Missouri, in a nutshell

Nutshell with pun intended!  Last fall when I was in Missouri you may remember my Walnut Adventure (oh, how I forget how long and beautiful my hair was) - none of that this time... but it sure was fun.  As you know I'm into these Scavenger Hunts... little did I know there would be a lot of hunting going on!
I don't even know where to begin, so let's start with the beginning!

Thursday waking up was a piece of pie... I was excited to get on the road!  The drive down was nothing worth mentioning; I drove, the road passed, I arrived.  Nothing exciting happened.  In total, it took me just over 10 hours to get there.
Once I arrived and after I showered, we pretty much took off to a night filled with extra curricular activities.  Ty plays flag football and Katie plays volleyball; I wanted to make sure and make it both games to let the kids know I care.  We made it to Ty's game, stopped for a bite, then made our way to Katie's game... the kids are so cute when they do what they do.
Afterwards, it was pretty much a relaxing night... the kids had school the next day and I was pretty well beat.

Friday Renee and I set out to get some shots for my scavenger hunt; we were able to find a few things but ended up driving a good part of the day.  Afterwards we had to stop at a thrift store so I could try on a wedding dress... here is where I explain, for those of you curious about my Facebook status on Saturday.
Renee's father, David, is a photographer by hobby - and a damn good one at that!  He mentioned something about doing a "Trash The Dress" photo shoot on Saturday and needed to find someone that fit into a size 8 wedding dress.  After thinking about it a bit I asked more and wondered if I might be that person.  Turns out I didn't fit in the dress, so we went on a hunt for a wedding dress at other shops.  We ended up at a store with some marked down dresses... but still nothing cheap enough to want to destroy.  We ended up with a $16 Bridesmaid dress, that fit perfect (with the help of a couple safety pins).
Friday night Renee's father treated us to a nice little BBQ of Chicken, Scallops, Shrimp, Salmon, hot dogs, etc.  The night was spent eating, talking and having a great time.  I got to meet Renee's sister for the first time, as we are Facebook friends, we felt it was necessary to finally come face to face :)

Saturday, most of the morning/afternoon was spend on this photo shoot.  It was such a crazy unique experience... David is in a camera club and travels all over for photography!  It was so neat to see how they operate and help each other out... one person may see a perfect angle, another might notice a unwelcome shadow, and someone else might find the perfect prop.  It was an absolute treat for me to be a part of it as a model and as an aspiring photographer.  I can't wait to see all the photos (I had like 15 people at any given time snapping my photo); here are a few shots that he posted on Facebook, once I have them all I will put them in an album on Shutterfly and link to it from here.

All Photographs courtesy and property of David Strong

I'll post more about it from a personal perspective when I have all the shots... give you some background and whatnot.  It was a thrill.  I'm told that I will have shots from each person and I cannot wait for that.. some of the places and things had to turn out pretty f'n cool!

Saturday night was a blast... it was a night out for the adults!  We started the night at the Springfield Brewery for dinner and a drink.  We then made our way to The Skinny Improv, which was hilarious!  They had a board at the front door for people to write down suggestions for skits... my 'friends' thought it might be funny to write something about how bad Minnesota sucks - the improv turned it into "How bad does Minnesota stink" and pretended they were in a car driving through the state and talking about the foul smell.  I didn't laugh. :)  After the show we hit up a karaoke bar, I was the only one who got up to sing :(  Drinks were had as well as laughs.
Just so happens there was a cowboy who kept getting up to sing, and I thought he was rather good, maybe I was wrong, I had been drinking after all.  I wasn't really interested in this guy at all... just enjoyed watching and listening to him sing.  So maybe I was staring... only because he sang with little to no emotion or effort, I was kind of curious, so I watched.  Well, we had a few moments of awkward eye contact (awkward for me anyhow) and I was just planning to go about my business once the night was over; he had other plans for us.  He walked up to me and attempted to make small talk, which was fine, but he mentioned a few times that he 'noticed me looking' and wanted to come introduce himself.  Joy.  Anyhow, we talk, it's just grand (with a huge hint of sarcasm) ... I ended up giving him my number because I don't know how to turn someone down in a nice way... and believe it or not, I can't be mean.  Cowboy called twice the next day and text'd once.  I got another text from him on Monday and haven't heard anything since.  I hope he got the picture.  He's a private investigator though, and I did tell him I'm from Minnesota!  Creepy.  Guys are silly - I told him off the bat I live in Minnesota... why would you even bother; guess I'm that hot!
After the bar we went back to Renee's place and played a bit of Rock Band, which was my first time playing, so I sucked.  I was drunk and got pretty tired... as did most everyone, I think.

Sunday I had to get up and leave, well I didn't HAVE to, but I needed to get home and get caught up on some stuff.. so I woke up to a little girl and a cat knocking on my door ;)
We sat around a bit in the morning and talked... then I had to be on my way home.  I will spare you much of the drive, because it was only a little bit more exciting than the drive down.  About an hour or so into my drive , I was cruisin' along (and I do mean cruisin) and all of the sudden a State Patrol, or whatever the fuck he was, busted a wicked fast U-turn in the middle of the highway... I knew he was coming for me.  FUCK!  Long and painful story short... I got a speeding ticket, one that is extremely NOT cheap!  My fault, I know... I blame myself.  UGH, I can still be crabby about it.
The rest of the drive was just a drive... I was tempted again to stop at Worlds of Fun (the Amusement Park in Kansas City).. but with the wicked expensive ticket on my mind, I made the responsible decision and kept driving.  I think I made it home in just over 10 hours.

As always I had a wonderful time with Renee and her family.  I appreciate, so much, them letting me come down and crash for a weekend... Lord knows I can be quite a pain in the ass :)  Renee, thank you for driving me everywhere looking for that dress!!

I'm going to be posting some pictures on Facebook, but I may throw a few up in a separate post here as well.

A Few Highlights (good and bad):
- I got a [really expensive] speeding ticket
- While I almost killed MANY birds, the only things actually killed were bugs
- I gave a cowboy my phone number and have been avoiding the calls and texts since
- I had my first ever experience as a model
- I got to watch a photography club in action and observe!
- We didn't do any scrap booking :(
- I love Renee and her family


Total Spent in Gas: $ 76.10
Best MPG: 40 MPG

Total Trip Cost after the speeding ticket: WAY too fucking much!

Some special thanks go out to, of course, Renee and family for letting me stay and entertaining me while I was there.  David Strong for taking some amazing photographs of me and letting me be a model for a day, something I've dreamed of my whole life! Thanks to Steve, Jeff, Shannon, and Dustin for the phone calls and good conversations.  A special thanks to Steve specifically for calling after my speeding ticket... you helped improve my mood GREATLY and get my mind off of it, and I deeply appreciate it.  Many musicians who provided me with lyrical content and a voice to sing along with: Eminem (you're new disc is dope and your old ones never get old), Sara Bareilles, Hollywood Undead, Sevendust, Justin Timberlake, and several others.