States Visit: Shopaholics

Actual date of this event: 13-16 May

After our visit to New Orleans, Luke and I stayed in Jennings Sunday night so that we would be closer to Houston for a shorter drive in that direction. It is a long story, but we didn't end up leaving for Houston until about 5pm. Andy, my father-in-law, was so kind as to take us to Houston rather than us renting a car. We only got to see him one night, so it was nice to be able to chat some more during the trip. While on the drive, my dad called and said he would meet us to bring us back the rest of the way. We met in Baytown around 7pm which allowed Andy to get back home at a somewhat decent hour. Thanks, Andy and dad, for the transportation to Houston!!!!

Luke and I were on a mission for the last two full days of our time in Houston. Shopping. Shopping. Shopping. It worked out well because my dad, Becca (sister), and Eric (brother-in-law) had to work both days, and Cooper (my nephew) had school. So we weren't really missing out on hanging out with the family. Luke and I woke up early both days, so we could take my dad to work to use his car for both days. Zoey was so super excited that we were back staying with them. She is obsessed with Luke! It is so funny! When he walks in the room, she yells his name and runs to him so he can pick her up. When he leaves the room, she says his name and runs after him. When she hears him flush a toilet, she says his name and points toward the bathroom. So funny! Oh and when we are in London, and I facetime with them during the day, she asks for him constantly. So sweet :-)

A helmet doesn't quite fit over two pigtails. Haha! She wanted to ride her bike though.

Luke and I went jogging and then headed to the outlet mall. We spent 6 hours shopping, and our credit card bill will show it! We needed so many things though. He has not shopped once since we moved to the UK, other than buying a guitar amp. And I only went shopping once, at H&M, where I bought 3 shirts. We needed clothes and shoes and jackets badly! We continued shopping on Wednesday, but we were looking for certain things so we had to go to specific stores. Luke and I also went for lunch at Schlotszky's. Seriously.the.greatest! No one ever talks about the place, but I know everyone loves it. And who cares that the bread is the worst thing for you, but it is oh so delicious!!! Anyway, shopping is exhausting!

Luke bought some "London" pants - aka semi-skinny jeans in colors. Hehehe, can you believe it???!!?

All of the shoes that acquired over our trip. ELEVEN pairs (two not shown)!!

On Tuesday night, we went to Pappasitos one more time and met Lori, Jeff, Frankie (their little girl), and Greg. We were unable to see them during our Saturday pool hang out, so Pappasitos seemed like a great place to meet. It was good to catch up with them!

On Wednesday night, we did dinner with the family at the house since it was our last night in the States. My grandma was also leaving to go back to Ohio the next day, so it was good to hang out with the family and have a relaxing evening. I was exhausted though, and ended up in bed by 10pm!

Our flight wasn't leaving on Thursday until 8:40pm, so we were not rushed to the airport. I jogged in the morning before we went to Cooper's end of the year program at school. He is going to be in kindergarten next year! Wow!!! Him and his classmates sang some cute little songs to tell us about a few of the things they learned throughout the year. The alphabet song was the cutest!

After the program, it was packing time. We came with half of what we were taking back with us. We planned ahead and each brought an extra bag that we could carry on (I actually had two extra bags) so that we wouldn't need to pay for extra checked bags. I purchased some extra space bags from wal-mart so that all of the clothes could scrunch down to itty bitty. The problem was that our suitcases needed to stay under the weight limit, so we had to put all of the heavy stuff into our carry on's which made "carrying" quite challenging - I think I have a sore wrist from walking with heavy bags. Everything fit and there was even a little bit of extra room. I think I should get an award for my packing skills: "World's Most Efficient Packer". Luke's claims he doesn't know how to pack which means I do all of our packing. Ugh.

Pre-shopping trip. This was every item of clothing (minus shoes) that I brought for two weeks. The shoes are to show you how small the space bags turn out afterward (they are about the height of my Sperry shoes as well). Ironing? Ain't nobody got time fo dat!

My parents drove us to the airport after saying our "see you laters" and "wuv yous" to the kids and Becca. On the way, Luke discovered that our 8:40pm flight was delayed til 10:05pm. Great. We actually didn't end up taking off until about 11:00pm which left us eating a meal after mid-night. Our flight landed at 1:00pm (GMT), and after going through passport control and getting our bags, we didn't arrive back to our flat until around 3:30pm. Long long day especially since I didn't really sleep at all on the plane.

It was really really good to see our family and friends and go back to the United States. It is exciting that we will get to see some our family again in just a few months! Becca & Eric are visiting in July. We will be meeting some of Luke's family in Paris the day Becca & Eric leave. My parents are planning to visit in mid-August. Can't wait for visitors! I realize that it has now been almost 10 months since we left, and when I was back, I noticed quite a few things that I never noticed before. You will find out about those later :-)