (with a face like... ARE YOU FOR REAL?) and says... "Please tell me you tipped the Cab driver?" to which I directly reply with puppy dog eyes and said... "uh... No. (pause + more puppy dog eyes) Stiffed him!" He was, let's just say... at tad bit shocked. I was like "WELL (yes, large letters for affect, cause I was loud) THAT'S WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU BRING A COUNTRY GIRL TO THE BIG CITY! I DIDN"T KNOW!" LOL! Then, in my defense... I tried to come up with ways to get in touch with the guy. I even still remember his cab #. 1617. Taggart is funny, I seriously love that guy. He has a way of making me so feel good about myself. He always tells me how beautiful he thinks I am, and how amazing he thinks I am. I of course use my sarcasm on him to get him to laugh, but he is so nice and it was so good to see him and get a patented "Taggart hug". Taggart and I sat in the car and talked for a really long time. So it was at late night. When I make my way to the room I knock cause Sarah locked the door and I press my eye right up to the peep hole (knowing she'll look) to which I hear a loud giggle. See... I"m laughing now just remembering it. Funny.

The next morning we go out on another adventure. THis day... the Metro was CRAM PACKED! I'm pretty the girl sitting next to me LOVED my arm invading her personal space as I jutted it in between her and the guy next to her. I didn't care, I wasn't going to be falling all over the dang train. Poor Sarah had to "reach for the stars" as she grabbed the pole on the ceiling. Once people got off and we could move a little we were able to grab our own pole, to which Sarah said, and I qoute "I was all over that pole" LOL!!!!! The funniest thing about the Metro is that there is practially no room to breath and apparently no room to talk either. Seriously... it's so awkward, it's so silent in there you could honestly hear a pin drop. They had the funniest posters in there sometimes. The thing is... they aren't trying to be funny, they just are. Like for example one said this "We do not build ships", well... thanks for letting us know because we were wondering if we would get to witness the ship building that happens on the subway.
I just accidentally deleted a really great picture of the Lincoln Memorial that was supposed to be next, but don't want to take the time to insert it back in. I'll insert it after this post. Sorry.
First we saw the Lincoln Memorial. Who knew that to actually ride up to the top of the thing you have to get there early to get a ticket. Not. Us.
We toured the Monuments and Memorials.
Oh... and Batman saving the day.




The World War 2 memorial was awesome! I loved it.


How beautiful is this city. VERY! This is the path to the Lincoln Memorial from the WW2 Memorial.
The Jenny Pool.
We took the road less traveled. This was awesome. There were tons of geese. I love geese. They are my favorite bird. I wanted Sarah to take my picture in the middle of the geese. She didn't want to, but finally said. Okay... I'll take you picture in the geese if you take a picture a picture of the geese poo.
DONE!!!
THere was all this poo on the side of the Jenny Pool (reflecting pool) and at first we had seen a duck swimming in the pool and thought maybe it was duck poo, but it was a bit too large to come out a... well, you know. Once we saw the geese, we determined it was geese poo.
As we were walking this trail, these two little boys pass by us, the one says to the other "Hey... you wanna race? Oh wait... you have asthma... NEVERMIND!" It was so funny. Sarah says this statement so well, she gets the accent perfectly. It's hilarious. If you know her and are reading this... next time you see her, ask her to say it. She loves it. The little kid was black and probably southern so you can imagine the accent. So. Cute.
Then we visited Lincoln. And this is not a fat joke, but... he's huge! Sarah was hoping to stick Batman on Lincoln's knee. This is actually a Taggart funny as she told him that, he laughed and told us how huge Lincoln actually is. We didn't know. They don't show you scale in the movies or in pictures. Geez!!!
Batman didn't get on his knee. Or anywhere close to it for that matter. I might have paid Sarah money to try though. Then....
"I have a dream...."
Okay, I have many dreams, but Martin Luther King had a dream, right in this very spot I am taking the picture from. I am standing where he stood. Exactly. Well, as "exactly" as whoever decided this was exactly where he stood, decided he was. But how cool is this? VERY!
Heading to the Korean War Memorial. My Dad fought in Korea. It's not the best memories for him, but I feel proud of him for doing it.


After this we walked over to the Arlington Cemetery. We crossed the bridge over the Potomac. It was beautiful. I love water. I love large bodies of water. They are the only large bodies I think are beautiful. AND.. the larger the better. Oh, if only we could be like water.

