Thunderstorms

 

Thunder and lightning used to scare me so bad as a kid. I remember hiding in the linen closet and holding my hands over my ears. I would hear the crash of the lightning and start counting to see how close it was. If i got to more than '10 Mississippi', I knew I was safe. Something about the uncertainty  and the noise was always unsettling. My dad on the other hand absolutely LOVES thunderstorms, so as I got older I decided they were ok. They still scared me, but as long as my dad was by my side I knew I was safe. We used to go to the pedestrian overpasses and watch the storms. We would put our rain jackets on and run through the rain. The storms were pretty and seeing my dad's  face light up was my favorite. He would talk about how close it was. And how beautiful the lightning was. When it was all over we'd walk home in the rain talking about how awesome it was.
I'm well over my fear of thunderstorms and eagerly await a good one. Luckily here the lightning  is brighter and the thunder louder. (Everything's bigger in Texas) I love sitting on my balcony with Riddler,  just watching the storm for hours. Listening to the rain go from a light putter to a roaring river. I enjoy watching the storm roll in and the faint strikes of lightning, turn into big crashes of light, awaking the entire night sky. Listening to the lightning crack and the instant roar of thunder, that gets me every time. And every time I watch a storm here I think of my dad.  How one day in the near future he's  going to visit and we're going to watch an amazing storm together. So dad be prepared!

 

Just a note I love thunderstorms, but the idea of a tornado TERRIFIES me.

 

Any thoughts on thunderstorms? Love them? Hate them?

2 Years

Two years ago today I left for a vacation that changed my life.  Cody and I took a two week vacation to Dallas, TX.  I wanted to desperately meet his dad's side of the family and of course just get away.  I had been planning this trip for months.  Completely unsure of how it would all pan out.  I was so scared that his parents would hate me and I would have to stay in a hotel room.  As you all know, that did not happen.  I instead met some of the most caring and amazing people I've ever come in contact with. I was instantly put at ease when Cody's dad, Rod gave me a huge hug at baggage claims, the moment he saw us.  It literally changed my life.  The two weeks that followed were jam packed, and filled with fun.  Rod and Dana took us everywhere worth seeing in DFW. We laughed countless times and I had so much fun getting to know them.  I learned what great people they are and just how kind and loving two people can be. Towards each other and everyone they come in contact with.

In all honesty the entire family can be categorized as that.  I remember the second day we were there, Cody's grandma flat out asked "When are you two going to get married?"  I laughed and then turned to Cody.  All eyes were on him as he tried (stumbled) to explain why he hadn't asked me.  His grandma offered us a ring right then and there.  Obviously we didn't get engaged that day, but it felt so good to know that a woman I had just met already approved of me marrying her grandson. As the week went on there were numerous times where Rod or Dana  would ask us what it would take to get us to move there.  We of course laughed it off, but Cody and I discussed it when it was just the two of us.
 I cried when Rod dropped us off at the airport. One because I didn't know when we'd see any of them again. And two, because I really wanted to stay. The idea of leaving made me really, really sad.  It left me with a hole that was hard to explain.

Well Cody and I got on the airplane and landed safely back in Utah.  We went back to our jobs and seeing each other only on the weekends.  We went back to barely making ends meet and both wanting more.  That's when we seriously started discussing the idea of moving to Texas.

I know a lot of people say that they wished they could live where they vacationed.  I was just lucky enough to move to mine.

Have you ever gone somewhere that changed your future?  I would love to hear about it.

March Restaurant

I know it's April 2nd!!! Where has the year gone?  We did keep our promise and technically went to two new restaurants in March, but I'm only going to write about one.

Two weeks ago we went on a short road trip to Waco, TX, to see Cody's little brother face off against Baylor.  He's a pitcher at West Virginia University and this is the first and likely the last time we'll see him pitch this season. We rode with Cody's step brother and sister and met up with his parents and B down there. We had brunch at a cute cafe' that had pancakes as big as your head. This wasn't our restaurant of the month although it was very delicious.  After brunch we hung out and us girls went on a little shopping trip, while Cody napped in the hotel.

We headed to the game and got to see BJ pitch a couple of great innings!!

 We ended up losing, but that all happened long before he was put in the game, so we don't really count it.

 Which afterwards brought us to our March restaurant "Crickets Draft House + Grill". 

 They had a variety of burgers to try. And although technically Cody would eat a burger any given day, this one was a bit different. The burger of his choice was "The Peanut Butter Burger." Yes, you read that correctly. This burger consisted of your standard beef patty, plus peanut butter, bacon, a fried egg, tomato and lettuce. It's kind of hard to tell in the picture, but it was all on there, I promise. BJ had the kitchen sink burger, which included french fries and queso on the burger.  I had the "spicy guacamole burger", not even spicy but it was good.

Cody's Peanut Butter Burger

Cody described his burger as, "a lot of peanut butter, actually that's all you could taste". Obviously that's not a bad thing and it lived up to its name. Would he order it again? Yes, maybe just light on the peanut butter?

What's the craziest hamburger you've ever eaten?