Friends, Family, and Road Trips

Warning: This is a long post. I am so thankful Ryan and I have been able to catch up with our family and friends a lot over the past few weeks. I had mentioned in a previous post that Brian was back in town from Florida. Lily missed him when he left since she didn't have a nap buddy anymore. We had another little get together at our house the night before he left and played some games. I didn't really take any pictures while he was here, so at 4am before we went to bed, I made them take a picture and this is what I got... Hopefully we'll see him again soon!

Last week, Ryan's mom, his grandmother, Maw-Maw, and I went to a cooking class at Central Market. It was actually a cooking demonstration and not a class but it was still fun. The demonstration was put on by Chef Einat Admony who wrote the book, Balaboosta, and owns several restaurants in New York. She made several things that night to from the book and everything was delicious. We pretty much had a 5 course meal with drinks included. She even signed everyone's book afterwards which was really nice. I had a fun evening and hope we do it again. 

The morning after, Ryan drove us up to Arkansas to visit my friends, Rachel and Ross, and to go to the Texas A&M vs. Arkansas game. Ryan took off work Friday and we left early in the morning. We drove through the Ouachita National Forest along the way up there to avoid getting into the morning traffic in Dallas. We drove straight to Bentonville, where Rachel and Ross live, and were able to check out the Walton 5-10 visitor's center and the Crystal Bridges Museum. Ryan's brother, Eric, was also in Fayetteville at the time with Texas A&M Business Honor students. We were going to try to meet up with him later that night, but as we walked out of the museum, I noticed a big group that was being dropped off and told Ryan I bet Eric was apart of it. Ryan didn't believe me, but sure enough, we spotted him. We met up with him again later that night in Fayetteville after Ross and Rachel took us to dinner. 

On Saturday, we went to the farmer's market in the Bentonville Square and enjoy a nice lunch at Tusk and Trotters. If we didn't have such a long drive home, I would have bought a lot of vegetables, including a few bags of zuchinni squash flowers that I know Ryan's family would like. Later that afternoon, we drove down to Fayetteville for the game. The plan was that Ross and Ryan were going to the game, and Rachel and I were going to go shopping or walk around. We all walked around campus for a bit before the game to find Ross' name etched in the sidewalk. I love how they etch every single person who graduated from their university into the sidewalk. I wish Baylor did that. Next, we walked around the tailgates (tailgaters? I don't know) and paused outside of the stadium. As we were talking, a man came up and asked if we needed tickets. Ross had won tickets to the game earlier that week from work, and Ryan already bought tickets but sold them once we found out Ross won tickets. The man who came up to us initially sounded like those tickets scalpers. We assured him we were good and were not interested in buying any tickets. He then told us that he had four 50 yard line 7th row tickets that he just wanted to make sure they were used and gave them to us for free. His name was Bill Magness and he owns a Toyota dealership in Arkansas. He happened to have extra tickets and we were in the right place at the right time. Rachel and I walked back to the car to drop off our umbrellas since they didn't let you take them in, and because Rachel had to change her purse since it was too big to bring in. On our way back, we got turned around, but luckily a police officer helped us out and walked us to the stadium. During the game, it began to rain and a nice woman gave us some extra ponchos she had with her. Ryan was happy the Aggies won and we walked back to the car. When we inserted our ticket to pay for our parking, the machine couldn't read our ticket so the attendant said we got free parking. That Saturday was by far the weirdest but funniest days I have had. Everything just kept getting better. 

We left to head back to Houston early Sunday morning after breakfast. Thank you Rachel and Ross for letting us stay with yall and for being such great hosts. We had a great time in Arkansas and can see why yall love living in Bentonville. I'm so excited for your new house and can't wait to come visit again when it is completed. 

Last, on Friday (yesterday), Ryan's mom, grandmother, and I drove out to Round Top, TX and stopped at various shops for their big antique show that ends today. I have never been to a big show where there are tents after tents full of things. We first went to Marburger Farms and made our way back towards 290 stopping at more shows along the way. Even though I didn't really buy anything (I bought one vintage table cloth), I still had fun browsing. Ryan didn't go, but he said it was like real life pinterest. After we got back into Cypress, we made a stop at HEB and got a few things for dinner. Maw-Maw taught me how to make eggplant pie and it was delicious! I have been craving eggplant pie (like eggplant lasagna but without any noodles) all week.

These past few weeks have been very busy, but they have also been a lot of fun.
Time to rest up for more adventures ahead!