Meet Us in St. Louis

Hello blogosphere!

We are alive and well in Missouri, and, as you can see, I'm giving this blog another go. Last year it felt like I did so many un-blogworthy things that I never blogged about them, and then suddenly I started doing a TON of blog-worthy things at once, and thus was too busy to blog. But rest assured, I'm here now.

So, we moved to St. Louis. Stewart is getting his Master's degree in Healthcare Administration while I currently sit at home being awesome. (I am planning on spending my time looking for jobs, not pregnancies, so if you know of any, let me know.)

Here are a few highlights of our time in St Louis, so far:

 Moving into our apartment. We got our key, walked in, and I started bawling--which I fully expected. (You can laugh at this, because I am laughing now.) Reasons why I bawled: we had just driven 20 hours across the country, and before that we had packed and repacked and packed everything we own and care about and said goodbye to Utah. So naturally, I was prone to be emotional. You can give a girl a pass there, right? Also, there was a very potent odor when we walked into the apartment, and I jumped to the conclusion it was cigarette smoke, and oh my gosh, Stewart, if it's cigarette smoke we are NEVER going to get the smell out and our neighbors must be crazy smokers and we're not in Utah anymore and I'm gonna be slapped in the face with this awful smell every time we come home and it's never gonna feel like anything but a dirty city or casino. Turns out--after a survey of Stewart's parents and several neighbors--that the smell is likely a combination of the treatment they had just done on our brand new wood(ish) floors, the new carpet, and fresh paint. So DON'T PANIC, everyone, we dodged a bullet there.  What's funny about this, is given just a few hours, I really started to love our apartment. It feels like home now that we've made it ours, and now that we've made it smell like the inside of Anthropologie with a plethora of candles. I love it.

Forest Park. You guys, this is the park of all parks. I mean, it's even bigger than Central Park. And it also houses a lot of great free activities. You want to go to the zoo? Well, let's drive to Forest Park and then walk in for free. You want to see a Shakespearean play in the middle of summer, let's say, in a park, and you want to do it for free? Got it. We have been exploring the park and it seems like it has a lot of cool things to offer. We are really excited about an upcoming hot air balloon race that takes off from Forest Park. Apparently, the night before the race you can go to the park and watch a ton of balloons light up at once. Consider us going to that.

Ted Drewe's. Apparently this is a St. Louis original custard shop--one that has been around since the 1930's and one that one woman said she made a pilgrimage from Arizona every summer for. I'll say, it's good. I'm not saying when we move out of Missouri I'll crave Ted Drewe's and only Ted Drewe's, but I really like it. I mean, like most things, I'm up for eating it at any moment.

Our Anniversary. Our official 1 year anniversary was the first Sunday we spent in our apartment; we had no table, next to no groceries, and a lot of stuff to be unpacked. Stewart's parents were still with us that day (after so kindly helping us move) so we just had a nice Sunday dinner with them and waiting to celebrate on our own. The next weekend we celebrated by going to the Soulard Farmer's Market in St Louis, buying a rug from Target, eating delicious food from the ever-crowded Cheesecake Factory, then coming home and to eat our year old cake. (Thanks to my mom for hauling that thing in a cooler on an airplane so we could have it.) I was really happy to celebrate and just had a lot of fun looking back at what a great year we've had together. Plus I just really loved our wedding day. I have this wish that our lives are all being recorded on giant film reels in heaven. Part of the reason I wish this is selfish--I want to go back to certain conversations where people disagree with me and prove that I KNOW I'M RIGHT. Haha. Pride much? The other reason is so I can re-live some of the best moments of my life, and the wedding day is right up there on that list. Absolutely loved it.

The Gateway Arch. This thing is iconic, and going up to the top is pretty memorable, even if only because to get to the top, you have to sit in a very tight, five-seater, futuristic 60's pod that takes you sideways and up around the arch. 

Riverboat tour of the Mississippi River. When you travel with Joe Sorenson, the question is never "Why would I pay to take a 1 hour tour looking at the banks of the Mississippi River," but rather, "Why would I not take a cruise on a steamboat named Becky Thatcher on the Mississippi River? And why not buy some popcorn and diet coke once we're on board? And why would I not buy the horribly posed picture of me, my wife, and my daughter sitting on a bench, sweating next to fake bushes with a fake lifesaver at our feet?" Haha. That's why I love my dad. Why not?

City Museum. Stewart's sister and mother came to visit us this weekend and brought 3 lovely kids, so we decided to check this place out. I am at a loss for words for City Museum. How do I explain that its basically a huge building with steel/rebar growing out of it creating tunnels, slides and staircases that you can climb through? And that there are airplanes in the middle of it, suspended by steel in the air, and there's a school bus hanging off the roof? Or how do I explain that at one point Duncan actually disappeared into the ceiling (inside) in a tunnel no adult should have to squeeze through and ended up on the other side of the floor we were on? This place was really unique and cool. If we had kids of a certain age we'd probably buy passes.

Driving. I still have absolutely no idea of even the direction our front door faces. I had a legitimate, 10 minute conversation with Stewart today about why I felt like we couldn't possibly be driving East. I miss the grid system. I miss roads that run straight East and straight West and perpendicularly North and South. But someday, it's gonna click. Just give me some time.

Busch Stadium. This is a really pretty stadium that has the Gateway Arch and the Mississippi River as it's backdrop. I'm not really a baseball gal, but I can appreciate that. And the fact that the Cardinals won the World Series last year.

Missouri Botanical Gardens. We visited this place for Labor Day and it is really quite a set of gardens. Plus, this weekend it was hosting a Japanese Festival, so we not only got to see the gardens that had been around since 1856, but some really good looking Sumo wrestlers and anime-clad visitors. It was fun.

Well, I really can't think of anything else for now, but don't fret, I will keep the world posted. I just know how you've stayed awake some nights wishing I would just update that blog already. Happy Labor Day to everyone and I'll be posting again with some more exciting happenings from St. Louis.