We took a tour of the cemetery, which proved to be awesome because we learned so much we would not have been able to learn. I just thought it was beautiful. There are SO MANY headstones. And all perfectly aligned. Craziest thing.


There are bodies from all the wars in here. All of them.

Then we stopped at the Changing of the Guard. This is cool. If you don't know this story, then here you go. There is a body of a soldier that was found, but not able to be identified in this tomb. So, everyday, all day, there is a guard that paces in front of the tomb. They periodically change, every so many minutes ( I can't remember now how many minutes, but it's not a lot). It's a special ceremony. And people, schools, or organizations can present a wreath, which is also a very intrinsic ceremony. It's very serious and very special. And for me... VERY SPIRITUAL. I cried when I watched it.
This is a school presenting a wreath.
Here is the guard... guarding. He is very precise with his movements. VERY PRECISE!!! And stiff. How special for that soldier, who is now on the other side, to know that this much care and love is being shown him. It's amazing!
Here is panoramic picture of D.C. I took from the front yard of Robert E. Lee's house. He didn't mind.

Next we walked to Hiroshima Memorial. I love this one too... It brings tears to my eyes. Just look at how hard these men are trying to claim the territory. How can you see this and not tear up? I couldn't. They are trying with EVERYTHING in them to get our American Flag on that soil. Amazing! If you think about it... their adrenaline had to have been pumping, they had to have been scared. For me... that would mean shaking hands and knees, and they didn't care what might have happened to them. It's special the way a soldier defends our liberty.

After all this walking that day, we were beyond beat. Our feet were so sore, my back was KILLING ME. We could see the area where our hotel sits on the other side of the freeway. We had a choice. Do we map out or way home from here, it was so close. We just knew it. OR... do walk ALL THE WAY back to the Metro in D.C. and ride it home. We chose our own brilliance and tried to map out our way home. OH... there were times we were trying to hide ourselves enough to pull out our map, so as not to look like tourists (Office Rustin Rule), and it took us longer than we thought, and we walked through a "BAD" part of town, to which we were both praying on the inside that the Lord would forgive our stupidity and help us get home safe, and that that man inside that sketchy run down apartment would not come out and kill us, like I had decided he was contemplating, and that my legs would actually keep moving even though they wanted to kill over and die. We made it home and I was like "UH... we are SOOOO getting room service tonight!" So... we did. And then we crashed.
The next morning we went to the Smithsonian. We stopped by the Air and Space Museum and paid their gift shop... lots and lots of money, but it was definitely worth it. Great gift shop! We got this bright idea (don't worry, the image below is not of the bright idea light bulb) to ride a virtual reality rollercoaster. Well.. the one we wanted went upside down and we were both kind of having stomach upset problems that day so... we decided that puking on the ride and all over ourselves would not be 1. classy, or 2. in anyone's best interest. So... we went on the one that doesn't go upside down....
Or anywhere else for that matter. The image above is of the ride. It was beyond stupid. And there were two little girls in the front seat (2 seater) we were behind them. It put dumb ride, it's very own category. So... Sarah and I began to slide from one side to the other, along with the so called rollercoaster. Sometimes pushing each other, sometimes playing air guitar to the music. We're talking some major rocking out here. We became the children on the ride, and we're dang proud of it. Proudest moment on the trip. By far! We were laughing and acting very stupid. But it was fun. We finish and I said "That was AMAZING!!!" Totally sarcastic of course. The two other girls turned slightly to look at us with a blank stare then... one little girl was like "yeah, that was amazing". And shew was serious. Seriously COPYING ME! The other one was like, You're all dumb LOL! They were just jealous they didn't have as much fun as Saran and I on that ride, that was a virtual load of CRAP!

Then, we get to the corner by the Washington Memorial the roads are all blocked off. They let Sarah and I pass but no one after us. We were like, why is the road blocked off. Being the Utahn I am, I thought... hmm.. Parade? Sheep? Cows? Nope... I got my farm animals mixed up. J/K. It was the motorcade. It was totally the President's motorcade. Which regardless of how I feel about Obama, it was the President of the United States. And that's pretty cool.
Then we had tickets to go up the Washington Monument. It was an amazing view.
The White house...
It looked like they were having some kind of BBQ or something.

