Texas - for work and play!

 I went to Texas again for work and stayed for the weekend to hang out with my Ashley! We have known each for years and will always be in each others lives. We tell each other that we are soul sisters. I love her and her family! I flew in on Thursday, rented a car and visited two of my partners. After that I called her and said "okay, I'm ready to hang out!" She said, "you won't believe what has been going on! Wyatt has been throwing up all afternoon." Yikes. That put a damper on our plans! I didn't want to get sick and couldn't be sick for my conference in Austin so I called Connie, her mom, and asked if I could spend the night there that night and hang out with her instead! She is like my second mom so it ended up working out. 

Ashley's cousins started the Strangling Brother's Haunted Circus in Texas this year and Connie volunteers to work there so I went with her. Before I got to her house I stopped by Grapevine Mills Mall, then I got to her house and dropped off my things, changed and we picked up Chik-fil-A for dinner. I then volunteered with her for a few hours at the photo booth. I even got a shirt so I was official. Bobby was there working security so I got see him too. It was fun and very interesting...there is quite the different crowd at haunted houses! Several times we saw kids that were really young (like 4 years old!) and their parents were making them go into the haunted house. We thought if they were bad enough parents to make them go into a terrifying haunted house at that age that they would probably let them stay with strangers. At one point we had 4 children out with us for over an hour waiting for their parents! Yikes. The kids were cute and I felt bad for them that their parents were doing such a poor job in the choices they were making to raise their kids.

The next day I woke up to an amazing breakfast at Connie's. She is the best cook; everything she touches turns to gold. She made waffles and made me feel right at home! I called Ashley and Wyatt was feeling better so I went over to her house after I got dressed and we talked for a while and relaxed while the kids were sleeping. We went to the park and then Ashley's babysitter came. We went to Torchy's Tacos and they were SO GOOD. I crave them all the time. My favorite was the blackened salmon taco and we also got really good queso. I hate that they don't have at Torchy's in Utah! After dinner we went shopping at Southlake Town Square and found some great deals at the GAP. We got hot chocolate at Starbucks then went back to "the haunt" (as they call it) and we actually went through this time. Bobby took us through the back way. I wasn't even scared until I saw how terrified Ashley was! She was screaming! She would hold on the guy in front of her. I was crying laughing so hard. At one point this thing started moving toward us unexpectedly and she got so scared that she started sliding down the wall and taking the guy in front of her with her! I was dying of laughter. She definitely made it more fun! Her cousins were the circus masters and they were really creepy. They were walking all around the parking lot and their makeup, especially Ryan's, was really scary. They would be talking to us then scare us because their faces were so scary with all that makeup.

That night I slept at Connie's again and then the following day we woke up and after eating Popeye Eggs (thanks Connie!) I met Ashley at her house then we went to the Fort Worth Zoo. It was trick-or-treat at the zoo and we walked around the whole thing. The weather was nice. After the zoo, we called in a Torchy's Tacos order and picked it up. I couldn't wait until I got home to eat the taco so I ate it in the car then fed me and Ashley chips and queso. Her boys napped while we watched Grey's Anatomy and I snuck away to grab us some cookies from Chik-fil-A. We dropped off the boys that night at Connie's and went to get a manicure, then went shopping at NorthEast Mall. We found a lot more goodies at GAP and closed the place out! After that we went to dinner at Pei Wei then Target to get some t-shirts. It was such a fun day and night! Ashley and her kids slept at Connie's that night and the next morning we all went hot tubbing. We got ready then I said goodbye to Connie and we went to church at Ashley's ward. I went to Ashley's sunday school class and tricked the kids for a little while telling them I was from church headquarters. I couldn't help myself. Bobby watched the kids after work when we went to Cheesecake Factory as our last meal together. I always hate leaving! I drove to Austin that night for my conference.

The next day I met with a couple partners for breakfast and lunch, then picked up my co-worker at the airport. We set up at the conference, then walked to the Texas Capitol. I had to walk around and take a tour of course! My Texas pride shown bright. She took a picture of me walking down the stairs at the Capitol because I felt like I was having a Cinderella moment. I just needed a giant ball gown. We got dinner at a delicious steak house that night and then walked around. It was the Austin Film Festival. The next day we were at the conference center all day, then went to watch the bats fly out from under the bridge. The same time every night, millions of bats fly out from under the bridge at dusk. It's a pretty cool site to see! We then went to dinner and to the EMC hosted party. The following day we wrapped up the conference and headed home!