May is Over?

It's not that I don't like blogging anymore, I still love it and enjoy it, but I'm just so flabbergasted that time is FLYING BY! One day it's May 1st, then all the sudden this week is June! I don't know why my internal sense of time is off. Where did the time go? Well here is our month of MAY in a blog post! :)

In the beginning of the month was May Fest. It's this big festival in down town Fort Worth and their run that they host is supposed to be one of the prettiest! Dan and Jenny ran the 10k. I the finish line was a ways off and I started to walk over there with some people and they wouldn't let us in with out paying (even though the festival didn't start for 5 hours later). I think they were mistaken because why would they charge the race watchers to get in? Anyways I walked around and found the truck entrance where companies and vendors could enter. I found a police officer and gave him my best, "I'm confused and lost" speech (which I truly was) "Can't you point me towards the finish line?" "Oh, not a problem ma'am, it's right over there!" So I snuck in. Which technically shouldn't have been sneaking because they should have just let us in.

Trinity Park - where the race started

 I didn't get to see Dan finish because I was too busy trying to get in, but I caught Jenny finishing!

We made these soda can stoves as a prep for girls camp for mutual one night. I hope these work because our food will probably suck if they don't haha

BNSF is the big railroad company here which is also right across the path from my work. They hold a Special Olympics event every year so a couple coworkers and I volunteered. We were mostly cheerleaders and encouraging the kids.

I loved it! I was such a softy though- I was tearing up every time I saw how happy and excited they were. Haha it's just so inspiring to be around them.

Unfortunately it started pouring and we got soaked as we ran for shelter.

Dan's Nissan is now over 200,000 miles!

We went to a Rangers game with some of Dan's coworkers. It was so fun and it was $1 hotdog night. We thought it might be canceled because it rained a lot but it stayed dry for the game! We brought ponchos just in case though.

We had an exciting adventure with our cars this week were we went to drop Dan's car off in Grapevine (about 30 minutes away) to get the shocks fixed. It's about 10 pm and we dropped his car and keys off and then my car doesn't start! We were super grateful someone was around and could give poor Oliver a jump. I was also close to being out of gas, but I didn't want to stop for gas for fear of being stuck at the gas station. God was merciful and let me get to and form work the next day before we could go get a new battery (or bat-tree as my grandpa would say). That was an adventure!

 In our stake they have held a night every year where they nominate and appreciate the teachers in the area. We were in charge of decorating but I didn't realize just what it was and how much it meant to the teachers until that night. Teachers do so much and it was so kind to give them a nice plaque and have their students brag about them.

It's also been raining here. A lot. A couple of time our alarm clock has been thunder and lightning at 5 am. Which is cool... except if you need to sleep. I love watching storms so it's been super cool to watch! Unfortunately in some areas there have been extreme flooding which is really sad. We live on a hill and have been lucky but others not so much. It's cool to watch but if you're out in it it's terrifying. The other night Dan and I got stuck driving home in it and it was the scariest thing I've had to do in a while. So much rain you can see anything and your wipers can't go any faster. It's dangerous at night because you can't see puddles on the road until you hit them. Luckily the ones we drove through were large. If they are you're not even supposed to drive through them because people underestimate the current and depth and it can take your car down the stream! Scary. I was so happy to be home that night!

Also consider this a soft announcement... I interviewed and have been offered a position as an intern this fall at Susan G. Komen Greater Fort Worth! Right now I'm in the process of BYU-I approving it. I don't see why they wouldn't but I can't wait to hear back so I can really announce it.

Dan and I also decided to get new phones. Verizon was running a great deal that made it cheaper than t-mobile for what we wanted so we switched. This is the first time in a while I've actually had a nice phone. I usually got one that was free with an upgrade or less than $100. We both got a Samsung Galaxy 6. It's really nice! Dan got a black one, I asked for white but he ended up pulling out a gold one. He didn't realize they had any gold ones and said,  "Oh I'm so sorry, I can switch it out for you" I said Nahh... the gold is pretty :)

Then we had Verizon credit so I got a pretty but protective case for the phone. It's so blingy which is probably a little out of character for me... but I love it!

Dan took so time off while his mom was in town watching his sister's kiddos while they went on a vacation. They went to the zoo together, swimming and all sorts of fun stuff. He's such a fun Uncle! When the weekend came Dan and I took a little trip to Austin to see the Track and Field Regional Qualifiers at UT Austin. He had hotel points and we could both get time off so we decided to go!

We stopped in West, Texas to get a REAL kolache

so many pastries!

Worth it!

Nice big rain storm we hit on the way over.

We planned to go to Salt Lick for dinner and had some time to kill. I found this place on trip advisor and it was on the way to Salt Lick so we went! It's called the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Park.

I went to look at what was in this box and then I realized I was inches from a horde of spiders. Yes, they were only daddy long legs but they were the BIGGEST ones I've ever seen! I try to up the contrast on this picture to you can see how long their legs truly are. Freaky!

Then we drove out to Salt Lick. It's kind out a ways out of town but it's so worth it! Salt Lick has been on numerous TV food shows about how awesome their food is. We got there early because it can be a zoo during prime dinner time. It's located on a winery so the scenery is beautiful! It smelled amazing when we got there. The food did not disappoint! I got a plate of pork ribs, sausage and brisket. Dan got the all you can eat.

I could barely finish this plate! It was SO GOOD though.

Dan definitely got his moneys worth!

Here's their smoke pit where they cook and keep the food warm. Yum.....

I was excited that we got a hotel downtown because look at this view!

They upgraded us to the ambassadors floor which had a card only swipe thing in the elevator. FANCY.

My favorite was the complementary snacks they refilled everyday. I would hide them so they'd give us more.

 View off of Congress Bridge

After we checked in we walked off our dinner and explored downtown Austin

Capital grounds

 Dan really enjoyed the 10 commandments being right next to the capital

This is at the bat bridge but both nights we were around and the bats didn't want to come out

Friday morning we got up and explored the greenbelt on bikes!

They have B Cycle stations everywhere in Austin so it was super convenient (but my butt is so bruised! Worth it)

Home Slice Pizza for lunch. NY Style pizza? That's what they told me, can anyone confirm this?

Then we went to the track meet and was there for most of the after noon with some breaks. Boy it was hot!

During a break we were in desperate need of something cold so we walked to a 7-11 and got the best slurpee of my life! On the way there we walked by The Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum. I felt obligated to take a picture. Maybe we should have gone inside!

We walked around the pretty campus of UT Austin and went back for the second half of the track meet.

After the meet we ate dinner at the Shake Shack. It was good and interesting. The first thing I said to Dan when we walked in was, "Dan... there's moss growing on the walls..." I should have taken a picture!

Saturday morning we went to the LBJ History Museum and Library. I didn't know much about LBJ but boy now I do!

Presidential seal

The archives

Oval Office replica

The view! This building is apart of campus

 Lady Bird's office replica

Me and LBJ

Then we went to lunch at Snarfs and headed to the meet for the rest of the day!

On the way home we had to stop at Bucee's. It's the biggest, largest, cleanest gas station ever! I did the math and the have 112 gas pumps. The building is huge and has everything you didn't know you needed at a gas station. They have world famous clean bathrooms and they did not disappoint!