After this we head back to the hotel to get our luggage. We encounter at the hotel the funniest thing ever, in the form of a man. The most politest, cheery, feminine guy I have ever met in my whole life. He was so dramatic. SO DRAMATIC. Every time we asked him something he would start with the sweetest, cheeriest, most feminine "OHHHHHHHHH..." and then proceed with his statement. Okay... here's the thing... if you know me at all, you know that what I am thinking is always written ALL OVER MY FACE. And... at this moment, my face was very much in shock. Very much in a "What the... did he just do with his face/voice?" look. I couldn't talk. Sarah did the talking while I pulled my thoughts together. Now... again, if you know me you will know that if something is funny to me... I CANNOT hold back a laugh to save my life. During church. During prayers. During a meeting. Can't do it. I was trying with all my might to not laugh at every one of his head tilt 2 lbs of sugary sweet voice saying "OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.... the shuttle won't be in until 4. OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH (head tilt)..... I'm so sorry. OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH....". Call me rude, but rude would have been if I said was I thinking at the moment, which I have been known to do. I held it together long enough to sit down and re organize my brown and tan zebra suitcase. I couldn't even look at Sarah cause have you ever had one of those moments where something is so funny to you and you know the tiniest little thing will set you off and it will all be over and you will bust up laughing, like looking at your sister in law who was struggling in the same way. Anyway... we laughed pretty hard, outside the hotel. I let it loose, and it felt great!!!! Anyway... we had to lug our freaking heavy luggage over to the Metro station cause our fancy HILTON that supposedly had a complimentary shuttle (which by the way we never got use, nor did we get to see) wasn't going to be in until 4pm. We sucked it up and hauled the luggage, and it sucked, and we laughed cause it sucked SO MUCH! It was tricky trying to get it on the escalator and the Metro. But, we did it. Once we get on the Metro we were okay, except I think I came close to pulling my arm out of the socket as 5'4" Tahnee had to hold onto the top bar of the Metro. Ouch. Then there was this creepy guy across the aisle and stared at me the whole time with this look in his eye. You know, the... "I want to take you to my darkened dungeon and spin you into my web and have my way with you" look. EWWWWWWW...
Anyway... we get to the airport and find out that our airline is at the other end of the airport. I was so tired of this luggage by then, so was Sarah. There was supposed to be a shuttle, but of course, finding shuttles and being able to use them was not exactly our strong suit on this trip. We gave up and decided to trek it. It was definitely a trek. THen we come across this guy that works there who is walking with us, talking to us about our LONG FREAKING TREK to the other side of the airport and seriously I wanted to say "What? You want to help us take our luggage, that is so shivalrous of you. I could kiss you right now." Did this happen? I say NAY! He didn't even offer. He was nice, but didn't offer. Ugh. So... we finally get there, my back is KILLING ME. My legs are swelling up (I know, weird, but they actually got worse... it was weird) and we get in line. I go up to weigh my suitcase and the lady says "Your suitcase is overweight." I look at her and in that moment all I wanted to say was "Excuse me... she's sensitive about her weight!" but I didn't. Instead, I asked how much. She said 2lbs and it would cost 75 dollars extra to check it over weight. I unzipped it to pull something out so my big fat fatty zebra wouldn't be overweight (keep in mind I am holding up the line). I pull out a couple things the scale says 50 lbs. I zip it up. The scale says 52 lbs. REALLY?!?!?!?! I unzip, take out a couple more things (my back is still killing me and slowly I am getting ornery). Scale says 50 lbs. Zip it up. 52 lbs. REALLY?!?!?!?!?! Steam may have been coming from my ears. LOL. I open it, wait for the worker lady to see the weight, she says okay, I zip it and explain to Sarah what happened. We finally get on our plane. We were so tired and so worn out that it all turned into silliness. By the time we got to Denver to change airplanes we were laughing so hard making so many jokes about my big fat fatty zebra needing to lose weight to get on the airplane. I'm like 99.9% positive that one man waiting in the aisle to get off the plane staring at us thought we were tipping back the bottle a bit too much on that plane ride. LOL... because honestly the stuff we were saying and how hard we were laughing at the stuff we were saying would have equaled a few too many alcoholic beverages.

Honestly, it was such a fun trip and such a good time. I was so glad I went with Sarah, there wasn't anyone else I would have rather gone with. We just have so much fun together. It was awesome. I was so sad to see it end but I will remember it forever. Thanks so much Sarah for wanting to go. I love your stinking guts!!!!