Arkansas Adventure....

I know it's been a little while since my last adventure....or since I've written anything....but I'm going to catch up...eventually...we'll start with my little trip to Arkansas...

So your first thought may be....who takes and trip in Arkansas....what is even in Arkansas??? I mean those were my thoughts before last July when my dear friend and roommate of three years got married and moved to Arkansas for her husband's job. So after my Tallahassee adventure I knew I had to follow it up with something exciting....so I chose Arkansas. I decided if nothing else Laurel will be there to watch cheesy and Nate (Laurel's husband) would be there to watch sports so it couldn't be a complete disaster. I bought a plane ticket to Tulsa, OK and I was on my way.

My trip started early early early Friday morning. I thought I gave myself plenty of time to get to the airport and get to the plane....yeah....make that barely enough time. I got to the parking place and it took them forever to pick me up and take me to the airport, then I realized I forgot my boarding pass so I had to print another one. Not a big deal....until I got to security. So I got into the security line at 6:15....my flight was leaving at 6:45....and the guy at the back of the long line said it would take at least 30 minutes to get through security...yeah I was a bit panicked. Then he said we could try terminal 2 because their security line was only 15 minutes long. So I, along with some other brave travelers, made my way to terminal 2....knowing time was limited I starting preparing myself for security...you know...taking off shoes and jacket taking out liquids....praying I didn't have some hidden weapon in my backpack. I got through the line fine and took off back to terminal 1 to get to my flight. I had the brilliant idea to run without my shoes on because it was too hard to put them back on...yeah that was silly....you run faster in shoes than in socks....just in case you wanted to know. I'm sure people thought I was crazy as I weaved my way through the terminal toward the gate but I made it....at 6:40....yeah I was one of the last people on the plane....the last was a guy who was behind me in security line. Now I mentioned before that my flight was early...so I was hoping to catch some sleep on the way to Phoenix (yeah it was one of those Southwest flights) but since I had a nice little walk I had way too much energy to sleep...oh well....

The rest of the flying was pretty uneventful...although I will use this time to talk about the birds in the Phoenix airport. I have no idea what this is all about but there are birds that seen to live in the Phoenix airport. I have never understood why they don't do anything about them. The first time I was there I thought it was funny but after that I just felt like it was weird and unclean. So bizarre....

Anywho....I arrived in Tulsa ready for adventure. Laurel picked me up at the airport and we made our way back to Bentonville, AR. This is the part where I praise Laurel for picking me up and not making me find some sketchy shuttle....yeah she's awesome like that. We arrived in Bentonville and I immediately knew who everyone worked for....Wal-Mart...there is even a Wal-Mart museum....I didn't get a chance to go inside but it was there I promise. We went to Laurel's cute house and hung out until dinner at our classic spot, Olive Garden...so good. Laurel and Nate were in a Christmas program things so we went to that next. It was really cool. They had a live nativity along with all kinds of nativities set up on the gym of the church. Then they had a program with all kind of people from the community singing and playing instruments. They had some middle school choirs and an acapella group of older ladies (which was my favorite act). Then they had a huge Ozark Mormon Choir which was pretty legit. There were way more people in it than I thought there would be. Apparently Wal-Mart hires a lot of Mormons....who knew???

Then we went back to the Shepherd house and we watched Laurel's Christmas present to me....a fabulous Hallmark movie. Nate wasn't really into it but Laurel and I loved it!!!!! I just can't get enough of those cheesy movies....sigh....

The next day we went on a hunt....not an animal hunt but a people hunt....well more of a house hunt which sounds way less creepy. The Duggar family...from the TLC show 19 kids and Counting live a mere 30 minutes away from Laurel's house. How could we not go and look for it?? Apparently Laurel had been wanting to go but Nate wasn't really into it. I was so game! So with the help of Tom Tom (the GPS) we made our way out. It was quite exciting when we found it. There was a security guard out front so we thought it best not to stop and get out so we took pictures from the road. The house was just like on TV......amazing. And they had so many cars!!! I guess if you have 19 kids you have to having something to transport them in. After our successful venture we headed to Wal-Mart. This wasn't just any Wal-Mart it was the Wal-Mart where the Duggars have been spotted. Laurel called it the "Duggar Wal-Mart".

You really do have to specify which Wal-Mart you are going to because they are everywhere. I went to three different Wal-Marts during my stay. Store 100, which is the 100th store, the Duggar Wal-Mart and a Wal-Mart grocery store. So many Wal-Marts so little time!

After our adventure we made Christmas treats and watched the BYU basketball game. The game was followed by another Hallmark movie. Yeah Laurel and I are that into Hallmark....Nate....not so much.

Sunday was filled with Sunday like things....we went to church, ate a delicious dinner prepared by Laurel and then Laurel and Nate had another concert which was just the Mormon choir and once again it was fabulous!!

Monday I packed up and headed back to the airport. It was an uneventful trip back....except an hour delay in Denver.....and I made it back to Provo safely.

So just so you know Arkansas is a great idea....especially if you love Wal-Mart....but seriously it was such a blast. It was nice to do things just "Erin and Laurel style". I'm sure Nate wasn't super excited but what can you do?? I was so grateful for the chance to go and have a fabulous host and hostess!!!!

Coming next.....a year in review....which I will write once I remember what happened this year....